Colin Roberts: spell out the benefits.

A proposal is not just a quote or costing, and it cannot merely be your sales pitch, says Colin Roberts.

A real proposal is a comprehensive evaluation of a client’s requirements and identified issues, supported by a proposition which delivers a quantifiable solution meeting the client’s needs. The outcomes of the solution, detailing the benefits to the client, should be spelled out and all this should be backed up by evidence that demonstrates you can deliver the solution.

Clear understanding

By the time you get to proposal stage you should have developed a clear understanding of the following:

• your client’s current situation relating to the product or service which you provide;
• the essential criteria for change and improved performance;
• the issues facing your client;
• the timescale for implementation of change;
• the budget available;
• the hierarchy of decision makers involved; and
• the ‘uniques’ that you can deliver which will benefit your client.

Following due consideration and appraisal of the facts collated during your meetings with the client, you will develop a solution that remedies the issues facing your client and exceeds the criteria for change. You will have confirmed that you can deliver the solution within the required timescale, created a schedule of the benefits to the client of your proposed solution and gathered together the evidence which supports your claims.

Now you are ready to pull the document together.

Start with a Contents page. Every proposal should have a contents page, which (as its name suggests) briefly summarises the content of each section. It might be section title plus headings of sub-sections or it could be a brief synopsis of the section contents.

Next is the Executive Summary, but you won’t actually create this until you have completed the rest of the document. The Exec Summary is a synopsis of the complete proposal. It should be written so that someone who knows nothing about the project or subject in question will develop an understanding of the situation even if they have had no previous involvement. Thus it’s compiled at the end of the process even though it forms the front page of your document... and only one page: your synopsis has to be concise, so the skill is to package it all up in a single page.

Criteria for Change and Improved Performance

This is your overview of the client’s requirements, needs, wishes and desires as understood by you as a result of the meetings you have had with the client. It will include the issues the client faces as well as the improvements the client wishes to realise. It is called the Criteria for Change and Improved Performance because that is exactly what you will spell out; what it is that your client requires in order to change supplier or provider. Your competitor’s documents may have sections loosely titled ‘Requirements’ or ‘Needs’, but you are going to clearly define exactly what is essential for your client in order to deliver improvements.

Solution

This is where you spell out what it is you are offering the client. Make sure it matches your ‘Criteria for Change and Improved Performance’; you can’t afford to highlight an issue or requirement and not address it in your solution. Make sure you quantify what it is you propose to deliver; make it quite clear what the client is going to get.

Cost proposal

Your cost proposal should be clear and concise, while also including everything. There should be no ambiguity here: the cost proposal should be transparent and, at the same time, protect your own company’s interests. Include any terms and conditions related to cost such as payment terms, invoice frequency and penalties. If your proposal is successful you will be entering a relationship with your client and it should not start with a disagreement about payment terms.

Outcomes

Summarise here the benefits derived by your client following implementation of your solution. Once again match them up to the ‘Criteria for Change and Improved Performance’. Enhance the outcomes that the client is seeking with other benefits to be derived through dealing with your business.

Evidence

It is very important that you are able to support your proposed solution with evidence of what you have successfully delivered before. Include testimonials, case studies, press cuttings and articles and any industry awards you have received.

Supporting material

Many companies provide masses of support material to back up proposals. My advice is to only include it if it is relevant. A lot of this sort of material evolves over time; it has not necessarily been developed as a complete package and, as a result, may include conflicts or errors. Whatever else, it is certainly not bespoke to the client you are selling to now.

Appendix

Always include an appendix. It may be a useful place to incorporate certification, documentation that you have specifically been asked to produce or other relevant material such as organisation charts or details of branch networks. The great benefit of an appendix to me is it says ‘I prepared your proposal and then I did a bit more’, which is exactly what your client wants to know you will do when it comes to delivering their solution.

Finally, bind your document in a manner that presents it well. If possible use a binding system which inhibits removal of the contents; you want to make sure that everybody who sees the document sees the whole thing.

Your completed document should tell a story; the Executive Summary provides an outline which should make the reader want to investigate further, the Criteria for Change and Improved Performance digs the hole that the client needs to have filled, the Solution illustrates how you will fill in the hole, the Cost proposal tells the client the charge to fill in the hole, the Outcomes remind the client of the benefits of filling in the hole and the Evidence proves that you can fill in the hole in a satisfactory manner.

Some absolute musts when it comes to proposal writing:

• Attention to detail is sacrosanct; there is no room for typos in proposal writing. Get someone else to proof read your document and check the finished article.
• Avoid cutting and pasting as it’s fraught with danger; leave in one wrong detail and your credibility has gone.
• Always build in time for review. Sleep on it and then go back to the finished article, take the time to have a look with a fresh pair of eyes; you may find something essential that you have missed.
• Never provide a proposal unless you have met with the client and fully understand what is required.
• Never post a proposal, always deliver it by appointment and present it to your client.
• Make sure you produce a personalised copy of the proposal for everybody in the hierarchy of decision-makers.

A winning proposal can make all the difference to a major bid so take the time necessary to pull it together. Diarise it, block off time to do it. Proposal writing is equally as important as getting out there in front of customers; it’s not a spare-time activity.

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