Who Writes Latest Laughs the Most: How to Master the Proposal Process

Rid Your Business of Tyre-Kickers, Plate Lickers and Freeloaders Who Just Want to Pick Your Brain by Requesting Proposals from You

Dear Colleague,

Are you tired of rejected proposals, and willing to learn a new process to make your proposals rejection-proof?

There is a lot of nonsense written about writing proposals and how to handle the whole proposal process.

Conventional wisdom accepts the fact that you spend days upon days writing a proposal of 20-100 pages, then you submit it and hope that you are selected for the gig.

Have you ever wasted your precious time on this retarded process?

For most consultants, sadly, proposal writing is a "hope-and-pray" game. They sit down with their prospects, chat for a while and then volunteer to "submit a proposal". In the traditional proposal process the project is not accepted until the proposal is signed.

I would compare the traditional proposal process to bullfight.

Imagine if you will. The matador puts up the red cape and the bull charges. After the spectators have received enough excitement and the bull is dead exhausted, the matador elegantly pulls a sword out of the rolled-up end of the cape and stabs the bull in the heart.

Now let us look at you in the "bullfight". Yes, you are the bull in this equation.

Sad but true!

The buyer (the matador) entices you (the poor bull) for a great project (chance to win), and you start writing the proposal (bull is charging) in order to get the gig.

After prospects (all decision makers) got all the information they were looking for (so, they can shop around for lower prices) and you are dead tired after dispensing all that knowledge and energy, prospects tell you they are not interested in your solution and you can get lost. And there you are lying dead in the sand and the appropriate people are ready to drag you to the butcher shop to be cut up for food.

One of the biggest mistakes about proposals is that most professionals regard them as sales documents. You may see it this way too.

Realistically though, they are not. Proposals are the first step of your project. This is where the implementation part starts, and you write the proposal after you have taken a small "good faith" deposit. Read it again. You get paid a small sum before writing a single word.

But to be able to do this, you must write your proposal - or as I call them collaboration agreement - differently.

From Mastering the Proposal Process, you discover the Inherent Lunacies of the Traditional Proposal Process, such as...

1. Writing proposals longer than more than three pages
2. Selling your recommended solutions
3. Creating the relationship
4. Serving as an apple to be compared to another apple
5. Providing credibility of your firm and approaches
6. Protecting one party at the expense of the other
7. And five more retarded traditions...

You also learn how to overcome these problems, including...<

1. Stipulating outcomes of the project, not tasks and deliverables
2. Describing how progress will be measured
3. Establishing mutual accountabilities
4. Explaining options available to the client
5. Conveying the value of the project
6. And five more vital techniques...

You also Learn the Ten Deadly Mistakes Service Professionals Make Regarding Their Proposals

Five of them are:

1. Failing to find the true economic buyer and succumbing to discussing "possibilities" with lower level managers
2. Failing to ask the prospect about the value the project's completion will mean to the company and the buyer
3. Failing to establish clear metrics for the project. Remember, "writing a 70-page manual" and "running a half-day workshop" are not metrics. They are deliverables, thus totally useless for value-based consulting.
4. Failing to getting commitment from the prospect to proceed with the project even before writing one single word.
5. Falling into the trap of discussing tactics and implementation details. The proposal is a "big picture" document. It is not for outlining minor details.

As a value-based service professional, your documents must be about...

• what is to be accomplished - clear outcomes not merely tasks and deliverables
• when it will occur - time frame
• where it will occur - location - Your value is not in your on-site physical presence or face-to-face discussions
• who is accountable for its occurring - watch this puppy like a hawk!
• the degree to which you will confidently know it has occurred

Your written proposal should merely summarise the agreement previously established, and provide the opportunity to review them in writing, select possible options for implementation, verify the payment terms, and formalise the collaboration.

So, what are you getting with this booklet?

Mastering the Proposal Process is a ready-to-go proposal template... From the first part of the booklet you discover the typical proposal writing mistakes and how to avoid them, and the second part gives you a proposal template. In nine easy steps you fill in the blanks with your buyer's information, and that is it. You have a proposal on three pages and with some practise, you can create one in two less than hours.

Remember Roy Disney's words: "Decisions are easy when values are clear". So, before you ask the buyer, "Show me the money" you must show the value first. Then buyers can make intelligent investments based on the expected return on their investments.

After your discussion your prospects have three choices:

1. Yes, we want to do this and want to do it with your help
2. Yes, we want to do this but want to do it without your help
3. No, we are not going to do anything about it

However, if you have done a great initial interview and your prospects are sincere people (no tyre kickers), then your prospects should be naturally inspired to take action to bridge the gap between the existing situation and the future they have told you about during the interview.

Order now and learn how to rejection proof your proposals and keep your life free from freeloaders, tyre-kickers and plate-lickers who just want to pick your brain free.

Mastering the Proposal Process is your key to avoiding endless proposal writing gruntwork, lifting you out of the sweaty pits of vendors, and elevating you to the level of a peer to your buyers.

Well, if you reach the point of submitting your proposal and too many of them get rejected or stalled on, then this little booklet, Who Writes Latest Laughs the Most: How to Master the Proposal Process could rescue your from the frustration.

You receive the product as soon as your payment is verified and accepted. The product is a PDF file and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it. Buy it at ClickBank. Your investment is $29.95US. Clickbank now handles Paypal payments as well.