Proposal Writing Tips

10 Ways to Increase Your Proposal Success Rate

Posted on by Anthony James

Summary: The success rate of business proposals is determined by cost, experience, and a compelling ‘storytelling’ narrative that persuades readers to learn more about your organization.

This Klariti tutorial will explain how to write a business proposal that gets your reader’s attention, highlights your unique point of view, and encourage them to examine your proposed solution.

Learn more about this Proposal Template

Proposal Success Rates

Here are ten ways you can improve your proposal success rate.

  1. Service Level Agreement – reduce the buyer’s anxiety is to offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) outlining how you will respond to these issues within agreed time periods.
  2. Project Management – State the expected project risks, High/Medium/Low impacts and the contingencies you will put in place.
  3. Change Control – Give an example of how you will deal with Change Control and the methods you will use to control documents, source code, and project materials.
  4. Percentage of Personnel – state the percentage of personnel allocated to the project, for example, 50% of your team for stage one, 75% of your team for stage two, 100% of your team for stage three.
  5. Client Resources – outline the human resources required from the client. Break it down by work-days. Don’t be ambiguous, for example, by saying there will be ‘an on-going need for access to staff’. Show the client when and where you will need access to their team members.
  6. Resumes – provide CVs for all key team members involved in the project. Explain your contingency strategy in the event that they have to be substituted and/or replaced.
  7. Roles & Responsibilities – Outline the roles/responsibilities of both parties (e.g. the client and the solution provider).
  8. Case Studies – demonstrate your track record by offering relevant case studies with dates and endorsements.
  9. Project Management Meetings – state the frequency and location of project management meetings including the report mechanism.
  10. Work Breakdown – check that the WBS matches other charts and projections. Break down the resources by man-days and/or daily rates for each role.

Conclusion

These are some of the ways to reduce the buyer’s anxiety. Next week, we will look at how to spot weaknesses in your tender documents and how bids are assessed.

Learn more about this Excel Proposal Template

Anthony James