Page 156 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Writing the Situation and Objectives Slots 147

In answering the first question, as well as the second and third, you must keep
in mind that my perception of our current situation, and its causes and effects may
be different from the perceptions of others on the buying committee. Your goal is
to weave a coherent story that incorporates all the buyers’ individual stories. That
is, your Story Component needs to narrate the individual perceptions of S1 and
their causes and effects. This isn’t an easy task, especially if our individual stories
differ significantly. The danger is that the buying committee’s lack of agreement
could result in your Story Component’s lack of coherence or consistency.
Frequently, however, you can turn our lack of agreement to your advantage,
since lack of agreement on the buyers’ part underscores the problematic nature
of our situation and reinforces our need to reconcile disagreement to achieve our
desired result, which will remove each buyer’s pain or uncertainty. That is, lack of
agreement on the buyers’ part can reinforce our need for an objective third party
sensitive to differing perceptions and desires.
The fourth question, on attempted solutions, applies only if we previously
have attempted to move from S1 to S2, through either internal efforts or those
of consultants. Given that you are being considered for the project, our attempt
quite likely was unsuccessful. In this part of the Story Component, you can dem-
onstrate your understanding of what went wrong and, implicitly, what pitfalls
therefore need to be avoided.
The following paragraphs contain a brief Story Component from a proposal
written some years ago. Note how the writer discusses the external factors that
have caused a transition to a deregulated banking environment as well as the
opportunities this transition affords. Should she also have discussed the effects?
By understanding that the Story Component can contain causes, problem/oppor-
tunity, effects, and attempted solutions, you know what you can write into the
component, and you can check what you might have unintentionally omitted.

Background
As international standards for capital requirements force liberalization of
financial regulations, your organization is challenged by the tremendous
transition currently occurring in the Japanese banking industry. Deregulation
is leading to heightened competition for domestic banks, and small commu-
nity and regional banks are threatened by larger, more capital-rich financial
institutions. These institutions have already started to increase market share
through mergers and acquisitions. To remain competitive, regional banks
now face new challenges to obtain new retail customer accounts and to
maintain the loyalty of their existing customer base. Through your organiza-
tion, these regional banks seek innovative ways to differentiate themselves
and cope with deregulation to compete profitably against the super-regional
Japanese banks.