Laura Ricci of 1Ricci has a proposal process that she says will give you wins. Honestly, it is more complicated than any process that I have ever used (and I’ve submitted and won multi-million dollar proposals). You can see part of the process above. Laura claims to have unlocked the magic behind winning proposals: [...]
I recently had the opportunity to review proposals and conduct interviews with firms. During this process, a few proposal and interview basics came to mind. And while I’m often the proposer, it’s nice to be able to talk from the buyer’s perspective. So here are my suggestions from a buyer’s perspective. If the guy who [...]
The other day the question came up about whether we should give our staff guidance on the order projects should appear in proposal resumes and experience sections. The ultimate answer was, “I hope not.” To some respect, it’s a gut decision. But then I thought, maybe it’s not. Maybe there is a formula to picking [...]
Requests For Proposals (RFPs) are not perfect. Personally, out of the thousands of rfps that have passed before me, I have yet to see one perfect RFP. The problems come when the rfp has confusing, illogical, contradictory or ambiguous language. You may just shrug your shoulders and say, “well, I’ll just give them what [...]
.jpg)
You do it now so it won’t be sloppy. Those forms for the proposal due next month, do them now. That technical approach for that proposal due in three weeks, do it now. The consequence of not doing it now is submitting a proposal that could have been better. Sure, there are other things you [...]
I like to write the cover letter first. Many folks leave it for last. I have tried that. But there is a risk that it will not get the attention it deserves. I believe you also miss out on the opportunity to frame the key narrative elements of your response from the get-go. These themes [...]
I love to see competitors’ proposals. Proposals are competitions, make no mistake about it. Professional sports teams scout their competition to see what plays and tactics they use. So it makes sense for AEC firms to do the same. If you can look at your competitors’ proposals, do so…with one caveat. Make sure it’s [...]
Us marketing folks hate dealing with numbers. I calculate numbers more than I would like. And like many marketers, I get nervous about making a mistake. One slight mistake in the numbers can cause a huge headache, and we all make mistakes. This week one of our marketers took a stab at calculating numbers [...]
After submitting over 1,000 proposals to public and private clients, I’ve grown attached to some proposal practices that I believe make for overall better proposals and help alleviate proposal-related stress. Here they are: Dummy Book As we are making a proposal, we put together what’s known as a dummy book. This is just a manilla [...]
Each RFP you see will give you instruction on what is to be in your proposal. Sometimes it will ask for what’s called a “management plan.” This can sometimes trip technical writers up, but writing a management plan isn’t really that hard. In fact, once you get used to writing them, you may end up [...]
© A/E/C Marketing Advice, Training, and Support Group | Help Everybody Everyday. Say something clever here. Or not. You decide.
Recent Comments