7 Tips for Creating a Great Business Proposal

Q: I was wondering if you had any tips on what constitutes a good proposal. Much of my business comes from making proposals, and I think they could probably be stronger, though I am not sure they are weak, if that makes sense. Thanks in advance.

— Kirk

A: In his excellent book, Writing Winning Business Proposals, author Richard C. Freed says this about business proposals:

Although a few are outstanding, most aren't. Many offend with 'cut-and-paste' boilerplate, miss important opportunities to provide value, suffer from poor logic and organization, and focus more on you than on me and my organization. Although some do a few things well, some don't do much well at all.

I think he is on to something. I read quite a few business proposals, and have written many. Most often, and most successfully, my proposals have been to publishers. Each time I have written a book, the process begins with a proposal that explains what the book would be, who its intended audience is, why it would be better than competitive books, and why the publisher would be nuts not to publish it.

Similarly, not a few business proposals come across my desk. Some are excellent and some are not. So here then are my 7 Tips for Creating a Great Business Proposal:

1. Write Clearly and Succinctly: There is a tendency in business writing generally, and in business proposals specifically, to try and show how smart you are by using excess verbiage, jargon, and run-on sentences. Don't do it. Be succinct. Make your point and move on.
   
   Remember: When people begin reading the proposal, they have little or no idea what you are proposing, so you have to walk them through the process. You do so by starting at the beginning and clearly, simply, and logically moving forward by making your points one at a time.
   
   Start with the big picture and drill down as you go along.
   
2. Make a Good Argument and Counter Possible Obstacles: A great proposal is, essentially, a sales brochure, disguised. In it, you put your best foot forward, put your company in the best light, and make yourself irresistible to the reader.
   
   How do you do that?
   
   The best way is to marshal the top facts and arguments in your favor. Have a theme and reinforce it again and again. Take the reader down a path that leads but to one conclusion — that hiring you makes the most sense for them.
   
   You also have to put yourself in the readers' position, think of what counter arguments they may be considering, and deal with those potential obstacles honestly. That makes you trustworthy.
   
3. Show your Personality: Far too often, business proposals are devoid of life, as if the person writing it is some Employeetron 3000, programmed to say nothing, be boring, and not offend.
   
   I say, let your personality come through. Of course this is business and you have to follow some business conventions, but as you do, also let the reader see who you are. Share your enthusiasm for your business, their business, the idea, something.
   
4. Use Graphics Intelligently: Don't make the mistake of bogging down a perfectly fine proposal with excess graphics. Yes, of course you need graphics; they can clarify an idea, and liven up a proposal and allow readers to focus on something other than words. That's smart. Just don't get carried away. Whether you use a program like Publisher or PowerPoint, just be sure that the graphics reinforce the sale rather than distracting from the point.
   
5. Don't Oversell: Avoid hyperbole. As soon as you cross the line from understandable pride to obnoxious overstatement, you lose credibility. Once readers think you're not shooting straight with them, they may question the truthfulness of everything in your proposal—all that they read so far, and all that is still to come.
   
   You avoid this unenviable fate by staying on the safe side of overstatement.
   
6. Avoid Boilerplate Language and Catch Typos: Another sure way to lose readers is to have them think that your proposal is a cut-and-paste job, consisting of boilerplate data and text. Certainly you can reuse persuasive information from elsewhere, but try to keep it to a minimum and don't make it obvious. Your proposal should read as if it were created especially for this particular client or customer. And while you're personalizing the proposal, triple-check for typos.
   
   If it is clear that you didn't give the proposal your best effort, why would your readers think you would give their project your best effort?
   
7. Always Keep the Reader in Mind: A proposal is a marketing tool, and as such, remember Marketing 101: Stress benefits, benefits, benefits.
   
   Finally, while price is important and must be discussed, do so only after you have wowed readers with your crisp writing, powerful arguments, supporting graphics, and a plethora of potential benefits. Then you can go in for the sale.