Presented by Courtney Pemberton at APMP's Bid & Proposal Conference 2013 - May 28-31 in Atlanta, GA Everyone loves a good story. They spark emotion, they inspire, and they often unlock ideas that we never dreamt possible. Now imagine if storytelling were applied to your proposal development process. They are no longer textbooks full of facts and figures. It becomes a compelling narrative with thought-provoking visuals, making the buyer the hero. Join Courtney Pemberton, Business Development Manager at Schipul Technologies, to discuss how to change your perspective and start writing stories that buyers will want to read. In this session you will learn: -Character development in proposals and how this leads to stronger business relationships -Research techniques and tools to help you truly understand your buyer’s needs and begin developing the proposal’s plot -How to incorporate the 4 elements of a great story to create an even better proposal -Real examples of how to incorporate visual storytelling within each stage of your capture planning and development process.

1. Using Storytelling in Your Proposals
to Make your Buyers the Hero and Win
More Deals
Presented By: Courtney Pemberton
@cpembyrun|cpemberton@schipul.com|www.schipul.com

2. Let’s Chat

3. What we will talk
about today
1. Before you even begin
writing
2. Effectively incorporating
the elements of a story…
and then some
3. What to do when formality
overrules creativity

4. Cognitive psychologists describe how
the human mind, in an attempt to
understand and remember, assembles
the bits and pieces of experience into
a story…Stories are how we remember.
-Bronwyn Fryer, Storytelling That Moves People, Harvard Business Review

5. We are biology programmed to
utilize storytelling as a memory
enhancing technique.
-Andy Goodman, Storytelling as a Best Practice

6. Before You Even Begin

7. It’s all about the relationship

8. 1.Why?
2.Get to know your
Characters
3.“Gemlets” [Value]
h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/13522901@N00/59231687/

9. 1. Why

10. Why are you the better choice?

11. 2. Know Your Characters

12. 1.Know ALL the
characters – you
may not have met
them all
2.What is important to
each character?
3.Who makes the final
decision?
Character Development

13. Character Wants/Values
Executive Director
*Decision Maker
Advancing the overall mission and
growth of the organization
-Previously serving Planned Giving and educational institutions
-On multiple Boards and highly involved in the community
Marketing & PR Manager
*Initial Contact
Mobilize community outreach and
participation
Donor/Grants Coordinator Increasing donations and expanding
fundraising programs
Financial Officer Developing payment installments that
fall in line with the organization’s cash
flow
Business Development Team Engage community partners and
foster long-term relationships
Board of Directors
*Decision Maker and Majority Vote
Meets the policies and standards of
the organization

14. Tools for Character Development
1. LinkedIn Profile
2. Website
(Bios)
3. Social Media
4. Google Search
5. Social Mention -
www.socialmention.com
6. CRM – Salesforce, InsideView

15. 3. “Gemlets”

16. What is your value?

17. Imputed Value: people form an
opinion about your product,
service or company based on the
signals that it conveys
Make it Consistent

18. Weaving Your Narrative

19. Elements of a Story
1.Setting
2.Characters
3.Plot
4.Theme
5.Conflict
1.Executive Summary
2.Buyers
3.Scope of Work
4.Content
5.Budget

20. Executive Summary

21. Give your readers as much
information as possible as
soon as possible. To hell with
suspense.
-Kurt Vonnegut, 8 Rules for Writing a Short Story

22. Judging a book by it’s cover…

23. Add value before you even
begin working together.
I choose the Sales Bible!

24. Setting Executive Summary

26. The Characters

27. Character Wants/Values
Executive Director
*Decision Maker
Advancing the overall mission and
growth of the organization
-Previously serving Planned Giving and educational institutions
-On multiple Boards and highly involved in the community
Marketing & PR Manager
*Initial Contact
Mobilize community outreach and
participation
-Will be using the product [website] the most
Donor/Grants Coordinator Increasing donations and expanding
fundraising programs
Financial Officer Developing payment installments that
fall in line with the organization’s cash
flow
Business Development Team Engage community partners and
foster long-term relationships
Board of Directors
*Decision Maker and Majority Vote
Meets the policies and standards of
the organization

