Fundamentals of Proposal Writing

Description
A business proposal is a written document from a seller to a prospective client. It serves to explain to the client what our offering is, what our capabilities are, how we will address and meet the client's needs, how we differ from competitors, and, ultimately, why the client should choose our offering over the competition.

Proposals are often a key step in a complex sales process--i.e. situations where the client often evaluates multiple providers and the purchase is conducted by Corporate Procurement. This presentation first discusses the 3 types of proposals:

1. Solicited Proposal - A solicited proposal is one where the client proactively reaches out to us and asks for us to submit a proposal around a project.
2. Unsolicited Proposal - An unsolicited proposal is one where we see, anticipate, or suspect a client has an issue that we have a solution for.
3. Request for Proposal (RFP) - In the case of an RFP, Corporate Procurement reaches out to a multitude of vendors to solicit a proposal based on a specific set of requirements, as outlined in the RFP.

A typical structure for a proposal contains 7 key sections, of which 5 are must have sections:

MUST HAVE SECTIONS

1. Cover Letter
2. Statement of Need
3. Point of View
4. Value Proposition
5. Implementation Plan

OPTIONAL SECTIONS

6. Qualifications and Case Studies
7. Team Bios

Development of the proposal is a collaborative team effort, requiring the input from various functions (e.g. sales, functional experts, industry experts, and product/offering experts).

This presentation discusses each of these sections in detail. It also includes slide templates.