To write proposals effectively, writers need a lot of information. They must know the customer, including their hot buttons, and they must know your bid strategy. Often there is someone who can provide this information because they have already done the research. However, this information is not always given to proposal writers, which makes the proposal development slow and confusing. Giving writers the necessary information and advising them what to do with it creates more winning proposals.

Provide the information writers will need

When proposal writers are not provided necessary information, time is wasted not writing. Plus, better proposals are written when they have all the background information they need, like customer preferences, intentions, and how to make trade-offs.

Winning proposals are based on what it will take to win and are written from the customer’s perspective. Writers cannot produce winning proposals when they have to perform guesswork as they write about what the customer perspective is. More time will be wasted when writers are required to research customer information. Instead, this information should be included in the writers’ packages.

Clarify what writers are supposed to do with that information

Proposals can also be accelerated by making sure writers know what to do with the information they have. Are there specific features or discriminators they need to stress over others? This is a time when the Proposal Manager may collaborate with the Capture Manager. Since the Capture Manager is ideally the person who helped the customer shape their RFP, they will know the customer’s issues, motivators, and hot buttons.

Another vital aspect proposal writers should understand before they begin writing is the bid strategy. For a winning proposal to articulate why it is the customer’s best option, writers need to know what points to make before they start writing. This can again eliminate wasted time that writers must spend making up themes or searching for bid strategies. When proposal writers understand these points before they begin, they are better prepared and spend more time actually writing.

Benefits of giving writers the information they need

Providing proposal writers with the necessary information to write a winning proposal eliminates a lot of wasted time. Without this information, writers may spend hours trying to figure out what the customer might prefer and what their hot buttons might be.

Information also increases win rates. When proposal writers begin the writing process with a clear understanding of the customer, they can devote more time to creating the actual proposal. They are also better prepared to write a proposal from the customer’s perspective. This approach accelerates what takes the most time and eliminates the biggest sources of waste.

The better and more detailed the instructions you give your writers, the more likely you are to get a better and more detailed proposal.