Proposal Writing Information

Transcription

1 Proposal Writing Information Let s look at typical proposal sections, including some ideas on specific information from your company or organization that might be included in those sections and how you obtain and put together that information. But first, let s review and elaborate on a few of the key ideas. What are the specific needs of both the reader and the writer of the proposal document. For this example, let s assume that we are talking about sales proposals although we saw that there are some other instances for which proposals are prepared, such as to get funding for a research project. Customer or Buyer: When they request proposals from someone, customers has a specific problem or situation for which they need help. That situation may involve the need for either a product or a better way of doing something. The customer is looking to the supplier, consultant, or vendor for assistance. Let s put it in very simple terms. For example, you are a new employee in a sales area and the sales group is having a special Christmas party, you need the perfect attire to create a good impression. If you were a young woman, perhaps you would like to look beautiful, but not inappropriately seductive. Vendor or Seller: Your purpose is to make the sale, but to do so, you need to meet the customer s needs. Understanding the customer s need and matching it to what you have to offer is the best way to accomplish your goal. How might you do that? Let s go back to the example above. You sell women s apparel and let s face it: to keep bread on the table for the family, you need to make the sale. Your purpose is to get the young lady to buy your dress. But how do you do so? You first need to understand what it is the young woman s objectives are. If you do not, you might bring out a conservative gray dress that is in a style that just does not make her feel pretty, or a strapless, backless ensemble that she thinks is way too seductive for the office party. However, if you know her objectives, as well as the dress that is the young woman s price range, you stand a good chance of meeting her needs and making the sale. Your problem is finding out how to do that. This situation is similar to all our problems when we start looking at how to put together a successful business proposal in a number of ways. Now, let s look at the typical proposal sections. Executive Summary

2 This is probably the section that you write last; however, some sales people take the opposite approach. This could be compared to asking which comes first the chicken or the egg. This section needs to clearly summarize or explain the solution that is presented in the rest of the document. You may need to get a proposal team to deliberate to put together the best approach and reasons before you write the Executive Summary. On the other hand, if there is not a clear understanding of the customer and what is going to be necessary to meet their need before the document is written, chances of success are probably not very good. The Executive Summary of a business proposal is usually written primarily for the busy executive who may not want to spend a lot of time evaluating the document, but who needs to know the key business drivers, and why this is the right solution for his or her company. Consider that the primary audience for the Executive Summary to be the person who recommends or who has final approval on the decision to spend the money to purchase your product or service. In many instances, the Executive Summary may be the only part of the proposal that the key decision maker reads. He or she will probably, however, also read the Financials. If you do not present your key ideas forcefully in the Executive Summary, you are likely to lose the sale. The Executive Summary needs to summarize the document and to include those factors that will make the executive likely to approve purchase of your product. As a general rule, the Executive Summary is somewhere around 10 to 15 percent as long as the rest of the document. For example, for a 25 page document, the Executive Summary will be about two and one-half pages. For a 250 page document, the summary will run around 25 pages. Current Environment This is the section where you need to provide a clear understanding of the customer s need. It is usually necessary to either talk in depth to the customer or to visit their environment and ask questions to find this out. There is no surer way to lose a sale or to have an unhappy customer later than to assume you know what a customer s requirements are when, in fact, you do not. How many times have I heard someone on the proposal team say, XYZ Company representative says they want this when, in fact, what they really is... Quite a discussion can ensue from that viewpoint, so let s look at the attitude represented. On one hand, it might be apparent to someone more knowledgeable that if the customer wants X result, and says they want Product A, Product B might really be a better choice to meet the customer s objective achieving X result.

