Proposal Writing Tips » Business

15 Business Proposal Writing Tactics

Editor — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:08:54 +0000

How does psychology affect your business proposal’s success rate?

While most proposal writers focus on ‘hard’ data and ‘fixed’ costs, before you start your next tender document, consider other areas that typically get overlooked.

For example?

Look at underlying issues, pain points, and ‘emotional triggers’ that influence the proposal evaluation team.

Business Proposal Writing Tactics

With this in mind, if this is your first time writing a business proposal, use these guidelines to improve the writing style, format, and success rate of your bid.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Emotional Needs – Does your proposal identify a specific problem or set of needs? If so, how effectively does your solution address this?
Commitments – List the activities you commit to performing so the solution will succeed.
People – Identify the people (not ‘human resources’) that will be used to design, develop and implement your solution?
Results – What are the intended outcomes of your solution? How does this reduce the pain points currently experienced by the contract provider? Build themes around these points.
Assumptions – Make sure you understand the funder’s guidelines and that there are no assumptions. If you’ve read their guidelines and are still unsure, make a call, speak with their proposal officer and ask for clarification. Don’t leave it too late.
Proof – It’s not enough to say that your solution will be a ‘model’ for other programs; demonstrate how this will be achieved. Use case studies and white papers to build your credibility.
Framework – One of the limitations of the word ‘solution’ is that it implies the other person has a problem. While this may be true, other more complimentary terms can be more effective. Choose words carefully. Framework can serve as an alternative to the clichéd solution, providing you can demonstrate it is a framework.
Executive Summary – Develop an Executive Summary in plain English. Avoid the trap of resorting to clichés, jargon and industry speak. Remember, there’s a person on the other side of the document and they hate marketese as much as you. Write for people!
Where’s the beef? – In the conclusion section, dovetail all the main points into a single message that your reader can relate to. And, include a Call to Action, if possible. What does this mean? It means that after they’ve read the final section, they feel compelled to take some action, such as read more about you, download your white papers, check your statistics, or some other action. But, if they read to the end, put it down, and then move on to the next… you’ve left no real impression.
Footnotes – Instead of burying information in the appendix, learn how to create footnotes in Microsoft Word and add these to your document. This allows the reader to continue reading or scan the footnotes on the same page. Don’t make them dig around to find the answer. Use footnotes to explain line items in your budget, for example.
Transparency – If the funder asks you to identify contributors, include it directly after the budget.
Cultivate a relationship – Nobody likes to buy from strangers. Allow time to build a relationship with the grant-maker. Find ways to share information, whether through visits, phone, or email; accept that you may not win on the first application but by cultivating a relationship, you put yourself on the grid for the next set of contract awards.
Give Hope – As a dentist once said to me, ‘I try to remember there’s a person attached to the tooth.’ In the same way, develop themes in your proposal that touch the reader’s heart and evokes positive emotions. Don’t go overboard with positivity as this may feel insincere; instead find subtle ways to build trust and convey hope.
Create a Bridge – Once you have defined the problem or underlying needs, make a ‘bridge statement’ that shows how your project will help them overcome their problems.
Storytelling – Stories are powerful in ways that statistics, figures, and data are not. Use stories to illustrate your themes. Give examples of people you’ve helped and how their lives were improved as a result of your efforts. Highlight your story by using indentations to separate it from the rest of the text.

Proposal Writing Tactics

Psychology plays a key role in how business proposals are won and lost.

Even if you don’t use these fifteen guidelines, remember to write for one person.

While many people may read it, each one will read it one at a time. Keep this person in mind as you type… and you’ll see the results.

What else would you add? How do you try to influence proposal evaluators?

How to demonstrate Value For Money in Business Proposals

Editor — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:37:57 +0000

You can increase your business proposal’s success rate if you understand how evaluators determine Value For Money. Most proposal writers focus on the solution or cost. While both of these are valid, you need to examine your bid from the evaluator’s standpoint, in particular how they assess the ‘true’ cost.

For example, the lowest bid does not always mean Value For Money.

