On Proposal Writing

I spend a tremendous part of my time writing and/or proofing proposals, as well as building new offerings with other strategic members of my company.  A proposal is one of the best and most comprehensive ways of being able to articulate (when you’re not there to do it) the value you can bring, as well as the process you will use to do it in.

In my mind, a proposal is made up of a few key elements:

• A summary of what your prospect or customer needs
• A summary of your qualifications to perform the work
• A summary of the work to be performed
• Pricing / cost analysis
• (Sometimes) a brief ROI
• Assumptions
• Statement of terms, or a reference to terms on file

These can range from a one page simple quote, to a complex, verbose document with sample timelines, requirements and appendices.

The better you know your customer or prospect’s culture and expectations, the better prepared you will be to win the deal.  Knowing what they want and need, and articulating and communicating it is the key.  Showing your value against what may be cheaper solutions.  Delivering what they asked for.

I read a great article on fedmarket.com that I thought I’d share with you.  I’ve included an excerpt, but I’d encourage you to go out and read the whole thing.

One or Two Pages May Do It

By Richard White

“Proposal writing is both an art and a science. The art part is the solution that the customer believes will solve their problem with minimal risk. Often several pages of creative solution content will swing a win. It doesn’t matter if the solution is information technology, management consulting, program support, or a product. They are looking for:

• Risk aversion, risk aversion, and risk aversion; the three R’s of proposal writing
• Feasibility and practicality of solution (their perceived solution, not yours)
• Speed of implementation
• Speed of staffing
• Uniqueness of staff
• Proven capability to solve the problem
• Nearness to customer
• Special facility
• Unique features and benefits
• Unique management capabilities”

Until next time.

 

Importance of daily motivation

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

—Zig Ziglar

Fill your mind each day with things that support your greatest goals and desires.  Daily work towards the prize.  Keep on reminding yourself of your primary aims.

 

More Jack Welch – on Mistakes

Still from “Jack: Straight from the Gut” page 29, paragraph 3.

“When people make mistakes, the last thing they need is discipline.  It’s time for encouragement and confidence building.  The job at this point is to restore self-confidence.  I think “piling on” when someone is down is one of the worst things any of us can do.  It’s a standard joke during GE operating reviews that if one of the business CEOs is getting heat and someone in the room jumps on the bandwagon, the staff team will typically pull out the white hankerchief, toss it in the air, and flag the person for piling on.

Piling on during a weak moment can force people into what I call the ‘GE Vortex’.  It can happen anywhere.  You see the ‘Vortex’ when leaders lose their confidence, begin to panic, and spiral downward into a hole of self-doubt.”

I saw this in practice recently.  I made a doozie of a mistake – one of the biggest in my career.  My CEO, instead of coming down hard on me, actually came out in defense of me, and supportive of my track record and character.

This made all the difference.  I ended up winning the deal, and delivering an exceptionally strong quarter.

 

The Cook’s Thesaurus

The Cook’s Thesaurus is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools.  Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions.

 

Self-Confidence and Leadership

I just started reading “Jack: Straight from the Gut” which is the Autobiography of  Jack Welch.

In the first few pages of the book (page 5 paragraph 4 to be precise) I found something I had to share.  He’s talking about his mom’s early influence on his life:

“Perhaps the greatest single gift she gave me was self-confidence.  It’s what I’ve looked for and tried to build in every execitive who has ever worked with me.  Confidence gives you courage and extends your reach.  It lets you take greater risks and achieve far more than you ever thought possible.   Building self-confidence in others is a huge part of leaadership.  It comes from providing opportunities and challenges for people to do things they never imagined they could do – rewarding them after each success in every way possible.”

 

Characteristics of a qualified prospect

I’ve been reading a really cool series (4 books) on strategic selling by Patrick Henry Hansen.  The book I’m reading right now is called “The DNA Selling Method“.  Quite a bit of great historical stories are used to show sales best practices.

In discussing qualified prospects, he gives a pretty great succinct definition on page 89.

“A qualified prospect in any industry has four general characteristics:

1. Ultimate decision maker(s)
2. Available Funding
3. Acceptable Timeframe(s)
4. Matching Needs

If any one of the qualifying components is missing, the probability of closing the sale is diminished.  By asking simple qualification questions, sellers identify all four qualifying characteristics, and enhance the probability of working with clients likely to purchase.”

 

Two of my favorite business travel sites

I just got done with a ridiculous road trip.  I met with 6 customers and prospects yesterday, and drove (in less than 48 hours) from Detroit to Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, Lexington.  Business travel always takes it out of me.  What electronic / web based tools do you use to help you travel more efficiently?

Here are two I’m using as a key part of my business travel strategy.  I’m in to time savers.  I’m road tired, so I cheated and took their descriptions.  Bottom line?  I can’t live without them:

TripIt – http://www.tripit.com

With today’s myriad of travel sites, even the most experienced traveler has their hands full managing all the details of a typical trip. Booking airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and restaurants leaves you with lots of separate pieces of paper. Throw in maps, directions, things to do, and weather and the chaos multiplies.

TripIt turns chaos into order by making it easy for anyone to:

• Organize trip details into one master online itinerary — even if arrangements are booked at multiple travel sites
• Automatically include maps, directions and weather in their master itinerary
• Have the option to book restaurants, theatre tickets, activities and more right from within the online itinerary
• Safely access travel plans online, share them, check-in for flights, or print an itinerary

RideCharge – https://www.ridecharge.com

RideCharge completes the online travel booking puzzle, by giving travelers the ability to book taxis and sedans online.

