Time. It’s something none of us seem to have enough of.

Ask anyone how they are these days and the answer, inevitably, is “busy”. I’m writing this at 6am. If you’re like most people, you may get around to reading it at 6pm – when the phones have stopped ringing – or never, as it is added to the never-ending pile of things you’d like to get to but simply can’t.

Proposals are usually just an extra burden to add to your already-busy day. It’s not surprising that good intentions fall away, timeframes slip, and what is presented by the deadline is not always the best it could be.

Even with all the technology that’s available to help, winning proposals still rely on planning, deep thought, teamwork, and a shared sense of purpose and urgency.

1. If you know you’re going to have to pitch to retain an existing contract, the time to plan strategy is well before the new tender document hits your in-box. How long before depends on how long you’ve got. Even a week will produce better results than waiting.

2. When you have a live opportunity in progress, produce a work plan at the same time you produce your strategy – and stick to it. Be prepared to be unpopular and don’t accept excuses for poor or late material from contributors. Their one piece of input could mean the difference between a so-so proposal and a winner.

3. A final sanity check of a proposal is critical; allow enough time to do this before the deadline. Depending on the number of people who need to review it, this may take one to five days or even longer if you are working with a consortium.

4. Stress-test the commercial sense of your proposal with someone who hasn’t been involved in its development. Ask them to interrogate your offer the way the potential customer would.

The biggest winners are those who finish strongly. My book The Shredder Test includes two self-test proposal checklists (one for free-format proposals and one for prescribed-format proposals, like tender responses) plus a method for third-party proposal reviews. These tools offer extra insurance that you will avoid elimination traps and that each proposal will represent your very best work. All are downloadable from The Shredder Test’s online library when you have a copy of the book.

Robyn Haydon, Principal Consultant of Winning Words, is a proposal strategist and writer and the author of The Shredder Test – the Australian guide to writing winning proposals. 

Office (03) 9557 4585
E-mail robyn@winningwords.com.au  www.winningwords.com.au