Here’s a test it consists of two questions: Question #1: How long would it take your firm to approve a $30,000 purchase of new monitors for your sales and marketing administrative staff? A day? A month? More than one month? And how much analysis would have to be done? Question #2: How long does it

What would an evaluator say when she first reads your proposal? If she is looking for reasons to disqualify you, will she find them? Does your proposal contain ammunition for those on the Evaluation Committee who don’t want you to win? What would an evaluator say when she first reads your proposal? If she is

I’ve said time and again in these pages how important it is to give the client what he wants. But to do that, you have to know what that is. And how do you find out what your clients want? Well, you talk to them, and you listen. This is such a simple, fundamental task,

I recently posted an article on the four different “types” of readers in any give proposal evaluation scenario. Last time out, I talked about the “Economic” buyer. This time I’ll focus on a second category—the “User” buyer. User buyers are the ones who will ultimately use whatever it is you offer. If they have a

Most proposals are evaluated by more than one person. Even in the case of letter proposals you write for a customer who has asked you informally for a quick scope of work, a timeline and a cost estimate, the final decision to hire your firm will likely be left to someone at a higher level

Economic buyers are the “money” people in the client’s organization. They control the budget and have veto power over any decision requiring spending. They will take a hard look at the return on their investment and they want to make sure they get the best deal for the organization. Who they are and what they