Persuasive Business Proposals

by Sant, Tom

• ISBN13: 9780814471531
• ISBN10: 0814471536
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-26
• Publisher: Amacom Books

Summary

In a business climate marked by increased competition, tight budgets, and stiffer regulation, your prospective clients are more intent than ever on making smart vendor choices. Before they'll give you that contract, you've got to prove to them that your firm represents their best (or better yet only) option.

Author Biography

Tom Sant (San Luis Obispo, CA) is a world-renowned proposal consultant whose clients range from small entrepreneurial operations to Global 500 companies including General Electric, Microsoft, Lucent, and Accenture. He is the creator of the world’s most widely used proposal automation systems: ProposalMaster and RFPMaster.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Section I Why You Need This Book
The Challenges You Face	3	(7)
A Good Proposal Is Hard to Find	10	(11)
Section II A Primer on Persuasion
Why the Inuit Hunt Whales and Other Secrets of Customer Behavior	21	(7)
The Structure of Persuasion	28	(14)
Developing a Client-Centered Message Every Time You Write	42	(13)
Understanding the Customer: The Cicero Principle	55	(17)
Establishing Your Credibility	72	(9)
Section III How to Manage the Process and Keep Your Sanity
An Overview of the Proposal Development Process	81	(17)
Writing from the Right Brain: Getting Your Ideas Organized	98	(9)
Presenting a Winning Value Proposition	107	(13)
The Structure of the Letter Proposal	120	(12)
The Structure of the Formal Proposal	132	(42)
Writing Research Proposals and Proposals for Grants	174	(13)
What to Do After You Submit	187	(7)
Writing in the Midst of a Storm: How to Deal with Bad News and Negative Publicity	194	(4)
Creating a Proposal Center of Excellence	198	(8)
Proposal Metrics: How to Measure Your Success	206	(7)
Section IV Writing to Win
Give the Reader a KISS!	213	(3)
Word Choice: Six Traps to Avoid	216	(11)
Sentence Structure: Maximizing Your Clarity	227	(5)
Editing Your Proposal	232	(11)
Index	243