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PROJECT PROPOSAL (CONTD.)
Broad Contents
Common Sections in a Proposal
Organization of winning proposals
Formats of Proposals
Some tips for writing and presenting proposals
14.1 Common Sections in Proposals:
The following is a review of the sections you will commonly find
in proposals. Do not assume
that each one of them has to be in the actual proposal you
write, nor that they have to be in the
order they are presented here, plus you may discover that other
kinds of information not
mentioned here must be included in your particular proposal.
1. Introduction:
Plan the introduction to your proposal carefully. Make sure it
caters to all of the
following things (but not necessarily in this order) that apply
to your particular
proposal:
- Indicate that
the document to follow is a proposal.
- Refer to some
previous contact with the recipient of the proposal or to your source of information about the project.
- Find one brief
motivating statement that will encourage the recipient to read on and to consider doing the project.
- Give an
overview of the contents of the proposal.
Remember that you may not need
all
of these elements, and some of them can
combine
neatly into single sentences. The introduction ought to be brisk
and to the point and not
feel as though it is trudging laboriously through each of these
elements.
2. Background on the Opportunity:
Often occurring just after the introduction, the background
section discusses what has
brought about the need for the project; what problem, what
opportunity there is for
improving things, what the basic situation is. An owner of pine
timberland may want to
get the land productive of saleable timber without destroying
the ecology.
It is true that the audience of the proposal may know the
problem very well, in which
case this section might not be needed. Writing the background
section still might be
useful, however, in demonstrating your particular view of the
problem. And, if the
proposal is unsolicited, a background section is almost a
requirement; you will probably
need to convince the audience that the problem or opportunity
exists and that it should
be addressed.
3. Benefits and Feasibility of the Proposed Project:
Most proposals discuss the advantages or benefits of doing the
proposed project. This
acts as an argument in favor of approving the project. Also,
some proposals discuss the
likelihood of the project's success. In the forestry proposal,
the proposer is
recommending that the landowner make an investment; at the end
of the proposal, he
explores the question of what return there will be on that
investment, how likely those
returns are. In the unsolicited proposal, this section is
particularly important as you are
trying to "sell" the audience on the project.
4. Description of the Proposed Work (Results of the Project):
Most proposals must describe the finished product of the
proposed project. In this
course, that means describing the written document you propose
to write, its audience
and purpose; providing an outline; and discussing such things as
its length, graphics,
binding, and so forth.) In the scenario you define, there may be
other work such as
conducting training seminars or providing an ongoing service.
Add that too.
5. Method, Procedure, Theory:
In most proposals, you will want to explain how you will go
about doing the proposed
work, if approved to do it. This acts as an additional
persuasive element; it shows the
audience you have a sound, well-thought-out approach to the
project. Also, it serves as
the other form of background some proposals need. Remember that
the background
section (the one discussed above) focused on the problem or need
that brings about the
proposal. However, in this section, we will discuss the
technical background relating to
the procedures or technology you plan to use in the proposed
work. For example, in the
forestry proposal, the writer gives a bit of background on how
timber management is
done. Once again, this gives the proposal writer a chance to
show that you know what
you are talking about, and build confidence in the audience that
you are a good choice
to do the project.
6. Schedule:
Most proposals contain a section that shows not only the
projected completion date but
also key milestones for the project. If you are doing a large
project spreading over many
months, the timeline would also show dates on which you would
deliver progress
reports. And if you cannot cite specific dates, cite amounts of
time or time spans for
each phase of the project.
7. Qualifications:
Most proposals contain a summary of the proposing individual's
or organization's
qualifications to do the proposed work. It is like a mini-resume
contained in the
proposal. The proposal audience uses it to decide whether you
are suited for the project.
Therefore, this section lists work experience, similar projects,
references, training, and
education that show familiarity with the project.
8. Costs, Resources Required:
Most proposals also contain a section detailing the costs of the
project, whether internal
or external. With external projects, you may need to list your
hourly rates, projected
hours, costs of equipment and supplies, and so forth, and then
calculate the total cost of
the complete project. With internal projects, there probably
would not be a fee, but you
should still list the project costs: for example, hours you will
need to complete the
project, equipment and supplies you will be using, assistance
from other people in the
organization, and so on.
9. Conclusions:
The final paragraph or section of the proposal should bring
readers back to a focus on
the positive aspects of the project (you have just showed them
the costs). In the final
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section, you can end by urging them to get in touch to work out
the details of the
project, to remind them of the benefits of doing the project,
and maybe to put in one last
plug for you or your organization as the right choice for the
project.
