Page 169 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

160 Writing Winning Business Proposals

◉ A major area of disagreement could be the issue of control versus risk as it
relates to expanding at the major facility only, as opposed to increasing capac-
ity at one of the regional facilities or at a new location.
◉ Consensus exists about ABC’s needing a plan and soon.

Your task is to paint a picture of the various buyers’ combined perceptions of
the current situation as well as their combined perceptions of the related causes
and effects. In doing so, you want to be certain that you address several of the
buyers’ concerns: Collins’s on customer service and its impact on market share;
Armstrong’s on the relationship with Consolidated; Morrison’s on distribution
costs and potential use of his model; Gupta’s on the threat of increased operating
costs; and Metzger’s on expanding in other than the major facility. You also want
to initiate some themes: “Urgency” comes to mind, as does “complexity.” After
several drafts, and in a fairly forceful voice cognizant of the threats to ABC’s mar-
ket share and position within Consolidated, you come up with the following:
The Situation at ABC

Over the past five years, household appliance shipments by ABC and your
competitors have been fairly stable, and only modest growth is projected
over the next five years in your mature industry. Despite the relative stability
of these shipments industry-wide, ABC has managed to increase its share of
the household appliance market primarily by producing high-quality prod-
ucts at competitive costs and by being responsive to customers’ needs. As a
result, ABC has become a leader in the market and one of the premier divi-
sions within Consolidated Industries.

Your consistent record of success, however, may be threatened. Although your
market forecasts indicate that ABC can continue to increase market share,
even the conservative forecast clearly shows that projected product demand
will exceed your available manufacturing capacity in less than three years.
Without adequate capacity, your competitive position will certainly suffer as
a result of declining delivery performance, deteriorating product quality, and
increasing operating costs.
Complicating the picture, demographic shifts are moving demand farther
away from your existing midwestern production facilities. Population and
household growth in three geographic regions remote from these facilities
have far exceeded that of the Midwest, as well as the nation as a whole.
Undoubtedly, these geographic shifts have contributed to ABC’s increased dis-
tribution costs, a major factor in the total landed cost of household appliances.