Value For Money in Business Proposals

So, how do you determine Value For Money? There are two ways to examine this:

Financial considerations
Non-Financial considerations

Let’s look at each of these and see where and how this will affect our proposal development.

Financial Considerations – Value For Money

When evaluators look at your proposal, they’ll be assessing it with consideration to:

Fixed price of the proposal
Discounts on offer
Conditions of these discounts
Daily rates and if they may change
Amount subcontracted to nominated subcontractors
Financial capacity of subcontractors
Total amount being tendered for

Non-Financial Considerations – Value For Money

The other area to consider is the non-financial considerations. This means that when I assess bids for clients, I’m going to:

Check the assumptions upon which the price is based
Assess if these assumptions are reasonable (especially where there are assumptions placed on my client)
Review the expected resources and mandays required by my client
Assess if we can provide this within the project timeframe

While these are not directly related to the total cost, you can see how they’d influence the agency awarding the contract.

For example, if the project goes over schedule – and daily rates increase – the project becomes very expensive.

Value For Money: How to Check

To protect the agency, I will then take a deeper look at the items in the bid; for example, clauses in the appendix which if executed could prove very costly.

For example:

Check if bidders quantify needs, schedule, and dependencies.
Check if resources are required on an “ongoing” basis.
Review the proposed project program
Assess if business units can keep up with the plan being proposed
Will resource be available as required at the given dates in the plan?
Identify project risks identified by the bidders.
Consider the quality of their presentations, their team, and their responses raised to questions at presentations.

Value For Money: Final Assessment

The final step is to consider the following:

Upfront payments requires before starting.
Payment schedule i.e. do they invoice every month, deliverable or per input/output.
Approach to change control, e.g. if the project goes over schedule how do they propose to manage this, their approach to costing, and the daily rates will they charge.
How they will charge (penalize) if the agency cannot deliver at any point.
Charges for attending meetings and/or travel expenses etc
Charged for late delivery i.e. if they run over schedule and this impacts the parallel projects.
Penalty points they may impose.
Warranties in relation to support contracts.
Change control requirements.
Daily rates changes, i.e. will they revise their rates if additional work is required?

Conclusion

As you can see, from the agency’s point of view (i.e. the firm awarding the contract), there are many ways they can be exploited.

What this means for you, as the bidder, is to write your proposal so that you repeatedly demonstrate value for money. To do this, remove ambiguity from your bid – strive for transparency – and reduce the agency’s anxiety wherever possible.

The more you can demonstrate this, the more likely you are to be shortlisted.

What else would you add? How do you demonstrate Value For Money in your proposals?

RFP Checklist For Describing Functionality

Editor — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:09:17 +0000

How do you describe the website’s functionality in your RFP? The next section in your Website RFP is to describe how it works, i.e. functions.

The functionality section of your RFP can be distilled to a few pages. Share sample sites that illustrate functionality you’d like to see on your site.

Download Request For Proposal Template for only $14.99

To describe the website’s functionality in your RFP, create a table with a listing of all potential functionality.

Indicate which functionality is:

Implemented,
Planned, or
Under consideration

Website RFP Checklist – How to Write Functional Requirements

Write the functionality from the customer’s perspective. This helps the bidder to visualize how the website will work as they can see it as the user would.

To do this, describe:

Examples – Sites that approximate the desired functionality
Database – Outline if your site involves database development or integration
Components – Describe which (if any) software components that have already been installed, such as chat, project management, multimedia, e-mail, other…
Ecommerce – Describe how transactions will need to be managed. Include details of payment, fulfillment, verification, and order tracking

Takeaway

When describing the functionality, create a matrix and list what’s currently installed, what needs to be developed, and what would be nice to have, i.e. useful but not urgent.

This helps the bidder when preparing the cost section.

How?

They can provide a bandwidth of costs depending on which functionality is developed and which is ignored or postponed to a future date.

You can then choose which suits your budge and which you feel if good value for money.

37 Business Proposal Writing Tips

Editor — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:24:00 +0000

This short course on proposal writing reminds us that our business proposal does not stand alone. It is process of a larger process that involves planning, research, writing, editing, proofing, submission and acceptance.

