Truth 31. Well-crafted proposals win

Two technology companies regularly apply for government defense contracts by responding to RFPs (requests for proposals). One reaps a modest ratio of success. While the executives usually voice a “win some, lose some” attitude, they are always surprised when a bid fails, because “our engineers are the best in the business.” The second company lands a steady stream of contracts, some of which are a distinct reach. What’s the difference in how the companies bid?

Company #1 leaves the proposal preparation to those who understand the specs and the work. Company #2, while basing the content on its engineers’ input, delegates the writing to a small cadre of managers who write skillfully.

Good proposals win; it’s that simple. Even with competitive bidding, price can usually be interpreted in terms of extra value and proven ability to deliver. The process for crafting strong proposals also applies to internal proposals—like a service offer to another department or a case for introducing new technology.

Goal and audience—You’re competing for a business opportunity. Who will review what you submit? Realistically, a whole series of people with different degrees of knowledge who probably have far too many proposals to plow through. This makes readability valuable. Also, they probably are armed with a checklist of “plus” and “minus” factors, and may review proposals electronically to see that the requisite keywords and elements are included.

So if you have an RFP or a less formal announcement in hand, your first step is to read it 20 times to pick up the keywords and identify the underlying agenda. Look beyond the obvious and analyze: What problem is the company trying to solve? Can you read between the lines to understand what keeps the management up at night? Your content should address that.

If you’ve met with the clients, visualize them: Reconstruct the conversation and note what mattered to them and how they talked about their needs. Play that back in the proposal, and you may reach them on an emotional level.

Tone and style—Even when an RFP’s language is convoluted, your writing must be clear, simple, logical. Strip the modifiers. Keep words, sentences, and paragraphs short. Eradicate promotional hype and claims without evidence, such as, “We’re the most technologically sophisticated company in the industry.”

A proposal doesn’t necessarily have to be a cold, dry document. Often it’s good to show a passion for the work you do. People like to deal with those who make it clear that they truly care about their product or service.

Content mapping—What must you include to come out the winner, whether your firm is selling telescopes, psychological services, architectural design, or salami?

• Demonstrate a complete understanding of the business and project and describe what you’ll provide in those terms.

• State how you’ll do it—time frame, staffing, resources.

• Present your company résumé in tight form, tailored to the project needs.

• Present the advantages you offer, such as experience in the industry, awards, technology infrastructure, special expertise.

• Backgrounds of the principals who’ll do the work.

• Comfort factors: evidence that your company can be trusted to do the job right, on time, and within budget—testimonials, track record on similar projects, references.

• Essentials such as fee structure, exclusions, project schedules.

The headline and lead—Unless you’re filling out a specific form, you need a headline, perhaps a subhead, and a lead. Generally, headlines can be simple and matter-of-fact:

A WATER SYSTEM PROPOSAL FOR THE TOWN OF BROMPTON, N.Y. Presented by H2O Products Inc.

Try for a good, benefit-oriented lead. For example, “ARV Media proposes to create a radio campaign that will make Jake’s Paint a household name.” It’s also perfectly okay to use simple, straightforward leads such as, “XJY Architecture is pleased to present this proposal for Barton City’s first solar-powered library.”

Build your middle—Put the content in logical order in marked sections. Use subheads, bold lead-ins, varying typography.

Conclude—According to what feels right, end with a confident summary statement. You may need an executive summary, a table of contents, and an appendix with backup.

All the principles of good writing apply to proposal writing, which has the clearest bottom-line result of anything you’ll ever write. The language may need to be formal and it needs to sound objective, but that doesn’t mean it should be stilted and dull: To pull people through a proposal, the writing must be crisp, sharp, active, and convey enthusiasm. Use the “say-ability” test. Use good transitions between sections and paragraphs.

Some more guidelines:

Do…

• Use a team approach and good teaming strategies if different departments are involved.

• Thoroughly research the organization you’re pitching and your likely competitors.

• Brainstorm what your firm can offer that others can’t or might not think to include.

• Call the company and ask questions (intelligent ones), which may even establish a bit of a relationship.

• Go for evidence of what you can produce or perform.

• Edit a team-produced proposal so sections and styles meld.

• Create the final document with good graphic principles: white space to rest the eyes, visuals.

• Proofread obsessively, many times, using many eyes.

Don’t…

• Use jargon (though you may need to mirror back the company’s own language to show you’re on the same track).

• Use tentative language like we hope, will consider, it seems, may, perhaps, or possibly.

• Obscure the basic message with too much technical detail. Put that in an appendix.

• Drop in boilerplate sections such as company history without tailoring them to the purpose.

• Promise more than you can fulfill: This is much worse than losing a contract.