Win New Consulting Business: The Four Keys to Writing a Successful Proposal

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WIN NEW CONSULTING BUSINESS:
THE FOUR KEYS TO WRITING A SUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL

©2012 MBO Partners Inc.
©2012 Tom Sant. All Rights Reserved.

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MODERATOR

STEVE ARHANCET
Director of Consultant Services


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WEBINAR CONTROLS
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presentation area.

The chat box allows you
to send a question to the
presenter.


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ABOUT SPEAKER
“America’s foremost practitioner of proposal writing”
– American Management Association

Dr. Tom Sant
• Co-founder of Hyde Park
Partners
• Over 25 years experience
• Areas of expertise: proposal
writing, presentation delivery,
communication management
• Author of 3 books
• Named ―One of the ten best
sales trainers in the world ‖ by

Selling Power Magazine
• tsant@hydeparkpartnerscal.com

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THE FIRST QUESTION…

What is a

SUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL?


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THE VOICE FROM THE BACK OF THE ROOM…

―ONE THAT’S DONE!‖


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MAYBE A SLIGHTLY HIGHER STANDARD?

How about:

―ONE THAT WINS!‖


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AND TO MAXIMIZE THE CHANCE OF WINNING?

It’s a matter of delivering
the right message
the right way.


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WHAT IT’S NOT…

Price Quote Product Spec Company History

Commodity Self-centered

Transaction, not a solution

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Unfortunately,
Those approaches are pretty
typical.

For example, does this look familiar?


Albion Technologies
Recommendation for
an Integrated
Communications and
Collaboration Strategy

15 September 2012

L. J. Fremmer
Account Manager

Introductions
The Albion Team:
• Thomas Martinson – COO, EMEA
• Peter Campbell – Regional Relationship Manager
• Jim Thorslev-Slater – Regional Technical Manager EMEA
• Sallie Mae Park – Proposed Account Director
• Nigel Bentley–Transition Manager EMEA

© 2012 ALBION, Inc. All rights reserved

Who is Albion?
An $11 Billion Global IT services company that builds,
integrates and supports applications and infrastructures
for business and government
• More than 80,000 employees
• NYSE: ALBN- Headquartered in Liverpool, England
• 85 Offices in 50 countries
• Leader in communications infrastructure implementation and
support, government solutions, and higher education solutions
• Distributed Delivery Framework
– Domestic development centers
– IT Operations outsourcing
– Offshore development and support
• ISO 9001 certified

Global Strength, Local Touch
© 2012 ALBION, Inc. All rights reserved 14

Welcome to “A World of Innovation”
More than 85,000 Employees

Represented in more than 50 Countries

Provisional Revenue 2011: USD 11.5 billion

Operating Margin 2011: 8.5%

Growth 2011: 15%

Gartner Magic Quadrant 2009, 2010

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, China & Hong Kong, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark & Greenland,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA

© 2010 ALBION, Inc. All rights reserved

Delivering Leading Edge Solutions
 Innovation leader since 1994

 Over 1,000 Clients

 World Class Consulting Experience

 Uniquely Qualified in Service Offerings to our Clients

 State of the Art Technology Solutions

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Blah, blah, blahdee, blah
 Me
 More about me
 Something else about me
 Do you love me yet as much as I love me?

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HERE’S A DISTURBING FACT…

Nearly 1/3 of all sales proposals
and pitches start with the
vendor’s company history.

Why??!!


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THE GRIM REALITY

Proposal writing is hard.

Business owners, sales people,
marketing professionals, and
proposal writers often look for a
quick way out.


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ESCAPE ROUTE #1

Cloning previous proposals

Cutting and pasting can result in
embarrassing errors!


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ESCAPE ROUTE # 2
―Data Dumps‖ or ―More is Better!‖

Nobody buys based on the ―thud factor.‖

If it’s not meaningful to the customer, leave it out!

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ESCAPE ROUTE # 3
Talking about what we know and love best.

Focus on your prospect, not on yourself!

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EXECUTIVES EXPECT A DIFFERENT MESSAGE

Peer-to-Peer * Outcome Oriented * Bottom-Line Focused

Information Evaluation Persuasion

Expert Comfort
Zone
Highly
informed

Somewhat
Persuasion
informed
Zone

Lay

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THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS…

1. No focus on the client’s business problems and payoffs
2. No persuasive structure
3. No clear differentiation
4. Failure to offer a compelling value proposition
5. Key points are buried--no highlights, no impact
6. Difficult to read--full of jargon, too long, too technical
7. Credibility killers--misspellings, grammar errors, wrong
client name, inconsistent formats, etc.


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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN
YOU COMMIT THESE SINS?
You lose.


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FOUR KEYS TO BETTER
PROPOSALS
WINNING MORE, WORKING LESS


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1
Get a NOSE Job

2
Pack Your Case
Proposing to Win
3
Show Me the Money

4
A KISS for Luck


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GET A N-O-S-E JOB


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THE RIGHT NOSE CAN HELP YOU WIN


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STRUCTURE IS THE SECRET

TO MAXIMIZE YOUR
CHANCE OF WINNING

Present the right information
Present it in the right order
Create the right impression


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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE “RIGHT ORDER”?

Consciousness is intentional.