This list gives 37 ways to improve your next proposal. Scroll through it and tell me what I missed.

Show that your response is logical and organized

Make the information easy to find. Cross reference against the Request For Proposal
Include a table of contents for proposals over 10 pages in length
Ensure that your Proposal is in compliance with the RFP
Arrange material in order of priority
Arrange everything in the order that’s most important to the client
Arrange the response in accordance with their requirements
Number pages and sections consecutively; do not re-number each section
Use headings
Each section title should stresses the main benefits
Each section title should help readers orient themselves
If possible, express the key point of the section in the headline, or immediately after it.
Highlight important points
You can emphasize the most positive points by using bold, underlining, different fonts, spacing, titles, bullets and summaries
Content – Sell the Message
Respond completely
Answer every question in the RFP. Failure to respond correctly to the RFP may disqualify your proposal. The client put these questions in for a reason, and expect an answer.
Avoid banal headings and titles
Rather than say “Development Section,” say “Ten Ways to Improve Your Processes”
Use action verbs in heads, especially verbs that stress a benefit for the client
Avoid boilerplate
Don’t recycle resumes and corporate profiles from previous proposals; modify them in accordance for the proposal at hand. Using old, tired resumes will be perceived by the reader, and will count against you when they can making the final judgments.
Avoid hype, padding and other self-congratulatory drivel. Remember that the proposal is a legal document that becomes part of the contract if you win
Support your recommendations
By giving specific details and quantifying the benefits whenever possible
Don’t just say that you will comply with a requirement — say how we’ll do so
Don’t attack competitors. Refer to rival products if you must.
Point out the weaknesses of alternative solutions.
Use a strong closing statement
Ask for their business; tell the reader exactly what you want him or her to do
Remind the reader of the benefits of taking action
Avoid business cliché’s
Avoid hackneyed openings and closings that clients have read a thousand times. Avoid “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for considering the enclosed . . .” Get to the point: “Here is your proposal.” Avoid “If you have any questions, please feel free to call.” That closing has been done to death, so avoid it and write something more genuine.
Make your proposal easy to understand
Use the same terms and jargon that appear in the RFP. Don’t try to impress the client with your own special brand of buzzwords or TLA (three-letter acronyms)
Use simple, direct language
Wrap up the Proposal with confidence

What did I miss?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh is a left-handed technical writer who writes business proposals for clients. He also shares business writing tips for smart people at Klariti.

RFP Checklist For Describing Website Technical Needs

Editor — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:10:42 +0000

How do you describe the website’s technical needs in your RFP? The next section in your Website RFP is to describe how it works from a technical standpoint.

For instance, this helps bidders understand if it can be integrate with MS, Oracle, or WebSphere. Without this technical details, they will not be able to prepare a valid solution.

Download Now for only $19

Website RFP Checklist – Describing Technical Needs

Technical specifications describe the back-end both from an infrastructure (e.g. hosting environment) and software development point of view.

Provide the following information in your RFP:

Domain – Has your domain name been registered? Have you registered different variations?
Hosting – Is your hosting currently in-house or outsourced? Have you had issues with the hosting.
Statistics – What are the usage statistics and anticipated growth?
Security – Are there significant security concerns? What are the security needs of your site, i.e. physical and electronic?
Platforms – What development platform do you use (e.g. Windows NT, UNIX, etc.)?
Legacy Systems – Are there legacy systems that need to be considered? What are the existing databases in place (e.g. Oracle, SAP, IBM etc)?
Web Browser – What browsers are visitors likely to use? Has a targeted browser version been determined?
Mobile – Do you need a mobile version of the site?
Languages – Which of the following might be used (if known): HTML, DHTML, Java, CGI?
Multimedia – If multimedia capabilities are required, which development tools will be used (e.g. Premiere, Flash, Audio)?

Takeaway – Describing Technical Needs

Provide enough details so bidders can, if necessary, create a prototype showing you how the solution will function. Highlight tools you do not want or may be impractical to implement, such as Adobe Flash if you plan to develop for the iPad.

