Eight Proposal Writing Death Traps Consultants Fall Into And Often Get Stuck There Forever

In the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Allan Quatermain, played by Sean Connery, asks American secret agent, Tom Sawyer...      “Can I teach you how to shoot?”      “I can shoot.” – retorts Tom Allan’s response: “Well yeah, you can. In the American way. You’re shooting all over the place hoping to hit something.” And the reason why I mention is this because most consulting firms submit proposals the way Tom Sawyer shots. They keep submitting proposals to all Tom, Dick and Harry, hoping that some get accepted. But if we consider that some 64% of all submitted proposals never get decided upon, and the majority of the other 36% is rejected, it’s only fair to say that the invested time, money and energy is wasted on a rather grand scale. Not to mention consultants’ passion, enthusiasm and belief in their crafts. And what is the typical response from consultants? The same as in every other area of life: Doing more of the same but doing it harder and longer. That is, submitting more proposals, including more colour charts, creating more PowerPoint presentations, etc. Why Treating The Proposal As A Proposal Can Backfire To Consultants? Let's face it, the name "proposal" is a great misnomer, but since many consultants use it literally, they often paint themselves into a corner of chasing reluctant, apathetic buyers, many of whom request proposals to collect idea for in-house implementation. Yes, it is a shoddy approach of dragging honest folks around by their noses making them believe that they have a chance to land new business but it’s happening. So, first let's take a closer look at the purpose of a proposal. And here I use the example of proposing to marry someone. By the time couple reach the point that guys propose to their sweethearts, there is a 99.99% of chance to get a resounding yes. That is, the proposal is a mere formality. With this in mind let’s look at...   Ten Typical Proposal Errors And How To Avoid Them 1. Failing To Connect With Real Buyers Buyers are the only people who can both authorise and finance your proposed projects. Yes, you will bump into some self-important busybodies but make sure they don’t submit proposals to them. Some opinion-makers love posing as decision-makers but they are really not. Many of them have vested interests in upholding the status quo, and may perceive you as a threat to their jobs. So, they do everything in their power to keep you away from real decision-makers. 2. Failing To Clarify The Buyer’s Objectives Consultants get hired to help their clients to achieve specific business results by adding one or more types of added value:     1. You enable your clients to achieve greater goals than they could without your support     2. You enable your clients to achieve greater goals sooner than they could without your support     3. You enable your clients to achieve greater goals with higher probability than they could without your support It’s also important to note that the seemingly simple objectives you get hired for are likely to support multi-million-dollar organisational strategies, so, your clients stand to gain millions of dollars using your help and support. You may get hired to design a website for $15,000, but that website is really a system whose objective is to create $2.5 million annual online sales. For implementing a multimillion dollar sales tool, you deserve more than $15,000. Consultants tend to describe their help in terms of labour input but buyers think in terms of performance outputs. 3. Failing To Establish Metrics For The Project Establish how prospects want to measure the success of the engagement. These are quantitative, qualitative and - very important - personal indicators. Also, make sure you have both long- and short-term indicators set for measurement. 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 work. Without proper metrics, consultants can’t quantify the improvement in the client’s condition. Without improvement there is no ROI. And without ROI, consultants get treated as fungible vendors and get bought hired on price, like sacks of potatoes.   4. Failing To Ask What The Project’s Success Means To The Company Help your prospects to stipulate the value they expect to derive from your help and support. Establish what values the company get and what value buyers get personally from the successful completion of the project. The more you focus on the value buyers receive from collaborating with you, the less opportunity you give them to "grill" you about your fees and detailed methodologies. Remember, buyers must not know your fees until they fully understand the value you bring to their tables. 5. Falling Into The Trap Of Discussing Tactics The proposal is a "big picture" strategic document. It’s not for outlining minor details and answering “nuts and bolts” questions. The nuts and bolts stuff is something that you put together later jointly with the implementing team. By the way, the implementing team is provided by the client. Prospects know their businesses and you know your stuff, and the synergistic application of the two creates the desired improvements in the client’s condition. The more you talk about how your solution fits into the company’s long-term strategy, the more valuable your help is perceived to be. As a consultant, you’re a knowledge worker. It’s like medicine. Just because one pill a day will cure you in ten weeks, it does not mean that 10 pills a day will cure you in one week. The engagement’s success lies in the intensity of the collaboration not the poundage of deliverables and the number of hours manual labour is preformed. By Engagement Intensity (EI) or Value Density (VD) I mean the compounded power of several factors, like effort, discipline, level of engagement, expertise level, accountability, focus, commitment, challenge, use of resources, energy, enthusiasm, passion, devotion to excellence, responsiveness, access level and interest. Also, your buyers are boardroom people not the nuts and bolts staff members. Speak their language. 6. Failing To Establish Peer-Level Relationship Based On Mutual Trust and Respect Make sure you create a trusting relationship with the buyer. And this trust is defined by your initial interview. If you merely match the buyer’s needs and wants with your service packages, then you are in trouble because you come across as a salesperson. Buyers are looking for peers in consultants not peons and peddlers. 7. Failing To Give Buyers Options When we give people options to do something, we empower them. When you indicate to buyers that there are several ways of skinning a cat, that is, they can choose from several options to achieve the objectives you’ve already discussed, they are more likely to choose you. Your competitors present yes/no choices, whereas you present a “Which one?” choice. Psychologically empowered people are more confident and make decisions more quickly and permanently. You won’t have buyer’s remorse. Also, options help your buyers to engage you at various investment levels. 8. Talking About Your Fees Too Early If you want your fee to be seen as an investment, make sure you spend all your time talking about the return on investment the buyer’s investment is expected to bring to the table. Again, I use the word “expect” because the end results depend on how your clients apply the value you deliver. If you offer fees too early, you may be perceived as a person who doesn't give adequate consideration to fees, only throws something out there in hope of acceptance. Also, clients need some time to digest the value you offer. Summary After reading all this, you may ask, “If this approach were so great then everyone would use it.” Many years ago Mark Twain said... “When you find yourself in the majority, pause and reflect.” That’s all I ask you to do. Just because the majority of consultants go through life from bidding war to bidding war, spending a large chunk of their lives writing and submitting “War And Peace” sized proposals (novels?), it doesn’t mean they are right. If you follow just a few of these proposal ideas, then you’ll see not only improvement in your proposal acceptance rates, but improvement in the fees you can charge for your work.   2009-04-14T02:45:51Z

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eight-proposal-writing-death-traps-consultants-fall-into-and-often-get-stuck-there-forever

2009-04-15T17:18:03Z

2009-04-15T17:18:12Z

Most consultants labour days on end to write proposals often to buyers who have merely expressed interest but have never made commitments to hire consultants.

Eight Proposal Writing Death Traps Consultants Fall Into And Often Get Stuck There Forever

2009-04-15T17:18:13Z