PROPOSAL AND ITS TYPES

Today most companies manage their proposals by bringing in experienced people who are "supposed to know" what a quality proposal is. This is inevitably a hit or miss proposition. An experienced guess is still just a guess.

It is far better to look at the factors that determine whether or not you will win --- evaluation score, price, offering, presentation, etc. --- then validate that you have made the best decision or response you are capable of making for each factor. If you use them to develop specific criteria that define what a quality proposal is, then instead of a seat of the pants approach to determining whether your proposal is "good enough," you can ensure that each aspect of the proposal intentionally reflects the right decisions.

Defining "proposal quality" is easy: A quality proposal is one that implements all of the things you have decided are needed to persuade the customer to select you.

The difficult part is defining your goals. What does a proposal need to do to win? Start by making a list. It might look like this:

Ø      Will it score well against the evaluation criteria?

Ø      Is the outline/organization correct?

Ø      Is it compliant with all RFP requirements?

Ø      Does it reflect your win strategies?

Ø      Are the proposed approaches cost-effective?

Ø      Do the proposed approaches offer compelling benefits and value to the customer?

Ø      Do they reflect the best trade-off between price and other factors?

Ø      Does the pricing reflect the best trade-off between competitiveness and revenue/profit goals?

Ø      Does it reflect your full awareness of the customer?

Ø      Does it demonstrate the relevance of your previous experience at every opportunity?

Ø      Are the reasons why the customer should select you clear?

Ø      Does it discriminate you from the competition?

Ø      Does it have any typographical errors?

Ø      Is the pricing data compliant, accurate, and properly structured?

Ø      Does the pricing account for all costs, direct and indirect?

Ø      Are all assumptions documented?

Every one of these attributes can be validated. In fact, each one must be validated for you to know that you have a quality proposal. This is why we advocate scrapping the Color Team model of proposal reviews, and instead using the Proposal Quality Validation method.

Some of the items above have predecessors or components that can be separately validated. When you arrange them in a sequence, you begin to form a process. Only it's a process designed from the beginning to validate that the proposal reflects how you define proposal quality. It enables you to intentionally manage your proposal by enabling you to measure the results of your proposal efforts against specific quality criteria.

The result is a proposal that is exactly what you want it to be. Whether it wins or loses will always be up to the customer. But you stand a better chance of winning when you have intentionally made and validated decisions than when you accept the "best efforts" of people who are "supposed to know."

There are different types of proposals
The Top 5 Proposal Types that people seek help with online are:

1. Grant Proposals - For funding proposals to all levels of government.
Grant Writing Proposal Kit

2. Business Proposals - For all types of business proposals.
Business Proposal Kit

3. Technical Proposals - Research, academic, business and government.
Professional Proposal Kit

4. Project Proposals - For all types of projects - all sectors.
Project Proposal Kit

5. Sales Proposals - For all types of products and services.
Sales Proposal Kit

In addition to the above list of most popular proposal types, the following is a list of other proposal types that many people also need help writing:

• Construction proposals
• Training proposals
• Thesis proposals
• Book proposals
• Technical proposals
• Show proposals
• Building proposals
• Development proposals
• Network proposals
• Event proposals
• Idea proposals
• Exhibition proposals
• Design proposals
• Sponsorship proposals
• Museum proposals
• Show proposals

and more...

No doubt there are other types of proposals as well. These are just the ones that I noticed that people who were coming to my websites have been looking for information on.

 There are many different types of proposal requests created by organizations for a variety of purposes. Proposal requests are useful when attempting to negotiate the terms of providing a service or requesting resources for operational or project needs. A proposal request is most often used to secure a contract with another organization or to obtain funding for a specific purpose.

 The most common form of a proposal request is a solicited request, also known as a request for proposal, or RFP. This type of proposal request may be advertised in a local or industrial publication by an entity to directly request vendors to send in written proposals. This type of proposal request is often seen in the construction industry when building and design firms may request construction bids be submitted by a particular deadline.

Another form of proposal request is the unsolicited variety, in which the organization does not ask for bids to be placed. The unsolicited request for proposal may be a standing order in which other potential vendors or providers must always submit a request before any contractual agreement can be considered. Unsolicited requests for proposals are most often in the form of sales proposals or grant proposals that must be submitted before any action can commence.

In some cases, if the organization is seeking additional funding or agreements with another entity, such as a government agency or a supplier, repeat or renewal requests for proposal may be required periodically. This type of RFP ensures that the organization can continue to benefit from the resources provided by another for a certain period of time. The repeat or renewal request for proposal is a written record of transactions and agreements made between the organizations.

An additional form of RFP is the business proposal in which one company agrees to perform a specific service or provide a product to another for a certain price. Each company has a particular way of writing and executing a business proposal. Generally, the writing of the proposal is managed by the sales executive team or the administrative support team at the company then submitted in accordance with the other party’s demands.

When an organization opts to make a change to a request for proposal or contract, this is most often handled by writing and submitting a request for amendment to the contract. The proposal amendment lists the change to the contract in black and white so that both parties are in agreement for legal purposes. The amended contract including the proposal changes then replaces the existing contract.