How to Write Better Case Study Documents

Editor — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:00:03 +0000

As mentioned earlier, a case study is a soft-sell sales document. Its role is to highlight your abilities without resorting to market-speak and sales clichés.

An effective approach to catch the reader’s attention (who is frequently a potential client) is to explore how the solution helped end-users and the target group.

How to build your case

Support your argument with direct quotes (with their names, if possible) from personnel who’ve adopted your system or use your services.

To make this work, concentrate on how the solution resolved one very specific issue and then build the case study around this.

Warning: don’t complicate the case study by addressing multiple issues; stick to one subject and explain how you solved the problem in measurable and quantifiable terms.

How to write a Case Study

How to support your case

Support your case study with statistics, figures and tables.

Areas to focus on include:

Return on Investments – how did the investment in your product pay for itself. For example, it increased productivity by 50% within 2 months. Explain how you can substantiate this; otherwise, your argument loses credibility.

Cost Containment – how does the solution help companies contain costs? This area is very important as budgets are always a sensitive issue. If you can illustrate how another company who adopted your solution saved money then you will keep the reader’s interest.

Reducing Barriers – explain how your solution improves internal operations and assists management planning. For example, how does it fit into the system workflow and business procedures? Alternately, mention how your system integrates with other applications and business critical applications.

When compiling the final draft, avoid making it too dry and overwhelming the reader with excessive figures. Rather, keep the tone light, easy-to-read while highlighting the key points.

Remember: case studies that oversell themselves by proposing to solve all problems to all people don’t work. No-one believes such claims.

How to refine your case study

Perfecting your case study takes hard work. But, once you refine the words and polish the edges, you have a very powerful marketing tool.

Indeed, those who download your Case Study will keep it on file and use it as a reference.

Case Study – Sample Templates

Once this occurs, the reader sees you as a credible, trustworthy and reliable source of information, the type of company people want to do business with.

Posted via email from Small Business Strategies

How To Write a Consultancy Services Proposal

Editor — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:00:39 +0000

Use the introduction to place the proposal in context. This section should be one or two pages max. Don’t over-whelm the reader with background material. They can find more details about your organization on your website and in press releases.

So, what goes into the introduction?

1. Identify the Government bodies involved in this procurement process, for example.

The Health Department encompasses five counties in the greater London region. These are…

2. Identify any strategic plans that relate to the success of this project

The London Region, which encompasses the administrative areas of counties X, Y, Z, adopted a Strategic Management Plan in 2002.

3. Identify significant data that the bidder must be made aware of, for example,

The administrative area of this region has a combined population of 500,000 and covers 10000 sq Kilometres.

4. Next, outline your goal:

We now wish to review and replace 2002 Strategic Management Plan in compliance with the Waste Management Act 2003 and the Waste Management Regulations, 2005.

5. Identify other preliminary work that has been performed:

The new plan shall make reference to the existing Waste Management Plan, existing preparatory work, the recently commissioned Waste Management Study, EPA National Waste Database, EU Waste Management Plans and all other relevant documentation and legislation.

6. Close with reference to legal documents and supporting materials.

The new Plan should take account the Government policy statements:
• Changing our Ways
• Recycling Waste
• Waste Management Moving Forward

In the next lesson, we’ll look at how to write the Supervision section.

Consultancy Proposal – How to Define the Table of Contents

Editor — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:00:25 +0000

Over the coming weeks, we’ll look at how to write a proposal for Consultancy Services. This will be of use to government agencies or other bodies that want to procure the services of a consultancy firm, for example, an advertising agency, a PR or HR firm or another type of company that provides specialist services.
This type of proposal differs from contracts where, for example, you want to use a specific product, piece of equipment or have very exact specifications in mind.

In a proposal for Consultancy Services, you want to determine the most appropriate firm based on their expertise and capacity of deliver based on your needs.

There are several ways to do this.

To get started, I will create a table of contents for each of the main sections and then drill-down into each section.

