Anatomy of a proposal...company profile and information

Part of the Learn to Write Proposals online proposal guide.

When you write a business proposal, just as when you select a project team, you need to select relevant projects in relevant sectors and demonstrate the relevance and benefits of this project to your proposal. If your proposal states that you can do something, back it up with demonstrable experience of having done it before - show what you did for the client – the resulting benefits that your solution provided, not just what you did and when.

A good track record and relevant experience shows that you are a safe pair of hands that can deliver. If you have had a good relationship with a client – ask them for a citation to include. A recommendation from a previous client is more powerful than your case study on its own.
 
Have you worked with the client before? Don’t take it for granted that the evaluators will know and take it into consideration – spell it out, demonstrate your knowledge and experience of the client. If you don’t - you aren't maximising the opportunity



Company overview

Never put your canned company history at the front of your proposal. The buyer is not interested in firstly reading about what you used to be called fifteen years ago, or when you were founded! They want to know about what you are going to do for them. Company history is useful to demonstrate your credibility and stability, but leave it until you have presented the solution.

Use this section to include the things everyone should know about you. Don’t make the assumption that the client knows who you are, even if your product is owned by everyone in the world! Put that information in your proposal – if you don’t, it can’t be evaluated. 

The same applies to all the following ‘boilerplate’ proposal sections – project management and quality assurance – they’re important, but remember that the buyer is going to expect good project management and high quality – it isn’t something that is going to differentiate you from the competition – that must come in your solution.

If you can keep your company overview on no more than one page and keep it up to date – include recent company developments and innovations – the more recent the information the better.

Lastly, again try and tailor the information to make it as relevant to the client as possible – emphasise your history of working within their sector, industry and, if you have, with the client themselves.

Project management

You’ve explained what you can do for the client and how you will do it. Now it’s time to explain how you will monitor, manage and communicate the progress throughout the project.

Each potential supplier should have a strong project management methodology – and so must you. You may have project managers working for you with project management qualifications, such as PRINCE 2 – if so use this internal expertise to put together an easy to understand, comprehensive methodology on how you work.

As your competitors will have strong methodologies, you should concentrate on explaining your process and then following up to explain why your processes are the most efficient and suitable for this project – what are they going to add relating to cost, time and quality.

Use diagrams where you can – process information is usually dry and often boring. Graphics are a great way to present processes and liven up potentially uninteresting information. Make the effort to get quality graphics produced – you are trying to demonstrate your quality, so don’t put rubbish diagrams using Word’s drawing tools in your proposal. Prepare your graphics early and make use of professional graphic designers. We'll have more on graphics in our article on using graphics and images

Quality assurance

A certain level of quality is going to be expected in any supplier. Indeed, a commitment to a minimum level of quality assurance is a mandatory requirement in most RFPs.

You may have specific quality accreditations such as ISO:2001 which you should document here (scan your ISO certificate and insert it as a graphic). If you haven’t got a quality accreditation you need to explain the quality and testing processes that you employ to give assurances to the buyer:

• What are your processes for finding and reducing defects?
• How do you deal with customer complaints?
• Do you have a continuous improvement process?
• How do you comply with regulations?
• How do you ensure reliability?
• How do you document your processes?
• Do you have a Quality Manager? What are their qualifications, credentials and role in this project?
  

One thing that must come across in your quality process description is that quality is embedded in what you do – don’t let quality be an afterthought. Give the client the confidence that throughout the project they are dealing with a safe pair of hands that will deliver a product or service that will not let them down.

Anatomy of a proposal...the project team

Part of the Learn to Write Proposals online proposal guide.

It's a good idea to really sell your people when writing your business proposal - it can often be a clincher when there are similar bids that the client goes for the project team they prefer, so check exactly what they want - experience, enthusiasm etc., and really sell this in your proposal.

Include an organisation chart showing the reporting structures and hierarchy in your project team. If you don’t have internal capabilities to get graphic’s created professionally then outsource using a local company or a website such as www.biliondollargraphics.com. It won’t cost a lot and it will give you reusable assets that make your proposal look fantastic. We'll look at graphics in your proposal in another article

Your team structure should show that you have adequate and appropriate resources in place to deliver the project.

