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Interview with New Member Heather Routh

Heather Routh



MedSolutions
Franklin, TN

     (Joined APMP December 2009)

APMP Question.
 How long have you been a proposal manager/specialist/
writer?

Heather:  I have been working in Marketing Communications since 1993. I became more focused on proposal writing in 1999 at a non-profit, writing grant proposals. For the last 8 years my focus has been on business development and proposal creation in the private for-profit sector. I am currently managing proposal processes, writing and editing proposals, and responsible for knowledge management.

APMP Question.
How did you become involved
 with proposals?

Heather:  Initially, I created proposals to fund research projects in college. When it was a part of my core responsibilities at a non-profit agency I re-connected with a process I really enjoy.

APMP Question.
Do you work in a “corporate office” or “home office” environment? 

What do you like best about working in your current environment? 

What do you like least?

Heather:  I work in a corporate office for a small health care corporation. I have an opportunity to develop relationships with my subject matter experts and the expertise and support of our entire marketing team. We recently hired another proposal writer so now we have a proposal department! It is great to have another proposal professional on our team.

APMP Question.
What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Heather:  My current challenge, and one I anticipate will be ongoing, is to give our content review and knowledge management processes the attention they require. There are always deadline driven projects that must be handled first.

APMP Question.
What shortcuts or helpful best practices about working with proposal teams could you share?

Heather:  First things first. I try not to sweat the behind the scenes process improvement and updates to the knowledge base that have to be put on the backburner when RFP’s hit the door. At the same time, I have been successful in convincing management that we need to make time for the care and feeding of our content and our proposal management process overall. The preparation allows us to significantly increase our quality and reduce our creation time.

APMP Question.
When did you join APMP?

Heather:  I just joined APMP last month and am very excited about the opportunity to interact with other proposal professionals.

APMP Question.
What is your method for successfully working with your proposal teams?

Heather:  Key to our successful proposal process lies in an effective triage and kickoff before proposal development begins.

APMP Question.
Which type of proposals do you do most? Commercial or government?

Heather:  We do an equal amount of commercial and government (mostly state) proposals.