Here is the table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Supervision
3. Deliverables
4. Consultation – Meetings schedule
5. Reports & Presentations
6. Programme
7. Award Criteria
8. Information to be submitted
9. Fee Proposal
10. Conflict of Interest
11. Terms of appointment
12. Ownership of Documents and Copyright
13. Termination of appointment
14. Dispute Resolution
15. Tax Clearance Certificate
16. Withholding Tax
17. Professional Indemnity
18. Confidentiality
19. Submission of proposal

In the next lesson, we’ll look at how to write the Introduction.

Why The Table of Contents Is The Heart of Your Business Proposal?

RFP Checklist – Defining the Business Context

Editor — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:00:28 +0000

You want to create an RFP for a new website! What do you need to include?

The first section is the business context.

Why do you need to put your business proposal in context? Think of it from the reader’s viewpoint. By placing it in context, you’re helping them understand your requirements so they can marry their solution with your needs.

RFP Checklist – Defining the Business Context

To do this, start your RFP with a few paragraphs describing your business. Imagine they know nothing about you. What would you tell them? How would you describe what you do… in non-technical terms. And with no jargon.

Give them some corporate literature and/or a press kit, if possible.

Next, answer the following questions so that bidders have a better understanding of your requirements:

Industry. In what industry is your business?
USP. What is your unique competitive positioning?
Competitors. Who are your company’s major competitors?
Customers. What is the profile of your company’s customers?
Suppliers. Who are your key vendors/suppliers? How many in total?
Performance. What has been your company’s performance over time (growth rate, stock performance, etc.)?
Size. What size is your company (revenues and employees)?
Location. What is the geographic span of your company?
Strategy. What is your company’s growth strategy?

Give the bidder enough information so they:

Can grasp your position in the market a little better
Don’t need to request clarifications on minor points
Help you frame the rest of the RFP

Conclusion

Keep this section brief but informative. Don’t give too much detail here. Rather refer them to the appendix and other supporting documents. You want to be helpful so they have adequate information, but you also want to move them into the main section of the RFP and get into the requirements.

The takeaway is that some parts of your RFP will be high-level (as in the Executive Summary), whereas others drill-down into more granular detail.

If possible, assign different writers to each task unless your writers have the skills to write both sections.

No related posts.

Why The Table of Contents Is The Heart of Your Business Proposal?

Editor — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:43:31 +0000

This is Part 1 of a 20 part series on writing Business Proposals. What we’ll look in this course is how to get started, format the proposal, and submit it. Once we’ve done this, we’ll look at how to improve your chances of getting the bid accepted, for example, by giving presentations to the Assessors. I’ll also show you how to improve your business writing techniques.

And before you say I HATE GRAMMAR, I can guarantee you it’s not about grammar.

Ok, some parts will be, but they’ll be painless.

Instead I’ll show you how to use psychological tricks to get into the reviewers mind. To close the gap between what they need and what you offer. It’s very interesting. If you want to stay one step ahead of me, read Chip and Dan Heath’s Switch. That will get you started.

Example of Consultancy Proposal

There are different types of business proposals. Each type has its own requirements.

In this course, I’ll look at how to write a consultancy proposal and how to avoid the most common mistakes proposal writers make.

For example, this will be of use to government agencies or other bodies that want to procure the services of a consultancy firm, such as an advertising agency, Public Relations or Recruitment firm or another type of company that provides specialist services.
This type of proposal differs from contracts where, for example, you want to use a specific product, piece of equipment or have very exact specifications in mind.
In a proposal for Consultancy Services, you want to determine the most appropriate firm based on their expertise and capacity of deliver based on your needs.

Define the Table of Contents First

To get started, I will create a table of contents for each of the main sections and then drill-down into each sub-section.

Here is the table of contents:

That’s it for today. No homework! You get the weekend off.

In the next lesson, we’ll look at how to write the Introduction.

About the Author: Ivan Walsh is a Proposal Writer who develops Business Proposal Plans. He also shares Business Planning Strategies on IvanWalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter & Facebook.

