Proposal writing management

Proposal Management Basics
& Tips on Proposal Writing
For the:
STC Tech Comm Career Day
By: Kristen L. Sweet
March 15, 2003

Topics
• Proposal Management Approach
– Proposal process
• Proposal Writing Tips
– Content
– Reader’s needs
– Basic rules
2

Proposal Management Approach
• Proposal process
– Includes:
• Documented process
• Training for all team members
• Schedule to implement process
• Create a process that defines the responsibilities of the
team
• Follow the structure to ensure the successful completion of
a proposal
3

Proposal Process
• Team Members
– Within proposal development, the roles and titles of the team
will vary
• There may be a large team or a proposal team of one
• Proposal Manager: obtains all resources to produce the proposal
• Volume Leader: leads the development of a proposal volume for a
multi-volume proposal – reports to the manager
• Proposal Coordinator: supports manager with the development
process
• Production Leader: leads the publication process
(Printing/Copying/Binding/Packaging)
• Proposal Writer/Illustrator: works with the manager/volume leader
to provide text and graphics illustrating the solution
• Proposal Editor: edits all drafts of the proposal
• Pricing Staff: provides the cost information for the solution
proposed
4

“Any proposal manager (or outside consultant,
for that matter) who claims to know how to
run a serious proposal effort without chaos
should be quietly and briskly dismissed from
reality. Chaos is the very nature of the
proposal beast, and the manager who
accepts this fact is ready to face another one:
While the chaos of proposal work cannot be
eliminated, it must be controlled. Otherwise,
it will eat the managers, the proposal team,
and the proposal itself alive.”
– Pugh, 1993, p. 82
Proposal Process
5

Proposal Process
Proposal Manager Pricing Group
Proposal Coordinator
Proposal Writers/Illustrators Production Group
Small Proposal
Team
6

Proposal Process
Production Leader
Proposal Editor
Proposal
Coordinator
Project Manager
Proposal Manager
Past Performance
Volume Leader
Writers/
Iluustrators
Management
Volume Leader
Writers/
Iluustrators
Technical Volume
Leader
Writers/
Iluustrators
Cost Volume
Leader
Quote/Price Staff
Large Proposal Team
7

• Proposal organization will vary according to the size of the
proposal team
• Budget restrictions will dictate the development process
• Complexity of the proposal requirements will determine
proposal resources including:
– Deadlines
– Bid/No Bid decisions on other proposal efforts
– Teaming agreements with other companies, contractors,
and vendors needed produce the proposal
– Technology needed to develop the solution
Proposal Process
8

• Managing resources isn’t just a pre-RFP concern
– Utilizing proposal staff only when needed will reduce
costs and minimize distractions to remaining team
members
• However, the proposal team may find itself growing as the
deadline approaches
– Deficiencies in fulfilling the requirements
– Vendor/Company limitations
Proposal Process
9

• To minimize the deficiencies the proposal team may need to:
– Provide training for all staff
• Proposal seminars
• Software training (MS Office, Adobe FrameMaker,
Photoshop, Visio, etc)
– Develop standards to prevent having to recreate the
process for each new opportunity the company pursues
– Plan writing assignments
• Outline the requirements
– Prevents rewrites later in the process process
• Outline the format and production requirements
– Utilize contractors and vendors for proposal development
– Implement technology allowing for efficient and effective
proposal development
Proposal Process
10

“There are many ways to write proposals as
there are companies, but many of these ways
are crude, ineffective, expensive, and bound
to repeat many previous mistakes…
We cannot stress enough that organized
proposals are probably twice as likely to
succeed as those ‘fly by the seat of the pants’
exercises…”
– Whalen, 1996, p 1-3
Proposal Process
11

• Define the process in writing
– Summary
• Basic guidelines to tailor for each proposal
• Detailed checklist
• Documenting the process eliminates re-inventing the wheel
each time
– Establishes quality
• Provides the frame work for a “lessons learned”
session following the completion of a proposal
Proposal Process
12

• Provide the guidelines to the team
– Proposal Instruction Book
• Preparation schedule
• Detailed instructions/responsibilities
• Planned strategies/win themes
• Summary of proposal approach
• Writing/graphic guidelines
• Style/format guidelines (may vary according to
RFP)
• Summary outline with a requirements matrix
• Organization/roles of staff
• Specific company work flow/communication
standards and procedures
Proposal Process
13

