A proposal (business) is a written offer from a seller to a -would -be buyer, usually a key step in the entire complex sales process that puts the buyers requirements in a context that favors the sellers products and services and educates the buyers about the capability of the sellers to meet their needs. A proposal can be formally solicited, informally solicited or unsolicited. Proposals are solicited when they are written based on published advertisement. The advert could be request for proposal, request for quotation, invitation for bid or request for information. Also, proposal is informally solicited when it is a result of a conversation between a buyer and a seller and it can also be referred to as a sole-source proposal. While proposal is unsolicited when it is generic, mere market brochure and there is no connection between seller’s needs and vendors requirements.
Lots of proposal are rejected cause they do not follow the company’s required standard, therefore, this article provide a kind of a check list on the requirements to write a good formally solicited proposal that can compete globally.
- Clearly label your package solicitation number: most instances proposals go through irrelevant departments and irrelevant units in the firm because they do not have proper solicitation number. Firms get much mail on daily bases, so if your package does not have any solicitation number, your proposal may not get the needed attention. So to make it very straightforward and easier for the firm and to ensure your proposal goes to the right folder, labeling your solicitation number is a perquisite.
- Make sure you include your contact information: the firm may have a question to contact you and if there is no contact phone number on it, the firm may not contact you.
- Make sure your package/sections is organized based on the standard set by the buyer on the proposal request. In most proposal request, there is a section called proposal submissions. It is indeed good to follow strictly the proposal submission guidelines. This is necessary because the evaluation committees usually follow the guideline in their evaluation and they may miss some relevant section if the guideline is not strictly followed while filing the proposal.
- Make sure that your proposal is neatly organized: most times people spend days, weeks and months to prepare a proposal but they mess it up when they present an unorganized proposal. Not organizing your proposal sends a wrong signal and may mar your chances of being selected.
- Make sure you submit your proposal at the right location
- Make sure you verify the proposal submission requirement: it is very helpful to take a look at the proposal submission requirement to make sure all the required documents are included in the submission
- Give yourself time to really make sure that your proposal is complete, concise and it includes the description for each submission item.
- Make sure you emphasis the evaluation criteria. If the call has method of award, make sure you study it and emphasis the points with the highest scores.
- Get clarification if need be from the technical contacts in the call ahead of time
- Make sure you submit your proposal timely. Try as much as possible to bit the deadline.
In conclusion, these ten checklists are very helpful in a winning a proposal in any organization.
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