Page 158 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Writing the Situation and Objectives Slots 149

Collins and Morrison, in contrast, are more concerned about service levels and
distribution costs, which probably would improve if ABC built a new facility closer
to the company’s growing markets. You can let Collins and Morrison know that
you’re sensitive to their concerns and that you have heard them, if you use ques-
tions like these: “Even if resources can be provided at the present location, does it
make economic sense to add them there or to make the investment elsewhere? For
example, will service levels increase and transportation costs decrease at a new geo-
graphic location?” Through these questions, you haven’t come down on Metzger’s
side or on Collins’s or Morrison’s. You haven’t alienated any of them by taking a
position. In fact, you likely will have satisfied all of them by demonstrating that
you’ve listened.
Where do you get the questions for your Questions Component? From either of
these:

◉ the deliverables in Cell 5 of the Logics Worksheet
◉ the logic tree for your methodology

As you saw in Chapter 5, the Logics Worksheet’s deliverables likely found their
way into your logic tree, each of whose actions need to express a deliverable. So
if you have already constructed your logic tree, you can derive your questions
from it. For example, consider the logic trees for the proposal to XYZ in Chapter
5 (which I’ve included again as Figure 9.2).
The second row of the figure implies that you would answer five key questions
to achieve the project’s objectives:

◉ What opportunities exist for XYZ in the information service market?
◉ What capabilities and resources are required to capitalize on those
opportunities?
◉ What gaps exist between those required capabilities and resources, on the one
hand, and XYZ’s, on the other?
◉ What actions are required to close those gaps?
◉ What resources and how much time are necessary to close the gaps?

Note the strategy here. A Questions Component like this not only provides
evidence for your problem-solving ability, it also prepares me for your methodol-
ogy. If I buy into the questions in your situation slot, you have gone a long way
toward preselling your methodology.
Of course, this component could include other questions. You may want to use
questions that respond to hot buttons, evaluation criteria, and counters to the com-
petition. Even if you don’t, you could phrase the questions derived from your logic
tree so that they address hot buttons and other thematic material. For example, if