How to Write an Executive Summary

You should write an Executive Summary to articulate what you want the reader to
conclude after reading the rest of your proposal. An Executive Summary is the most
important part of your proposal. An Executive Summary may not actually be a summary.
When you write an Executive Summary, the evaluator should know why to select you
without having to read anything else. An Executive Summary should focus on the
conclusion you want the evaluator to reach and not on summarizing everything in your
proposal.

Questions to Answer when you write an
Executive Summary Proposal writing
often starts with an Executive Summary.
Find out what to say when you're trying to
keep it short.
The Three Uses of an Executive
Summary Knowing how to write an
Executive Summary has many benefits.
When a proposal effort is floundering and
far behind schedule, what’s needed
immediately is a rapid assessment of where
the proposal effort IS, in relation to where
it SHOULD be. In these circumstances, I
ask: "Where is the Executive Summary“?
How to Write a Better Proposal
Introduction While it may be easy to
describe yourself, it's the wrong way to
start your proposal or Executive Summary.
Read this article for a better way to write
your proposal introductions.
Why should the customer select you?
Enhance your proposal writing with
persuasive statements that give the
customer a reason to select you.
Who Are You And Why Should I Care?
How would you answer a prospective
customer who asked, "Who are you and
why should I care?" If you were the
prospect, would that answer increase or
decrease the desire to do business with
you?
101 Win Themes For All Occasions
Here's a list of 101 Themes that I've
probably written a million times. Use it for
inspiration. Use it like a checklist. Just
make sure you add details about your
customer and offering to make them
specific to your proposal.
Should You Write the Executive
Summary First or Last? Should you write
the Executive Summary first and build your
proposal to support it, or should you write
the Executive Summary last, as a summary
of all the material developed in writing the
proposal? There are good reasons for taking
either approach, but which is best for you
will depend on your circumstances and
goals.

Questions to answer in your Executive Summary

1. Why should the customer select you?
2. How does your proposal align to the customer’s evaluation criteria?
3. How will the customer benefit from what you proposal?
 4. What kind of return on investment can the customer anticipate?
5. How will the project help the customer achieve their strategic goals?
6. How do your plans align with theirs?
7. How do the features of your proposal align with challenges the customer faces?
8. How do project elements align with the customer’s priorities?
9. How will your approach position them better for the future?
10. What improvements will you make to the existing environment?
11. How is your approach cheaper or more efficient?
12. What discriminates you from your competition?
13. Have you described all of your capabilities and how they may benefit the
customer?
14. How does your corporate culture and values map to the needs of the project?
15. Are you reputable?
16. What are your priorities?
17. Can you provide any references or testimonials?
18. Has your company won any awards that are relevant?
19. Has your company had any articles published that are relevant?
20. Is this project large enough to be considered important to your firm?
21. Is this project so large that it will over extend your firm?
22. What kind of return on investment do you project for the customer?
23. How will your firm invest in the outcome?

The Three Uses of Executive Summaries

When a proposal effort is floundering and far behind schedule, what’s needed
immediately is a rapid assessment of where the proposal effort IS, in relation to where it
SHOULD be. In these circumstances, I ask: "Where is the Executive Summary“?
Why do I ask that? Because it gives an immediate insight into how thoughtfully the team
has considered, and documented, the win themes and discriminators, and communicated
those to the proposal team. Below, I show the eight important elements of the Executive
Summary. But first, the three uses:
 1. Communicate with the customer. Well, that’s fairly obvious and not exactly front
page news. Of course, if we create an Executive Summary, we’re going to give it
to the customer. Even when there’s a page limitation, unless specifically
prohibited, there SHOULD be an Executive Summary included in the submitted
proposal.
2. Communicate with the proposal team. Now THERE’S a NEW use. We actually
USE the Executive Summary as a mechanism to communicate with the proposal
team. So, if we’re going to use it to communicate with the proposal team, we’d
better write it FIRST, instead of LAST. This is entirely consistent with my
contention that, when you begin to create a proposal, if the proposal team can’t
write a clear and convincing Executive Summary, it probably can’t write a
convincing, winning proposal. Stated positively, the ability to write a good
Executive Summary is a very good start at writing a complete, winning proposal.
3. Communicate with Top Management. Because my Executive Summaries have a
Commitment Letter, signed by a member of Top Management, this means that
Top Management can be constructively engaged in the proposal process. I’ve
never seen a top manager refuse to review a letter the proposal team is expecting
him/her to sign! Since the Number One Reason for Losing is the lack of Top
Management commitment in the proposal process, this is an excellent way of
ensuring involvement: Draft the Executive Summary, including the Commitment
Letter, and present it for review and approval.
Here are the eight important elements in Executive Summaries:
1. A cover, showing (best solution) OUR people doing the CUSTOMER’S work.
(This really means using photos of our people on current projects doing similar
work.)
2. The inside front cover shows the 4-6 discriminating themes, and that answer the
customer’s implicit question, "Why Us“?
3. The Commitment Letter, signed by a representative of our company, to the
counterpart in the customer organization.
4. A Schedule for Delivery of Products, which answer the customer’s implicit
question, "When do I get my stuff“?
5. A visual showing some type of work, or process flow, demonstrating that we, as
the offeror, really know how to accomplish this work.
6. Logos - ours and the customer’s.
7. Photographs of our people who have name and face recognition with the
customer, because this increases the believability and desirability of our proposal.
8. If possible, and if relevant, a photo or schematic of the place where we’re going to
do this work.
Written by John Lauderdale . Published by Organizational Communications, Inc.
Republished with permission.

