How to Write Proposal Themes That Stick

Once you understand how themes can make your proposal stand out, you'll kick yourself several times for not doing so earlier. The ability to use themes in business proposals is one way to highlight the unique strengths of your bid. However there is some confusion as regards what it means to … [Read more...]

Bidding for Proposals? How to Write the Cover Letter

This is part one of a ten-part series on proposal writing. Make sure you sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss any lessons. Over the next ten weeks, I will look at different parts of proposal development, such as writing techniques, responding to requirements, formatting, team reviews, … [Read more...]

Proposal Development: Using References and Endorsements Strategically

What's the biggest worry government agencies have before giving awarding a contract? It's not the money. It's whether the person they gave it to will deliver. Are they reliable? How you write, phrase, and position references and endorsements in your proposal will influence how evaluators … [Read more...]

How to Peer Review Business Proposals

From one angle, writing the proposal is the easy part. The difficulty is when you have to check what you’ve written, cross-reference it against the Request For Proposal, and ensure all parts fit together seamlessly. If you're writing the document by yourself, you need to find way to check your … [Read more...]

How To Control Proposal Files and Bid Documentation

One of the difficulties as a proposal manager is how to organize the documentation related to the bid. Not only do you have to manage the Request For Proposal document, but you also need to write, submit, and review clarifications, check submission guidelines, and make sure that support … [Read more...]

Proposal Writing: 7 Dos and Don’ts

A true story. Five bids arrived. We, the evaluators, tore open the packages and plonked the documents on the table. We’d decided who’d review which bids, and so set about. We meet again later than afternoon. Note: this was a preliminary stage before the actual evaluation began. At this point, … [Read more...]

Are you making these 7 proposal writing mistakes

It’s easy to become snow-blind when writing a business proposal, especially if you are performing more than one role in the team. And if you're new to proposal development, bidding, and grant applications that are many pitfalls to avoid. Some are predictable, others less so. 7 Proposal Writing … [Read more...]

Free Checklist – Responding to Request For Proposals (RFPs)

Want to avoid last minute mistakes when submitting your business proposal? It’s easy to forget something when responding to an Request For Proposal (RFP) as there are so many activities to coordinate. One way to ensure your proposal gets delivered on time – and with all requirements covered – is to … [Read more...]