How to Write a Business Proposal in Response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) Or Quote (RFQ)

Here's the situation: a potential client asks you for a proposal for services or products in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ), but where do you start? If you have never written a business proposal before, this can be a daunting task. However, by using a logical document format, you can develop a quality proposal that will maximise the chances of it being accepted. Then you'll discover that you can repeat the same formula for any subsequent proposals. 

This article recommends and details the minimum content areas that you should address in a business proposal. In this case, we assume that there is no formal document structure requested by your client - so it is for you to decide on the form of the proposal. 

Your Aim

How to Write a Business Proposal in Response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) Or Quote (RFQ)

Before you start writing any proposal, you must consider your aim - to make a sale of your goods and or services. Two of the major issues considered by your client in deciding whether to accept your proposal are whether, in their opinion, you understand their business needs; and that you can deliver what you promise. You must continually refer to these two fundamental questions when you write your proposal. Referring back to these issues also helps you with developing the content of your proposal.

Proposal Contents

Any business proposal should contain the following areas:
Scope of Work - this requires you to provide an overview of your services or products that will meet their business needs. The client's needs are obtained from a Brief that may range from a formal written document through to a verbal conversation. You need to provide the client with the confidence that you understand their business needs and demonstrate how your products or services meet them. Project Approach - in this section, you need to provide some explanation about how you are going to approach the work. This builds more confidence for your client, as they read what you are doing (Scope of Work), along with evidence that you have actually thought about and planned the work. Past Experience - you should provide details of previous engagements in which you have delivered similar products or services. It is also helpful to include personal references, should the client wish to verify them. The purpose of this is to give the client some measure of how mature and experienced you are in delivering the services or products you are offering.  Project Team - you should always detail the specific people you intend to use during the engagement, along with their background, skills and experience. It is also useful to include a resumé or CV for each person. You should also mention who will be the main point of contact in your organisation for this project. Timeline and Milestones - this section should illustrate the tasks or products to be provided, each with a corresponding planned delivery date. For larger engagements, milestones can be used to serve as control checkpoints for the client or payment points for you (further discussed below). The timeline can be presented in tabular form, or if more complex, you can use a Gantt chart. Progress Reports and Meetings - to foster good communications and to maintain a healthy relationship with the client, you should suggest the forms and frequency of progress reports and meetings. Examples of this could include providing weekly email updates, formal written reports, or monthly face-to-face meetings. Resources and Materials Provided by the Client - if you need the client to provide you with any facilities or resources for your use or access, you need to state them here. Examples could be provision of a computer workstation or access to their computer systems whilst you are working on their site, or access to the client's key staff at certain points of the engagement. Assumptions - if there are any other assumptions that you have made in preparing your proposal, you should include them here. The point of this is to minimise any misunderstandings you may have with the client after they give you the approval to proceed with the engagement.  For example, you will not be happy if your client asks for a task that you assumed was outside the scope of the project, but never stated. Cost and Payment Schedule - the cost of your proposal can be expressed either in a lump sum or on a time and materials basis. You will need to provide visibility of your hourly rates if you are charging on a time and materials basis. If it is appropriate, or if the client desires, you can suggest to be paid according to certain project deliverables that are stated in the Timelines and Milestones section. In this case, you can align the relevant Milestones against appropriate payment amounts. If the engagement is on a time and materials basis, then you can align payments with deliverables or request that payments be made periodically such as fortnightly or monthly. Terms of Agreement - if you have any contract terms that you wish to apply to the agreement, they should be included here. These could include anything from ownership of IP through to payment terms. You can use the services of a lawyer to help you develop these terms if required.

The above areas are the recommended minimum contents of any business proposal in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Quote (RFQ). Used systematically, this can guide can help you to develop and refine the format of your proposals. It allows you to breakdown the task of proposal writing into relevant sections, allowing you to focus on the all-important technical content. 