How to Write a Better Proposal Introduction

A blank page can be intimidating. You have a blank page at the start of each proposal.
And then another at the start of each section. Most people go through a "warm up"
process while they try to figure out what to say. They start off with something traditional
and easy. Here are some examples:
• Our company is pleased to submit this proposal to…
• Founded in 1901, our company is an industry-leading firm that…
• Our company is located in Somewhere, USA and specializes in…
• Our company provides…
It's easy to describe yourself, but it's the wrong way to start your proposal. Proposal
writing is very much like having a dialogue with the reader. You are a salesperson and
the reader is the customer. How would you like it if you visited a store, and after you told
him what you are interested in, he started his response with one of the openers above?
What if a competing salesperson approached you and instead started off by talking about
how he could deliver something that fulfills your needs and has a number of other
benefits? Who would get your attention?
Your introduction should be about the customer — not about you. The customer has two
crucial questions:
• How you are going to fulfill their needs?
• What benefits they will derive from doing business with you?
So when you are faced with a blank page, you should start by telling them how you can
fulfill their needs. Even better is to say what benefits you will deliver while fulfilling
their needs. And even better still is to deliver benefits while fulfilling their needs in a way
that discriminates you from the competition.
Here is the formula:
• Tell them that you will fulfill their needs or deliver what they want.
• Tell then that you will do it in a way that will provide benefits that are important
to them.
• Introduce yourself by showing that you have the right qualifications to fulfill their
needs.
• Then, explain why you are better positioned than anyone else to deliver the
benefits you described.
How you continue from this point depends on what is most important to the customer.
You can discuss:
• Fulfilling individual requirements
• Features of your solution
• Anticipated results
• Implementation process
• Project schedule
For every item you discuss, be sure to describe:
• How it relates to their needs
• How it will benefit the customer
• How capable or qualified you are in that area
• How it relates to their evaluation criteria
• The answers to any questions the customer might have
If you have a written RFP, be sure to follow any instructions regarding the outline for the
proposal, and to tailor your proposal to any evaluation criteria presented in the RFP.
Once your dialogue has the reader's attention, then you get a chance to tell your story.
The story is what makes them want to select you. The formula above will work only if
your story is compelling. If there is a formal evaluation process, then you must score well
to win. It is much easier to do that when the customer wants you. That is why it is
important to tell a story that makes the customer want you.
It is not sufficient to merely fulfill their requirements or respond with what they asked
for. In a competitive environment with a written RFP, you should assume that everyone
will do that. It is not even sufficient to merely describe the benefits that you will bring to
the customer. The benefits must add up to something that matters to the client. How you
articulate this is your story. The question is: Can you articulate it?
So going back to the blank page in front of you... Instead of writing until you stumble
across your story, take a few moments to articulate the main points to yourself. Then
follow the formula above, making sure the elements add up to your story. While most of
your competitors will deliver a traditional descriptive proposal that puts the reader to
sleep, yours will engage them in a dialog about the thing that matters most to them —
themselves.

Why Should the Customer Select You?