10. Special Project-Specific Sections:
Remember that the preceding sections are typical or common in
written proposals, not
absolute requirements. Similarly, some proposals may require
other sections not
discussed above. Do not let your proposal planning be dictated
by the preceding
discussion. Always ask yourself what else might my audience need
to understand the
project, the need for it, the benefits arising from it, my role
in it, my qualifications to it,
What else might my readers need to be convinced to allow me to
do the project? What
else do they need to see in order to approve the project and to
approve me to do the
project?
14.2 Organization of Winning Proposals:
As for the organization of the content of a proposal, remember
that it is essentially a sales, or
promotional document. Here are the basic steps it goes through:
1. You introduce the proposal, telling the readers its purpose
and contents.
2. You present the background – the problem, opportunity, or
situation that brings about the
proposed project. Get the reader concerned about the problem,
excited about the
opportunity, or interested in the situation in some way.
3. State what you propose to do about the problem, how you plan
to help the readers take
advantage of the opportunity, how you intend to help them with
the situation.
4. Discuss the benefits of doing the proposed project, the
advantages that come from
approving it.
5. Describe exactly what the completed project would consist of,
what it would look like, how
it would work – describe the results of the project.
6. Discuss the method and theory or approach behind that method;
enable readers to
understand how you will go about the proposed work.
7. Provide a schedule, including major milestones or checkpoints
in the project.
8. Briefly list your qualifications for the project; provide a
mini-resume of the background you
have that makes you right for the project.
9. Now (and only now), list the costs of the project, the
resources you will need to do the
project.
10. Conclude with a review of the benefits of doing the project
(in case the shock from the costs
section was too much), and urge the audience to get in touch or
to accept the proposal.
Notice the overall logic of the movement through these section:
you get them concerned about a
problem or interested in an opportunity, then you get them
excited about how you will fix the
problem or do the project, then you show them what good
qualifications you have – then
hit
them with the costs, but then come right back to the good points
about the project.
14.3 Format Of Proposals:
Following are the options for the format and packaging of your
proposal. It does not matter
which you use as long as you use the memorandum format for
internal proposals and the
business letter format for external proposals.
Cover Letter
With Separate Proposal:
In this format, you write a brief "cover" letter and attach the
proposal proper after it. The
cover letter briefly announces that a proposal follows and
outlines the contents of it. In fact,
the contents of the cover letter are pretty much the same as the
introduction (discussed in
the previous section). Notice, however, that the proposal proper
that follows the cover letter
repeats much of what you see in the cover letter. This is
because the letter may get detached
from the proposal or the recipient may not even bother to look
at the letter and just dive
right into the proposal itself.
Cover Memo
with Separate Proposal:
In this format, you write a brief "cover" memo and attach the
proposal proper after it. The
cover memo briefly announces that a proposal follows and
outlines the contents of it. In
fact, the contents of the cover memo are pretty much the same as
the introduction
(discussed in the previous section). This is because the memo
may get detached from the
proposal or the reader may not even bother to look at the memo
and just dive right into the
proposal itself.
Business-Letter Proposal:
In this format, you put the entire proposal within a standard
business letter. You include
headings and other special formatting elements as if it were a
report.
Memo Proposal:
In this format, you put the entire proposal within a standard
office memorandum. You
include headings and other special formatting elements as if it
were a report.
If we are in a competitive bid situation, usually price,
schedule, financial stability, quality of
experience and resources and financing offer (if any) are
relevant. However, many contract
awards are made on a negotiated basis. While success may depend
on some or all of the above
features, two others many come into strategic play:
1. Interpersonal relationships with people of the prospective
client
2. The written word in the proposal. Conveying the real proposal
message with effective
writing is essential.
Below is a list of seven key ingredients of a winning proposal.
i) Message:
That we understand the project, the owner’s real wants, and are
prepared to satisfy them
with our resources and company commitment.
ii) Response:
Complete and direct response to the Request for Proposal (RFP)
or the bidding
documents. The client wrote them, or at least approved them, and
expects to see them
addressed in their entirety.
iii) Disclosure:
Comprehensive documentation of all relevant company experience.
Careful attention to
personnel resumes, rewriting them to emphasize pertinent
experience.
iv) Creativity:
Something unique or innovative to set us apart from the
competition.
v) Price:
Usually but not always a significant factor in competitive
proposals on bids.
vi) Financing:
More than ever, an important consideration, even a requirement.
Bids are usually
adjusted by financing terms offered, so the product of price and
financing determines
the “bottom line”.
vii) Style:
Well composed, concisely written, logically organized, properly
referenced, and
attractively presented.
