Page 180 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Writing the Methods Slot 171

Your introduction to methods provides a great opportunity to sell your meth-
odology, to explain persuasively to me and others on the consultant-selection
committee exactly how your methodology contains elements that will lead us to a
more successful and beneficial project.
If you have completed a Themes Development Worksheet (TDW) (see Figure
10.9), you already will have generated much of the persuasive content for the
opening P-slot of methods.
The Situation (S) and Methods (M) columns of your Themes Development
Worksheet provide the opening P-slot material, the rationale for constructing
your approach as you have. Because those columns’ content contains your themes,
your opening P-slot implicitly (and often without my realizing it) communicates
the following:

We have designed our methodology as we have because it addresses your
hot buttons, meets your evaluation criteria, and counters our competition.

Themes Development
Worksheet
Opening P-slot P
T S M Q B Explains why, out of universe P
of possible approaches, you are
using this one.
I-slot
Explains how you will conduct
the project. Contains tasks
related to:
‡ the actions necessary to I
achieve the objective(s). I
Logic Tree
These also can be PIP-ed.
‡ the activities important for
planning and communicating.
These also can be PIP-ed.

Closing P-slot
Explains what deliverables/
benefits/value added will
accrue from your approach. P P

FI GU RE 1 0. 9 Y our TDW pr o vides the c ont ent f or the methods sec tion ’ s openin g P -slot
FIGURE 10.9 Your TDW provides the content for the methods section’s opening P-slot..