[insert document title in file properties] · web viewauthor sasaon created date 05/08/2013...

[DOCUMENT TITLE]

[CUSTOMER NAME]

[DOCUMENT TITLE]

[CUSTOMER NAME]

[DELIVERY DATE]

BASE DOCUMENT:

Submitted by:[AE][AE TITLE][AE PHONE][AE E-MAIL]

This proposal is the confidential and proprietary property of SAS Institute Inc. It may contain approaches, techniques, and other information proprietary to SAS, and shall not be disclosed in whole or in part to third parties without the prior written consent of SAS.

Cover Letter[THIS “INVISIBLE” HEADING ENABLES “COVER LETTER” TO APPEAR IN CONTENTS AND BOOKMARKS. IT NEEDS TO BE UNHIGHLIGHTED BEFORE FINAL PRODUCTION AND UPDATING OF CONTENTS AND INTERACTIVE RESPONSE INDEX]

[THIS SECTION PROVIDES SPACE FOR A CUSTOMER FRIENDLY COVER LETTER. AUTHORIZED SIGNATURES ON A LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL GOES AT THE END OF THE DOCUMENT]

[RESPONSE?]

Start typing here…

SAS INSTITUTE INC. WORLD HEADQUARTERS SAS CAMPUS DRIVE CARY, NC 27513

TEL: 919 677 8000 FAX: 919 677 4444 U.S. SALES: 800 727 0025 WWW.SAS.COM

ii

Contents

Cover Letter.......................................................................................................... i

Executive Summary............................................................................................1Salutation (optional, however, not preferred)...................................................1

Customer Needs..............................................................................................1

Customer Outcome Vision...............................................................................1

Solution Summary Aligned with the Customer Outcome Vision.......................1

SAS Experience...............................................................................................1

Solution Overview...............................................................................................3

Responses to the [RFx]......................................................................................4

Assumptions........................................................................................................5

Customer Success..............................................................................................6[CUSTOMER 1]................................................................................................7

[CUSTOMER 2]................................................................................................7

[CUSTOMER 3]................................................................................................7

Letter of Transmittal............................................................................................8

Interactive Response Index..............................................................................11

The Interactive Response Index beginning on page 13 provides an index of responses to your questions, including page number hyperlinks.

Contents[INSERT DOCUMENT TITLE IN FILE PROPERTIES]

1

Executive SummaryIf you can't give me, the buyer, new insight or new ideas, you're just adding to my workload, and I don't have time for you.

– Excerpt from"A New Breed of Salesperson"

CFO Magazine

The two most cited reasons for customers failing to respond positively to proposals are:

Failure to present relevant responses from the customer’s perspective

Failure to present a buying plan including anticipated, scale of magnitude pricing and return on investment based on reasonable assumptions, industry knowledge, and knowledge of the customer

One of the main jobs of an executive summary is to establish and/or reflect established trust. Leading proposal and sales consultant Dr. Tom Sant represent Trust as:

Trust= (Credibility x Rapport )Risk of Self−ServingContent

That is, content that appears to be self-serving will divide the positive impact of credibility and rapport, which multiply one another. Thus, best practices indicate that content must be customer-focused demonstrating the “how-come, so-what” relevant to the customer.

Letter of Transmittal[INSERT DOCUMENT TITLE IN FILE PROPERTIES]

2

According to best practices, Executive Summaries follow this structure:

Salutation (optional, however, not preferred)

Customer Needs

Customer Outcome Vision

Solution Summary Aligned with the Customer Outcome Vision

SAS Experience

We don’t necessarily need to use these specific headings, however, the structure represents a persuasive customer focus.

Resources:

The Seven Deadly Sins of Proposal Writing

Webinars Regarding Effective Proposals

Salutation (optional, however, not preferred)Thank you for the opportunity to respond… (not SAS is pleased to respond..., which is passive and us-focused)

Customer NeedsWhat does the customer really need? What’s really motivating them to seek this solution? (if we don’t increase revenue and reduce losses through fraud, the Board will take away my Gulfstream jet and make me fly commercial)

Customer Outcome VisionHow does the customer envision the resolution of their true needs? What will success look like to them?


http://www.qvidian.com/resources/webinars

http://info.qvidian.com/7DeadlySinsProposalWriting.html?SFDCCID=70150000000JZfd

3

Solution Summary Alignedwith the Customer Outcome Vision

How does our proposed solution align with their vision? What do we need to adjust to ensure success? (Diagnose, then Prescribe)

Why SAS?Why should the customer trust us to enable their vision of success?

Experience

Return on Investment

[RESPONSE?]



