Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts

The decision has been made. You won. You lost. The award was split between you and a competitor. Regardless of the outcome, there are still things you can do to learn and possibly to influence the future. Some of these activities include:

• Debriefings

• Win/loss analyses

• Research to prepare you for the next opportunity

• An internal review of the proposal creation process, identifying any lessons learned

Debriefing

If you were competing to win business from the federal government and have been notified that you did not win, you have the right to receive a debriefing after the decision has been announced. This is a legal right which you can exercise under Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 15.506. Among state and local governments the rules vary, but often you can request a debriefing in those situations, too. And if you have been competing in the private sector, there's nothing to prohibit you from asking the prospective client to provide you with some insight into its process and how well your proposal stacked up.

If you do arrange for a debriefing, use it as an opportunity to learn as much as you can about how the agency handles acquisitions, what their key decision criteria are, whether or not they followed their own guidelines, and anything else that may help you in the next opportunity.

You should also focus on specific content about your proposal and how it was reviewed:

• Where was it weak, particularly in comparison to the winning submission?

• Were there any critical areas where your proposal was deemed to be noncompliant or nonresponsive?

• How did you do in terms of pricing and in terms of your value proposition?

• Did existing relationships, prior experience, references, case studies, or expertise in a specific area make a difference for your competitor?

• How did your proposal rank compared to all the proposals submitted?

• What were the key criteria that the evaluators used in determining who won? How were these criteria weighted?

• Were the procedures outlined in the RFP (if any) actually followed? Were other processes used?

• Besides the evaluators, did anyone else participate in making the decision? What role did senior management play, if any?

Win/Loss Analysis

Conduct a win/loss analysis the same way that businesses conduct customer satisfaction surveys. That is, select a specific percentage of all the opportunities you propose and seek feedback. Conduct the analysis whether you win or lose. You can do it in the form of a questionnaire, a telephone interview, even a site visit if that's convenient. Be sure to make it clear that you are not trying to reopen the decision process, but are interested in getting feedback to improve future proposals.

Many of the questions listed above for a debriefing are appropriate for a win/loss analysis. Some other questions you might ask focus on specific areas of your proposal:

Format and Content

1. Did our proposal correctly respond to your needs and requirements?

   • If no, where did we fail?

   • Did we exceed your expectations in any areas?

2. Did we correctly understand and address your needs, objectives, and goals?

3. Did you think our proposal was well organized?

   • If yes, what features did you find helpful in understanding its organization and using the proposal efficiently?

   • If no, how could we improve its organization?

4. Was our proposal easy to understand?

   • What specific areas were unclear or difficult to follow?

   • If no, how could we make it clearer?

5. Did we provide enough detail on our products and services?

   • Did we spend too much time on our products/services?

   • Did we clearly demonstrate how specific features would provide solutions to your problems or meet your particular needs?

6. After receiving the proposal, did you have to ask us for more information?

7. Was the proposal:

   • Too long/detailed

   • Too short/cursory

   • About right

8. Do you feel we responded to your request in a timely manner?

Pricing

1. Did we provide sufficient pricing detail?

2. Was our pricing too detailed?

3. Did we fail to include any of the pricing you needed to see?

   • If yes, what did we leave out?

4. Did we adequately explain our pricing?

5. Did we provide a satisfactory analysis of ROI/payback?

   • If no, what made it unsatisfactory?

6. How did our pricing compare to other companies responding to this RFP?

   • 1. Higher

     2. Lower

     3. About the same

Proposal Effectiveness

1. What were your key reasons for selecting/not selecting us?

2. What were your key reasons for selecting our competitor?

3. We attempted to develop a specific message or theme in our proposal. Can you summarize to the best of your memory what that theme was?

4. In recalling our proposal, are there any graphics or sections that you remember as standing out? Do you have a clear picture of any part of our proposal?

Research Into the Next Phase of Business Development

Win or lose, maintain contact with the client organization and listen for opportunities that may lie ahead. Sometimes a client will realize that they misjudged your proposal and will want to rectify that on the next opportunity. Sometimes your persistence and professionalism will create a level of trust that opens up new opportunities.