Be Prepared:

· Ask questions well in advance. If anyone on your team has any questions about RFP, make sure that you ask them well in advance of query deadline. And because agency replies are typically distributed to all proponents, it’s important to carefully phrase your questions, so that you do not give away any information on strategy or pricing to your competition.

· Create a budget checklist to ensure that you have accounted for all proposed revenues, expenses and additional costs.

· Allow plenty of time to gather all financial information you will require. Make sure you understand financial nature of RFP – fixed fee, cost-plus, etc. and price your proposal accordingly.

Be Compliant:

· Follow RFP outline and structure exactly when preparing your proposal. The contracting agency will be comparing your “apples” to those of your competition; you don’t want them hunting for information because you chose to follow a different format.

· Follow all proposal preparation instructions exactly. If you take one step out of line your proposal could be eliminated before it’s even read or considered.

· Follow conventions and structure specified exactly in RFP. Don’t assume that contracting agency has any prior knowledge of your organization’s staff, capabilities and work experience. Their job is to review, compare and contrast only that information which is contained in each proposal.

Be Convincing:

· Fully describe value and benefits of your organization’s products and services, not just features. These benefits may seem completely obvious to you, but they may not be quite so obvious to decision makers. If you can clearly and directly describe benefits to your contracting agency, and convince these decision makers that your proposal contains biggest and most important benefits, you will automatically set yourself above your competition.

· Clearly answer who, what, when, where and why details specified in RFP.

· Use tables, charts and other graphic elements to display information and break up large chunks of text. This will make your proposal easier to read, digest and evaluate.

Be Sure:

· Accurately document and list any assumptions you make when presenting your budget. Triple-check that all numbers add up. Print out a hard copy of your budget to assist in spotting errors. When displaying numbers, make sure you use a font that is large enough and easy to read.

· Proofread for consistency throughout your proposal in terms of spelling, punctuation, section headings, etc. Ensure that each copy of your proposal contains all pages in correct order.

· Complete and sign all associated forms that must accompany your bid. Read submission instructions over one last time to ensure that you have included everything and followed instructions exactly.

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The Executive Summary is most important section of your proposal

The Executive Summary is first (and sometimes only) section that will be read by RFP decision makers. While Executive Summary appears first in most proposals, it should be last section that you write, as it must capture your proposal’s highlights, and it must underscore strength and competence of your team.

75 over-sized comfy rooms that each face ocean! You'll want to make sure you've got your video camera handy as you're unwinding on your private balcony watching daily sunset, listening to waves roll up against shore right outside your window! 3, 5-Star restaurants! And each one of them offers you a minimum of 27 tasty meals and 11 local desserts, all prepared fresh, daily. (Plus, you get our "If you don't like it -- you don't pay for it, guarantee!") And lastly... 2, sun-drenched swimming pools! Both complete with waterfalls... heated jacuzzis... and an in-pool tropical bar, and each landscaped with their own beach and tropical theme. Also, with a snack-bar and grill located within a half-minute walk, you won't ever have to worry about going hungry (or thirsty) while you're enjoying all your outdoor activities! See, when you use 2 examples, you're not able to process what you heard, as quickly and naturally as when you're using 3 examples.

What happens is, inside your head, things just aren't computing right.

Instead of focusing on information, in back of your mind, you're expecting that third item to come tumbling out, and you're left wondering, "Did you not get your third item delivered to you because person couldn't think of one... they didn't know what it was... or maybe they just forgot to tell it to you?

Who Knows?

You just can't figure it out, but bottom line is, you didn't leave feeling confident, "at ease" and satisfied. Instead,

You Left... Feeling Incomplete And... “Naked”!

So make sure, whenever you're talking about a list of items, you deliver that third item -- don't just stop after 2.

This "power of three" holds true even if you're saying something in a sentence.

For instance, saying "If you've ever experienced any kind of severe back pain or soreness in your shoulders, our intense 7-minute executive massage, is guaranteed to give you complete and thorough relief, throughout rest of your day"...

Leaves people feeling less complete than saying...

"If you've ever experienced any kind of severe back pain... stiffness in your neck... or soreness in your shoulders, our intense 7-minute Executive Massage, is guaranteed to give you complete and thorough relief, throughout rest of your day."

See what I mean?

Use this curious power of three to make your sales copy read smoother.

You may be interested to know, this "power of three" also applies to total number of fonts you use in your sales copy as well.

You see, testing shows, once you have more than 3 different kinds of fonts on your page, you start scrambling your prospects minds a bit and you begin to lose them.

And as you know...

That's last thing you ever want to do!

And by way, an italicized font, is considered to be a separate font for these purposes.