RFPs — Blog | Proposal Writing | RFP Writer

Add this to your process to always be compliant.

A lot of what we share here on the blog (and on YouTube) focuses on how to write your proposal and create a sound strategy.

But one of the biggest sources of anxiety we hear with RFPs comes not from the proposal itself, but from the requirements.

Sometimes responding to an RFP can feel like they’re intentionally trying to find a reason to deem your proposal noncompliant.

From page length requirements to hidden forms to requiring blue ink signatures, the list of requirements for what you have to remember for your proposal can stack up. And that’s not even including the proposal content itself!

Proposal WritingDemi UtleyApril 22, 2024proposal writing, Proposal Writing, RFPs, rfp, proposal management

Winning vs Losing Proposals: The Missing Piece

“How do I show buyers why we’re a better choice than our top competitor?”

When it comes to proposals, this question is asked again and again.

You may have done everything right. Checked off all of the boxes from the RFP. Met with the customer. Created engaging graphics. Developed a sound pricing strategy.

But for some reason, they continue to win while you continue to…not.

In these cases, there is often one main reason why your competitors are winning over you.

The Proposal Writing Secret Used by Your Top Competitors

The sales process is fraught with challenges.

From securing a meeting with an ideal client to determining the best pricing to creating a winning proposal, there always seems to be just one more step to be completed before contracts are signed.

But when it comes to sales, there is one secret that nearly every successful company uses:

4 Traits of Successful Executive Summaries

Executive Summaries are one of the most dreaded RFP sections. How do you summarize an entire proposal in just one page? (You don’t.) Will it even be read?

But once you figure out how to write Executive Summaries, they will likely become your favorite section! This part of the proposal is often the most read, and because of that, it requires a little more creativity and focus than other parts of the proposal. To help you on this journey, check out the four key traits of successful Executive Summaries below.

6 Popular Proposal Goals for Annual Planning

With the start of a new year, many of us are hard at work planning out where to focus our energy for the next twelve months. Below is a list of a few popular proposal goals to inspire your planning, with steps you can take to actually achieve them!

#1 Increase Win Rate

When to Introduce Your Company in the Executive Summary (It’s later than you think!)

Of all the most common proposal sections, the one that I’m asked about again and again is the Executive Summary.

Most Executive Summaries are only 1-2 pages long, yet they seem to strike fear in the heart of any writer, stalling typing and bringing up a new round of writer’s block. The reasons for hesitation vary–some people ask what exactly should be included. Others want to make sure they’re starting the proposal off with the right tone. I’ve heard concerns that this is the only section the client will read, making it even more overwhelming and difficult to craft.

12 Key Traits of Successful Proposal Writers

Over the past decade I have met countless proposal professionals. Most have a love/hate relationship with proposals – a love of putting together a winning proposal and a hatred of the constant deadlines, red tape, and stress that comes with working on projects with so much money on the line.

Many people stick with it though because once you get the hang of it, proposal writing can actually become fun.

If you’re waiting for that day to happen, or you’re hoping to hire a proposal writer who sticks around, below are a list of the most common traits I’ve encountered in successful proposal writers, and tips on how to develop these traits on your own.

4 Key Traits of Successful Proposals

Each time a new contract award is announced, you may be wondering, “How did they do that?”

Whether you keep losing to the same competitor, your win rate is lower than you like, or you send out proposals only to never hear back, it’s easy to start thinking that maybe there is some secret key to winning proposals that you’re missing.

Fortunately for you, winning proposals tend to have a few traits in common, no matter the industry or if they’re for RFPs or not.

Keep reading for the four most common traits of successful proposals!

Responding to RFPs: What's keeping you from getting started?

With huge revenue potential, RFPs can be a very appealing option for many businesses. You search for the perfect RFPs, save the due dates, and add them to your to-do list to get started.

And before you know it, the due date passes with no proposal submitted.

If this has happened to you, don’t worry. RFPs can be overwhelming and challenging to complete. While they sound great in theory, in practice it takes a lot of energy to actually respond to the RFP (and even more to win!).

Below are some of the most common challenges companies face that make getting started with RFPs difficult.

My Biggest Proposal Horror Story (and how to avoid the same mistake)

On a random November Wednesday many years ago I learned that a rainy day in Vegas is not the same as a rainy day in the Midwest.

That particular Wednesday was the due date for the largest proposal I had worked on up until that point. Estimated at $20 million per year with 4 optional renewal years (a total of five years), it was a lot of money, and a lot of work.

