Page 230 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

CHAPTER 14

Summary: The Proposal

Development Process

his is the last chapter in Writing Winning Business Proposals, though there
Tare many important and instructive appendices to follow. You’ve come a
long way toward helping yourself get the two to five points that make the differ-
ence between winning and coming in a close second. Very few people know what
you have learned. Although you have gained considerable insight by reading this
book and although you now have a plan for increasing your percentage of win-
ning proposals, you know that insights and plans are necessary but not sufficient.
They need to be implemented. Therefore, I encourage you to use the insights
you’ve gained and the plan you now have. Use them consciously and often. I’ve
brought you out of the forest and to the water; now you have to drink.
This chapter summarizes the plan I’ve presented to you in this book, which has
helped you understand how to use proposal logics and psychologics to prepare
your documents and presentations. This summary provides you with a snapshot
of the proposal-development process I’ve discussed with you, as well as a road
map you can use as you develop future proposals.
After the summary, you will find a Rating Guide for Proposals (Figure 14.7
and Figure 14.8). You can use the guide to evaluate your own proposals, since the
guide reflects many of the concepts and principles I’ve been helping you learn.
Although the guide is based on a 100-point scale, I’ve arbitrarily assigned points
to its six major sections. The sections related to methods and to costs/benefits,
for example, are worth 20 points each, while those related to the situation and to
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