“….managing a proposal is one of the toughest, most
challenging jobs you will ever encounter. It involves
dealing with a wide variety of people with
conflicting interests and organizing and directing
the efforts of an ad hoc collection of people with
diverse talents and expertise into a cohesive,
motivated team under the most adverse
circumstances in an intensive activity and under
great pressure to achieve a goal against which the
odds of success are not favorable. Can you think of a
more daunting endeavor anywhere else in the
world?
– Helgeson, 1994, p.206
Proposal Process
14

• The proposal instruction guide should include the following
tasks:
– Capture plan: customer, strategy, and lessons learned analysis
– Customer interface plan: contacting contracting
officer/customer prior to the RFP released, during the
development, and after delivery
– Facility material plan: knowledge of the customer’s facility,
furniture, computer equipment, etc.
– Staff plan: organization of the team
– Communication plan: knowledge of the team players,
development process, meetings, schedules, etc
– Document process plan: storyboards, mock-ups, text, and
graphics to illustrate the solution
Proposal Process
15

• The proposal instruction guide should include the
following tasks, continued:
– Quality assurance plan: reviewing/editing proposal
drafts to ensure quality
– Production plan: preparing the material, style, and
format of the text and graphics for delivery
– Security plan: ensuring the material is contained on
company networks, not accessible to the public
– Assembly/Delivery plan: packaging final proposal for
delivery to customer, making arrangements for delivery
(Fed Ex, email, UPS, USPS, etc
Proposal Process
16

“An enormous amount of time is wasted in aimless,
rambling meetings replete with musings and
irrelevant chatter of unfocused dilettantes intent on
wasting everyone’s time while they run their mouths.
I would wager that the man hours wasted every
single day in the conference rooms of America would
be equivalent to the number of man hours required
to build the Taj Mahal.”
– Helgeson, 1994, p. 192
Proposal Process
17

• The meeting is an elaborate part of the proposal process
– Proposal strategy
– Bid/No Bid decision
– Kick off meeting
– Storyboarding
– Discussing cost estimates/strategy
– Reviewing various stages of the development
• Pink Team
• Red Team
• Blue Team
• Gold Team
Proposal Process
18

• Good proposal management includes developing meetings that
are effective and useful to the team players
– Involve necessary team members
– Create/distribute the agenda prior to meeting
– One leader per meeting
– Start and end on time
– Stay focused on meeting agenda/topics
– Strive for consensus
– Use visuals to illustrate agenda/topics
– Summarize agenda/topics at the end of the meeting
– Follow-up with a summary email
• Include any “To Do’s” and responsibility of the “To Do”
Proposal Process
19

Proposal Writing Tips
• Proposal content is divided into two categories:
– Solicited: proposals with specific requirements
– Unsolicited: proposals with little or no guidance on
how it should be developed
• Proposals that do not address the requirements are
non-complaint
– Even if the proposal addresses all the requirements, if it
is not organized properly it can still be categorized as
non-compliant because the reader is lost in the content
20

• Planning a proposal involves:
– Developing an outline based on the customer
requirements
• Requirements matrix to illustrate the proposal
outline cross-referenced to the RFP
• Requirements matrix allows the outline to be
developed further
– Incorporates ideas into a storyboard format
• Content
• Graphics
• Layout/presentation
21

“A proposal must deliver critical ideas quickly
and easily. Your writing must be clear if you
want others to understand your project and
become excited by it. It will be hard to
accomplish this if you have not clarified your
thoughts in advance.”
– Geever and McNeil, 1993, p. 17
22

• After finishing the requirements matrix - refine the outline
– Brainstorm on proposal subject
– Establish ideas into logical categories
• Major
• Minor
– Reorganize outline
• Organize according to the draft proposal
• Group ideas together (display a hierarchy)
– Make sure the outline is clear
• Expand on ideas
• Make sure each subdivided point has at least 2
subordinate points
23

