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This time, I’ll discuss some of the quotes from Part 8 of my book, which are directly from buyers and provide you with great guidance for your next proposal.

In this podcast, we’ll focus on the first group of quotes under the heading “Differentiate Yourself”

This is one of the most important things to get right. RFPs exist so clients can decide between various bidders and make a final selection. If you haven’t given the client what they need to differentiate you from others, you haven’t written a winning proposal. Read the rest of this entry »

Selling is an important concept that too many proposal writers and business development professionals forget is actually part of the proposal process.

Unlike a typical sale where you have a conversations with your client and convince them to buy what you’re selling, a proposal isn’t a real conversation – it’s one sided. Read the rest of this entry »

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In this podcast, I’m covering a common question which is : How long should a proposal be?

The rule of thumb for how long your proposal should be is to make it as long as you need to get your point across without overwhelming the evaluators. More is not better. Consider the effort it takes by the reviewers to slog through long proposals.

In the words of Dr. Frank Luntz, author of the book Words that work, “… brevity, clarity, and simplicity are simply the hallmarks of good communication.” Read the rest of this entry »

I reference four other books in my own book about writing better proposals because they provide excellent examples or lessons that proposal writers can use to improve their proposals. They mostly relate to getting your message across and persuading the reader.

In some cases, I had been using the techniques already in RFP responses and it was only after I read these books that I understood why they worked.

Here are some examples of how these books influence my approach to proposal writing. Read the rest of this entry »