1. Study the Requirements.

Writing a winning proposal begins with a

clear understanding of the client's requirements. Read the RFP
thoroughly. As you're reading, ask yourself, What are this company's
goals? What is my role in achieving these goals? Is the time frame,
budget and scope of work reasonable? And if we're awarded the
contract, does my company have the time, expertise and resources to
complete the project?
Next, decide whether you want to proceed. Preparing this proposal will
require a lot of time and effort in research, analysis of the client's needs
and writing, and you may decide to wait for a better opportunity.
Wakefield examines every RFP carefully. "We don't send everybody a
proposal who asks for one, because researching and writing a proposal
is a fairly expensive process," admits Wakefield. "First, we decide if we
can design a good program for them. Then, we look for projects that
have some potential for us strategically, contracts that offer continuing
relationships and good networking possibilities."
2. Understand the Client. "If you don't understand the client's problem,
you certainly can't propose a methodology that is going to solve the
problem," says Shervin Freed, coauthor of Writing Winning Business
Proposals (McGraw-Hill). "Many times a client or potential client will say,
'This is what we're looking for.' But when you start researching, you find
out that isn't what they're looking for at all."
The best way to understand what the client really needs is to talk with
them. Ask people in the organization about their concerns, their
operating policies and their management philosophy. Discover if any
previous attempts have been made to reach the goals outlined in the

RFP and why those earlier solutions didn't work. Ask what they like and
dislike about dealing with consultants like yourself and what criteria
they'll be using to evaluate your proposal.
You'll also want to get some general information about the organization
and the industry it's in. Ask questions like these: How long has the
company been in business? Who are their major decision makers? What
are their main products or services? How is this company better or
worse than its competitors? What is the company's financial position?
To prepare their proposal, Wakefield's company interviewed the senior
managers in the client's quality and training & development departments,
as well as a purchasing agent. "We learned that our client's goal was to
reach a higher level of customer service," explains Wakefield. "And they
wanted to do that by changing the management process."
If you're not able to speak with the organization's employees, do some
secondary research. Visit the library or check with colleagues who may
have worked for the same organization; it's worth the effort. This
research may save you from proposing a tack that has already been
tried or is unacceptable to the client for some other reason. You may
also discover some underlying issues that weren't addressed in the RFP
and need to be considered.
3. Develop a Methodology. Once your client's goals are clearly
identified, it's time to develop the steps, or methodology, necessary to
reach them. If you're having difficulty with it, use Wakefield's suggestion
of brainstorming sessions.

"My partner and I get together and discuss what kinds of things our
clients need and in what order," Wakefield says. "It's going to be different
for each of our clients, depending on whether they focus more on
customer service or on cost savings. We then custom-design an
intervention that is specific to their organization."
To ensure that your methodology is practical, analyze its costs and
benefits, as well as the time and resources it will require.
4. Evaluate the Solution. You may have developed a brilliant
methodology, but if it's unacceptable to your client, you'll need to find an
alternative solution. "You have to understand the decision maker's
orientation," explains Freed. "You have to know precisely what their
background is, and how they look upon this particular project. For
example, find out whether the person is financially oriented or operations
oriented." You should then describe the benefits of your solution in a way
that will receive the most favorable evaluation from the decision maker.
You should also evaluate your solution according to criteria outlined in
the RFP. For example, if your proposal is being evaluated on price and
completion time, a lengthy, expensive solution is unlikely to win your
company the contract.
5. Outshine Your Competitors. Don't forget that a proposal is a sales
document, designed to persuade the client to hire your company instead
of a competitor. So make certain your proposal reinforces your
company's strengths and addresses any potential reservations the client
may have about hiring you.

"If your competition is a company that is much larger than yours, then
you've got to show your strengths," Freed says. "Maybe you specialize in
the client's field or can focus intensely on solving their problem."
To properly present your strengths, you must know how you stack up
against the competition. If you're lucky, the client will divulge your
competitors' names, describe what they're like to work with and offer an
opinion of your competitor's abilities.
6. Write the Proposal. Now that you've completed the first five steps,
most of the work is done. All that's left is assembling the information into
a proposal format, so we'll be referring back to the work you completed
in the previous steps.
If the RFP specifies the format of your proposal, follow that exactly. If no
format is specified, Freed recommends the following headings be used:
A. Current Situation. Explain the background or problem that motivated
the organization to issue an RFP. This section will be compiled from the
background information outlined in the RFP, as well as from the research
you performed in Step 2.
B. Goals. Clearly explain the goals of your proposal. You formulated
these in Step 2, based on the RFP and your understanding of the
organization and their problems.
C. Proposed Methodology. Describe each of the recommended steps,
developed in Step 3, that will lead the organization to meeting their
goals.
D. Time and cost. Thoroughly explain the time and cost requirements
for each step in the methodology, based on your calculations from Step

3. This section should also specify how you will be billing the client, and
when payment will be expected.
E. Qualifications. Fully describe why yours is the best company for this
job. This information will be based on your competitive strengths and on
the proposal's evaluation criteria, which you developed in Step 5.
F. Benefits. Discuss the many benefits the client will receive by
implementing your recommendations. This section is based on the
benefits identified in Step 4.
7. Apply the Finishing Touches. Review the proposal carefully to
ensure it completely fulfills the requirements set out in the RFP. Make
sure the information is arranged logically and that it fully addresses each
of the decision maker's concerns. Finally, have someone you trust
proofread the proposal to catch spelling and grammatical errors.
Many contracts are awarded solely on the quality of the proposal, so
don't let sloppy writing or careless mistakes ruin an otherwise terrific
proposal.
"To me, good writing is symptomatic of your basic abilities," says Freed.
"Poor writing and poor grammar would make me ask, 'How good can
these people be if they can't even express themselves intelligently?'"
To make sure that the completed proposal looks as professional as
possible, print it on quality paper and have the final copy professionally
bound. Then get ready to put your proposed solution into action.