The storyboard is a writing worksheet that helps the
authors organize their stories into main discussion
points or topics. The storyboard enables the
planning of each topic around the thesis-theme-
visual elements of a short persuasive essay (i.e. the
natural passage of technical discourse). The purpose
is to help the authors discover their stories, help
them to be more pointed and purposive (i.e.
encourage a problem-versus-solution slant in their
arguments), and let the proposal team review the
material before its written out in a hard-to-follow
and hard-to-change draft.
– Tracey, 1993, p. 54
24

• Storyboards:
– Provide general proposal information
• Title/Volume number
• Section author
• Font/Size/Page requirements
– Identify proposal requirements
• RFP section number
• Requirements matrix section number
– Identify proposal theme
– Provide section summary
– Illustrate graphics
25

• Benefits of Storyboards
– Improves quality of proposal by identifying RFP
requirements early in the proposal process
– Integrates text and graphics required to meet the requirements
of the RFP
– Provides the ability for the team members to comment and
address each proposal section
• Identifies how each section meshes into one complete
proposal
26

• Benefits of Storyboards, continued
– Allows proposal team to identify and correct any
content/graphics problems early on in the proposal
process
– Less writer-ego issues
• Revising outline will take less time
• Fewer revisions because outlines were initially
agreed upon during storyboard reviews prior to
writing
27

“Developing a clear, comprehensive
picture of what the client is seeking is
the single most important part of your
whole proposal preparation process - if
you get the requirement wrong, you’ll
get the solution wrong.”
– McCann, 1995, p.53
28

• Reader Obstacles:
– Impatience: understanding the organization of the proposal
content
• If information can not be found easily, the reader won’t
spend the time looking for it
– Time conflicts: balance between evaluating a proposal and
conducting other work commitments
– Interruptions: due to time conflicts, the reader will not be able
to read through the entire proposal in one sitting
– Lack of knowledge: readers may not have knowledge of the
topic; thus losing interest in the proposal
– Shared decision-making: writers also have a challenge of
meeting the needs to readers who have varying levels of
influence on winning and losing proposals
29

• Reader Needs:
– What do you know about the reader?
• What is the reader looking for?
• What role do they play in the organization?
• What kind of influence do they have?
• Will one person conduct the evaluation or
will it be a group of people?
– Research the types of proposals other
companies, colleagues have prepared
• Provide a better understanding of what you
are up against with writing this proposal
30

• Reader Needs, continued:
– Identify the audience
• Who is the decision maker?
–Provide their own assessment or work in
conjunction with others to assess the proposal
• Who is the advisor?
–Provide input to the Decision Maker
31

• Reader Needs, continued:
– Identify audience knowledge/skill level
• Proposal writing often entails translating technical
information into a non-technical format
• Reader Categories:
– Managers: decision makers
– Experts/Specialists: highly technical
– Operators: will use the product/solution
– Generalists: catch-all group - know the least about
the topic
– Strategy meeting
• Discuss all customer issues/concerns
• Develop ways to solve these issues/concerns
32

• Basic rules for writing the proposal:
– Rule 1: Write with an effective style
• Concise without sacrificing clarity
• Avoid cliché’s, trite or wordy phrases
• Use active voice to provide clear
understanding of what you are proposing
• Keep customer perspective by using
you/your
• Avoid distracting text changes
• Vary length of paragraphs to allow for
comprehension and readability
33

• Basic rules for writing the proposal, cont.:
– Rule 2: Grammar usage
• Verb/subject agreement
• Identify pronouns
• Ensure sentence modifiers are clear
• Avoid dangling/misplaced modifiers
• Proper use of commas
• Avoid command errors in word usage
34

– Rule 3: Write with clarity, conciseness, and accuracy
• Ensure sentences are developed in a clear format
• Avoid sentences being interpreted in other ways
• Avoid ambiguity
– Forces the reader to select the meaning
• Don’t assume the reader has knowledge of the topic
– Writing in a manner that would allow the reader
to be able to comprehend the information
without asking for clarification
• Verify the content for accuracy
– Research
35

– Rule 4: Use paragraphs as the framework of your
writing
• Paragraphs represent the building blocks of the
document
• Typical length is 6 to 10 lines
• Split the information between multiple paragraphs
if it goes over the 10 line limitation
• Shorter paragraphs adds white space increasing the
readability of the document
36

