Scenario:

Your company, ABC Partners, has been contacted via email by a prospective client (Dr. Paul Simmons - Simmons Medical Practice) who you recently met at a networking function. You do not have any detailed knowledge about his business or his scope of works.

TASK (1):

Reply to Dr Simmons’s email (remember that you have only met him once). Your aim should be to gather detailed information about his business, his needs and his scope of works in order for you compile a proposal report.

In the email try to build your relationship further and extract some key information about his business, including: Number of staff (including specialist medical, admin); workstation requirements; specialist equipment and software used; Dr Simmons’s data server and host; home to office links; links with work; What is the current IT support?; Why does Dr Simmons want to change? Etc.

Imagine you received the following information from Dr Simmons: 

• The medical centre is owned by Dr Simmons  (including the premises)

• Expensive specialist medical equipment is leased and maintained by the respective company

• Three full time General Practitioners use consulting rooms and use a desktop and printer linked to the network

• Support staff consists of 1 F/T and 1 P/T medical receptionist; 1 F/T and 1 P/T nurse. All use a variety of IT equipment

• One visiting Skin Specialist comes once a week and rents a consulting room. She subleases Dr Simmons technical equipment

• Dr Simmons is responsible for all IT maintenance and data storage

• Dr Simmons’s wife is a registered nurse and works in the clinic about 8 hours per week. She is a partner in the business

• Dr Simmons is responsible for all consumables and maintenance of equipment, then gets reimbursed by the other GPs

• There is an IT contract in place, but will come to an end in 1 month’s time.

• Dr Simmons and the other GPs bulk bill their patients but some of the IT network ad equipment is not reliable

• Dr Simmons thinks the current accounting service uses complicated software and is not integrated enough with his patient management system. 

• The Patient Management System is not automated enough to trigger reminders of appointment times with patients’ mobile phone

• Dr Simmons believes he does not get enough advice from his IT consultant about ways to invest and improve his technology

TASK (2):

Based on the information above, plan and write a Business Proposal using the template provided

Your final report should provide Dr. Simmons with detailed information about your business’s capability and what services/products your firm proposes to provide to match his needs. Services may include: Network Technology and Data Management upgrades; Systems analysis and proposal for better integration of functions in the medical centre; Investment in higher value client service management; etc.

TASK (3):

Design a second email to Dr Simmons to give him your Business Proposal (for ongoing accounting and financial services).  The proposal includes overall service fees (e.g. yearly retainer); further itemised charges; fees and additional services for specific purposes (e.g. Annual reviews and equipment testing; Safety audits).