Here's an example proposal graphic - you may want to use something similar and even show the project teams or individuals lower in the hierarchy:



So how to write a proposal selling the experience and skills of the project team? We have a bog standard resume we can dump in haven't we?

Think about your proposal philosophy though and that you always want to demonstrate the client benefit.

Do this by explaining why you have chosen this team to work on this particular project. Describe what their role in this project will be and follow this up by explaining what benefits they will bring to the project by giving examples or even testimonials from other clients on how they have succeeding in similar roles in other projects. You may even want to highlight one or two individuals that offer unique skills to your project in the executive summary.

Your people don’t work anywhere else. They are a huge differentiator. Demonstrate how your people make you look uniquely capable of delivering the contract.

There’s no need to include details for everyone who will work on the project – but you should include everyone who has a decision making or client facing role- and always check to ensure that you are providing the relevant information that's been asked from in the tender or RFP.

Heres a sample proposal resume:


Additionally, I would recommend having around five different projects that you could choose from, but only pick the two or three most relevant to the team members role in this project.

Remember when writing business proposals to try and show the impact that each team member had on the project and the benefit this brought to the client.

Next...how to present your company profile.

Visit www.learntowriteproposals.com for more RFP, tender and proposal resources.

Anatomy of a proposal...Costs and budgets

It’s important to clearly display your project costings to allow the buyer to make a clear analysis of what is included, what it's going to cost and that the financial benefits are. This is a detailed breakdown of the costs - you should include high-level financials in the Executive Summary, including a mention of the return on investment or financial benefits.

Break down your pricing down where you can. This gives the appearance of value to the buyer – there are more items in your list (making it look like they are getting more) and because your items are broken down the cost of these items are smaller.

Additionally, breaking down pricing allows you to again demonstrate the value in your solution by including discrete value added components. These may be listed as options, allowing buyers a “pick and mix” approach to selecting the extras that you are able to provide.

Use the smallest sensible unit for your item costs e.g. 1 month’s support @ £500 rather than 1 year’s support @ £6,000. Dependant on what it is your are selling, the unit may vary. If you sell widgets, you will be putting in a price per unit, quantities and discounts etc. whereas a professional services organisation may charge per project element. Consultancy work may just require a daily, or even hourly rate listed.

Return on investment

If you know the client's business model well enough, then include financial modelling to show the specific financial value that your solution brings. Read more in our article Give the client a return on investment.

Invoicing schedule

Your buyer wants to be able to plan costs for the duration of the project and you want to plan when you need to have money coming in to finance the project.

Think about which parts of the project require most effort and make sure these have an appropriate value associated with them. Don’t be scared of front-loading the project values or requiring a project initiation payment – you may need money up front to finance some later project activities.

If the client isn’t happy with your breakdown this will usually be negotiated at the contract stage, especially if the client needs the project outlay to timed with income.

Budget assumptions

Budget assumptions are there to remove ambiguity. For example, do your costs include taxes? Travel and expenses? How long are you prepared to keep your offer open for? Basically anything that the client is going to pay for that isn't listed in your principal table of costs.

Estimated expenses

Even if your costs include expenses provide a breakdown of what those expenses are. This demonstrates your transparency in all your activities on behalf of the client and ensures no surprises to be argued about at a later date.

Lastly...

Always start calculating your project costs early...don't wait until the end of your proposal and you only have a day left to figure out what you are going to charge. Estimating and presenting your costs is an integral part of every partof the proposal development so make sure that any changes are reviewed and signed off by management and/or your financial department at every stage.

Anatomy of a proposal...project plans and schedules

Part of the Learn to Write Proposals online proposal guide.

A schedule is an important part of your business proposal, giving the client organisation a visual guide to duration of not just the entire project, but specific tasks within the project.

When you write a proposal use a high-level schedule, unless a detailed schedule is specifically requested, ensuring you include the main project activities and all project milestones and deliverables.

What’s the difference in these items? The Learn to Write Proposals glossary defines each of them as:

• Activity - Task or work required to complete part of a project
• Milestone - In Project Management a point at which specific work packages or deliverables have been completed and accepted. Milestones are purely an administrative point of reference and should have no cost or time associated with them
• Deliverable - A tangible and measurable output of a project activity
  

Often a table is all that is required to demonstrate a timeline of events and the relationship and relative importance of the project activities. However, on more complex projects (or where it's requested by the client where a tool such as MS Project is used to schedule projects I recommend
using a Gantt chart saved as a .gif file. We'll show how to do this in
another article.