RideCharge allows corporate travel managers to control ground travel costs with electronic booking, payment, and expense management for taxi, sedan, limo and shuttle services throughout the US.

RideCharge gets rid of paper receipts, eliminates the need to carry cash for taxis, and allows travelers to find reliable service in unfamiliar cities, all with a mobile phone.

Check out these sites… well worth it.  What travel tools are “can’t live without” for you???

 

What’s a social media guru anyway?

Lisa Wilberding posted a great post last week. Intimidation from the Alleged “Social Media Expert” that really got me thinking.

What IS a “Social Media Expert” anyway?  I know some who I’ve really enjoyed reading and learning from.  Some, I’ve started not to pay as much attention to.

Social Media is, and should be perceived as, simply another mechanism to hear and be heard. An extension of yourself as a human with human relationships. Just like any other format, there are good and bad things about the genre, and good and bad things about the interaction processes, and people who communicate better than others.

Personally, I think it’s rude to talk on a cell phone while at a table, but I know plenty of people who do it, and think it’s perfectly fine. (Example of differences of opinion on a communication methodology.)

I happen to be someone who uses networking events to meet new people and establish RELATIONSHIPS, but I know plenty of people who use those times as simply an ad.

My feeling is that as people become more comfortable with new communication mechanisms, that they will continue to gravitate towards people they like, or people that they can easily communicate with, people that they need, or that need them. Doubtless we ALL will break some china while we’re at it. And in the end, it will be interesting to see what happens next. It’s all transitory.

Keep communicating. It is, after all, part of what makes us human.

 

Really achieving your childhood dreams.

I’m revisiting some things that really inspire me.  This is one of my favorite lectures.  “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”

If you’ve not looked at this before, it’s a must watch.  Randy Pausch (October 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) was a professor of computer science, human interaction and design at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University).  After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he continued to lecture, and share with his students, and his broader audience.

“Brick walls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want things.  The brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it badly enough.”

I also really appreciate his lecture on Time Management.

Check these out – well worth your time to watch.

 

Boxer Billy: Perseverance

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US president, once said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

I’m a big Tivo junkie.  I love the idea that I don’t HAVE to watch commercials… EVER.

One of the things that’s ended up on my Tivo is the Fox Sports Amazing Sports Stories which airs on Sunday evenings at 8pm.  These are incredible stories of survival, perseverance, and beating the odds.

In browsing for things to watch this weekend, I stumbled across the story of “Billy Miske: Dead Man Fighting”.

“It was a moment for a miracle, but death was closing in.  Billy Miske, one of the top fighters of his era, who was knocked out only once by the legendary Jack Dempsey, was struck down by a fatal illness.  But his family’s future was at stake.  So Billy kept on fighting, risking everything, including his life.”  So the show started, and I wasn’t planning to watch the whole thing, but it held my attention, and it’s an amazingly inspiring story.

Billy Miske, known as The Saint Paul Thunderbolt, was born in 1894. BoxRec.com calls his final career record of 77 wins (33 by knockout), 15 losses (1 knockout), 14 draws, with a total of 103 fights, and 782 rounds boxed.  He was considered to be an underrated, fast, and dangerous fighter.

I found a Sports Illustrated article that tells the story, between that and the Fox Sports show, here are some of the highlights:

In 1918, when Miske was 24 years old, Doctors diagnosed him with Bright’s disease, now called acute or chronic nephritis.  This is a severe kidney disease, accompanied by back pain, vomiting, and fever.  Doctors told Billy that he had five years to live… if he quit boxing.

For many reasons, Billy’s sole method of supporting his family was boxing.  He recognized his commitment to his family, and reportedly witheld the severity of his sickness from them.  You see, he had run up somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 in debt in a failed auto dealership business, and believed in both paying his debts, and providing for his family.

Billy fought in 30 more bouts after the doctors ordered him to stop, among them was his single knockout by Jack Dempsey in a 1920 title fight.

In 1923, Jack realized he was too sick to fight, and retired.  However, as Christmas drew near, and as he knew he would not live much longer, all he wanted was to provide his family with a Christmas to remember.  So he asked his manager, Jack Reddy, to set up one more fight for him.  Even though Jack knew Billy was sick, he understood his plea, and set him up with a fight with Bill Brennan, who later went six rounds with Jack Dempsey.

Though he was too weak to train properly, Billy knocked out Bill Brennan in the fourth round on November 7th, 1923, and won the fight.  He used his purse to provide money for his family, and a Christmas they all remembered, including a piano for his wife (a singer & actress), and all the latest toys for his kids.

The day after Christmas, he woke up in excruciating pain, was rushed to the hospital, and died on January 1, 1924.

Maybe it wasn’t always the smartest choice (healthwise), but what an example of not quitting.  Of doing whatever it took – to follow through on his commitments, to take care of his family, and to leave a legacy.  What’s your legacy?

Another great quote on perseverance comes from Dan Rather, “Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow”.

And it’s true.  It’s not luck, talent, or genius that makes success, character, or high moral value.  It’s perseverance.  Hard work.  “Chopping Wood”.  Being the best you can be.  Working to the best of your ability, and not being afraid to challenge yourself or those around you.  Leading by example.

When I make a commitment, I want it to always be known that I gave it my all.  That I pushed forward until it was done, done right, and when I looked back, I far exceeded even my own expectations.