Always, always provide and communicate value
Recession, economic slowing, retarded growth — whatever! Doesn’t matter what you call it. When you see businesses closing their doors and people losing their houses, which is happening where I live, Houston, we’ve got a problem.
But I’ve noticed that some of the businesses that closed were not just victims of a poor economy. Quite frankly, they were already on the brink. One of the biggest reasons is that they did not provide value to their clients. Or, tragically, they were able to provide value, but for whatever reason they did not communicate their value propositions to potential clients.
In a down economy, people will be looking harder for cost-effective solutions to their problems and challenges. Businesses that can clearly demonstrate and communicate how they can provide these solutions will be in much better shape for riding out the economic storm.
Success in business is always about providing value — not matter what is going on in the economy. Always provide value, and always communicate how you do that!
To learn more, see Tom Sant’s blog post, Secrets to selling in a slow economy.
The top three elements of an effective proposal
I discovered Dr. Tom Sant and the Sant Corporation several years ago when I was heavily involved in proposal writing. Dr. Sant is a leader and innovator in the proposal writing field and the author of Persuasive Business Proposals. 
I highly recommend this book, as well as Sant’s amazing proposal generation software (ProposalMaster) that helps you create persuasive proposals. Working with Microsoft Word, the software guides you through a series of screens where you select relevant content to easily build your document.
Do you know the most important elements of an effective proposal? See if you can pick the top three from the following list:
- Accuracy of the content
- Addressing the customer’s needs and objectives
- Addressing the requirements of the RFP
- Case studies / success stories
- Clarity of the writing
- Completeness
- Compliance
- Conciseness
- Cost justification / ROI / Life cycle cost analysis
- Facilities section
- Graphics
- Management plan
- Pricing
- Prior experience
- Project plan
- References
- Resumes
- Technical innovation
- Technical plan
- Vendor’s history / capabilities / experience
According to Sant, the three that seem to matter the most are:
- Addressing the customer’s needs
- Addressing the requirements of the RFP
- Cost justification / ROI /Life cycle cost analysis
“People want to know that they’re getting what they need, that you’re going to deliver it in a way that conforms to their expectations and technical requirements and that will offer good business value. The other stuff? Background support. Substantiation. Sometimes a reason to eliminate a vendor. But ultimately not as important.” (from What Matters the Most in Winning, Sant’s Messages That Matter blog).
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