Page 24 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

Understanding Generic Structure Logic 15

By understanding the schema for house, you know what kind of rooms can exist
in a house; therefore, you expect rooms such as a kitchen, a bathroom, and a
bedroom. You also have some sense of the relationship among those rooms and,
to some degree, their placement. For example, in a two-story house, you would
expect a first-floor kitchen; in a two-story house with only one bath, you might
expect a second-floor bathroom; in a house with more than one bath, you would
not be surprised to find the second one adjoined to a master bedroom. Similarly,
by understanding generic structure—the schema for proposals—you understand
an important logical element of proposals. You know that proposals, to be pro-
posals, also have certain kinds of rooms or slots, and you know the relationship
among those rooms. You know, for example, that one slot explains the prob-
lem or opportunity, another explains a method for addressing the problem or
capitalizing on the opportunity, and yet another argues the benefits of doing so.
Throughout much of this book, I will build upon the concept of generic struc-
ture. In fact, the next two chapters focus on the three proposal slots—situation,
objectives, and benefits—that make up what I call “the baseline logic.”

CHAPTER 1 REVIEW
Understanding Generic Structure Logic

1. All proposals have the same generic structure, which contains the following six slots:
◉ Situation: What is the problem or opportunity?
◉ Objectives: Given that problem or opportunity, what are your objectives for
solving or realizing it?
◉ Methods: Given those objectives, how will you achieve them?
◉ Qualifications: Given those methods, how are you qualified to perform them?
◉ Costs: Given the methods and qualifications, how much will it cost?
◉ Benefits: Given those costs, what benefits and/or value will accrue?
2. Generic structure is not a matter of organization. That is, a proposal is not necessarily
sequenced according to the slots as they are ordered above.
3. The slots do not necessarily correspond to sections. One section could contain two or
more slots. A single slot could be distributed among two or more sections.
4. The extent to which the slots should be filled in the proposal presentation or
document depends upon how much they were filled in preproposal meetings or prior
working relationships.