4

Solution Overview[RESPONSE?]



5

Responses to the [RFx][RESPOND DIRECTLY TO CUSTOMER QUESTIONS]

Question

COMPLIES / PARTIALLY COMPLIES / DOES NOT COMPLY / NOTE

[RESPONSE REQUIRED]



6

AssumptionsDocuments assumptions used for architecture, pricing, etc.

[AS NEEDED]


7

Customer Success[AS NEEDED]

SAS customers include 90 of the FORTUNE 100 companies (overall, 90% of 2012 FORTUNE Global 500® companies). Our customers include many multi-national companies using our software worldwide across disparate systems with hundreds of users. A large number of these customers consider their use of SAS software to be a competitive advantage. Therefore, non-disclosure agreements prevent us from revealing customer names and project details unless we receive permission to do so.

Many of our customers, however, do often welcome reference calls from potential SAS customers. To ensure effective use of everyone's time and efforts, they ask that we coordinate such calls after proposals have been reviewed. Once you have reviewed the information contained in this response, we will be happy to arrange for appropriate reference calls after receiving permission from our customer contacts.

Several customer success stories are available at www.sas.com/success. Please also refer to the following selected examples1:

[AE PROVIDES URLS FROM PUBLIC WEBSITE OR CONTENT APPROVED BY THE CUSTOMER KNOWLEDGE CENTER]

[CUSTOMER 1]

[CUSTOMER 2]

[CUSTOMER 3]

[AS NEEDED – STANDARD PRACTICE IS FOR THE PROPOSAL MANAGER TO COPY THE SELECTED CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORIES INTO THIS SECTION]

1 The results illustrated in this section are specific to the particular situations, business models, data input, and computing environments described herein. Each SAS customer’s experience is unique based on business and technical variables and all statements must be considered non-typical. Actual savings, results, and performance characteristics will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions. SAS does not guarantee or represent that every customer will achieve similar results. The only warranties for SAS products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements in the written agreement for such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Customers have shared their successes with SAS as part of an agreed-upon contractual exchange or project success summarization following a successful implementation of SAS software. Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.


http://www.sas.com/success

8

[CUSTOMER 1]

[CUSTOMER 2]

[CUSTOMER 3]


9

Letter of Transmittal[This letter is the basis for letters of transmittal to accompany responses to RFxs. Highlighted areas should be edited to meet the unique requirements of the customer. Bracketed areas should be changed as indicated. Highlighted, unbracketed areas should be checked for currency. Other language must not be edited without approval from Legal.]

[PROPOSAL DATE]

[CONTACT NAME][CONTACT TITLE][COMPANY NAME][CONTACT ADDRESS][CONTACT CSZ]

Dear [CONTACT NAME]:

Thank you for inviting SAS Institute Inc. (SAS) to respond to your request for [proposal/information/quote] entitled, [REQUEST TITLE] ([RFP/RFI/RFQ]) dated [REQUEST DATE]. The attached RFP response describes how SAS can provide [COMPANY NAME] ([COMPANY ABBREVIATION]) with a comprehensive, integrated quality solution for the specific requirements set forth in the RFP and subsequent discussions.

SAS is dedicated to establishing a working partnership that will help [CUSTOMER NAME] [ACCOMPLISH WHAT THEY ARE TRYING ACCOMPLISH]. We look forward to applying our unique ability to enable your vision.

In our fourth decade of service to the [CUSTOMER INDUSTRY] industry, SAS has the specific knowledge and experience that will provide [CUSTOMER NAME] expertise and direction to enable the business intelligence you require. We are dedicated to strong business relationships with our customers. As the leader in data transformation tools and methodologies, our proven methodology, quality projects and solutions, and the ability to quickly respond to customers’ needs set SAS apart from other service providers.


10

SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business analytics and business intelligence (BI) software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 65,000 sites in more than 135 countries – including 90 of the top 100 FORTUNE Global 500® companies [OTHER CUSTOMER STATS] – to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate, and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics, and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For more than 37 years, SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®.

Terms and Conditions

The response is valid for installation of SAS software only in the United States upon the hardware configuration indicated in the response. The terms and conditions for the license of the SAS software products and the purchase of any related services described in the response shall be governed by SAS’ standard license and services agreements. Sample copies of these documents will be provided to you upon request. If/As you currently have a Master License Agreement in place with SAS, that agreement plus an applicable SAS Software Supplement, will continue to govern the license of any new SAS software. That agreement, plus an applicable SAS Services Supplement will govern any professional services performed by SAS. No other terms and conditions, unless mutually agreed upon, shall apply to any resultant contracts for software and services. Neither the RFx, the response, or this letter shall be deemed to constitute an agreement between SAS and [CUSTOMER ABBREVIATION]; nor shall those documents be incorporated as a whole or in part into any contract between the parties.

