1. 1
Tremendously improve your
business acquisition through
Customer Centric
Proposal Writing
SPIN, Chennai Talk on 4 May, 2013

2. About the Speaker
• More than 20 years experience in Quality
Management and Process Improvement.
• Process improvement consultant, who helps
clients in countries like India, USA, Japan, China,
Taiwan, Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam,
Philippines, etc.
• Earlier jobs include Vice President of Corporate
Quality at HCL Technologies and Manager,
Quality at Oracle India.
• Visiting faculty to many Universities and
Business Schools including Anna University,
Chennai & Great Lakes Institute of
Management, Chennai.
2
Raja
M. Rajamanickam
mrajamanickam@gmail.com
http://in.linkedin.com/in/rajamrajamanickam/
Managing Partner,
ProXL Consulting,
Chennai – 600 101
• Defined end to end sales process, including the
Proposal Preparation Process, in the earlier
corporate role.
• Prepared / reviewed more than 200 proposals
covering all major verticals and clients in all 5
continents
• Lean Six Sigma Corporate Champion, Certified Scrum
Master, Certified CMMI Lead Appraiser, Trained
Management Consultant and a passionate trainer.
• Holds ME (Industrial Engineering) from PSG
College of Technology and Exec. MBA from Great
Lakes Institute of Management.

3. Agenda
 Why do Customers need
Proposal?
 & Why shall we prepare
proposal?
 Major Challenges of
Proposal Preparation
 Seven Golden Rules of
Proposal Preparation
 First Three Rules in detail…
3

4. 4
Gather and clarify complex
information
On the possible solution to
their problem
Compare offers from
various vendors
To make decision makers
job easy
Get the maximum value
for their money
To make sure they are not
exploited
To provide the customer
with right information
• To persuade them to give the
order
Prove your capabilities
on the required solution
• To make decision makers job
easy!
To close new business &
customers
• To remain competitive & grow
To Slow down the aggressive sales people
Some times!
To become responsive sales people
Always!
Why do Customers need
Proposals?
Why do we prepare
Proposals?
or, Why should we?

5. Major Challenges
• Close business by “putting it
in writing”
• Your audience may know nothing
about you
• Sell a complex product or service to non-technical buyers
• Most decision makers are extremely busy: – they are already
bombarded by lots of messages
• Complete the proposal that has to be submitted yesterday!
• Effort involved - Lots of mid night oils!
• Work from a “virtual office,” or the road
5

6. 6
The Final Challenge:
And the
results
usually
reflect that
fact!
Most people
HATE
proposal writing

7. 7
The “Seven Deadly Sins” of
Proposal Writing *
 Failure to focus on the client’s business problems and
payoffs – contents sounds generic
 No persuasive structure – The proposal is an information
dump
 No clear differentiation compared to others
 Failure to offer a compelling customer value proposition
 Key points are buried—no impact, no highlighting
 Difficult to read because they’re full of jargons, too long, or
too technical
 Credibility killers--misspellings, grammar and punctuation
errors, wrong customer name, inconsistent formats, etc.
* “Persuasive Business Proposals” by Tom Sant
SevenDeadlySins

8. 8
The Business Impact
 Longer sales cycles
 Low sales force productivity
 Loss of credibility with customers
 Lost business
 Failure to penetrate new accounts and new
markets
 Wasted effort
 Low morale

9. 7 9
SEVEN GOLDEN RULES:
How to consistently write
Winning Proposals?

10. 10
Seven Golden Rules
1. Your proposal
shall love your
customer; not
you!
2. A Proposal
must sell; not
just tell
3. KISS your
proposal; big is
not better
4. You lose on
communication;
not on price
5. Investigate
more; write less
6. Repeat your
success; don’t be
happy with just
one
7. Check your
health; often

11. 1 11
Rule # 1 : Your proposal
shall love your customer;
not you!

12. 12
Unfortunately, Most Proposals
Create a Wrong Impression
“It’s all about us.”

13. 13
Broadcast on WII-FM
What’s In It For Me?
People are most interested in
their own issues and their own
business
They trust people who
understand those issues and put
them first
Customers buy benefits, not features…

14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNyMrtsK96k
14

15. 4Ps of Marketing is dead !
Product
Place
Price
Promotion
Solution
Accessibility
Value
Education
15

16. 16
What Does This Mean
For Your Proposals?
• Focuses on client’s needs
• Presents solutions to business
problems
• Looks toward long-term
relationships
• Partnership orientation
• Analyzes payback, ROI, impact
on business
• Integrates value-added
offerings into strategy
• Focuses on products,
technology, etc.
• Presents information in
reaction to a request
• Short-term focus
• Vendor/buyer orientation
• Builds on profit margin
• No controlling strategy--line-
item selling

17. 17
Seven Questions * to Help You
Create a Client-Centered Proposal
• What is the client’s problem or need?
• Why is this problem a problem?
• What goals must be addressed?
• Which goals have the highest priority?
• What solutions (products/applications/services)
can we offer?
• What outcomes/results will each solution
produce?
• Which solution is best?
Customers (may!) mention what is needed,
but not why they are needed…
* “Persuasive Business Proposals” by Tom Sant

