Page 26 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

CHAPTER 2

Understanding the

Baseline Logic

lot of people (and I’m one of them) think that too many proposals try to
ma
A ke the simple complex, when in fact what I and many other buyers
want them to do is to make the complex simple. So let me simplify what propos-
als do, or at least what I’d like them to do from my potential client’s perspective.
Let’s concentrate on just three things (which, we’ll see in Chapter 3, are related
to three of the generic structure slots—situation, objectives, and benefits).
Figure 2.1 depicts your proposed project (with examples from the ABC case) in a
nutshell.
In the beginning is my organization, which is in a condition, a current “state of
health,” a current situation—call it S1. This current situation is what is happening
today. Perhaps we don’t like this situation because we have a problem that needs
addressing or solving. Or perhaps we would like another situation better because
we have an opportunity on which we might capitalize. In either case, we desire to
change. Or we might be uncertain about whether we like or should like our cur-
rent situation, and we’d like to know whether we ought to like it or dislike it.
In each of these cases, an actual or possible discrepancy exists between where we
are and where we want to be. Therefore, we are willing to consider engaging a consul-
tant to help us, to propose a project at the end of which we will have closed the gap and
be in a different, improved state—call it S2—which is what I call my desired result. At
that point, our problem will be solved (or on its way to a solution), or our opportunity

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