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The Do's and Dont's of Proposal Writing
By
Richard White
Listing all of the do's and don'ts of proposal writing would fill a small book. Some of the more important do's and don'ts are:
Do
- Write a proposal to solve the customer's problems as THEY perceive them, not how YOU perceive them.
- Don't try to think for the customer. Give the customer everything asked for in the RFP, down to the tiniest detail.
- Address each and every solicitation requirement, even if it appears to be meaningless on the surface. Remember, evaluators love to eliminate proposals to save time and effort or, sometimes, to help their favorite company.
- Explain how you will meet each and every requirement in a clear, concise manner.
- Explain why you are unique but only when you can be convincing and the uniqueness stands up to scrutiny.
- Give evaluators the material they need to support a decision in your favor.
- Develop a concise staffing and project management plan and avoid any ambiguities in staffing and personnel qualifications.
- Rewrite resumes of staff members to specifically address the RFP requirements. Interview proposed staff members to determine the specifics of their experience and its relevance to the requirements.
- Do not present extraneous or marginal material. If in doubt; it's extraneous. Evaluators hate extraneous material.
- Tailor your corporate qualifications (and general information) to match the specific requirements of the RFP.
- Differentiate yourself from your competitors. Know your strengths and weaknesses and your competitors' strength and weaknesses, and write to all four of these points.
- Find ways to present your solutions as unique while still meeting the requirements of the RFP.
- Write to the specific benefits of your company, your project team, and your solutions and substantiate each of these.
Don't
- Postpone the proposal outline refinement and actual writing of the first draft until there isn't enough time to produce a high quality proposal (probably the biggest single problem in proposal writing).
- Don't get caught in the trap of thinking that your company is the answer to the customer's prayers. Everyone thinks this way but your confidence means nothing unless it's backed up with references, performance data, and facts.
- If you must boast, prove it in words and with statistics.
- Don't overuse boilerplate material, and fine tune it to the customer.
- Don't write a novel; use simple, easy to understand language, avoid long-winded sentences, and run-on paragraphs.
Follow the do's and don'ts and win more contracts utilizing Fedmarket.com's innovative new solution to Proposal Writing; "The Proposal Architect" a new proprietary product designed to make proposal writing faster, less costly and more responsive.
The Proposal Architect will assist you in winning more contracts by making your proposed solutions more compelling. The table driven format will save you weeks of proposal writing time, and produce a more compelling proposal.
Proposal writing is both an art and a science.
The Proposal Architect uses models, templates, and guidelines for the non-technical parts of a proposal (the science). These features save significant amounts of proposal writing time and effort.
The most difficult aspect of proposal development is writing the technical approach (the art). This frequently involves several subject matter specialists who aren't good writers, are billable and not readily available, and abhor involvement in a proposal effort. The Architect can streamline the effort involved in pulling together the technical aspects of your proposal.
The Architect includes:
- Table-driven approach to developing a technical solution to the customer's problem
- Model Management Plan
- Templates and formats for resumes and corporate experience
- Proposal organization and writing guidelines
- Request for Proposal decomposition procedure
For full details visit
http://www.fedmarket.com/products/proposal-writing-software.shtml
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GSA Proposal Preparation eLab
Are you unable to complete your GSA Schedule offer? GSA proposal preparation is fraught with issues, questions, and frustration. Many postpone offer preparation because of the frustration.
Complete your offer in 3 days or fewer. Our instructors will walk you through the process and you will leave the eLab with a completed GSA proposal.
Attend our monthly GSA Proposal Preparation eLab in Bethesda, Maryland.
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FedBuying Intelligence is the most powerful sales tool in the federal market. It searches five years of public bid data and tells you “who bought what”. Enter your product/service using keywords, Product/Service Codes, or NAICS Codes and find the solicitations and awards for the Contracting Officers and Contract Specialists who bought your product/service. Contact data including telephone number and email address is provided for each buyer in a downloadable spreadsheet. Details
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