How can you write proposals and technical documentation that highlight your solutions?

Discovery. Discovery. Discovery. Great Discovery is when the prospect and vendor feel confident in their shared knowledge about the prospect's current state, current problem, and desired future state. When enough discovery has been done, the vendor knows whether or not they can recommend a solution that will be well received, and the prospect trusts the vendor's recommendation based on the discovery work the vendor did. How you write, create, or show a proposal will take care of itself if you've done the discovery work to know what to propose and earn the prospect's trust to make a proposal.

Meet with your customers as often as you can, even when you're not chasing a specific opportunity. Get to know what keeps them up and night and use that information to build your solutions. Then, when a specific opportunity does arrive, you're already in the know and ahead of the competition with a solution that meets the customer's unspoken needs. Also, leverage your on-the-ground staff. Think about who is directly supporting your customers right now (or maybe they did in the past?). Meet with them and mine them for information to gather details on what are your customer's pain points and what other companies your customers bring up.

Know their competition through diligent research. Keep digging and you will find their strengths and weaknesses- make a chart, draft a graph, and summarize.

The more precise you are, the less confusion your customer will have. It also shows that you know what you're talking about! So this subconsciously minimizes risk for the customer more than a list or table of risks and their mitigations (although these are good too if they're applicable). Provide steps, graphics, and clear, concise language to demonstrate your understanding of the customer's need as well as how your offering will solve their need. Include who is going to do the work you're describing, what tools they will use, and in what timeframe they will do it. The more precise you are, the higher your customer's confidence and the lower the risk rating you'll receive.

View the scope in the RFP as a starting point. This is what the customer believes needs to be done. As the expert, what else should they consider? Think of when you bring your car in for service. After fixing the problem you brought the car in for the mechanic will also recommend work that needs to be done in the future. They will also give you a timeline - tires right now - filters soon. Are there issues the customer needs to consider now and what are the ones down the road?

Not everyone reviewing your proposal will have the same level of technical understanding. Nor will they have the same level of familiarity with your company. Be clear and simple in your language, and make it an even playing field so anyone who picks up your proposal (like picking up a magazine) will understand what problem you're solving, why that's important to them, and how you have done it better than the competition (with metrics!).

It cannot be overstated how important reviews are in any documentation (here's hoping none of my posts today have typos!). Peer reviews are critical, not just for copy editing, but also to make sure your messaging is correct and relevant. A compliance review is even more critical if you're responding to a government client (or any customer with an RFP). They've given you the instructions, how they'll evaluate you, and the scope of work they want you to perform. It is important you address the instructions and evaluation criteria first (compliance) as well as their scope of work (responsiveness). Missing either could result in a disqualification or a low rating. Include a special review in your process just for compliance.

Proofreading also includes research and fact checking. Put yourself in the place of the user. If your guide or document says clicking on a link will bring you to the next step does it. When I write any technical document my final step is to go through as a user to ensure all the updates and revisions have been made and are reflected in the final product.

Best practices give you a map. They make it simpler when things get busy or difficult. It's also helpful for onboarding new employees. However, do not implement or follow process just for the sake of process. With proposals, it's important to remember each one is unique and requires flexibility. Keep your best practices as guidelines, AND trust your instincts (your proposal manager is your best instinct).