– Rule 4: Use paragraphs as the framework of your writing
• Use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph
– Clearly illustrates what you are about to discuss
• Develop a main idea
– Provides concrete supporting details to the topic
sentence
• Develop transitional elements
– Provides the flow from one paragraph to another
• Develop closing sentence
– Provides concluding sentence about the topic before
moving on to the next section
37

“Simply regurgitating the RFP buys you
absolutely nothing; it will earn the
evaluator’s disgust with your ineptness,
or worse yet, his everlasting hatred for
your insult to his intelligence.”
– Helgeson, 1994, p.99
38

“If a proposal is to make a good first impression, the
reader’s first 10 seconds of exposure are crucial. The
reader’s first concerns are:
How long will this one take to evaluate?
Is it long and wordy or short and concise?
Is it well organized?
Who submitted the proposal?
Content counts more than form, but first impressions
are also created by a proposal’s outward
appearance, especially by evidence that it is well
organized and easy to read.”
– Jacobs, Menker, and Shinaman, 1990, p. 124
39

• Proposal Writing Rule 1
– Follow your writing plan
• Storyboards provide a starting point
• Make sure your proposal strategy complies
with the RFP
• Integrate text and graphics to illustrate your
theme
– Provide the basic proposal details
• Keep it basic
–Who, What, When, Where, How, Why
40

– Ensure your proposal details have purpose
• Avoid “data dumping”
• Respond to the contents of the RFP
• Provide background information to help the reader
better understand the content of the proposal
• Provide details to illustrate that you understand what
the RFP is looking for
• Gain the reader’s credibility by illustrating that you
know the details of the RFP
• Don’t assume the reader knows what you are talking
about
41

– Use boilerplate information, but use it carefully
• Technical specifications, company
information, advertising and other marketing
material
–Make sure that it fits the requirements of
the RFP
• Poorly tailored boilerplate wastes space,
reflects an unprofessional approach, shows
little concern for your reader’s needs
42

– Select the right verb tense
• Present tense: something that exists now
• Future tense: for something that will exist or
occur in the future
– Present tense is the best because it reflects
availability
– Avoid passive voice
• Readers tend to get lost
• Does not reflect a professional understanding
of the requirements
43

– Substantiate your proposal claims
• Unsupported claims within your proposal
does not provide credibility
–Don’t expect your reader to believe it just
because it is written
–Back it up with facts
• If you cite past experience, make sure that
experience clearly illustrates the overall
theme of the proposal and fits within the
RFP requirements
44

– Sell benefits, not features
“You ought to be writing the proposal to
sell stuff. Products, services, projects,
ideas. Whatever you’ve got. The
proposal is a marketing tool; it helps
you make money by convincing people
to contract with you for the kinds of
things you can provide. The proposal
positions your product or service as a
solution to a business problem.”
–Sant, 1992, p. 9
45

– Be logical in your persuasive argument
• Good arguments form the basis for effective
proposal writing
–Persuasion tries to convince the reader to
adopt to a certain point of view or pursue a
certain line of action
–Argue why your product or service should
be purchased by the customer
46

– Attack proposal weakness head on
• It is normal to want to avoid placing anything in
the proposal that suggests a weakness in your
product or service or your ability to meet
customer needs
• To mitigate a weakness explain it early on
–Illustrates you have done everything you can to
eliminate the weakness
• It is better to have the reader know your side of
the story
–Adds to your credibility
47

– Write lawfully and ethically
• Comply with legal and ethical standards
–Content that is illegal or unethical may
cause you to lose the contract, be subject to
lawsuit and/or other charges
–Avoid using unauthorized proprietary
information
–Verify all information is correct
–If using materials from another company,
make sure written authorization has been
provided in advance
48

• Final note on Proposal Writing Tips:
– Proposal writing must overcome the reader’s roadblocks
• Time constraints
• Impatience
• Interruptions
• Lack of knowledge
• Shared-decision responsibilities
– Meet with your customer as much as possible during the
development
• Incorporate those ideas, comments into the content of
your proposal
Summary
49

• Final note on Proposal Management:
– Proposal Development is a process
• Clearly defined
• Documented
– Use time wisely
– Develop schedules, tasks, proposal plans
– Monitor schedules, progress - maintaining the
balance of the team
– Avoid changing the schedule, plan upon team
agreement
Summary
50

Proposal writing management

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