An Executive Summary MUST sell how your offering addresses the customer's main Hot Buttons
If you are at all interested in Executive Summary writing, you’ve probably already read several articles, web pages – even books – about writing the perfect business proposal executive summary, maybe as part of trying to find out how to write a business proposal. Most of them offer a wealth of well-intended suggestions about all the stuff you need to include. They provide a helpful list of the top one hundred critical items you should cover, and then tell you to be concise. Most guides to writing an executive summary miss this fundamental point:
The job of the executive summary is to sell, not to describe.
Let’s think a little about who uses an Executive Summary, and why. Then it becomes self evident why it has to sell:
- The main Customer (Normally a project or programme manager). Typically, they will read the executive summary first, ahead of the rest of the documentation (barring the document that contains the price – if they are allowed to see that). This satisfies their need to understand your offer quickly. If it is structured in a way which addresses their key hot buttons or concerns it will resonate with them and they’re more likely to remember it.
- The Customer’s proposal assessment team. Assessors often use an executive summary to orientate themselves with your offer. It can be confusing – especially on larger proposals – to delve straight into the detail of a proposal. An executive summary allows them to understand what the overall picture is and how the element they are assessing fits in.
- Senior managers and other stakeholders in the customer community not involved in the actual business proposal assessment. Most organisations have an hierarchical chain of management who are required to sanction or endorse the ultimate decision of who to award a contract to. They also need to understand the bigger picture – particularly what your solution does to address their hot buttons.
- The person or people who are writing the business case – or the case for investment in your offering. Business cases, by nature, do not need to describe the detailed offering as they are primarily concerned with financial aspects. But business cases do need to summarise the chosen offer and describe how it meets their primary needs. A well constructed executive summary which has been properly thought through should be able to drop right in to their business case unchanged (There’s a challenge for you!).
- So far we’ve concentrated on the customer organisation. Looking internally, most commercial organisations have tiered financial responsibility through the executive management chain. As the value of the offering – and hence risk exposure of the company – increases there are higher levels of scrutiny. The executive summary is also used here to succinctly describe the customer requirement and how your offering addresses it with containable risk.
- Finally, the executive summary is ideal material to brief those who you deploy to market, position and influence on behalf of your proposal efforts. Capturing the win themes and customer benefits in a succinct way ensures those who are influencing on your behalf have the right message to pass on to those whose opinion you wish to influence.
Begin to think of the executive summary in terms of selling how your offering benefits the customer and it will dramatically change how you structure it. Not to mention making it a lot easier to write!
It really does have to sell not describe.
What’s your experience with writing one? Comment below to share it with everyone.
Learn more about how to write a business proposal here: www.learnhowtowriteabusinessproposal.com
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