18. 2 18
Rule # 2 : A Proposal must
sell; not just tell

19. Diamond Rule of Proposal
Proposal is NOT a
technical document
Proposal is a
sales document
19

20. What Does This Mean
For Your Proposals?
You are NOT writing to Inform
But
you are writing to Persuade
20
‘Sell the sizzle not the steak’ - Elmer Wheeler

21. Your Proposal
must be written
to support
decision-oriented
thinking
21

22. 22
How do People Make
Decisions?
• The Assumption:
• Rational
• Logical
• Systematically weighs all the evidence
• The Reality:
• Fast and frugal
• Intuitive, personal, based on impressions
• Uses the least amount of evidence possible
• Seemingly impulsive

23. 23
What Does This Mean
For Your Proposals?
• IT’S NOT ENOUGH to give the customer a
company overview or history
• IT’S NOT ENOUGH to give the customer
just a technical spec
• IT’S NOT ENOUGH to give the customer
just a price quote

24. 24
Find out what Your Customer
Worries About
• Keeping costs to a minimum
• Providing on-time delivery, providing
good customer service
• Competing effectively against
national and global competitors
• Minimizing overhead and staffing
needs
• Generating profit

25. 25
So, how to create
Decision
Oriented
Message?

26. What do you see in common?
26

27. What do you see in common?
27

28. 28
The Four Essentials of Winning Proposals
- The Persuasive Paradigm
• Needs: Demonstrate the understanding of
the client’s key business needs or issues
• Outcomes: Identify meaningful outcomes
from meeting those needs
• Solution: Recommend a specific solution
• Evidence: Convince the client that you’re
competent to deliver - A compelling reason
to choose your recommendation over any
others
Hitting it on the N-O-S-E !
(Options: Provide some options (atleast two))
(Long NOSE !!!)

29. 29
Why Are These Factors
Critical?
Because evaluators look at proposals
in terms of:
• Responsiveness: Am I getting what I
need? Or merely what they have?
• Competence: Can they really do it? Can
they live up to their promises?
• Value: Does this offer return a high
enough value to the organization to justify
moving forward?
People buy from people they TRUST

30. Check your failed proposals
This could be the reason…
30

31. 3 31
Rule # 3 : KISS your
proposal; big is not better

32. 32
“If you wish to
persuade me, you
must think my
thoughts, feel my
feelings, and speak
my words.”
--Cicero
The Cicero Principle

33. 33
• Audience Level
(Speak my words)
• Audience Type
(Think my thoughts)
• Audience Role
(Feel my feelings)
• Expert
• Highly informed
• Acquainted
• Uninformed
• Analytical
• Pragmatic
• Consensus-seeker
• Visionary
• Decision Maker
• User
• Gatekeeper
Cicero’s Three Points

34. 34
Writing to the audience
Key tips:
• Provide content specific to the
market
• Aim for the right level of
expertise
• Avoid business jargons
• Prioritize your points in the
order of importance to the
audience
• KISS--keep it short and simple

35. 35
Which One Would You Read First?
Proposal
Proposal
For
Jasmin Infotech
Your first ten words are more important than
the next ten thousand words - Elmer Wheeler

36. 36
Effective Case Studies
Tips:
• Keep them short
• Use the PAR format:
• Problem
• Business problems, not software requirements
• Action
• Focus on your unique delivery process
• Results
• Quantify results if possible
• Use a quote from the key decision maker

37. 37
Present the Impact Graphically
Graphics and
Color increase
persuasiveness
by 47%!
Videos are even better

38. Proposal FAQs
38
• What is the ideal length of a proposal?
• Isn’t it bigger the proposal, better?
• Is it better to submit the proposal earlier than the deadline?
• to show our efficiency/effectiveness/interest/quick response
• Why don’t we start our discussion with our company
background?
• After all the proposal is for informing about our company
• How to organise the proposal writing team?
• Full Time or Part Time (shared responsibility)
• Internal or External?
• What font is better?
• What format is better? Word or PowerPoint or PDF?

39. Proposal FAQs…
39
• Do we need to respond to all proposals that come in our
way?
• How to decide, if not?
• How to identify ‘our’ CustomerValue Proposition?
• for this proposal?
• How muchValue is enough?
• Is it different in different scenario?
• What is the right structure of proposal?
• Shall I use a standard template?
• What shall be the structure of Executive Summary?
• How long shall that be?
• Where shall we spend more time?
• Shuttling for information or structuring the information?

40. Contact Us
For all your proposal solutions…
Raja
M. Rajamanickam
mrajamanickam@gmail.com
http://in.linkedin.com/in/rajamrajamanickam/
Managing Partner
ProXL Consulting
Chennai – 600 101
 Training  Consulting  Handholding  Proposal Reviews