What is wrong with the following list of reasons why the customer should select you in a
proposal?
• OurCompany is ISO 9001:2000 certified
• OurCompany was founded in 19XX
• OurCompany offers extensive experience
• Our project manager has XX years of experience
• OurCompany has a staff of 10 gazillion employees
• OurCompany has grown more than 100% every year since it was founded
• OurCompany is a small business
• OurCompany is a large business
• OurCompany has an excellent past performance record
• OurCompany is committed to serving you
• OurCompany understands your needs and environment
• OurCompany offers the best value
Answer: They are all qualifications. To be a reason why the customer should select you,
they need to include a benefit. Furthermore, they are all about you. Shouldn't the reasons
why a customer should select you be all about them? Try the following list, which tracks
bullet-for-bullet with the list above, instead:
• Because OurCompany is ISO 9001:2000 certified, you can expect us to be able to
consistently and reliably deliver what we promise
• Because OurCompany was founded in 19XX, our procedures and infrastructures
are mature and will be able to quickly accommodate your needs
• Because we have significant relevant experience, our staffing resources include
relevant professionals and our management is already familiar with the issues that
we will face. We will know what risks we need to mitigate the day we show up
and instead of struggling to come up to speed we will be able to focus our
attention on delivering added-value.
• OurCompany's PM will draw on over XX years of experience to be able to
quickly make the right trade-offs decisions to ensure a successful project
• With over 10 gazillion employees, OurCompany has ample human resources to
quickly staff the project with qualified personnel
• Our ability to produce high levels of customer satisfaction has directly led to
increased demand for OutCompany and a rate of growth that exceeds 100%
annually.
 • Your project will represent a larger share of our business than it will for a larger
company and we will respond with commitment and gratitude. You will have our
attention and focus, and OurCompany will not be distracted by mergers and
acquisitions or stock performance.
• OurCompany will be able to start your project immediately and continue to
operate without having to simultaneously grow our corporate infrastructure. Our
ability to server you will not be wholly dependent on the efforts of a couple of key
people who must also serve all of the companies other clients. Because of our size
and excellent financial condition, OurCompany has the infrastructure to take care
of your needs without having to keep one eye on our cash-flow position.
• Our excellent performance record lends credibility to our ability to deliver as
promised. We encourage you to call our customer references and ask them.
• Our commitment to our customers has been demonstrated repeatedly on our
previous projects. We encourage you to call our references.
• OurCompany will leverage our experience with your environment to fulfill your
needs.
• OurCompany's approach represents the best value to you because we will support
your goals and mission as well as the needs of this project.
Which is more convincing? Put yourself in your customer's shoes. If you walk into a car
dealer and they say --- trust us --- we sell more cars than anybody else! Is that enough? If
they tell you they are a small business does that convince you to do business with them or
scare you away? What about if they tell you they are the largest dealer? If a sales person
introduces himself and says he is committed to you, does that make you ready to select
him to do business with?
Your reasons why the customer should select you must pass the "So What?" test. Read
each bullet in the first list and ask yourself "So What?" There might be a reason why they
matter, but if you haven't stated that reason --- you haven't given the customer the reason
why they should select you. You must show the reader how what you are claiming is
going to benefit them. If you don't take the time to show them why your qualifications
matter and how they will benefit them, why should they do business with you?

Who Are You And Why Should I Care?

