Page 18 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

PART
1

Proposal Logics

s your potential client, one thing that amazes and even at times
Aupsets me about your proposals is that, although you are obvi-
ously well educated, intelligent, and thoughtful, your documents and
presentations often do not convey your ideas logically. I cannot com-
prehend a well-thought-out logical argument about my situation and
how you might help me improve it if you don’t present that argument.
At the beginning of Part 1, I provide the framework to help you do
so. Then I share my desire for your having and communicating in your
proposal document or presentation an orientation toward measurable
substantive results in whatever type of support you propose to me and
my organization. Finally, I discuss how to construct a logical meth-
odology that will answer my key questions, achieve my objectives,
and therefore move me and my organization from one condition to
another, from our less-than-ideal current situation to a better place,
our desired results. You are writing your proposal because we have this
gap, and your methodology must clearly and logically explain how you
propose to bridge it. You have the knowledge and expertise to help us
bridge that gap, but based on the hundreds of proposals I’ve evaluated,
I can only conclude that you don’t know how to communicate that
knowledge to me clearly and logically. You will by the end of Part 1.

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