Good Proposal Writing: Confirms what you’ve told the customer before!

What is good proposal writing? This is a question which every proposal writing blog or web site seeks to answer, but I generally find there are holes in the advice.  Much of the advice provides a formulaic checklist for a proposal.  But there is far more to it if you truly want the proposal to be successful. For complex sales, it is rarely a single written document. It is a combination of: the covering letter; contractual offer; the executive summary; the management volume; the technical volume; and, the support volume (if required).  For service contracts a volume describing the proposed service may also be required. These documents are often submitted in separate volumes in order that pricing information can be kept away from those not allowed to see it. This is because price is not necessarily the driving factor for the customer and it is important for non-commercial assessors to not be influenced by the price. Each should be self contained and not cross reference to other volumes.

This, so far, is a proposal description with which most readers would be familiar, especially the all important executive summary.  However, this leaves out what I believe to be the most important information.  It leaves out the compliance matrix and the evidence folder.  Whether or not they are requested, compliance matrices are required for all volumes.  It is this which tells the customer how you have answered each individual requirement.  It is also a further opportunity for amplifying benefits to the customer and also provides the ability to give short answers where appropriate, which don’t interrupt the flow of a section.  The evidence folder is generally not asked for but it is an essential section as it is the location where the evidence is stored and where the assessor may review it to determine the level of confidence he should assign. Try putting all the evidence in the compliance matrix and give the assessors a “one-stop-shop” when assessing your proposal.

The proposal needs to work on many levels. It needs to summarise concisely what is being offered and needs to provide evidence which underpins that you can deliver what is being offered.  The level of detail varies depending on who is to read which section.  An executive summary should be provided with all bids, whether asked for or not.  It needs to be a self contained short document aimed at senior managers in the customer community as well as the assessment panel.  It needs to give a clear and unambiguous description of the solution and its benefits for the customer.  Its benefits should address the urgent need that caused the RFQ or ITT to be issued in the first place.  Better, it should offer more benefits than were required – provided this doesn’t cost extra, in which case these should be offered as a costed option.  The main technical, support and service sections should describe the offered solution succinctly.  Graphics should be used to simplify the message for the reader.  Studies carried out by 3M have shown that good graphics enable a reader to understand 60,000 times faster than with the text.  Bear in mind that assessors will also be reading between three and six other proposals.  Giving the answer to the assessor in as clear a format as possible will enhance your marks.

Answer the question asked; say what you will deliver – and how; and, show them the evidence.

Of course the proposal is one arrow in a quiver full of arrows.  On its own it is unlikely to win business.  Nestled within a business capture process a good proposal will reinforce the messages that the customers have received from the business development manager during the positioning period.  The proposal should just be confirming everything that customers have been told to expect; at a price they can afford – so far as practical this should all be in one place.

Detail of this level of importance is taught in each module of our course on business mastery.

What do you think?  let me know by commenting on this blog post.