I recently dialed a wrong telephone number and heard the following recorded message:
"Hi. You've reached Mike and Kathy. Who are you and why do we care?"
It was immediately followed by the "beep" signaling my opportunity to leave a message.
I obviously dialed the wrong number so I hung up. But then I started thinking about that
abrupt message. That's exactly what every potential customer thinks when he or she is
exposed to any advertising message... "Who is this and why do I care?"
Do You Know The Answer?
How would you answer a prospective customer who asked, "Who are you and why
should I care?" If you were the prospect, would that answer increase or decrease the
desire to do business with you?
Prospects may not ask you this question -- at least not in words that blunt. But they are
asking it, silently and unconsciously, every time they see your ad, visit your website or
listen to your sales presentation. You can increase the effectiveness of all your
advertising by automatically answering it for them. It's actually a 2 part question so we'll
look at each part separately.
Part 1: "Who Are You...?"
People only buy products and services from companies and individuals they trust. Part of
that trust is the assurance that you're capable of delivering the benefit each customer
expects in return for the money he or she pays you.
The unspoken answer to "Who are you...?" may be as simple as including a statement
like, "authorized distributor for ???" (the name of a well-known company) in your ads or
promotional material. New distributors for network marketing companies often use the
well-known corporate name of their company to establish credibility for their business
opportunity offer. Opportunity seekers tend to overlook the credentials of a novice
distributor when the opportunity is supported by the resources of a well-known large
company.
TIP: Instead of listing professional credentials or personal achievements, convert them
into benefits for your customers. For example, prospects and customers don't care that
you were a top producer in your organization last quarter. They do care that you helped
so many new distributors just like them get off to a fast start last quarter that their
production made you a top producer in your organization.
Part 2: "...And Why Do I Care?"
People buy things because they expect to gain something more valuable (to them) than
the money they spend to get it. What they expect to gain is a BIG BENEFIT. That's why
they care -- IF they are the right prospects for your product or service.
You control whether or not they're the right prospects. How? By targeting your
advertising to reach prospects most likely to have a strong need or desire for the benefits
provided by your product or service. It's easy to capture the attention and interest of
prospective customers when they already need or want the benefits you provide.
TIP: Be sure to promote the biggest single benefit you offer to prospects in your targeted
market. If you target several different markets, determine the most important benefit for
each and promote it in that market. The big benefit may be different for each market.
You may never be asked, "Who are you and why do I care?" But prospects and customers
silently and unconsciously ask it every time they see your ad, visit your website or listen
to your sales presentation. You'll see a dramatic increase in the results of any ad or
promotion when you automatically give them the answer.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses just like yours find new customers and
increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small
Business Fast With Simple Postcards and several other publications to help small
businesses grow and prosper. For information: Email: postcards@sendfree.com, Phone:
702-658-1707 after 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

101 Win Themes for All Occasions

Each theme below is followed by an example. However, details and substantiation are
what separate an empty claim from a persuasive statement. Use the words below for
inspiration, but make sure you include the specifics of their environment and your
solution and how it will benefit your customer so that your themes will really stand out.

