Proposal Writing Articles
Proposal Writing: Proposal Writing Sometimes Resembles Driving in Freezing Rain
Comparing proposal writing and freezing rain might seem far fetched. But
a short explanation might help you look at your proposal writing in a
different light.
This story starts on a Saturday night when a sudden freezing rain caused
havoc on a busy, heavily-used highway.
I had just entered the highway only to find the flashing lights of a
police car and a wrecker.
An SUV had veered off the icy highway into a gulley on the side of the
road.
That was my signal that the trip home was going to be slow and
dangerous.
After following a line of about 10 cars at about 25 miles an hour for
about two miles, I slowed down to about 20 miles an hour. The cars ahead
of me started slowing down and then came to a complete stop.
In front of me was a minivan and in front of it was a red dump truck.
Apparently about seven or eight cars ahead of us, at least one car was
involved in an accident.
Because the dump truck blocked our view, the minivan and I could not see
what was going on ahead of us. This also meant that the cars behind us
backing down the hill could not see anything either.
After about 10 minutes, traffic seemed to crawl at the rate of about
three miles an hour.
With this, the red dump truck started to pull from the right lane into
the left lane which appeared to signal a clearing of the left lane so
traffic could pass.
After moving about 10 feet, the red dump truck started moving back into
the right lane.
The minivan and I as well as the cars behind us followed suit and
started to slowly move toward the right lane.
About three minutes later, we could see the lights of the ambulance
coming down the left lane.
We all tried to move as far into the right lane as possible.
With this action, the red dump truck positioned itself at an angle
where he was partly in the left lane, completely covering the right
lane, and partially on the side of the road.
About seven minutes after the ambulance had passed us, a burgundy
pickup truck slowly moved up the berm on the side of the road.
As the pick up neared my car, I lowered my window to listen to a woman
in the truck explain she was running out of gas and wanted to get off
the main road so she wouldn’t hold anybody up.
She also indicated that the red dump truck was her husband and he also
was nearly out of gas.
Again, we all sat there for another five minutes when a police car
pulled up to the burgundy truck telling her she had to move.
With this, the minivan pulled into the left lane to let the police car
get next to her.
As the police car pulled into the area vacated by the minivan, the
police officer told the red dump truck to put the truck in neutral and
to try to drift to the side of the road.
With the minivan now in the left lane, he could see that the entire
road in front of us was clear.
He left the scene and I soon did the same.
Because the red dump truck was blocking our view and we were trying to
keep the left lane open for emergency vehicles, the line of traffic
behind the out-of-gas dump truck had no idea the road was open and safe
ahead of us.
So you ask, “What has this got to do with Proposal Writing?”
A lot of times, sales people, marketing people, or proposal writing
teams also have a blind spot in front of them.
They have been writing proposals for years and they think or believe
that the way they have been doing it is correct.
They still think “per your request” and “If you have any further
questions, please don’t hesitate to call” should appear in a proposal.
They think their proposals sound more professional when they “shift
paradigms” or address “conundrums.” And they think the word “reiterate
means “to repeat, restate, or emphasize.”
They need someone with a different authority and a different point of
view to come along and get them moving forward again, towards a clear,
open, and safe direction.
Are you stuck in the right lane while your competitors are up ahead
moving in the direction of truly custom-designed, client-focused,
specially written proposals? Or, are your still writing proposals the
way you learned in a text book or old marketing course?
Proposal Writing today requires a lot more sophistication and clarity
than in the past.
Your need to separate yourself from the pack and see where your customer
is headed, not where your usual boiler plate approach takes you.
When capabilities of all vendors are equal, the edge of customer-unique
proposal writing can mean the difference between profit and wasted time.
Contact Al Now
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Al Borowski,
MEd, CSP, PP
Certified Speaking Professional
Professor of Positivity
al@proposalwritingsuccess.com
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Proposal Writing Success
PO Box 24505
Pittsburgh, PA 15234
412-561-7628
877-902-3314 Toll Free
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