Professional proposal writers tend to fall into two distinct categories: Those who are fresh out of college, just starting their careers, and battled-hardened veterans with many years of experience. There is typically very little middle ground because in most companies, new writers drift away to other departments after gaining some professional experience, learning the company, and realizing how challenging the world of proposal writing can be. The veterans are those who stuck around because they loved the challenges despite the headaches and realized that being an experienced proposal writer can be a very marketable skill.
If you’re one of those veterans, you have probably already found your own methods for managing chaos and turning out high-quality, on-time proposals. There’s always room for improvement, however. Everyone I’ve worked with has taught me something, whether it’s a little-known grammar rule, a desktop publishing shortcut, or a new way to approach a kickoff call.
Read Past Proposals and the Response Database
Reading old proposals is admittedly one of the least interesting parts of training, but it’s necessary even if you have years of experience and are merely switching companies. This is how you will become familiar with the proposal layout, learn the corporate style, and start learning the material.
If your team uses a proposal response library such as Qvidian or Capterra, spend time familiarizing yourself with the database. This will be critical when you are trying to answer proposals; the more familiar you are with the layout and where to find various answers, the less time you’ll spend digging. Proposal deadlines are notoriously short, so the faster you can find answers, the easier it will be to meet your deadline.
Learn the Corporate Style
Some companies prefer to remain extremely formal, referring to themselves as “it” (ABC Company will leverage its experience to offer DEF Company …), while others take a warmer, more informal approach and use “you” and we.” (We can offer your company a partnership …”).
Other common areas where companies differ include use of the serial comma, periods at the ends of bullet lists, and use of copyright marks. Even though most of us have a preference, there often isn’t a strictly right or wrong answer, so just bite your tongue and go along, at least until you are in a position to start influencing change.
On the other hand, some companies may not have a corporate style at all. This is usually the case in small companies or ones that have recently grown. That’s okay when there’s only one proposal writer, but as the department grows, it can lead to inconsistencies. Take the time to develop some style guidelines for your department. If you’re a new writer, you may not have the authority to make those decisions, but you can at least start asking the questions and gathering the responses.
Writing Your First Proposal
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the material, you’re ready to start work on your first proposal. In an ideal world, you’ll have a chance to shadow a veteran team member before your first solo proposal. If so, try to be involved in the entire process from the kickoff meeting to the final submission. The next step is have a veteran shadow you, with you driving the process but with someone ready to help if you get stuck or forget a step.
However, circumstances for proposal writing are rarely ideal. Remember, a good proposal writer must be adaptable. In case you don’t have a mentor or built-in infrastructure, here is my process flow, which has proven helpful for all proposal situations.
Read the entire proposal request, especially the boring fine print. This is where the potential client will specify the due date, whether they want electronic or hard copies, if there’s an opportunity to ask for clarification, where to submit it, or any other rules of engagement. If it’s a government RFP, expect red tape such as an exact time, particular labels required on the packaging, how to label confidential information under the Freedom of Information Act, etc.
Create a calendar showing all key milestones of the project; it makes a better visual than just a milestone list. Include the date received, the date due, and any milestones provided by the client such as a bidders’ conference or deadlines for asking clarification questions. Next, fill in dates such as when you want answers from the team, when you’ll distribute drafts, and when you need final edits. Your timeline will vary depending on how much response time you have and the proposal complexity.
Include time to compile answers and for quality review. People in other departments may look at the final due date and think they can just give you everything an hour before the deadline. This is a recipe for failure because there are inevitably last-minute scrambles. Someone forgot to answer a question. Another person responded with “Go ask X Department.” You received conflicting answers from two different people. Even in the best scenarios, you are compiling answers from multiple sources and need time to edit into a cohesive, consistent style.
Schedule a kickoff meeting with all involved parties. Depending on the size of the company, the value of the project, and the complexity, this may include sales reps, a sales director, your manager, and several subject matter experts (SMEs). When in doubt, ask who should be invited. Provide everyone with a copy of the RFP and calendar and ask them to read it before the meeting. (They often won’t, but at least you tried!)
Use reminders to keep everyone on track. Whether you’re using automatic reminders through your email calendar, writing notes in your paper calendar and manually sending reminders, or some other method, reminders will be crucial to meeting deadlines. Everyone is busy, and for most of the people involved, this proposal is not their only responsibility or often even their primary one.
These are some of the common process steps, but every company will have its own set of procedures. Some proposal writers are strictly project managers and just consolidate and edit SME responses at the end. Others are more involved with researching and composing the answers. Whatever the company’s process, you should learn it, follow it, and improve it where you can.
Quality Review Tips
You’ll be obtaining material from diverse sources. Your SMEs probably aren’t gifted writers. Corporate marketing materials may be too fluffy or too informal. Past proposals and database responses may have been written at different times by different writers. You may even have answers written by people who don’t speak English as their first language.
Whatever the situation, careful editing will be required to ensure a consistent voice. I’ve seen finished proposals that have glaring style inconsistencies from one paragraph to the next. This is the proposal writer’s job to fix, but regardless of your skill, everyone needs some tools to help.
Grammar and punctuation guides: Find some resources you trust and have them handy. Some of my favorites are Grammar Girl and the Chicago Manual of Style.
Acronym finder: If you use too many acronyms, your proposal will be hard to understand, especially if it’s being read by an executive who may not be familiar with technical acronyms. Try to spell out an acronym on first reference, unless it’s incredibly common (IT, CEO, DNA, or NFL). When in doubt, spell it out. If your SME used acronyms that you don’t know how to spell out, try Acronym Finder.
Use a spell-check: It seems crazy to point this out, but use spell-check! Obviously you can’t blindly rely on its suggestions, but it is ridiculous how many finished proposals have obvious spelling errors.
If possible, have another writer on your team provide a final quality review. A fresh set of eyes is always helpful.
Parting Words of Wisdom
Proposal writing is challenging and frustrating, but that’s part of the fun. You’re constantly growing your skills and knowledge, and every proposal has something fresh to offer: a different team of experts, new questions to research, new hurdles set by the client. If you’re organized, like meeting new challenges, and can keep a sense of humor about the frustrations, you just might be one of the long-timers.
Maria Petti is a full-time mom and part-time freelance writer. She contributes to a variety of publications including GrammarCheck.me. In her corporate life Maria gained extensive experience working as a proposal writer across six companies.
from http://www.grammarly.com/blog http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2015/how-to-succeed-in-proposal-writing/
