Ten Tips for Creating a Winning Proposal – Part 1Written by Cavyl Stewart
If you want your business to grow and attract new clients, you’ll have to start creating meaningful proposals. The goal of a proposal is obviously to be awarded new work. It accomplishes this goal by providing answers to questions of who, what, where, why, how and when. But many small or home-based business owners have neither time, knowledge or resources necessary to create proposals that properly relay pertinent information about company and its ability to provide requested services. If mere thought of having to create a proposal is keeping you from bidding on jobs you know your business can handle, stop worrying! There are several proposal-building software products available that will help with this task. Many are template-driven. All you have to do is select templates that are appropriate to include in proposal, use your word processor to add text that is specific to your type of business, then sit back and watch a professional-looking proposal emerge from your printer. Read following tips for an idea of components that will help your proposals get attention they need. Tip #1 – Identify Problem A proposal must show that person or company submitting it clearly understands problem that prospective client is attempting to remedy. If proposal cannot show right away, in Executive Summary section, that you have a clear understanding of problem, those reviewing it won’t feel confident that your company will be capable of properly and effectively dealing with it. They’ll see no reason to read beyond Executive Summary section. Tip #2 – Identify Proposed Solution The proposal must also clearly outline manner in which bidder will address this problem. Include here personnel you will assign to project and their resumes. Mention here estimated timeline for completing work outlined in bid. Also show anticipated costs and how they will be allocated. Don’t provide too much information about proposed solution. You don’t want to give proposed solution away for free!
| | Ten Tips for Creating a Winning Proposal – Part 2Written by Cavyl Stewart
Part 1 of this series described five critical components for creating a winning proposal. In some instances, these components are all a prospective client needs to make a determination and award job. Be sure to carefully review request for proposal to determine amount of information you need to include in your proposal. Remember, each proposal is unique. Here are five more tips to keep in mind when preparing a winning proposal. Tip #6 – Properly Estimate Job Costs Selecting right price for proposed work is a delicate balancing act. Pricing job too low could cause you to lose money on job. Also, a bid that’s too low might be perceived by client as unrealistic and cause you to lose bid. Take time to properly consider amount of time and materials involved in completing tasks you have outlined and price job accordingly. Tip #7 – Add Meat as Necessary Proposal requirements vary greatly. If you’re putting together a proposal for a major corporation or a government job, you’ll probably need extensive documentation. Examples of additional information that might be required include sub-contractor agreements, non-disclosure forms, contingency plans, change order procedures, risk analysis data, benchmark results and more. If request for proposal asks for it, be sure you include it. Tip #8 – Don’t Reveal Too Much! When submitting your proposed solution to prospective client’s problem, you must not reveal too much information. You need to satisfactorily explain your approach while at same time keeping some information to yourself. Sound confusing? How about this: If you tell client exactly how to solve problem, client might decide to implement your solution without your assistance! You’ll lose out on bid, not because your approach was inadequate, but because you explained it so well client did not need an outside company to implement it.
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