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 for […]
May 16, 2010 by 1 Comment
Three Proposal Best Practices That Will Reduce Your Stress
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 […]
November 21, 2009 by 1 Comment
Are You a Victim of Spellcheck?
As I get older, I’m noticing something. I don’t spellz so well anymore. You won’t notice this in my emails, letters, or proposals. That’s because I use spellcheck. But on this site and in my handwriting you see another side of me, a drooling idiot who can’t spell simple words like “your,” “delegate,” or “perfect.” […]
November 16, 2009 by 4 Comments
Why Your Marketing Words Suck
I get to look at a lot of writing during my work. I’ve seen marketing materials from many firms. While the visuals are often nice, most of the words just plain suck. The other day, we were on a phone call talking to a firm Principal about a proposal effort. We were politely trying […]
October 20, 2009 by 3 Comments
Avoid Logic in Your Proposals
This sounds like crazy advice. You and your technical team will often want to write proposals that are logical. You want your proposals to “make sense.” Right? Not really. The truth about proposals is that mirroring the RFP submission requirements and rating criteria is always a better approach than writing something that is “logical.” Let […]
August 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Proposal Pricing Strategies: How Much are You Selling that Watermelon For?
Mike and Bobby are the most popular watermelon salesmen in the city. Each weekend they travel to the country and buy watermelons from the local farmers at 50 cents per melon. They load up their truck with watermelons and head back to the city. During the weekdays, they sit by city hall with a big […]
July 18, 2009 by 2 Comments
The Perfect CRM
I’ve been talking to people a lot about Client Relationship Management software. I did a previous post on this topic on linkedin and got a lot of great response. The San Francisco chapter of SMPS recently did a big article on CRM in thier newsletter, which I read. I was also talking to the CEO […]
July 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment
How Much Influence Do Relationships Have on Proposal Selection?
There is a sermon that far too many people in this industry preach. I hear it all the time from experienced “marketing experts.” Over and over again they say, “don’t submit a proposal unless you have a relationship.” “Don’t waste your time and money subscribing to lead services, you won’t get anywhere without relationships.” If […]
June 1, 2009 by 6 Comments
My Dream: Open Source CRM and Proposal Software
When I started working at my current job, I inherited a system that consisted of ACT! for our contacts, Deltek CRM/Proposals for our project info, and Deltek Advantage for accounting. In general, I find the Deltek products to be overly expensive and not very user friendly. And I liked Act! even less. Being so frustrated […]
April 15, 2009 by 3 Comments
Can You Use Photos You Find On The Internet For Proposals?
I enjoy the messages and questions that come across the LISTSERV of the Society of Marketing Professional Services. One person recently asked this question: “Anyone willing to share information or provide a resource for information about copyright or use of image or articles (such as google, etc.)?” This is typically a legal question. And while […]
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