Warren Buffet Guide to Plain English Business Writing

Editor — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 23:32:00 +0000

“For more than forty years, I’ve studied the documents that public companies file. Too often, I’ve been unable to decipher just what is being said or, worse yet, had to conclude that nothing was being said. If corporate lawyers and their clients follow the advice in this handbook, my life is going to become much easier. “ Warren Buffet

In the late 90s, I found the Plain Language writing technique almost by accident. It’s also called Plain English, by the way. I was reading a lot about Warren Buffet a few years back and came across a nice, short document he wrote for the SEC. These are the folks who submit legal and business document to Wall Street when going on the stock exchanges. Buffet writes like he speaks. Direct, immediate and without pretension.

Ever read an annual report from Warren Buffet. Try it. Easy, isn’t it? Few successful business-people write so clearly. There is no pretension, no haughty references to obscure allusions and no strange acronyms. It’s all there in black and white. Here’s what Buffet had to say about other business writers, though,

Audience Analysis worksheets.

From the handbook:

There are several possible explanations as to why I and others sometimes stumble over an accounting note or indenture description. Maybe we simply don’t have the technical knowledge to grasp what the writer wishes to convey. Or perhaps the writer doesn’t understand what he or she is talking about. In some cases, moreover, I suspect that a less-than scrupulous issuer doesn’t want us to understand a subject it feels legally obligated to touch upon. “

He adds that “Perhaps the most common problem, however, is that a well-intentioned and informed writer simply fails to get the message across to an intelligent, interested reader. In that case, stilted jargon and complex constructions are usually the villains.”

It’s a great read and you can download it here www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf in PDF.

Write Business Proposals in clear English

So, with this in mind, I wrote this short guide to help you write Business Proposals in clear English. It explains how to prepare an business documents that readers can digest in one reading. That’s the acid test. They shouldn’t have to read them twice and three times to get the meaning. It also covers how to use Plain Language writing techniques to win more business, accelerate your tender process, and encourage staff to contribute to the overall tender process.

1. Start Early

Developing a Plain English document takes time – the first time!. For your first Plain English proposal, allow extra time to write, edit, and revise. Add more time than you would expect to your usual schedule if possible. The next time it’s easier.

2. Study the principles of Plain English

Remember: you want your request for proposal to be understood in one reading. This means you need to:

Identify your target audience i.e. Government departments.
Consider what they need to know.
Consider the technical terms they may, or may not, know.
Develop plain English writing guidelines for your staff.
Think about how to organize and format your Proposal.

3. Promote Plain English amongst your Staff

Once you’ve seen the benefits of plain English compared with other writing styles, you can promote its values to your own staff and senior management. You need to get your staff onside so that they will begin writing in this style. Likewise, you also need to convince your managers of its values and possibly funding for a training program. Explain to both camps how they will benefit. Outline a high-level roadmap with timelines for the overall program.

4. Contact an experienced proposal writer

The first time you write a plain English proposal, you may find it time-consuming and more difficult than you thought. If this is the case, you’re on the right track! Everything worthwhile is difficult the first time round – soon you will get the hang of it.

You can also approach a writing consultant, especially someone who has a proven track record of writing good, clear English.

5. Review previous Proposals and see where you can improve

Before you start writing, consider the following:

Literacy level. What level of education is required to understand the Proposal? Use the Fog Index to test your proposal’s readability.
Clarity. What parts of the Proposal are hard to understand? Are the sentences too long and complex? Does it use technical terms and acronyms that the target audience will not understand?
Organization. How easy can you find relevant information? Would the Proposal be clearer if you reordered the main sections and possibly the sub-sections within it? Does the table of contents and index need sharpening? Are there too many/too few levels of information in the TOC.
Repetition. Is the same information repeated in several sections? Does it have any real benefit?
Headings. Should the headings be re-written in the form of questions that each section answers?
Format. Do you need to add more bullet-point lists? Put keywords in bold? Use more white space?

6. Create an outline to help readers find information faster

One very effective writing style is to write headings as questions,which each section answers. If you include sub-sections, use a numbered outline format (e.g. 1.2, 1.3) for the section headings. This helps the reader find the main sections quickly and see the relationship among subsections.