If the schedule is too long for the page width then consider using a fold-out or use section breaks and page setup to change the schedule page to landscape orientation.

Key dates

It’s also useful for to extract key dates from your schedule and insert them in a separate table – it’s just another way of putting clarity in your document, making it easier for the buyer to evaluate it – it also helps you obtain the dates for your invoicing schedule. Indeed in smaller projects where there aren't large numbers of deliverables or project activities, a simple table of key dates may be all that is required.

You can show dates of deliverables or start date/end date of key activity - it may be that a product based proposal has key deliverable dates but a service based proposal has start date/end date. You may want to include these in your Executive Summary.

Some quick tips on creating a project schedule

• Involve the person who will be responsible for creating the full project plan and delivering the project - they should be involved with your proposal production.
• If there is a set deadline work backwards, but be wary of forcing an unrealistic amount or project work into too short a timeframe - it's better to be realistic with your client and set realistic goals that can be met without impacting on quality.
• Make sure you know your projects dependencies - that is what activities need to be finished before another can start.

Next...We'll have a tip on creating images from Gantt charts...then onto costs

Visit www.learntowriteproposals.com for more RFP, tender and proposal resources.

Book review - Timothy Koegel: The Exceptional Presenter

At Learn to Write Proposals we like books that not only present high-quality, in-depth content but which are easily digestible and I don't think that we're alone with this. After all, how many busy business people really read every word of a business-related book? Not many, most of the time, we look through the books to try and find that snippet of information that we need quickly and find practical enough to be able to use it immediately. 

We also like books that don't just say "this is the way it should be done" but actually give you the techniques and strategies to get there.

This is what I like about "Triggers " (Joe Sugarman) and it's what I like about "The Exceptional Presenter" by Timothy Koegel. Koegel is a presentation and media consultant from Washington and he states that his mission with The Exceptional Presenter is to "take the mystery and the misery out of presenting".

OK - this is not a book on how to write a business proposal, but presenting is such an important part of the proposal and business development process. It's more thatn just writing a sales document. You probably do presentations before you even write a proposal when you visit clients...good presentations at thisstage of the process lead to better informed, beneficial customer relationships and these relationships will make your account management and capture planning. So let's not lose the importance of a good presentation.

It's often said that people find public speaking the scariest thing in their life - and there are many people who actively avoid it. Koegel wants to not only de-mystify the process that some find magical...he challenges you early on in the book to think of two exceptional presenters and think of what characteristics they had that made them exceptional. It's the start of the process of breaking down what exceptional presenters do, analysing the skills used learning a systematic approach to the skills. 

The book is part guide, part workbook - Koegel states an aim to help you develop a presentation style that is organised, passionate,engaging and natural - and the book's approach certainly helps you do that. Interestingly the longest chapter of the book is the chapter on being passionate, perhaps because Koegel's research amongst business professionals has found that the no.1 characteristic of exceptional presenters is passion. 

This section is fascinating and really encourages some self-reflection as Koegel dissects posture and body language before even getting round to the voice. He challenges you with different questions and exercises as well as offers tips and advice, such as about presenting behind podiums and using microphones. Some are simple lists...I'll throw in one list for you that anyone can benefit from straight away - "Five tips to appear relaxed,confident and professional": 

1. Stand tall - don't sway, rock, shuffle or lean
2. Keep your head and eyes up. Connect with your audience
3. Smile. A sincere smile warms up the coldest situations
4. Never retreat
5. Move with purpose, energy and enthusiasm 

The advice given is good and takes you through every aspect of a presentation, but what makes this book stand out is the way that it gets you doing it. The last section of the book is full of presentation sheets, designed to get you planning, practicing and reviewing your presentations and goals. Some of these forms can be downloaded from Koegels webpage (http://www.theexceptionalpresenter.com). 

There's a great quote too from Tom Peters that sums this book up. He says: 

"...there was one enormous point Koegel makes that is ever-so-obvious ... except that I've never seen it made with such impact and clarity. Are you breathless with anticipation? Well, you should be. Here goes:"Those who practice improve. Those who don't, don't." 

It's a good point, professional sports people and musicians practice to reach a standard, yet how often to business people practice important, even core skills? 