What customers want

1. Small, nimble. Because we are small, we are more nimble and better able to
adapt to your changing environment.
2. Innovative. Our approach ensures the constant consideration of innovative
solutions.
3. Not distracted by mergers and acquisitions Because we are privately owned,
we are not distracted by the mergers and acquisitions that limit our competitors'
responsiveness.
4. Efficiency. Our approach reduces lifecycle costs because it is more efficient.
5. Responsive. Our issue tracking system will enable us to respond quickly to your
requests and ensure that none of them "fall through the cracks."
6. Lower cost. By taking advantage of technology, we can meet the production
schedule using less staff and lower the total project cost.
7. Reliability. Our proven reliability means that you can count on us to deliver
continuity of operations no matter what the circumstances.
8. Seamless. Our solution will integrate into your technical environment seamlessly.
9. Exceeds the requirement. We exceed the minimum requirements of the RFP in
several significant ways.
10. Best value. Our solution balances up-front investment against long-term
operating costs to achieve the best overall value.
11. Sustainability. By minimizing maintenance and resource requirements, our
solution will be sustainable in the field.
12. Scalability. The scalability inherent in our approach will enable us to respond to
peaks and valleys in the workload.
13. Meet or exceed performance standards/SLA. Our approach meets or exceeds
all required performance standards.
14. Positive return on investment. By approaching project costs as investments, we
not only deliver the best return on investment, but we can quantify that return for
our customers.
15. Quick return on investment. Our approach emphasizes a rapid return on
investment to minimize the financial risk to the customer.
16. Builds a foundation for the future. Our platform not only meets the current
requirements, but it puts in place a foundation that you will be able to capitalize
on in the future.
Trust
17. Award winning. The industry awards we have received recognize the quality of
our offering.
18. Financially sound. We are financially sound and our access to ample credit
ensures our ability to support this project with any resources required.
19. Can offer financing. Our financial strength enables us to offer attractive credit
terms to our customers.
20. Audited. Our financial strength is demonstrated by a series of external audits
without qualification going back many years.
21. Licensed/Bonded. Because we are fully licensed and bonded, you can trust us to
perform.
22. Licensing terms. Our licensing terms offer several advantages to you over those
of our competition.
Faster
23. Performance. Our approach improves performance by increasing the speed of the
process.
24. Implementation. Our approach will produce benefits for you faster by
completing the implementation sooner.
25. Transition. Because our resources are immediately available, we can accomplish
the transition faster.
Transition Themes
26. Retain institutional knowledge. We will maintain critical institutional
 knowledge by retaining the incumbent staffing.
27. No disruption. Because our staff is already trained and in-place, we can complete
the project start-up without any disruption to our client.
28. Ready on Day 1. We will be ready on Day 1 of the contract to provide service
and meet all performance standards.
Positioning
29. Best combination. We offer the best combination of experience and innovation.
30. Mission support. Our experience enables us to focus on helping you achieve
your mission and not just on meeting contractual requirements.
31. Most realistic. Our staffing, schedules, estimates, and pricing all reflect a realistic
approach that you can count on.
Organization
32. Clear lines of communication. Our emphasis on clear lines of communication
ensures responsiveness.
33. Well defined roles and responsibilities. Our management approach reflects well
defined roles and responsibilities which delivers maximum efficiency while
ensuring that all critical functions are fully covered.
34. Flattened organization. By keeping our organization flat, we keep decision
making as close as possible to the project.
35. Direct access to executives. Our executives are always available via telephone or
in-person to address project needs.
36. Rapid problem escalation. Our management approach formally addresses
problem escalation to ensure that issues are promptly and thoroughly resolved.
Risk
37. Mitigated. Our approach mitigates project risks.
38. Identified. Our approach formally identifies and tracks project risks to ensure that
trade-offs and decisions are made in an informed manner.
39. Shared. Our approach shares risk so that all parties have an incentive to
participate in mitigating the risks.
40. Anticipated. Our experience enables us to anticipate risks and prevent negative
outcomes.
Demonstrated/proven
41. Capability. Our capability to deliver the services you need is proven through past
 performance.
42. History of. We bring a proven history of delivering on time and within budget.
43. Track record. We bring a proven track record that demonstrates our quality.
Experience
44. This customer. Our experience in your environment will enable us to provide
better service.
45. Location. Our experience with this location will enable us to recruit and deploy
resources far more efficiently.
46. Technology. Our experience with this delicate technology will enable us to avoid
the potential problems.
47. Our business/teaming partners. Our prior relationship with our business
partners ensures that we can work together to meet your needs.
48. Management. Because our management is experienced, they will understand
your needs and be able to anticipate problems.
Alignment with their:
49. Plans. Our approach to this project is in alignment with your plans for the future.
50. Mission. Our approach is in alignment with your mission.
51. Goals. Our schedule aligns with your goals for this project.
Staffing
52. Already named/hired. All of the staff we propose to use are already hired and
are named in our proposal.
53. In place/ready to start. All of the staff we propose are in place and ready to start
immediately.
54. Qualified/trained/certified. Our staff are fully qualified, trained, and certified.
55. Incentivized staff. Our staff are incentivized to meet project goals.
56. Client review. We review all major staffing decisions with you.
Security
57. Physical security. We will provide the critical physical security you need for
your staff and facility to remain safe.
58. Information assurance. Our approach addresses information assurance and the
security of your IT infrastructure.
59. Fault-tolerant. Because our proposed system is fault-tolerant, it will remain
operational even if a part fails.
60. Continuity of operations. Our approach will deliver continuity of operations,
even if a disaster should occur.
61. Safety. By focusing on safety, our approach avoids unexpected delays, and costs.
Quality
62. Independence. Our quality manager operates independently, and does not report
to the project manager.
63. ISO/CMM. Because our management and quality processes are ISO certified,
they can be relied upon.
64. Assessment/Surveillance. Our approach to overseeing quality includes tracking
performance metrics and sampling.
65. Testing and validation. Our emphasis on testing and validation ensures you of a
reliable system.
66. Audit trails. Our approach provides a clear audit trail to help clarify the
circumstances should a problem occur.
67. Feedback. Our approach seeks out and incorporates your feedback to ensure you
have a voice in how the project unfolds.
68. Lessons learned. By documenting and incorporating lessons learned, we ensure
that valuable experience is retained.
69. Continuous improvement. Our approach includes specific action items designed
to achieve continuous improvement.
70. Metrics and measurements. By capturing metrics and measurements data, we
create a repository of performance data with multiple benefits for our customer.
71. Change management. Our process for change management is careful and
controlled to ensure that new versions do not introduce new problems.
Partnership
72. The customer will be included and involved. We form a partnership with our
customers that ensures their participation and keeps them in the loop with regards
to project events.
73. We will shift the burden from the customer to us. Our approach enables you to
shift effort to us so that you can focus on other goals.
Methodologies
74. Formal. Because we follow formal methodologies, our performance is more
reliable.
75. Documented. We will not waste your time inventing new procedures because
ours already exist and are fully documented.
76. Repeatable. Because our procedures are documented and repeatable, they are
followed consistently.
77. Certified. Because our methodologies are certified, they are more reliable.
Platforms
78. Off-the-shelf. Our approach lowers cost by using off-the-shelf components.
79. Proprietary. Our in-house proprietary software provides advanced decision
support.
80. Open. Our use of open solutions is more reliable and cost-effective than
approaches that depend on proprietary platforms.
81. Standards-based/compliant Our approach is fully compliant with applicable
standards.
Training
82. Already trained. Because our staff are already trained, they will face no learning
curve, and will be able to get to work immediately.
83. On-going. Our approach to training is on-going and not just occasionally offered.
84. Technology refresh. Our approach to training ensures that our staffing remain
current with changes in technology.
85. Client staff. Client staff will be invited to participate in our training sessions.
Support
86. Ongoing. Our support will be on-going, available for the life of the project.
87. Quick. Our approach to support emphasizes quick response.
88. Thorough. Our support managers will ensure that all issues are thoroughly
resolved.
89. Capacity. Our approach to providing support ensures that we have the capacity to
respond to all requests.
90. Self-service. We will make our support resources available to those who want to
help themselves without going through the help desk.
91. On-site/off-site. Our approach addresses the need for support to be provided
 onsite.
92. Issue tracking. We fully track all requests for support in order to measure
responsiveness and ensure thorough resolution.
Abundance of
93. Resources. We have an abundance of resources available to support this project.
94. Experience. Our abundance of experience in this area ensures our ability to
deliver managers and staff who understand your needs.
95. Staff. The size of our staffing pool ensures that we can quickly fill any open
positions on this project.
96. Skills/knowledge/ability. Our experience gives us an abundance of relevant skills
and knowledge for this project.
Plans
97. Detailed/Comprehensive. Our detailed and comprehensive plans ensure our
readiness.
98. Flexible. Our plans are flexible and able to adapt.
99. All contingencies addressed. By explicitly addressing potential contingencies,
we ensure our ability to respond quickly.
Environmental issues
100.Reduced waste. Our approach reduces the amount of waste and improves
efficiency.
101.Use of recycled materials. Our approach is more environmentally friendly
because we make heavy use of recycled materials.

