I promise my proposals within 24 hours in almost all cases. (Taking an international flight might prohibit this, but not always.) I can write it on the flight then e- mail it from my laptop or iPad on landing. Since I’d rarely schedule a flight like that the same day as a major meeting, it’s rarely ever been a problem, and it’s the kind of problem I love if I do have it!
Speed is of the essence. Too many bad things can happen the longer you wait to submit your proposal:
- A client priority radically shifts.
- Unexpected internal and external events intervene.
- The buyer becomes ill or is reassigned or has personal problems.
- A subordinate decides to resist because it’s threatening.
- Legal and finance and HR get wind of it, and stick their noses in.
- Across-the-board cuts are made.
You get the idea. Absence does not make the heart grow fonder; it makes people forget. You want to ride the wave of the positives you’ve created: trust, conceptual agreement, value, excitement. Consequently, you want to instantiate the discussions, ideas, concepts, agreements, and related matters in a formalized way as soon as you possibly can.
I’m suggesting that as soon as you possibly can is the next business day.
Since my proposal “architecture” is really a template, I suggest that you modify it within reason for your needs (e.g., you may want to include something about intellectual property if it worries you, but never include resumes for you and your staff), and then simply “plug in” the appropriate content in each of the nine areas.
Once you do that, you can read it through for flow and logic, and then finalize it. As I mentioned in the prior chapter, send two executed copies by FedEx to your buyer’s personal attention, and send an electronic copy only if requested.
Glossary
Instantiate: To convert intangibles into pragmatic, clear examples for action and next steps. Digression: Electronic Proposals I realize some people request and prefer these, and I’m no Luddite. I’m working as a coauthor right now on a book tentatively titled Web Dreams. Having said that, here are my reservations about electronically submitted proposals:
Digression: Electronic Proposals
I realize some people request and prefer these, and I’m no Luddite. I’m working as a coauthor right now on a book tentatively titled Web Dreams. Having said that, here are my reservations about electronically submitted proposals:
- The formatting is easily scrambled, and small errors can make major differences, as with decimal points, months, and so on.
- They are unsecure, and a secretary or assistant may regularly intercept e-mail (they are less likely to open a personal FedEx), and they may talk to friends in legal or HR.
- E-mail with attachments is often blocked or redirected for security reasons.
- It’s far too easy to include someone else’s e-mail by accident, either at your end or the client’s end.
- You lose the richness of your letterhead, presentation folder, and so forth.
For those reasons, I’ll send hard copy no matter what. I’m not using FedEx as a generic here, either. I use Federal Express because it has by far the best service, highest reliability, and easiest tracking. (I remember the DHL guy who would appear in a little van, smoking a cigarette to deliver to me. I don’t want his cousin delivering to my clients.)
The proper sequence then, looks something like this:
1. Conclude your conceptual agreement meeting in person with a summary and definitive next steps (see the final segment in this chapter).
2. Write the proposal immediately—if you’re back in the office that day, fine, otherwise write it in your travels. Consider allowing time to write it in the city you’re visiting before taking the first flight home. Treat yourself to a good meal and celebrate.
3. Review it for accuracy (it helps to have someone else read it for typos) and send it via FedEx. Track the progress. E-mail the client that it’s en route, and include the client’s e-mail address in the FedEx options for notification for “sent,” “exceptions,”¹ and “received.” This way, if the buyer should tell you later that it wasn’t received, you can specify exactly who signed for it and when. (This has happened to me because internal mail operations don’t necessarily assign the best and the brightest there.)
4. Contact the client as established in the next two days.
Three golden rules:
1. Write the proposal rapidly and completely at your first opportunity.
2. Get it to the client by the fastest means, which may include FedEx and electronics.
3. Enable the client and yourself to follow up on its progress. Before we move on, consider this: The speed and responsiveness demonstrated by your proposal submission is a clear and vivid indication of the speed and responsiveness the client can expect of you during the ensuing project. That is no small matter, no small example to set, and is seldom unnoticed. If you can provide a substantial proposal succinctly and rapidly, the chances are you can fulfill your project obligations in the same manner.
The proposal is the curtain being raised on the project. It’s an opportunity for the “audience” to understand what’s to follow, and become engaged and absorbed early. In the theater, they often talk about “the front of the house,” so that people have a positive experience arriving and the curtain can go up on time.
This is your “front of the house.” The important thing is for you to arrive on time! Get the place cleaned up, usher your buyer into the right seat, adjust the lighting, create the right mood, and sell the popcorn!