Each year, entrepreneurs bid for billions of rands in contracts. Organisations have a team of evaluators who go through tons of proposals. What exactly are they looking for? Or which criteria do they use? Those are some of the questions many entrepreneurs ask themselves.
Most proposals don’t make it to the last stages for a variety of reasons. In this blog post, we tell you how to make your proposal stand out.
Great proposals have the following:
1. Are you eligible?
The very first thing proposal evaluators check is whether a proposal is compliant. If a company has provided a checklist, use it as a template for your proposal.
2. They are customer-focused
Most bad proposals focus more on the seller and what is being sold, not the buyer. This is where some proposal writers get it all wrong. You need to link everything to the customer journey. Also, offer solutions to customer’s problems.
3. They tell a compelling story
A great proposal should tell a compelling story from start to finish. It should offer an engaging matter, highlight a problem(s) and provide a solution. It answers the question: “why us” better than competitors.
4. They have a creative design
Presentation counts a lot if you want your proposal to stand out. Today you don’t need a graphic designer to design a page layout. You can use Canva or other similar programs to design your proposal.
5. They are easy to read
Last but not least, your proposal should be easy to test. If your proposal is not reader-friendly, evaluators are likely to discard it. You can avoid this by hiring a seasoned proposal writer to help you. Proposal writers use different techniques to make a proposal easy to read.
