Page 11 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

2 Writing Winning Business Proposals

I’m really honest with myself, I’m not excited by the prospect of engaging you.
Rather, I feel worried, threatened, impatient, and even at times suspicious.
I’m worried by the implication that potential changes you propose will indicate that
I haven’t been doing my job, or at least not doing it as well as I should. I’m threatened
by the possibility of losing control to you, the outsider, and how this could make my
position—my power base—vulnerable within my organization. I’m impatient because
I’ve tried for some time to address the issue we’re discussing, didn’t seek outside sup-
port when the symptoms initially occurred, and now have a need for rapid response.
I’m suspicious of your ability to help me because I’ve been burned before, have heard
all your promises, and have compared them to the eventual results. You all talk a
good game. Not all of you perform as well as you talk. So when I discuss my situation
with you, I want you to understand me and what makes my situation unique. It may
not be unique to you, but it is to me. I’m looking for assurance that your involvement
will make me and my organization significantly better and more competitive.
Therefore, if you are a consultant, I believe that your responsiveness and interest
in the proposal-development stage indicate the kind of service you’ll provide if you
are selected. As a result, I want you to demonstrate your desire to serve me, your
knowledge of my industry and organization, your understanding of my priorities,
and your ability to listen, to challenge, and to understand my situation, my needs,
and my desired benefits. I want you to prepare thoroughly for your meetings with
me, go out of your way to show me how good you are, be specific about how you
will help me, share your knowledge and experience from similar situations, and
make me feel that this proposed project is important to you and your firm. I want
you to begin providing “service” early in the process by offering advice, ideas, and
perspective, even if I don’t request them.
When I do make a request, especially one that is obviously a test of your respon-
siveness, I want you to respond quickly and thoroughly. In short, during the early
stages of our courtship, I want to learn, and I want you to establish a sound relation-
ship by providing value. I want you to act as if my situation is the most important
one you are addressing. You offer a professional service, and I need to know that
you’ll serve me professionally—that is, provide value for my proposed expenditure.
If you do all that, especially over time as we develop a closer relationship, you
might not even have to write a proposal, and, of course, you really don’t want to.
Proposals take a lot of time, often a huge investment in time. And let’s be honest:
Even when they’re well written, proposals frequently don’t win jobs so much as they
clinch or lose them.
But the plain truth is that we don’t always have a close relationship and you can’t
always sell a job up front. Therefore you need to write a proposal, and you need to
learn to write a good one. Hence this book. I’ve written it because I and other poten-
tial clients like me have read hundreds of your proposals and heard just as many
of your presentations, and although a few are outstanding, most of them aren’t.