3 On the other hand, we need to consider: Did we really understand the customer s situation? Did we really have a clear understanding of their objectives? Do we understand their hot buttons? In other words, what can we say to make them think we really are offering what will best meet their perceived needs. The word perceived is also key. Even if our product or solution has an advantage in meeting the customer s need, it may not matter in getting the sale unless we can make the customer see it that way as well. In other words, just because Project B is what we have to sell and we think it is better does not automatically mean the customer is going to agree with that recommendation or perceive it that way. Presenting a clear understanding of the customer and their environment is essential to prepare a winning proposal document. When we have asked all the questions to understand the customer s wants and needs, it is good (if possible) to go back and make sure they agree with our understanding of their environment before crafting and finalizing the proposed solution. Proposed Solution This is the section where we present details about the product or solution we have to offer and show how it best meets the customer s objectives. It has to do both things. If we do not relate what we have to sell with customer s needs or objectives, we are not likely to be successful no matter how much detail we provide about the product. The introduction of this section needs to show this relationship between customer objective/need and our product or solution. Then as you relate product features, it is good to reemphasize how this relates to the customer s requirements. A proposal that does not present this along with the product description and related information is not as likely to be successful. The Plan In this section, provide details about how you will provide the product or service for the company, including: Timelines: When will you provide the product/service? Will the customer receive everything at once, or is there a timeline that includes several factors, including shipment, installation, training, etc.? Project Plan: How will you provide the product or service? Considerations here might include who will be involved in providing the product or service to the

4 customer? This section is even more important for service proposals, where it would include such information as who is the team that will work with the customer, will they work onsite with the customer or at their location, etc? Are phases involved in service delivery? Etc. Qualifications The Qualifications section needs to give your company s qualifications and show why we are the best vendor to provide this product or service. This section frequently includes such as information as: How long has the company been in business? Is it financially sound? To what similar customers have you provided similar products or services? What is your company s reputation and who are some contacts that could provide references regarding your excellent service? Can you provide information about customers who have similar problems/situations that you have solved satisfactorily? Financials This section basically answers the question, what is the product going to cost. But in this section, you will be most successful if you can associate cost savings with the solution. Perhaps the cost savings will more than pay for the capital outlay. For example, if the customer is paying $30 per hour for word processing fees, but the personal computer and software that costs $900 will mean that those costs will no longer be incurred. Determine how many hours in a typical week the word processing center is being used. If it is 10 hours per week, you can do the math and see that the department would save $300 in word processing charges per week by buying the computer. Do the math to show that the computer would pay for itself in 3 weeks, and then the company would save an additional amount of more than $13,000 for the rest of the year. Now, that should be a pretty easy sale. As an alternative, this type of cost-benefit analysis might also go in the financials or in the Benefits section, which is generally the last section of the proposal. Benefits How will purchasing your products or services benefit the company? The costbenefit analysis above is a good example. If you question enough to get this kind of information when you gather information to write the Current Environment section, it should be possible to determine how your product or solution can

5 benefit the customer. Remember, the benefits section needs to include information that relates product features to direct customer benefits. Direct benefits frequently include time or cost savings that the customer can achieve with your solution. Benefits might also relate to increases in efficiency or productivity. For example, if you were hiring a graphic designer to do your company newsletter, annual report, or brochure, how much time or money could you save if you purchased a software program and training that would allow your own artist to do it in-house. Summary In this week s discussion questions, we will be thinking about how to gather information for and compose a successful business proposal. Whether you are a sales person or a writer and/or editor who helps plan and develop the proposal for a sales person, a better understanding of this process will help you achieve your ultimate objective a winning proposal document. Discussion Questions Describe some of the instances when proposals might be requested? Or instances when you company might prepare them for potential customers? If you have seen past proposals, either prepared by or submitted to your company, describe the type and depth of information that they included. If you were assigned to prepare a Current Environment section of a proposal to a customer/client, what specific type of information would you need to collect and why? What means/methods might your company use to gather information to prepare a Current Environment section to go in a proposal for a client/customer? Who might be the best person to help collect this information and why? If you were to prepare a qualifications section for your business or one you have been affiliated with, what would you include in it?