EchelonOne Consulting

Does the idea of writing a business proposal send cold chills down your spine? Here are three simple ingredients for making the secret sauce that greatly improves your chance of hearing “yes.”

Ingredient #1: It’s all about your reader

Leave your ego at the doorstep. A great business proposal isn’t about who you are and what you have to offer. It’s about what your potential client wants and needs and how you will meet those needs.

Think about those people who will read your proposal and decide whether or not to choose you. What are they like? What motivates them to say  “yes”? Do some homework. Ask questions. Review websites, online profiles, vision and mission statements, news releases—anything you can find about them. Make a list of the key things you find. Prioritize the information by what you think will have the greatest impact.

Ingredient #2: Find the connection

Compare your company and what you have to offer to the list you’ve made above. Where do you connect? Find where your strengths, culture and service offerings match their needs and wants. Make a corresponding list.

For example: You discover that your potential client has a mandate to do business only with environmentally conscious companies. You were operating green long before the trend. Make a note to stress this in your proposal.

Caution: If you’re struggling to find a connection, consider rethinking your target client. You may be fishing in the wrong pond.

Ingredient #3: Draw the lines

You’ve learned all about your readers and decision makers and made a list of connections. Now it’s time to draw the lines so that your readers can make the same connections.

I usually recommend that my clients choose the three main messages they’d like to convey in their proposal. Choose your three from ingredients #1 and #2 above. Sure, you’ll probably tell your reader more than three things. By deciding what to focus on, however, you’ll highlight the key messages upfront, and you’ll repeat them more than once.

Resist the urge to make one of the most common mistakes in writing proposals—telling your readers everything you think they could possibly want to know (and then some). Focus on your key messages and give your readers just the information that they need to make a decision to move to the next step.

Quick Tip: These three basic ingredients can be applied to any type of business writing, whether you’re trying to sell a service, a product or an idea.