Page 128 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Identifying, Selecting, and Developing Themes 119

notes, but this time it struck you as possibly important. Armstrong had encour-
aged Morrison and his project team to develop the in-house distribution model
because he had been convinced that doing the project in house was both feasible
and cost-effective. Armstrong also believed “that the project would provide a
beneficial learning experience, so he gave his approval to proceed.”
Armstrong, it appears, not only desires professional development but actively
supports it. And, it strikes you, he has a good many managers who need it. Collins,
for example, appears to know little about the operations outside of marketing. She
certainly knows little about manufacturing, a point she readily admitted to Gilmore.
Most likely, manufacturing and marketing don’t talk very much to each other, even
though what the one produces the other must sell and even though the selling itself
and the customer service that goes along with it must rely on accurate production
schedules, quality production, and the like. Frank Metzger, it appears, is in a simi-
lar position, knowing much about manufacturing but far less about marketing.
So if Armstrong is into teaching/training (that’s how you decide to phrase this
potential hot button, although “professional development” and “staff develop-
ment” are other options), maybe you can find a way to build teaching, training,
and team building into your methodology.
You’re particularly sensitive to this hot button because of the recent experi-
ence of one of your colleagues. He had bid on but lost a proposal to a competitor.
Following up, he called the company to try to determine why the project had
been given to another firm. The winning firm, he was told, had included a sig-
nificant training component in its methodology. In response, your colleague
remarked that no one he interviewed had said anything about a training compo-
nent. Every bidder, came the reply, was told the same thing. Perhaps every bidder
was. Perhaps your colleague had missed a hot button that his competitor had
detected and capitalized on. Perhaps the competitor was more adept at reading
between the lines and getting below the surface.
As you turn to the hot buttons cell (Cell 2; see Figure 7.7), you try to keep four
things in mind:

◉ First, hot buttons aren’t always explicitly stated. In searching for them, you
should examine not only what was said but also what was left unsaid, or said
between the lines, or said just below the surface. You’re looking for the psycho-
logical, the emotional, not just the logical.
◉ Second, hot buttons can be conditioned by the buyer’s role. For example, cost-
related matters are likely to be hot buttons of an economic buyer or of a chief
financial officer playing a technical buyer.
◉ Third, to make it easier to convert them into themes, you should try to des-
ignate hot buttons by key words or short phrases, such as thoroughness or
complexity or involvement/respect.