In "Installment 30: Solving the Proposal Dilemma," we recommended that you write the Executive Summary before the proposal kickoff meeting. You should make sure that it includes winning themes and salient selling points so that they can be stressed throughout the proposal. The person who drafts the Executive Summary should be the sales or management person who knows the customer best. We suggest tackling this task ahead of time even if the first draft of the Executive Summary is only an outline with critical selling points as bullet points.
The person writing the draft Summary should work with the Proposal Manager to make sure that the points made in the draft Summary are distributed throughout the proposal outline. The Executive Summary should be revised several times during proposal development and re-circulated among the proposal writing team. Selling points should be refined in the proposal as it is written and then rewritten in the Executive Summary and vice versa.
Writing a convincing Executive Summary is an art. The Summary provides you with a unique opportunity to succinctly outline your case for why your company should be chosen. In fact, it may be the only part of your proposal read by the customer's senior management and the only part read by all of the evaluators. Yet many firms don't understand the significance of this critical section. A poorly-written summary immediately erects a barrier to winning. Conversely, an exciting, captivating summary sets the stage for victory. Most importantly, an Executive Summary is what the evaluators and your potential customer read first. A good one should:
- Be brief, terse and designed to hold the reader's attention
- Provide the reader with an introduction to your company
- Focus on the salient features of your proposal and your company's capabilities
- Present the critical aspects of your solution
- Present the innovative features of your solution and the beneficial outcomes your solution will provide to the customer
- Explain what distinguishes your proposal from the rest
Circulating the Executive Summary to members of the proposal team and company management and soliciting comments is likely to improve the final document. It may even demonstrate to management that it should be more involved in the proposal effort.
You can build your integrated sales and proposal-writing processes in-house or you can purchase CRMFederal, Fedmarket's new web-based software product. The new CRMFederal product includes the Proposal Architect, our current proposal writing product. Current owners of the Proposal Architect will be provided with access to CRMFederal at no charge.
CRMFederal is comprised of ten web-based tasks. Upon completion of the tasks, the user will have a completed proposal. Processes within tasks are activated through a web browser. Model proposal text and templates are provided in downloadable Word format.
Call Matt Hankes at 301.652.9504, EXT.26 for additional information on CRMFederal.
Sharpen your proposal-writing skills by attending one of Fedmarket's seminars at the Federal Sales Academy in Bethesda, Maryland. We offer two proposal courses, "Writing and Managing Winning Proposals" and "Capture Planning/Advanced Proposal Writing." Visit our seminar calendar for upcoming dates and locations or call our seminar coordinator, Suzie White, at 301.652.9504, EXT. 10
If you need help with any other product sales, call or write as follows: (888) 661-4094 x8 or sales@fedmarket.com.
Regards,
Richard White
President
Fedmarket.com
The Federal Sales Academy
rwhite@fedmarket.com
(301) 652 - 9504 EXT. 18 (office)
(434) 962-9508 (cell)
Free Informative Whitepaper by Richard White: 