In preparing the proposal strategy, all of the homework already
accomplished needs to be
woven into the plan. Some Request for Proposals (RFPs) (most for
engineering work) include
an evaluation system to award proposals a number of points in
selected categories. Typical
evaluation criteria may include a point distribution as shown
below:
- Qualification
of proposed personnel, particularly the project manager: Up to 50%
- Experience on
similar projects: Range of 25-35%
- Proposed work
plan and approach: Range of 25-35%
Cost or level of estimated effort in terms of man-hour or
man-months may well be the deciding
factor. If so, in times of a strong U.S. dollar it very
definitely places a U.S. firm at a
disadvantage overseas.
Obviously, if evaluation criteria are specified, every effort
needs to be made to achieve the
maximum possible score.
Various techniques are employed in proposal writing, i.e.,
getting the message across. Aside
from outlines, schedules and tables of contents, one technique,
which has come into wide use, is
called the
“story board”.
It employs modules organized for each strategic message intended
for the proposal. Each
module is composed of:
1. A topical sentence describing the module theme
2. A theme expressing the strategic message in, say 400 –800
words
3. Graphic or artwork to illustrate the theme
Modules from their earlier skeleton form and further developed
during the proposal preparation
process are posted on the wall of a control room. When finished
they tell the complete story.
This technique permits early organization of the proposal
contents, allows continuous
management overview, directs the tone of the proposal toward its
strategic objectives, clearly
establishes writing assignments, and produces a balance of
content.
A carefully conceived financing package is often a proposal
requirement. This subject is
covered in separate former oral presentations, in addition to
written proposals, sometimes are
important steps in the process. However, overseas clients
generally are less interested in
receiving them than in the United States.
What about post proposal strategies? Continuous contact with the
perspective client, in an effort
to answer his questions and to further demonstrate our
commitment to his project, can be
worthwhile. If our proposal was not selected, a postmortem will
be of value to determine how
we went wrong or how the competition outdid us.
14.4 Some Tips for Writing and Presenting Proposals:
The following tried and tested tips are to encourage the 100%ers
to write more proposals and
the low raters to take heart and give it another try.
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1. Ask Questions:
Before starting your proposal, take some time to make sure you
know exactly what you
are proposing. If you are unclear about any part of the project,
ask your potential client
a few meaningful questions. If anything seems vague in their
description of “what they
want”, ask for clarification and then give them a list of
possible options as to what you
think they might have meant. For your sake, when preparing to
give a price, it is
important that you and the client both have the same amount of
work in mind. Note that
if you decide to include a list of questions along with your
proposal, include an
educated guess as to what their answers would be. Make it clear
that your price is based
on you having made the correct guesses to the proposed questions
and that if anything
needs clarifying or if anything is missed, you can adjust your
quote accordingly.
2. Summarize the Project:
Take all the information on the project that you have received
from the client thus far
and summarize it briefly, using your own words, in an opening
paragraph. This not only
helps you get a clearer concept of the project in your own mind
but also gives the client
confidence that you have given it thought and you understand
what they want. It also
provides a solid opportunity for them to clarify encase you did
not understand.
3. Break Down the Project into a Nice “To Do” List:
After your summary, follow-up with a solid “To Do” list, that is
very useful for both
you and your client. List everything that they have requested so
far as well as your
standard work on the project. For designers, this would include
listing the initial drafts,
etc. For programmers, this would include planning the database,
building it, etc. Be
thorough in your list. It will help give the client a strong
sense that you know what you
are doing and that you will do the job well. It will also help
you make sure nothing slips
through the cracks. Use the list in your project updates and
cross things off as you move
along.
4. Split the Project into Phases:
After your “to do” list split the project up into a number of
clearly defined phases. It is
recommended starting out with a minimum of three. Your first
phase might be the
“Initial First Draft”. During this phase, you begin work on the
project and end the phase
by sending the client a first draft for testing and revision.
Your next phase, in a simple 3
phase project, could be “Bug Squashing and Customizing”. During
this phase the
project is tested and revisions are made until the client is
happy with the work and it is
ready for action. Your last phase is “Finalization”. Once the
work is finished, you send
them an invoice, ask for referrals, collect payment, and end
with a virtual handshake, all
parties satisfied with a job well done. Bonus: A useful strategy
to keep in mind when it
comes to pricing is splitting up a long to-do list into
meaningful project phases and then
pricing each of the “phases” individually. This can be
especially useful for isolating
features that require additional time and energy and being sure
the client recognizes the
work involved when it comes time to give them the price.
5. Give Your Clients a Timeline:
Once you have gone over the project phases, let your clients
know approximately how
long you expect the project to take. Be generous (overestimate
if need be, but gently)
and then strive to finish up ahead of time. While a project may
only take you a few
hours to finish up, keep in mind that there will be waiting time
between the initial drafts
and the finished project as the client reviews the work and
provides feedback. If the
client is in a rush, let them know exactly when it can be
finished and be sure to go over
in detail exactly what, if anything needs to be done on their
part to make that deadline
possible.
