Page 311 - Writing Winning Business Proposals

302 Appendix H

One worksheet focuses on the logics of the situation—that is, for example, on
the overriding problem and questions and on deliverables and benefits. Another
worksheet focuses on the psychologics of the situation—that is, for example, on
your positioning in relation to the economic buyer and his or her team’s evalu-
ation criteria, as well as to your competition. A summary worksheet calculates
your score, providing a “forecast” of your positioning and some strategies you
might employ based upon that positioning.
Keep in mind that, like the weather, forecasts always change, and you must be
ever alert to how quickly today’s sunshine can give way to tomorrow’s storms.
Regarding lead qualification, you must focus, not just on what is happening today,
but on what could happen tomorrow. As Steve Jobs famously said, paraphrasing
what Wayne Gretzky famously said, “. . . skate to where the puck is going to be,
not [to] where it has been.”