Articulation could be the thing that makes all the difference when it comes to drawing up a winning business proposal. While business proposals are not meant to be hyperbolic because each has to be grounded with necessary references and justifications, the person that can excellently articulate what he or she will be bringing to the table may just be the one that will win it.
It is one thing to have technical competence and another to be able to articulate your expertise. The one-stop immediate solution for poor articulation is to hire a duly qualified person to draw up the business proposal. This is because articulation may not be something that can be mastered under an hour. However and as with issues like this, there are ways you can dramatically improve your articulation by following certain rules.
Excellent articulation in business proposals is not just about words but about presentation. It includes everything that is connected to communicating your service to the other party. Follow the steps below if you want to draw up a well articulated business proposal.
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borderlandswp.wordpress.com[/caption]Draw Up A Plan For Your Business Proposal
A business proposal plan gives you a template to follow. It is like laying out the key structures, which could be called sub-titles and then filling it up with words and visual devices like graphs and charts where applicable as you build your business proposal. Before setting out to draw up the plan, you will need to do a few things, which will include:
I. Find out what they want. This is basic and it is your starting point. You must know what they want before you can know what and how you will deliver it. Knowing what they want gives you the chance to know how to build your proposal around providing that service.
II. Know what you can provide. This goes beyond just knowing your ability to the point of being able to package your service in such a way that it would give them a compelling reason to go with your proposal. Knowing what you can provide helps in developing a proposal that will outline how you will have it delivered or the various ways you can provide that service.
III. Note the multiple options available in both the service you will provide and the charge for each. You will be including this in your business proposal. Good articulation demands you first list it out and know the segment/section you will be placing them just as with the rest.
IV. Determine the references you are going to use. Planning ahead means you may have to contact them so that you only get to highlight previous projects that they can easily verify.
Establish The Structure Of The Business Plan
This has to do with the way you will be segmenting each aspect of your proposal and the items that will be included in each segment. A basic letter will always have a form of introduction, a body separated into paragraphs and a conclusion. Your business proposal is no different only that it might have more segments.
The structure of the business proposal also includes what you will put first i.e. the position each segment will hold. Remember that you must think with the client in mind. Consider the questions below:
What do they want?
What will be their ideal request?
What is their priority with regards to this service, price, delivery time, quality, qualification?
What can you add as a compelling extra service that will catch their attention?
The questions above will help you determine the most important segments of your business proposal. It could also help you determine what should be discarded or given the least attention. For instance, if price take priority, drawing up a business proposal that has multiple price options will serve to hold their interest. They may come to believe that they can negotiate with you on one or more options to meet with their goals. This means you already have one foot in and could be just what you need to clinch the deal.
Follow the Plan
Once you have known what should come first and what should be emphasized, you can go on to articulate your business proposal. You would have gathered the necessary tools that you will include to push your point that you are the right person for the job.
You will also get to know where employing visual aids like charts will serve to keep them focused rather than distract them. Another thing about distraction is that a badly planned and articulated business plan could lead you to include things that will lead them away from your objective, which is to clinch the deal. While you try to be as explanatory as possible, do not include so much that it will become a labor to go through it. Emphasize on the area they are most interested in and bring accompanying documents in other areas when they call you up.
They have already bought into your proposal and want to iron out other issues but this is the time to come with other areas you did not include in your business proposal because they might just want to know a little bit more about it. Excellent articulation is all about simplicity and meeting the objective.
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