Jeneane Sessum is writing a proposal today and not liking it:

Oh Lord, give me a white paper, give me technical specs, give me a god-awful press release — send me any of that before you send me into proposal hell.

After years of reading (and selecting from) proposals in my capacity as a corporate exec, I am now a little-bitty entrepreneur who must compose compelling proposals to win new business.

And I agree with Jeneane; it’s no fun.

But as much as I dread the process, I know that proposals are critically important — ultimately, they determine whether I get paid or not. And so I work hard to get them right.

For consultants seeking to sharpen their proposal-writing skills, Mike McLaughlin offers these “seven deadly sins” of proposal writing:

1. Lack of focus on the client’s business problem and industry dynamics.

2. The “we, us, and our” syndrome. Does your proposal talk more about your firm than about the client’s business?

3. No basis of differentiation. Focus is on weak differentiators such as quality service, price, responsiveness, and your firm’s pedigree.

4. The expected value of the project isn’t quantified so you can’t use it as a baseline for justifying the proposed fee.

5. The proposal is laced with jargon, difficult to read, and doesn’t include an issue-focused executive summary.

6. Reliance on a boilerplate resume.

7. Errors: misspellings, poor grammar, wrong client name, or inconsistent formats.

Jane Watson, meanwhile, offers these suggestions:

The secret to a good proposal is to start by addressing the audience. Open with your understanding of their needs or problems. This section can be long or short, but it must be direct…

A colleague recently shared with me a proposal based on an RFP that was submitted by his company. I don’t believe it will succeed. The response was writer-focused not RFP-driven. In other words, the writing team spent too much time bragging about what they wanted to deliver rather than focusing on how they could give the reader what he requested…

As you come to the end of the proposal, include the time-frames and the costs clearly. Don’t include deadlines you can’t meet or complicated pricing. You’ll lose your credibility for future jobs…

When you are finished your proposal, add the appropriate window-dressing. Too much glitz will cause your readers to wonder if you are masking a lack of substance. On the other hand, too little attention to the cosmetic aspects … will convey a lack of attention to details that may carry over into the actual work.

All good ideas. Now, if either Mike or Jane would write Jeneane’s and my proposals for us, that would be even better.

Technorati tags: Proposals, Proposal Writing, RFPs, PR, Public Relations, Marketing