How to Write a Proposal or Tender Response that Wins the Business

Some say it’s better than sex. The high you get when your sales effort lands a juicy order is difficult to beat. Not far behind is the feeling you get immediately after a great sales meeting. Sometimes it lasts until you get around to thinking about writing the proposal.

I am sure that some of you already have good writing skills. You know how to write a sales proposal and can’t wait to rush back and start writing a compelling justification whenever your are asked. A few of you at least, get pleasure from bringing words to life on paper. Why is it that people with a flare for interpersonal communication so often find proposal writing a horrible experience?

If contemplation invokes even a faint a sense of dread, we put it off until the last possible moment which usually means that the task must be rushed. If this seems an exaggeration, consider how many times you have submitted a late proposal or have had to seek deadline extensions.

In these days of automated work-smart work-flow solutions, proposal writing aught to be a less onerous task. Point and click proposal generators are readily available. At the same time, best practice advice for writing a winning proposal is to make it about the customer and solving the customer's problems. Boiler plate paragraphs written to have universal appeal, fail to convey the understanding, credibility, and certainty of outcome that we need from them.

If you have tried to create your own anthology of useful data, descriptions, paragraphs, and phrases you will know how difficult it is to keep such a collection of resources current and organised, in a usable manner. Let’s consider the headings contained in a good proposal.

First is the title. Copywriters tell us that this is the most important part of a document because it often determines if a potential reader will even begin reading. Supposedly, this is less important when a customer is waiting with eager anticipation to spend hours pouring over each hopeful submission. A good title sets the tone. It is like a first impression. It can be bad, neutral, or good. Some otherwise strong proposals risk being discarded or read with disdain, just for want of a more exciting title.

After a table of contents (with exciting titles for each section), most professionals recommend beginning with an Executive summary. We think that separating out a ‘Goals and Objectives’ section is worthwhile. It provides the writer with an opportunity to create alignment in one or two sentences or paragraphs, without the reader having to dive into the one or two pages that make up the Executive Summary.

Large blocks of text are most discouraging.

Each paragraph must sell the reader or at least sell the value of reading on. A brief and accurate expression of the customer’s goal, your part in it, and the supported customer objectives, is easy to read and creates immediate congruency.

The Executive Summary may be the only part of the proposal that is properly scrutinised. If you can’t afford to lose, it may be worth having these first three parts of your proposal written by a professional. We use the following guidelines for the Executive Summary.

• First demonstrate understanding of the issues and circumstances that led to the requirement. If you have included the suggested Goals and Objectives section, this part of the Executive Summary will be a natural extension of what you have already written.
• Next express the specific issues that are to be addressed in the proposal.
• Follow this with an outline of the proposed solution.
• Then describe the expected outcomes and benefits.
• Include any verifiable top level return on investment figures available.
• Finish with a short overview of the people and resources that the solution depends on.

If you are responding to a formal RFP or tender, the next section will be governed by the specific responses required. As far as possible, responses should be given in the same order and with the same references as the request document. Otherwise, explain your solution in as much detail as the customer has requested.

If you don’t know how much detail they want, provide more than you think is necessary. Structure each individual response so that readers can choose how much they need to read. Improve readability by summarising, subdividing, and formatting.

Next is the proof. This section might be titled ‘Expected Results’, or put more strongly, ‘Results can Expect’. This section should list the outcomes being promised together with evidence that proves they are deliverable.

Some experts prefer to bracket the price section with the solution and proof. Others order the proof after the solution and before the prices. I am not sure it makes much difference. Costs should be outlined in the Executive Summary and if they are not, many readers will first turn to the price section before looking over the other content.

If you have engaged with the customer over the full period of their investigation, then your proposal should contain no surprises. Ideally you will already have obtained the customers agreement that what you are putting in the proposal, completely meets their needs. This doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to win, only that you are a contender. If you haven’t obtained this agreement, then you will be trying to guess the right solution.

Depending on the products or services that you offer, it may be appropriate to include a section that describes how results will be measured. Sometimes it is easier to include this in the proof section, already discussed. If there is any uncertainty about measurement of results, explaining measurement methods or providing suggestions, increases a supplier’s credibility. It demonstrates an expectation of being held to account and a willingness to embrace the reality of the results.

Including a summary section that expresses a firm recommendation and describes any steps entailed in accepting the proposal, is a clean way to complete the document.

The remaining sections of the proposal are easier to draw from ‘boiler plate’. These are the statements of service or support, technical data, customer references, biographies or resumes of the people involved, and a company background or history description.

If this outline describes the type of proposals that you produce, then it would be worth automating your proposal process. An automated system may not eliminate all of the writing. It doesn’t need to do so, to generate a substantial return on investment. Just add up the time you or your team spend writing proposals. A properly designed, automated system is bound to recover a lot of sales time that can be reinvested in what sales people do best – engaging with customers.

Automation can eliminate spelling, grammar, and factual errors. A custom designed automated proposal generator can improve representation and consistency as well as save time. The resulting improvement in proposal quality leads to a higher ratio of winning proposals and increased sales results.

Gene Fowler said, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” If you need a way increase proposal quality and reduce the time they take to prepare, create a best practice model and populate it with selectable examples drawn from successful past proposals.

A well designed template with glossary like organisation provides an excellent 'how to write a proposal' manual that saves sales people slabs of time.

Article by Clive Miller

If you are looking for ways to improve sales proposal writing skills or increase sales conversion rates, we can help. Telephone +44 (0)118 933 1357. We will be pleased to discuss your needs or talk through some options. Send email to custserv@salessense.co.uk for a prompt reply or use the contact form here.