When writing a proposal, always remember that you are trying to provide a prospective client with the confidence that you know your products and services, and are experienced in delivering them.  Writing your proposals using this format will help you to develop quality proposals and maximise the chances of them being accepted.

How to Write a Business Proposal in Response to a Request For Proposal (RFP) Or Quote (RFQ)
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Samantha Yee
Director
Tech Edit
http://www.techedit.com.au

Tech Edit is an Australian based company offering document editing and proofreading across a variety of areas including technical documents, business documents, academic documents and personal documents.

Five Guidelines For Ethical Business Communications

Do you understand what behaving ethically entails? According to Michael Josephson, there are four principles of ethical behavior: honesty, integrity, fairness, and concern for others. You can think of these four basic principles as the legs of an imaginary stool. One missing leg will create a wobbly stool, but two missing legs makes the stool collapse. If you aren't fair or caring, your pride in being honest and having integrity means nothing.

Ethical Behavior in Business

As of late, ethical business behavior has been a number one topic of concern. Reviewing the events of the last year, it would appear that the words "business" and "ethics" are conflicting terms. Whether you look to Wall Street, mortgage companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or private companies like AIG, never mind all of the mortgage companies being investigated for questionable business practices, the news is depressing. It appears that the 1980's mantra "greed is good" never truly went away.

Five Guidelines For Ethical Business Communications

The criminal dealings of top entrepreneurs have been uncovered, which should motivate other individuals to behave more ethically. In truth, however, it commonly acts as an excuse for not changing poor behavior. What harm can there be in using your company's PC computer for personal business when your manager uses the company's telephone for personal long distance calls? When employees see how company management conducts itself, they begin to feel no shame for whatever little indiscretions they may have committed themselves.

Managers can unintentionally be signaling that unethical behavior will be tolerated when they put pressure on a smaller, downsized staff to produce more. When employees feel forced to meet company goals by whatever means possible, ethical behavior may go by the wayside.

They get the message, "It's OK to be dishonest, as long as you meet your objectives." As the economy takes us on a roller coaster ride, we need to evaluate our own thought patterns to ensure that we don't allow ourselves to fall into unethical behavior just because it looks like we can easily get away with it. There is always room for improvement in your business communications.

These are five guidelines to assist you in communicating ethically (source: "Business Communication, Process & Product," Mary Ellen Guffy, 2000):

(1) Be truthful. Statements that are misleading or untrue should never be made. It is also not ethical to tell partial truths or to exaggerate.

(2) Be sure to label opinions as opinions. Do not attempt to convince anyone that something you merely believe to be true is already a proven fact. Do the work; research thoroughly and assure yourself that you aren't just representing another person's opinion as your own.

(3) Do not show bias. Understand that your own subjective beliefs may come through in your writing. Even if you are passionate in your opinions, ethics call for you to be dispassionate in your presentation.

(4) Your communications should be easy to understand. You should put down your thoughts clearly, so they are simple to comprehend. Make sure that what you write can be easily understood by the reader. Don't muddy the waters by using convoluted sentences and all sorts of hard-to-comprehend industry jargon.

(5) Credit your sources. Do not copy anyone's work. Most people have the basic knowledge that they must use quotation marks if they are using a direct quote from another writer. Yet there are a number of people who do not understand that they need to properly credit other people's ideas as well. You are still cheating if you paraphrase sentences and throw in a handful of new words without crediting the author.

Summation

Not only must you communicate ethically to be successful in the long run, but it is also morally correct. Be sure you conduct yourself in the way that you would want others to emulate. If you conduct your affairs ethically and are successful, other individuals will follow your lead.

Five Guidelines For Ethical Business Communications
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Michelle Howe, MBA, president of Internet Word Magic, specializes in writing irresistible copy for websites. Transform the way you do business. Visit her website at http://www.InternetWordMagic.com for a FR^EE chapter download of her new book "Turn Browsers into Buyers".