Should You Write the Executive Summary First or Last?

Should you write the Executive Summary first and build your proposal to support it, or
should you write it last, as a summary of all the material developed in writing the
proposal? There are good reasons for taking either approach, but which is best for you
will depend on your circumstances and goals.
Why You Should Write the Executive Summary First
The purpose of a proposal is to persuade the reader to follow your recommendations. The
proposal must articulate and support the reasons that will persuade the reader. A
successful proposal is built completely around your rationale. You must know and be
able to articulate this rationale before you even start to write the proposal. If you just start
writing the proposal and develop your rationale as you write, your proposal will miss
many opportunities to be persuasive, and the reasons why the reader should follow your
recommendations will never be fully integrated.
Writing the Executive Summary first forces you to articulate your rationale and develop
the elements of persuasion. It then provides you with a foundation to build that rationale
into the rest of the proposal, and enables you to achieve a fully integrated presentation.
Why You Should Write the Executive Summary Last
You learn a lot as you develop your proposal. On the last day of production, you know
far more about what is required to win than you did on the first day. It is a tremendous
challenge to gain this insight before it is too late. The Executive Summary that you can
write on the last day will always be different from the Executive Summary you would
write on the first day. If you build your proposal around what you know on the first day,
you will be building your proposal around incomplete knowledge.
While you could argue that starting early and doing your intelligence gathering
homework is the best way to respond, you will never have full knowledge at the
beginning. This is true, if only because of the RFP. Going through the RFP, item by item,
and developing your solution and your response teaches you things. The strategies that
were developed before the RFP was released often need to be changed or even dropped
based on what is in the final RFP. And even if you are really diligent about reading the
full RFP as soon as it comes out, you won't have a full understanding of all the
implications until you've fully developed your solution, written the response, and gone
through all the related pricing trade-offs.
When you write the Executive Summary last, it will reflect a better understanding of the
customer, the solution, and the competitive environment. As a result, it will be more
persuasive.
How Do You Decide?
Like many things in life, the best approach for you will depend on your circumstances. If
you are having trouble articulating why the customer should follow your
recommendations, then doing the Executive Summary first may be an excellent way to
start. You can always go back to it later and make changes. If, however, your rationale
depends on what your recommendations are, and you won't know until they are
developed and priced, you may wish to hold off. Only don't hold off too long or you will
run out of time.
A hybrid approach is to create a draft Executive Summary, with a expectation that it will
get thrown out or completely revised as you go through the process and learn more. What
I like about this approach is that if you revise it as you go along, you have a baseline
understanding of your rationale that you can share with people throughout the process to
help foster a shared-understanding and illuminate any discrepancies. If you end up
revising the Executive Summary on a daily basis, the effort is not wasted. Confirmation,
validation, and revision of the reasons why your customer should follow your
recommendations can only help you achieve a successful proposal.
Proposal Writing for Professional
Services Businesses
Marketing professional services and writing professional services proposals is very
different from product marketing. A professional services proposal usually includes a
staffing plan and the resumes of the staff who will be doing the work. Instead of specific
line items to include, describe, and price, you often have to develop an approach, describe
it, estimate the level of effort to execute it, and then price the labor to do it. This presents
a professional services proposal with a different set of challenges than those faced by
other businesses.

