First, Don’t get screened out on a technicality
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn in writing proposals is that the person who screens them might not know the first thing about the work you do.
I assumed that because the person who put together the request for proposal (RFP) clearly knew the business, the same person would be doing the screening. And that is often true… except that for bigger competitions, somebody from contracting often steps in to do a preliminary screening, handing the survivors over later to the actual client.
So when you write your proposal, you need to write it first for someone who knows pretty much nothing about coding or engineering or landscape design or whatever you do—but they know a lot about the technicalities of contracting.
Make it simple and clear. Don’t assume anything when you write your proposal.
And their job is to screen out anybody who doesn’t meet the basic requirements. If you forgot a section? You’re out. If you went over the page limit or the word count limit? You’re out. If you didn’t submit on 8.5 x 11? You’re out. Whatever irritating hoop they say you need to jump through? The ones that have absolutely nothing to do with excellence in the work itself? Yeah those things. You could get booted from the competition for screwing those up. And let me tell you, it happens. Pretty much every experienced consultant I know has a story of a kick-ass proposal that got screened out on a technicality. It’s heartbreaking.
So as you read through the RFP, use that e-highlighter function or make yourself a checklist as you go. (Some clients, god bless them, will add a checklist at the end of the RFP: “Have you met all these requirements?” That’s one indication that they might be nice to work with.)
Mirror their section numbers when you write your proposal
Here’s a way to make sure you stay on track with their requirements: if their criteria are listed under a particular numbering system, make sure your proposal uses exactly the same numbering system in exactly the same way.
If they say, “1.2 Bidder Portfolio” or “2.7 Proponent CV” or whatever, make sure that your bid says “1.2 Bidder Portfolio” when you add that portfolio.
Keep it clear. Make it easy for them. Make it foolproof. Do not let yourself get screened out just because you missed something simple and trivial.
And remember, when you flesh out your proposal, don’t use jargon that a contracting specialist won’t understand. Don’t write a totally technical piece and think, “Well, a lay person wouldn’t get this but my client will. They’re an engineer/developer/designer just like me.” Nope, they’re not. Not in the first screening round, anyway. Make sure everything your produce is easy to read, and easy to correlate to a requirement in the original RFP. Make it dead simple and absolutely clear.
The three parts of a proposal
A request for proposals often requires you to chunk out your response—your proposal—into three sections.
- Cover letter and Technical
- Financial
- Certifications
You’re going to spend the most time and energy, by far, on the technical response. Technical (and I don’t know why it’s called that) includes all the real substance of your proposal.
The technical responses is where you put…
- Your resume and that of your team if you’re assembling one
- Your pertinent project experience
- Your actual methodology: how you’re proposing to deliver this project, step by step
- Your project timeline
Certifications
Your certifications section includes any signatures and documents that they’re asking for: you may need to certify that you’ve never been an employee, say, or that you have the appropriate professional designations, or that you’re not in conflict of interest, or that you have the insurance you need. The certification section looks fussy and legalistic but I usually find it’s not difficult and doesn’t take much time.
Financial Response
Lastly, your financial response is your estimate, the actual dollar figure you’re quoting to do the job, broken down into any line items that they are requesting. The financial and the technical response are generally kept separate because they are evaluated separately; it’s standard for the client to do a full evaluation of the technical while they are still blind to the price, and then they evaluate the price and factor that into their evaluation point system. Again, more about that later.