Page 139 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

130 Writing Winning Business Proposals

value—sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly—that could benefit you and your
organization now and in the longer term.
“Think about all the logical and psychological factors you discuss in your
book, including the anecdotes about selecting a car mechanic or a remodeling
contractor. Well, we apply similar concepts to selling professional services to
both existing and potential clients. We view every step, each interaction, in the
selling process as an opportunity to build a relationship that will make you feel
better about us and the value we can provide.
“Second, there is significant competition for your work because you are consider-
ing other well-qualified consultants, either individuals or firms, and each desires
your business. We assume that our competitors will work as hard as we will to
win. We like solving challenging problems and helping clients implement mea-
surable change in their organizations, but we know that others may be as capable
as, or even more capable than, we are for any particular issue. We know that you
have many good choices among consultants and that many of them can do high-
quality work.
“Third, a business-development opportunity must be viewed holistically, as a series
of interrelated events and behaviors, any one of which could be the difference between
the few evaluation points separating winning and losing. We do all we can to meet our
commitments, whether it’s arriving on time, listening empathetically in discussions,
asking insightful questions, sending information you request, or meeting promised
deadlines during the business-development process. We come as prepared as pos-
sible and try to put ourselves in your shoes.
“Therefore, our proposal team debriefs frequently as we speculate about why
certain responses were made to our questions and why you asked the questions
you did. We also extensively research your issue, your organization, your mar-
kets, and your competitors. We work hard to demonstrate how much we care
about you both collectively and individually. If we didn’t care, we couldn’t do our
best to identify how we might be able to help.
“Finally, we look for any opportunity to provide benefits to you during the busi-
ness-development process. These benefits are almost always insight related as we
share our knowledge about and experience with your current situation. During
this time, we are particularly sensitive to our manner: how we do and say things,
how we relate to you and your team, how we share our perspectives to answer
your questions.
“We keep reminding ourselves that there are no right and wrong approaches
or answers in business development. No ready-made prescriptions to apply. No
rules about how to play the game. Everything is situational, dependent on your
specific issue, history, people, timing, and priorities. This dependency is one of