Title to all SAS software and any work product produced and delivered as a result of the performance of any services shall remain with SAS and its licensors.

Fees

All fees set forth in the response are based on 2013 U.S. license fees and service rates. The fees do not include applicable taxes. Please note that unless specifically stated otherwise in the attached response, all fees for services are quoted on a time and materials basis. SAS’ time and any computer code and related documentation resulting therefrom are the only service deliverables. All fees for software are exclusive of fees that may be assessed for third party access to SAS software in a services environment such as facilities management, outsourcing, time-sharing or service bureau, or for the right to process third party data using SAS software.


11

SAS Contacts

For questions concerning this submission, scheduling demonstrations of the solution, or making arrangements for reference calls, please contact your Account Executive or Sales Manager:

[AE NAME], [AE TITLE]SAS Institute Inc.[AE ADDRESS][AE CSZ][AE PHONE][AE FAX][AE E-MAIL]

[DM NAME], [DM TITLE]SAS Institute Inc.[DM ADDRESS][DM CSZ][DM PHONE][DM FAX][DM E-MAIL]

For questions regarding negotiations, software license agreements, and legal matters, please contact:

[LEGAL CONTACT NAME], [LEGAL CONTACT TITLE][LEGAL CONTACT ADDRESS][LEGAL CONTACT CSZ][LEGAL CONTACT PHONE][LEGAL CONTACT FAX][LEGAL CONTACT E-MAIL]

Proposal Validity, Confidentiality, and Ownership

The response, including all fees set forth therein, shall be valid until [VALID DATE (USUALLY 30 DAYS FROM DELIVERY OF PROPOSAL ROUNDED UP TO NEXT BUSINESS DAY)]. The response is based on SAS’ current understanding of your requirements as set forth in the RFP and subsequent discussions. As such, it is subject to change based on changes in hardware configuration and additional or different information regarding your requirements and infrastructure.

The response and all materials attached hereto remain the confidential proprietary property of SAS Institute Inc. and shall be provided only to [COMPANY ABBREVIATION]’s personnel with a need to know in connection with your evaluation of SAS as a potential vendor. All copies provided and any duplicates shall be returned to SAS or destroyed upon request. Such information shall not be disclosed outside the [COMPANY ABBREVIATION] organization without the express written consent of SAS.


12

As SAS learns more about the details of this project, it may be appropriate to consider the participation of SAS partners. We would, however, approach any such participation only with your full knowledge and consent.

SAS appreciates the opportunity to provide you with information concerning your software licensing and services needs. We look forward to continuing discussions regarding this project.

Sincerely,

[AUTHORIZED COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE]

Cc: [LEGAL CONTACT NAME][SM NAME][AE NAME]


13

Interactive Response Index[PROVIDES PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRACKING AND INDEX TO CUSTOMER QUESTIONS]

Cover Letter.......................................................................................................... i[RESPONSE?]........................................................................................................................... i

Contents............................................................................................................... ii

Executive Summary............................................................................................1Salutation (optional, however, not preferred)...................................................1

Customer Needs..............................................................................................1

Customer Outcome Vision...............................................................................1

Solution Summary Aligned with the Customer Outcome Vision.......................1

SAS Experience...............................................................................................1[RESPONSE?]......................................................................................................................... 2

Solution Overview...............................................................................................3[RESPONSE?]......................................................................................................................... 3

Responses to the [RFx]......................................................................................4Question................................................................................................................................... 4

COMPLIES / PARTIALLY COMPLIES / DOES NOT COMPLY / NOTE...................................4

[RESPONSE REQUIRED]........................................................................................................4

Assumptions........................................................................................................5[AS NEEDED]........................................................................................................................... 5

Customer Success..............................................................................................6[AS NEEDED]........................................................................................................................... 6

[AE PROVIDES URLS FROM PUBLIC WEB SITE OR CONTENT APPROVED BY THE CUSTOMER KNOWLEDGE CENTER]....................................................................................6

[AS NEEDED – STANDARD PRACTICE IS FOR THE PROPOSAL MANAGER TO COPY THE SELECTED CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORIES INTO THIS SECTION].........................6

[CUSTOMER 1]................................................................................................7

[CUSTOMER 2]................................................................................................7

[CUSTOMER 3]................................................................................................7

Letter of Transmittal............................................................................................8

Interactive Response Index[INSERT DOCUMENT TITLE IN FILE PROPERTIES]