Proposal-writing guide: your pathway
to a better written business proposal
Many normally competent people need a proposal-writing guide. That's because they get stuck or confused when it comes to the proposal-writing process. If that includes you, this guide will help get you unstuck and confusion free.
There are similarities between the proposal-writing guide and the proposal template. If you first understand the guide, or process, you’ll get greater value when using the free proposal template.
The guide has four parts:
1. The Discovery Process
2. Research and Analysis
3. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
4. Writing the Proposal
1. The Discovery Process
Discovery gets you to the nub of the question – what’s the client’s present position, what’s the desired position and what’s needed to get from the present position to the desired position? Sounds simple, right?
What I can promise is that when you spend enough time on discovery, things tend to become easier and a lot clearer. You know what steps need to be taken next; e.g., what research and analysis do I need to carry out?
Sometimes discovery takes no time at all. At other times it can take a while – it depends on the proposal. Whatever you do, do discovery well – it’s time well spent and it’s that important an element of the proposal-writing guide.
(Click here for more details on the discovery process)
2. Research & Analysis
How much or how little research do you need to do, and why? And when? And where? And with whom or what?
Discovery will give you a pretty good idea of the situation. It’ll indicate:
a. Whether you even have to do research
b. How much research is required and how you need to go about it
And then you analyze what you’ve got… which will lead to your next step.
(Click here for a full discussion on research and analysis)
3. Your USP – Unique Selling Proposition
This stage is the culmination of Discovery and Research – it determines how you plan to carry out and implement the proposal.
(Click here for a complete review of USP)
4. Writing Up the Proposal
This is the document you’re going to present to the client. It includes:
a. How you plan to carry out the proposal
b. Budget
c. Logistics – required personnel etc.
d. Timelines
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