Ten Tips for Creating a Winning Proposal – Part 1

Written 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 torepparttar questions of who, what, where, why, how and when.

But many small or home-based business owners have neitherrepparttar 119859 time, knowledge or resources necessary to create proposals that properly relayrepparttar 119860 pertinent information aboutrepparttar 119861 company and its ability to providerepparttar 119862 requested services.

Ifrepparttar 119863 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 selectrepparttar 119864 templates that are appropriate to include inrepparttar 119865 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.

Readrepparttar 119866 following tips for an idea ofrepparttar 119867 components that will help your proposals getrepparttar 119868 attention they need.

Tip #1 – Identifyrepparttar 119869 Problem

A proposal must show thatrepparttar 119870 person or company submitting it clearly understandsrepparttar 119871 problem thatrepparttar 119872 prospective client is attempting to remedy. Ifrepparttar 119873 proposal cannot show right away, in repparttar 119874 Executive Summary section, that you have a clear understanding ofrepparttar 119875 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 repparttar 119876 Executive Summary section.

Tip #2 – Identifyrepparttar 119877 Proposed Solution

The proposal must also clearly outlinerepparttar 119878 manner in whichrepparttar 119879 bidder will address this problem. Include hererepparttar 119880 personnel you will assign torepparttar 119881 project and their resumes. Mention hererepparttar 119882 estimated timeline for completingrepparttar 119883 work outlined inrepparttar 119884 bid. Also showrepparttar 119885 anticipated costs and how they will be allocated. Don’t provide too much information aboutrepparttar 119886 proposed solution. You don’t want to giverepparttar 119887 proposed solution away for free!

Ten Tips for Creating a Winning Proposal – Part 2

Written 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 awardrepparttar job. Be sure to carefully reviewrepparttar 119858 request for proposal to determinerepparttar 119859 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

Selectingrepparttar 119860 right price forrepparttar 119861 proposed work is a delicate balancing act. Pricingrepparttar 119862 job too low could cause you to lose money onrepparttar 119863 job. Also, a bid that’s too low might be perceived byrepparttar 119864 client as unrealistic and cause you to loserepparttar 119865 bid. Take time to properly considerrepparttar 119866 amount of time and materials involved in completingrepparttar 119867 tasks you have outlined and pricerepparttar 119868 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 repparttar 119869 request for proposal asks for it, be sure you include it.

Tip #8 – Don’t Reveal Too Much!

When submitting your proposed solution torepparttar 119870 prospective client’s problem, you must not reveal too much information. You need to satisfactorily explain your approach while atrepparttar 119871 same time keeping some information to yourself. Sound confusing? How about this: If you tellrepparttar 119872 client exactly how to solverepparttar 119873 problem,repparttar 119874 client might decide to implement your solution without your assistance! You’ll lose out onrepparttar 119875 bid, not because your approach was inadequate, but because you explained it so wellrepparttar 119876 client did not need an outside company to implement it.

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