28. Characters Buyers
1. Specifically address objectives
per buyer within your written
content
2. Use content formats and
language the buyer is accustom
too
3. Highlight meaningful examples
4. Itemize costs
5. Educate & knowledge share
6. Acknowledge a specific concern

29. Scope of Work

30. Plot Scope of Work

31. Make your buyer the HERO!

32. Budget = Conflict

33. h"ps://www.docracy.com/0yebn2ndrlr/contract-­‐of-­‐works-­‐for-­‐web-­‐design-­‐service
“As we are sure you’ll want to stay
friends, you agree to stick tight to the
following payment schedule…”
Legal Doesn’t Mean Lame

34. The Content

35. Content Theme
1. Catches their attention
2. Simple, easy to read
3. Paints a picture
4. Personable
5. Affirms credibility

36. Catches their attention
Let your buyer know you heard
them...the impact is HUGE!

37. Simple
1. Clearly defined
Section Titles
2. Consistent branding
and tone
3. Use sub-headers
4. Bulleted Lists and
Numbering
5. Not filled with
unnecessary jargon

38. Paints a Picture
1. Use visuals to explain
a process
2. Utilize first-person
words like “you” or
“your team”
3. Explain how you will
work together, listing
out responsibilities
Text
Text
When we take in visual information alongside verbal
information, our brain’s ability to encode it to long
term memory is significantly enhanced...showing
visuals with text increases learning by 89%
-University of Cambridge, Visual Storytelling

39. Personable
The Feature: Keyword Research
The Benefit: “Data such as this will play a pivotal
role in determining specific niche terms that
target this ‘connected consumer’ and increase
product sales for [your company]”

40. Talk to people about themselves
and they’ll listen for hours.
-Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People

41. Affirm Credibility - Prove it

42. Affirm Credibility

43. Highlight Your People & Continue to
Foster the Relationship

44. Pesky Formalities

45. Request for Proposal
Have you ever proposed
something different?

46. Pre-Prosposal, Proposal
The pre-proposal, proposal allows both
parties to exchange ideas and agree on a
scope that is truly a win/win. The document
then enables the formal proposal to
become just that, a formality.

47. Pre-Prosposal, Proposal
47

48. Step outside the proposal
1. Webinars and training
2. Fact Sheets
3. Event Invitations
4. Free [Useful] ‘Swag’
cont’d...

49. Step outside the proposal
1. Hand written ‘Thank You’ cards
2. Links to resources that made you think of
them
3. Detailed voicemails and follow-up
4. Happy Birthday, know names
5. Remember – Be memorable!

50. Time

51. Tips to Save you Time
1. Create Templates
2. Reuse Graphics
3. Proposal Generator Software
a. Quote Roller – www.quoteroller.com
b. Tinder Box – www.gettinderbox.com
c. Qorus - www.qorusdocs.com
d. seProposals - www.saleselement.com
e. SAVO - www.savogroup.com
f. Proposal Software - www.proposalsoftware.com

52. Immediate Take-aways
1. Do your research - know
your characters, make
the buyer the hero
2. Paint a picture - use
visuals
3. Think outside the
proposal
4. Make templates

53. Courtney Pemberton
Business Development Manager
281.497.6567 x537
cpemberton@schipul.com
Schipul – The Web Marketing Company
www.schipul.com
Blog.schipul.com
Find these presentations slides at,
www.slideshare.net/cpembyrun
Thank you! Questions?

54. Rate My Presentation!
1. Please Rate the session by going to
www.eventmobi.com/bpc2013
2. Rate the session and presentation by
stars (1 lowest – 5 highest)
3. Add comments to comment field