Cover letter vs Executive summary: What’s the difference?

Whether a prospect asked you to send over a proposal or you have a formal RFP on your desk, you’ve likely encountered recommendations to include a cover letter and/or executive summary in your proposal. If you’ve read instructions on how to write either, then you may be left wondering, “What’s the difference?”.

While these two sections have many similarities, there are key differences between cover letters and executive summaries, including when and how you should use them.

How to Organize Your Proposal

I started writing proposals in response to RFPs, and while RFPs have many cons, knowing what they want to see in the proposal is typically not one of them. Many RFPs detail the exact format to send as your bid, making my job a lot easier.

This isn’t always the case, unfortunately.

I remember the first time I had to create a proposal that wasn’t an RFP. It landed on my desk, and I asked my boss at least four times, “But how do I organize it?”

In the years since that stressful moment, I’ve worked on more and more proposals that don’t have a specific structure (including creating my own proposals as part of my business). In that time, I’ve developed a proposal structure that works no matter what you’re selling.

Let’s take a look at how you should organize your proposal in a few different situations.

Why I Use Excel to Manage RFP Responses

When an RFP lands on your desk, the first thing you do is open it up and start searching for everything needed to respond and win the project.

As you scroll through the document, you see requirement after requirement, questions followed by more questions, and a seemingly endless compilation of forms to be sent in with your proposal.

By this point you start to wonder, “How am I going to remember all of this?”

If you’ve ever been in that situation, then this post is for you!

7 Decisions to Make When Responding to RFPs

RFPs have the potential to bring large amounts of revenue into an organization while also bringing the risk of wasted time working on these competitive proposals.

To ensure you put your best foot forward, these seven key decisions will help you determine if an RFP is right for your company.

Proposal Writing, Sales WritingDemi UtleyAugust 30, 2022RFPs, rfp, proposal writing, proposal strategy

BTS: My Exact RFP Response Creation Process

Ever since I started working on proposals, I’ve had very few that ran right up to the deadline.

I do everything possible to avoid those situations because they are incredibly stressful, especially when dealing with RFPs; if you miss deadline, you’re out of the running.

I hate working up to the last minute because it means that we likely are behind on establishing a clear win strategy, content came in at the last minute, or changes were being made to pricing and/or the solution right up until it was time to hit submit.

Since those last minute changes can dramatically affect the quality of your proposal (and sometimes result in costly mistakes), I follow a clear process each time that allows me to establish strategy from the beginning, get the content started early, and hit deadlines time and time again.

What is Technical Proposal Writing and How to Do It

Technical proposal writing requires an understanding of the proposed solution, your audience, and the main pain points. Writing the technical content of a proposal can be overwhelming and time consuming, but done well, it can result in a new project and/or client.

Proposal Writing, Sales WritingDemi UtleyJune 28, 2022Proposal Writing, RFPs

11 Writing Quotes to Make Your Proposals Better

Writing proposals is hard. Many times you’re working on the content in between meetings and other obligations. There’s nothing more frustrating than staring at the page, wondering if what you’re saying will make sense to the buyer.

It may bring you some consolation to know that even professional writers struggle with putting words on the page. In their perseverance, they’ve uncovered some tactics to help make the process better and maybe even more enjoyable. Read these famous quotes on writing and how they can help with your proposal content.

Proposal WritingDemi UtleyJune 13, 2022proposal writing, Proposal Writing, Proposal Content, RFPs

Should I Hire a Proposal Writer or Do It Myself?

There comes a point for every B2B business where you have too many proposals on your plate and not enough time to do them all. The natural next question is: Should I hire a proposal writer or keep doing this myself?

If you’re struggling with that question now, let’s take a look at your options to determine what is a best fit for your company.

Writing Advice from Fiction Authors to Improve Your Proposals

With proposals ranging from two pages to over two hundred pages, it’s easy to start to compare your writing process to that of a full-time novelist. Fortunately, the world of fiction has plenty of advice for how to handle writing large sections of content. Let’s take a look at a few that can be applied to proposal writing.

5 Books to Help You Write Proposals

Writing is a skill that requires constant work and improvement. Like any skill, sometimes you need a bit of outside help and guidance to continue to improve. There’s no better place to get help than a good book, and the resources on this list are the perfect place to get started. So if you’re ready to take your proposals to another level and curl up with a good writing book, read on!

RFP & Proposal Tips

#1 Increase Win Rate

Navigation

Services

Grow Your Business