I have recently found myself in a number of pitch situations where the prospective client has wanted to review a number of similar organisations before they make a decision on who to work with on their marketing.
I have written a number of articles about how to prepare and improve the pitch process in this Blog, but not all business can be won face to face; some of the decision process is made when viewing a written proposal or tender so I thought it would be beneficial to share some of my experiences about the written side of winning new business.
What advice can be given about the production of such a document? Well, to me, the same rules still apply. Guarantee that the client problem is identified, the objectives defined and the means selected are consistent. The client wants a specialised solution so the document must take the client through the full consultation process by indicating empathy with their problem while revealing your unique solution to it stressing how you add real benefit to the process.
Your document should encompass 5 roles which should all feature:
- Consultant
- Information Provider
- Problem Solver
- Professional Partner
- Negotiator
- The resulting document should therefore comprise of a number of sections that lead on from the previous section, but always write from a client’s point of view.
Later in the week I will outline and define these sections of the document.