As someone who has regularly given sales presentations, speeches and seminars as part of my daily job I can safely say that "The Exceptional Presenter" hits all the points it needs to and I'm sure that anyone, new to presenting or experienced will benefit from the knowledge and practical advice it contains. 

Buy The Exceptional Presenter now from Amazon

An example story from a real proposal

This was one of four scenarios presented not to Global Corp., but a large UK public sector body in a real business proposal.

John is an affiliated agent with Global Corp., based in London. As part of the getting to know about new procedures and initiatives, he is required to undertake a variety of training, delivered by a variety of means – face-to-face, on the job and through the new Global Corp. e-community portal.

Today, John needs to study some e-learning units in preparation for a classroom training session with Global Corp. Health and Safety investigators. These units cover the process for handling accident site evidence.

John has never done e-learning before and is apprehensive – he would rather get his hands dirty, and learn in the field. However, he has been asked to review the units before his meeting, so he logs on to the Global Corp. community portal, selects the “learning library” link and the “Handling accident site evidence” unit.

John likes that it tells him how long it will take to cover the unit, as well as the fact that he knows that it has been written by experts at Global Corp. He goes through the unit and finds that he enjoys the clearly presented information and finds it very easy to understand. He also likes that he can go through it at his own pace and whenever he likes.

At one point, John finds one part of the unit slightly ambiguous – as he has no-one around to ask he posts a question to his online mentor. The next day, he has a reply that clears up his problem.

At the following weeks training session, John realises how beneficial the e-learning unit was – all the attendees were up to speed on the different procedures and the practical training was much better as he could practice and improve rather than just learn the basics

As you can see, the walkthroughs aren't complicated, but help present a layman's viewpoint in your proposal that may very well be read and evaluated by people unfamiliar with the overly technical aspects of your proposal solution.

For more on how to write a business proposal see the Learn to Write Proposals proposal guide.

Next....schedules and project plans.

Visit www.learntowriteproposals.com for more RFP, tender and proposal resources.

Anatomy of a proposal...telling a story in your solution

Part of the Learn to Write Proposals online proposal guide.

Telling the story of your solution

You may have the best ideas and products in the world…but how do you put them into words? How to write a business proposal about them?

Easy…tell a story. I suggest that this is done in a three parts solution section in your business proposal.

1) Win Theme

Let the client know straight away why you are the best and most appropriate supplier. What is it that sets you apart? See here for our article on win themes

2) Description, benefits and evidence

State what you can do and how you are going to do it. Explain what your products and services can deliver and what difference they will make. Go into the detail of how it works remembering with each function or output you describe explain what that means for the client – how does it help them? How is your bid going to solve their business issues? Then, as in all good business development provide supporting evidence to back up your case. Testimonial and experience go a long way to proving you can deliver (as you've done it before) and also giving you credibility to the client.

Most importantly – make it clear what you are proposing. Don’t be vague, be specific and relevant.

3) The user experience

This is the storytelling part. Explaining how a typical user will use, or has benefited from, your product or service is incredibly powerful. Stories aren’t that often used, but can convey a message to evaluators that has impact and real meaning to them – particularly not-technical evaluators who may gloss over technical sections.

It allows you to insert in the minds of evaluators an image of success, ease-of-use and quality that a description of pure functionality doesn’t allow. This is the soft approach describing the benefits through the stories of user interaction.

Don’t make your stories too long – 150 to 350 words should do, but if you wish include two or three from different viewpoints; the end user, the manager, the technician, etc. User experiences can be used if you don’t have supporting evidence of your solution’s capabilities. Instead, provide a story of a user and how they needed something (problem) what they did with your product (describe a favourable scenario) then finally how easy it was to get the desired outcome (benefits). Although this isn’t real evidence it describes to evaluators how it will work in the real world – a very powerful device.

Another way to use stories is to provide real evidential anecdotes. These could be used as mini case studies to back up your solution. Use a narrative style to explain what the client’s issues were, how you won their work, what you did and how it benefited them.

Remember, when using scenarios and stories, alter the style of your writing to be more narrative and friendly. Use the third person and imagine that you are preparing text to be read out aloud.

Next...We'll have an example story for you...then onto schedules and project plans.

Visit www.learntowriteproposals.com for more RFP, tender and proposal resources.