Hints on Preparing Responsive Resumes Topics to Address When Writing a

Resumes used in proposals are a different
animal from a personal resume. Here are
answers to critical resume preparation
questions: How long should it take, who
should write the resume, how to address the
requirements, what format should you use,
when should you genuflect or weasle word,
and more, from an author who has prepared
more than 20,000 resumes in his career.
Questions to answer in your
Management Plan Sixty-three questions to out why the program manager must be part
answer in your Management Plan
Questions to answer in your Staffing
Plan Twenty-two questions to answer in
your Staffing Plan
Recruiting and Selling Key Personnel in of a proposal, it must serve the same
Service-Contract Proposals Recruiting
and selling key personnel are critical
factors in preparing winning proposals.
Despite its importance, it is easy for even services Here are the secrets that Gunjan
experienced proposal managers to let key
personnel efforts get overshadowed by
other issues.
Transition Plan Here is a list of topics and
issues to consider when writing a
Transition Plan for a proposal.
Strategies for Writing a Winning
Transition Plan If everyone is providing
the same service, then your Transition Plan
can determine whether you win or lose.
To win, you must offer a Program
Manager with customer recognition Find
of the proposal team and how to overcome
the usual objections
Using Resumes in Proposals Sometimes
the customer wants to know who is going
to do the work. But when a resume is part
purpose as the proposal.
Writing killer proposals for software
Karun, a web site developer in Indore,
India, uses to win his proposals.
What Should Your Service Fee Be? You
must decide for yourself whether you will
charge for your services or not. Should you
decide to charge, the next question is "what
should my fee be?"
 For those who just want to get it done and meet your
deadline...
I guess it's human nature, but we get requests from people who are incredibly stressed out
because they are trying to prepare a proposal at the last possible minute. They'd rather
copy a sample than take the time to learn best practices.

The best practices always include "start early." It's like trying to get students to start a
project long before it's due. The most successful people do start early, but there are
always some who don't. In the past we've felt bad because there has been very little we
could do to help people at the last minute.

We wrote The Quick and Dirty Guide to Writing a Winning Proposal to provide some
guidance to people who just need to get their proposal done quickly. We don't
recommend it for people who are willing to invest the time it takes to win, but we highly
recommend it for those who are out of time and have nowhere else to turn for help. It
was written for people who are trying to complete a proposal against a tight deadline,
with little or no advance preparation, who may not know their customer's preferences and
will not have an opportunity to find out.

It starts with short description of 8 different types of proposals, from letter proposals to
RFP-based proposals. It provides a sample outline and lists 25 topics typically covered in
a proposal. It provides simple, practical suggestions for how to approach proposal
writing. It provides recommendations for formating, producing, and packaging your
proposal. We include a free copy of our favorite proposal format from our Proposal
Formatting Guide.