7. Write the RFP, section by section, using plain language techniques

If some sections are hard to write, read them aloud and see where they are difficult to understand. Go through the document section by section.

Write the first draft of key sections first, and then work on the inside sections. Once you’ve written these, refine the text by editing each section tightly. However, make sure your text does not become too cold and dry. Write as if you were speaking to a colleague whom you respect; this often helps control the tone of the document.

8. Review and Revise

Once you’ve finished the first draft, get it reviewed internally by colleagues who can add value to the review process. Don’t choose colleagues who are too close to the Proposal, as they will not see errors. Instead, get a neutral reviewer if possible. After getting the feedback, make the required edits.

If possible, ask volunteers from the target population to review the draft Proposal. Ask them if they can locate information easily. When interviewing ask open questions and you will get a better response.

Avoid closed questions, such as, is this a great RFP? Most will say Yes, just to please you – and make you go away!

Ask how much they could read in one sitting. Again, revise as needed.

9. Create an easy-to-read format

Format the document to make it easy to read and attractive in presentation. If you have time, prepare a template that can be re-used for all future RFP’s. This will reduce the time spend on preparing the document.

Leave a blank line between paragraphs
Use bulleted lists
Highlight main points with bold and italics
Use boxes for examples
Use white space generously
Include margins of at least one inch all around the page
Use two (2) columns to increase readability, if practical

Use several different type sizes for headings. In many documents, the headings are in San Serif font (i.e. Verdana) and the body is in a Serif font (e.g. Times New Roman). Use a contrast in style to add emphasis.

10. Get feedback – and share it

Lastly, see if the Proposal works! Ask the external reviewers how they felt using the ‘new’ plain English Proposal. Get feedback from personnel involved in the review process and collate it for distribution.

Did they find that the plain English Proposal made a better application?
Was it easier to write the application, and what made the most difference?
What worked and what needs more refinement.

Summarize what you learned and share this information with colleagues. Encourage them to try writing plain English Proposals.

Track Your Proposal Wins

Keep a record of all the Proposals written in plain English and see if their success rate is higher than the previous styles of writing. There are more great writing resources are at: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

About the Author: Ivan Walsh provides Business Tips for Smart People on Klariti.com. His also runs the popular Business Planning Blog at http://www.ivanwalsh.com. Follow him on Twitter @ivanwalsh

PS: The Audience Analysis Template is here.

How to Fix Corrupt & Damaged Microsoft Word Documents – Part 2

Editor — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:23:00 +0000

Post by Ivan Walsh. Follow me on Twitter.

Last week we showed you how Bullet Lists can crash MS Word. We outlined some techniques to reduce the file size, mostly by creating pre-formatted bullet lists in advance. But what happens if you’re given a User Guide that’s already bloated to massive proportions. It’s too late to create new styles at this stage.

Here’s what to do.

1. Open the User Guide in Microsoft Word.

2. Cut and paste every graphic from the file into an image-editing tool, such as Snagit.

Create a naming convention, (e.g. Page1-A.gif, Page1-B.gif etc) and name each graphic using the same naming convention.

WARNING: DON’T SAVE THE FILE YET!

3. In Word, select File, Save As HTML.

Name the file with an HTML extension, e.g. Proposal.html and then close Word.

4. Re-open Word. Select File, Open and select the Proposal.html file.

5. Select File, Save As and save Proposal.html with a .doc extension, e.g. Proposal.doc.

TIP: This process of converting the Microsoft Word file into HTML and back into Word, removes unnecessary (i.e. corrupt) code in the file and will significantly reduce the file size.

6. Insert the graphic back in the correct order.

I’ve seen Word files larger than 20 MB reduced to less than 3MB in less than one minute by using this technique. Might be worth a try! The reason you don’t save the file at Step 2 is because this would trigger Word into action (e.g. I WILL now save this file etc) and as it struggles to save the oversized file, will probably crash the application.

I hoped you enjoyed these articles on fixing corrupt or damaged documents. What’s been your experience using Word?

About the Author: Ivan Walsh shares Action Plan Tips at Klariti. He also creates Business Plans for SMEs