We focus on finding specific content, depending
on our purpose:

• Getting the facts we need
• Obtaining an expert opinion
• Making a decision


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The Persuasive Paradigm
THE STRUCTURE OF PERSUASION

•N
Needs: The customer’s key business needs, problems,
issues, pains, or opportunities: the drivers behind the deal.
•O
Outcomes: The positive impact that will come from meeting
those needs: the motivation to move forward.
•S
Solution: A recommendation for a product or service that will
solve the problem and deliver the outcomes
•E
Evidence: Proof you can do the job on time and on budget:
your differentiators.


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PACK YOUR CASE


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OUR JOB…

Create a specific, client-centered
business case
that answers the client’s three most important questions:

Am I getting what I need?
Is it good value?
Can they really do it?


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PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY TRUST

CxR
T =
S
Where:
T = trust
C = credibility
R = rapport
S = risk of self-serving
behavior


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SELLING ON TRUST

CxR
T =
S
Where:
T = trust
C = credibility
R = rapport
behavior


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SELLING ON TRUST

CxR
T =
S
Where:
T = trust
C = credibility
R = rapport
behavior


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WHY DO RAPPORT AND
CLIENT FOCUS MATTER?
The Primacy Principle

The Principle of First Impressions


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WHAT KIND OF FIRST
IMPRESSION ARE YOU MAKING?

• Title— ―Proposal‖

• Initial focus?

• Your name or the client’s?

• Are you pushing a product or
“Don’t waste my time with proposing a solution?
a bunch of boilerplate!”


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SEVEN CLIENT-CENTERED QUESTIONS
1. Client’s problem, issues?
2. Why is it a problem?
3. Desired outcomes?


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FOUR AREAS OF GOALS

Business / Financial
Budgetary compliance Personal goals
Profit improvement
Downsizing
Mergers / acquisitions
Market share
Reduced risk
Better clinical outcomes
Social goals
Technical /
Internal
infrastructure goals - Improve morale
Introducing best - Reduce absenteeism
practices - Decrease turnover
Adding flexibility External
Improving QC - Gain public support
- Win approval

- Enhance recognition


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SEVEN CLIENT-CENTERED QUESTIONS
1. Client’s problem, issues? 5. Potential solutions?
2. Why is it a problem? 6. Probable results?
3. Desired outcomes? 7. Why are we the right
4. Most important? choice?


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SHOW ME THE MONEY!


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FACT: WITHOUT VALUE,
WINNING IS JUST LUCK.

You must establish superior value

based on technical, contractual, managerial, quality, or
service differentiators,

Or the customer will choose based on
PRICE
or may choose to do

NOTHING

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SMART BUYERS DO LOOK
FOR POSITIVE IMPACT

• Revenue generation
• Operational efficiency
• Reliability of mission-critical operations
• Quality
• Worker productivity
• Customer satisfaction
• Regulatory compliance
• And other key performance indicators


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THE VALUE PROPOSITION

(Values - Costs) > (Valuea - Costa)

Where:

Values = the value of your offering

Costs = the cost of your offering

Valuea = the value of the next best alternative

Costa = the cost of the next best alternative


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FOUR PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE VALUE

1. Make sure the client cares

2. Measure it

3. Picture it

4. Link it to your differentiators


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COMMUNICATING VALUE THAT HAS VALUE

Differentiators Proof

What you do that Verifiable claims
no one else you make about
does. yourself.
What you do Value Claims your clients
differently from Proposition make about you.
anyone else. Third-party
evidence.

Value That Has Value.


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A KISS FOR LUCK


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KISS: KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE
The first principle of persuasive writing:

Do not confuse the reader.
Live by the “first time right” rule.


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FOUR PSEUDO-LANGUAGES TO AVOID

Fluff

Guff

Geek

Weasel


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Fluff:
1. Grandiose claims
2. Vague generalities
3. Clichés
4. No proof


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FORGET THE FLUFF!
Here are a few examples….
Anything look familiar?
World class High performance
Best of breed Synergy
Leading edge User friendly
State of the art Integrated
Quality focused Partnership
Uniquely qualified Seamless
Innovative Robust


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Guff.
Guff:
1. Long sentences
2. Too many big words
3. Too much passive
voice


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Geek:
1. Disregard for the
audience
2. Overuse of jargon and
acronyms
3. A focus on technical
details instead of
business fit or impact


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AVOID THE WEASEL!

Weasel:
1. Unnecessary use of
weasel words
2. Hyperqualification of
every statement
3. Passive voice
4. Subjunctive
constructions


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WEASEL WORDS
―can be‖
―might‖
―helps‖
―could‖
―may be‖
―enable‖
―allow‖
―up to‖
―like‖
―virtually‖

―significantly‖

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Fi ve ways to a chieve clarity:


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Five ways to achieve clarity:
1. Short sentences
2. Short words
3. Passive voice ≤ 10%
4. Readability index ≤ 10
5. Minimal jargon and acronyms


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LET YOUR WORD
PROCESSOR DO THE WORK


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1. Short sentences

Average
sentence
length

15 to 17 words per sentence is a good average

sentence length.

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2. Short words

Average
word length
in characters

5 characters or less means your words probably

aren’t too long.

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3. Passive voice ≤ 10%

Percentage of
passive voice

Keep passive voice below 10%.

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4. Readability level ≤ 10

Readability
Scores

Aim for a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level index

of 10 or less.

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5. Minimal Jargon and Acronyms

Ask your mum.

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IN SUMMARY…
1
 Get a NOSE Job

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 Pack Your Case
Proposing to Win
3
 Show Me the Money

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 A KISS for Luck


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THANK YOU

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