More proposal graphics. More proposal graphics. I hear it all the time from “marketing experts,” contemporaries, and Principals. Put more graphics in your proposals. I even heard it from a client once. Here’s the story. A Grain of Salt For Proposal Graphics We had a debrief with a water authority on the west coast. This […]
May 29, 2013 by 39 Comments
The Purpose of Graphics and Images in a Proposal…It’s Not What You Think.
April 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
Are You Developing Proposals In A Bubble?
Sure, you’ve submitted countless proposals. You’ve certainly won and lost your share of competitions. But do you really know whether your proposals are any good? There is a great episode of 30 Rock where Jon Hamm plays Tina Fey’s new boyfriend who she learns is “living in a bubble.” Everybody compliments what he does and […]
March 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Surprising Statistics About Federal Bid Protests
Wally Zimolong over at Supplemental Conditions posted a piece about federal bid protest statistics. There were a few statistics in the report that I thought were pretty telling. First off, the number of formal bid protests rose almost 50% between 2008 and 2012. But the statistic that stayed consistent was also pretty disturbing. Over 40% […]
February 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Why The Type of Procurement Matters To Your Proposal
Some people think proposal competitions are all the same. We compete and whomever had the best relationship wins. These people are wrong. This is because the type of procurement has a dramatic effect on the proposal competition. Let’s look at a few procurement types and discuss what effect they have. Low Bid Low bid or […]
February 17, 2013 by 1 Comment
The Difference Between a Proposal and a Choose Your Own Adventure Book
Remember those old choose your own adventure books? You would read a passage and which page you would turn to depended on which decision you would make. Well, proposals aren’t choose your own adventure books! Someone will evaluate your proposal. For the love of God, do not make that person’s job hard. Address every single […]
February 10, 2013 by 2 Comments
Why You Shouldn’t Give a Client Ambiguous RFP Language
Before a RFP hits the street, it’s reasonable for the client to “go out to the industry” for input. Do not send the client RFP language that is ambiguous. Make sure what you give them is very clear and can only have one possible interpretation. Here’s what will happen if you don’t. Months from now, […]
January 13, 2013 by 21 Comments
Are Your Proposals Dishonest?
Honesty in the proposal business is a slippery slope. Sure, we all tell the truth in our proposals. Don’t we? But think about how ripe the whole process is for dishonesty. I think we all have a relationship with honesty and the proposal game. I think I’ve told this story before, but I remember the […]
January 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Find The RFPs You Miss
Many have said if you don’t know about the RFP before it hits the street, you have no chance of winning. Of course, I’ve built my career on winning these proposal competitions. Therefore, I need a way to find the right RFPs hitting the street around the country. Here are a few tools that can […]
December 17, 2012 by 5 Comments
Are These The Seven Deadly Sins of Proposal Writing?
I recently picked up a copy of Tom Sant’s Persuasive Business Proposals. This is a commonly mentioned book about proposal writing. My plan is to read the entire thing, gulp, and compare it to Laura Ricci’s The Magic of Winning Proposals (which I liked). In Sant’s book, he describes what he believes to be the seven deadly […]
October 7, 2012 by 12 Comments
Where Do You Fit On The Proposal Experience Spectrum?
After talking to many people who work with proposals, it’s become clear that not all our experiences are the same. Each of us falls in a different category on the proposal experience spectrum. Oftentimes, we don’t realize this. You bring someone onto your team knowing that they spent a lot of time on proposals in […]
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