Our other documents teach you the best practices that ensure a winning proposal, starting
with getting to know your customer and then customizing everything in your proposal
around your win strategies. This document is a little different. It's straight and to the
point. Instead of explaining everything in detail, it makes quick recommendations. We
don't recommend it for people who are willing to invest the time it takes to win, but we
highly recommend it for those who are out of time and have nowhere else to turn for
help.

Here are some other documents we publish that can help:

• If you are looking for inspiration regarding what to include in your proposal, we
also recommend 509 Questions to Answer in Your Proposals.
• If you want a beginngers guide, we also publish How to Survive Your First
Business Proposal.
• If you want something specifically on formatting, you should take a look at our
Proposal Formatting Package.
Our tutorials are packed with valuable tips, tricks, and
lessons learned from years of proposal writing Order today
experience. They will help you accomplish specific tasks and get a
necessary to win new business and average 20-30 pages in
length. The information is available for download FREE copy of
immediately after purchasing. No shipping required! 51 Tips for
Hardcopies can also be ordered.
Will your tutorials meet the needs of my business? They
Microsoft
will help you figure out how to write the proposal that is right Word, with
for you and your audience. plenty of tips
What type of proposals are they for? Our tutorials address for quickly
business proposals that are based on written RFPs as well as
those that are not. They are relevant to both the Government producing
and commercial market places. great looking
Will it make writing my proposal easier? Absolutely. Once documents.
you know which questions to ask, you have a better shot at
finding the answers. Our tutorials will help you deliver a
proposal that meets your customers expectations.

If it saves you a half-hour of your time it will have paid

for itself. And if it helps you win, it's worth far more!

Want More Than One? Find Out How to Get Them All
for Less!
A membership to our site provides you with a Discount Package that includes
all of our premium content for a single, discounted price. Memberships include
every one of our tutorials, workbooks, and online training presentations. It even
includes content that hasn't been published yet because members get access to
all CapturePlanning.com content published for the next year.

Click here to find out how much you can save!

Purchasing Details
 • Purchases may be made online using a credit card, with immediate access upon
payment.
• Please purchase 1 copy for each person who will need a copy, just like you would
a book.
• Each tutorial must be downloaded and is in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (300-
400kb).
• If you decide to upgrade your purchase to a membership within 30 days of
purchasing a tutorial, you will receive FULL CREDIT.

How will you benefit from our tutorials?

• Save money! If they save you a single hour of time they have delivered a positive
return on your investment.
• Make money! If you learn one thing from our tutorials that helps you deliver
better proposals, you could win new business worth far more than the cost of the
tutorial.
• Our workbooks and tutorials will even make you better looking! While that's
not really true, you will look like you're taking your job seriously if you are trying
to study up on it. And you can look like an expert by referring other people to our
site to improve their business development skills.
• Get help now! It only takes a few minutes to order and download your copy.
The bottom line... Our tutorials will save you time and increase your chances of
winning. How much is a better proposal worth to your business? Most people writing
their first proposal can't afford to spend over $100/hr on a consultant. For a small fraction
of that you can get the equivalent of several hours wor

Oral Proposals and Presentations

Sometimes a proposal consists of an oral presentation. Sometimes, a paper proposal is
followed by an oral proposal. Occasionally oral proposals are used to replace paper
proposals. Here are some tips to help you modify your written propsoal techniques for
preparing and presenting an oral proposal.

How to select an orals coach Proposal Orals - Knowing the Room Improves the
orals preparation frequently requires Presentation Knowing as much as you can
several different skills. Here is a list to help about the room where you will present will
you find the right coach. help make your presenters more
Elements of a Good Product comfortable, confident!
Demonstration What you demonstrate and Orals Coaching You're tracking an
how you demonstrate it can make or break opportunity to bid. Your are putting all the
a sale to your key customers. Here are someingredients in place to deliver a winning
things to think about. proposal. You now must select key
personnel, the same personnel that will
Orals - Hey Coach! Help Me With My deliver the oral presentation. What do you
Body Language Many times we forget that do now? How will you get them ready to
over 50% of the communications package succeed? Here are some ideas to help you
that we deliver to our customers, friends, further position yourself for success.
and families is body language.
The Presentation After the Presentation
Allowing the audience to ask questions
after your presentation is an excellent way
to reinforce your message and to continue
to sell your ideas. The question and answer
period is actually another presentation and
vital to most speaking situations.