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6. Estimate Your Time Involved:
While not useful for all project types, giving an estimate of
time involved is useful for
most and not only gives the client a sense of what to expect and
that you know what
you are doing, but also helps you know exactly what to plan
ahead for. A large
design/programming project, for example, with a high dollar
amount, can be an
excellent opportunity to detail the hours involved in each step
of the to-do list. Be
generous, but honest. The last thing you want is word getting
around that it takes you
several hours to do what takes the average freelancer 15
minutes.
7. Use the Multiple Choice Price Strategy:
Now that all the details have been clearly laid out and your
client is confident in your
understanding of the project and your ability to see it through,
it’s time to give them the
price. Calculate your predicted time involved and be sure that
nothing is overlooked.
Then, give them the total number of hours along with your
standard hourly rate
followed by a discounted “flat rate”. Let us say you estimate
about 5-8 hours involved
in the project and your hourly rate is $40 an hour. Your
proposal would then read
something like this: “At around 5-8 hours of work, you are
welcome to my basic hourly
rate of $40 an hour or a discounted flat rate of $250.” 9 times
out of 10 the client will
choose the flat rate over the hourly and will be happy with
having had the freedom to
choose. Note that as an honest freelance artist whose abilities
are constantly improving,
you will often reach a point where what once took you 5 hours
now takes you an hour.
Once that happens, the multiple price strategy is no longer
needed. Give them your flat
rate and do an excellent job. Be sure that, along with your
price, you give them your
options for accepting payment.
8. Offer a Satisfaction Guarantee:
Once you have given them the price, be sure to include your
satisfaction guarantee. Let
them know that you are committed to working on the project until
they are fully
satisfied and then, once they have accepted your proposal, stick
to it. There is always
the possibility that it can backfire with a client who just does
not ever seem to be
satisfied (we can talk about dealing with them another day), but
the vast majority of the
time a solid guarantee will give your clients an extra vote of
confidence and help to
close the deal. There is always the possibility of a project
costing you more time than it
is worth, but no matter. Give the project your absolute best and
learn everything that
you can. Satisfied customers often end up being repeat customers
and they are more
than worth the time spent on those who may not appreciate your
work.
9. End With a Call to Action:
Finally, after all the details have been made clear, and the
price and guarantee given,
end with “what happens next.” Let them know exactly what they
need to do to get
started. If you require payment upfront, let them know where to
send the money. If
everything prior has gone well, you now have a client who is
excited and eager to see
their project come to life and you want to make sure that they
know what needs to
happen next.
10. Write and Format Professionally:
Nothing says “unprofessional” like a bunch of “misspellings”,
grammatical errors, and
“IM Style” typing. Take the extra time to proof read your
proposal and fix any little
errors that may have slipped in. Use spacing between your
paragraphs and divide your
various sections (Project Summary, Timeline, Price Quote, etc.)
with subheadings. For
extra points, put your proposal up on a password protected page
(make sure the
password works) within your website. Remember if you are
struggling with style or
would just like some extra ideas/opinions, put together an
example proposal and share it
with family and friends along with a request for feedback.
Once the proposal has been accepted and the project complete, be
sure to always ask the client
if they have any suggestions for how you can improve and do even
better work in the future.
Ask them if your proposal was clear and ask if you were able,
what the deciding factor was in
choosing you to do the work. Take note of all you learn and
apply it to the next proposal you
write. Although not directly related to “proposal writing”, here
are two other tips that are worth
mentioning:
1. Pre-Screen your Clients:
To save both you and your client’s time and energy, it is
important to be sure that they
are as informed and as prepared as possible before they contact
you. This is where your
website can step in and do its job. After they have browsed
through your portfolio and
decided to go for a price on your services, it is important that
you provide a clear path
to follow. Create a page specifically for those interested in
working with you. Outline
the types of projects that you do and the processes that you
use. Do not hide your
prices. As well as offering an hourly rate and flat rate
estimates for various project
types, it is better to mention that you are always open to
creative negotiations. You can
often end up with “free projects” that more than pay what you
would have charged
them.
2. Respond Quickly:
While not always possible, when you are able to, respond to your
prospective and active
clients immediately. If you have an expected delay, let them
know that you plan to be
unavailable. Be punctual with all your appointments and make
sure that you meet your
deadlines. If you miss a deadline and you are at fault, take a
hit on your earnings. This
will let the client know that you mean what you say and it will
also help you to make
sure it does not happen again. |