It’s easy to become snow-blind when writing a business proposal, especially if you are performing more than one role in the team. And if you're new to proposal development, bidding, and grant applications that are many pitfalls to avoid. Some are predictable, others less so. 7 Proposal Writing … [Read more...]
The Steve Carell Customer Acquisition Strategy
September 30, 2013 by
If you’ve watched Steve Carell (Michael Scott) in The Office, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a miracle his branch ever stayed open. That’s what I thought too. But there was a very interesting episode recently where Jan came to town with the aim of landing a major deal with a local … [Read more...]
A [business] writing tip from… Tolstoy
September 13, 2013 by
You wouldn’t think Tolstoy and proposal writing would have much in common, would you? But if you’ve read War or Peace, which is much easier to read than you’d think, there’s a few techniques in there that you can apply to your proposals. For example? Summary - read the first three chapters … [Read more...]
Writing the Risk Analysis section for Business Proposals
October 23, 2011 by
Risk assessment creates problems for proposal writers. When responding to a Request For Proposal (RFP), you need to identify all known risks but also flag how these will impact other projects and deliverables. Your response also needs to discuss how you will mitigate against this; in other words, if … [Read more...]
15 Business Proposal Writing Tactics
October 19, 2011 by
How does psychology affect your business proposal’s success rate? While most proposal writers focus on ‘hard’ data and ‘fixed’ costs, before you start your next tender document, consider other areas that typically get overlooked. For example? Look at underlying issues, pain points, and … [Read more...]
How to demonstrate Value For Money in Business Proposals
October 16, 2011 by
You can increase your business proposal’s success rate if you understand how evaluators determine Value For Money. Most proposal writers focus on the solution or cost. While both of these are valid, you need to examine your bid from the evaluator’s standpoint, in particular how they assess the … [Read more...]
Free Checklist – Responding to Request For Proposals (RFPs)
October 14, 2011 by
Want to avoid last minute mistakes when submitting your business proposal? It’s easy to forget something when responding to an Request For Proposal (RFP) as there are so many activities to coordinate. One way to ensure your proposal gets delivered on time – and with all requirements covered – is to … [Read more...]
9 Ways To Improve Your Business Proposal’s Executive Summary
October 12, 2011 by
Here are nine guidelines to help you write a better Executive Summary for your next business proposal. The Executive Summary creates difficulties for many proposal writers. Is it part of the business proposal or is it a separate document? How long should it be? Should it include costs? 1. Define … [Read more...]
Increase your Proposal Success Rate
September 6, 2011 by
"For your own good" is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction. Janet Frame Why do you write business proposals? Same reason we do! We write proposals to win more business, pay our bills and send the kids to college. Same as you, I guess! … [Read more...]
18 Case Study Writing Hacks
September 4, 2011 by
You’ve never written a case study before, right? You wish there was some nice, easy way to get a handle on this. So, wouldn’t it be very nice if someone –guess who! – put together fifteen of the best articles on case study writing? Well, you're in luck, we have! 1. How to Write a Case … [Read more...]