Persuasion and Proposals
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A proposal is an argument. You must convince readers that the future benefits will outweigh the immediate and projected costs. Basically, you must persuade your readers of three things:
that you understand their needs
that you have already determined what you plan to do and that you are able to do it
that you are a professional and are committed to fulfilling your promises
For more about analyzing your audience, see Ch. 4.
UNDERSTANDING READERS’ NEEDS
The most crucial element of the proposal is the definition of the problem or opportunity to which the proposed project responds. Although this point seems obvious, people who evaluate proposals agree that the most common weakness they see is an inadequate or inaccurate understanding of the problem or opportunity.
Readers’ Needs in an Internal Proposal Writing an internal proposal is both simpler and more complicated than writing an external one. It is simpler because you have greater access to internal readers than you do to external readers and you can get information more easily. However, it is more complicated because you might find it hard to understand the situation in your organization. Some colleagues will not tell you that your proposal is a long shot or that your ideas might threaten someone in the organization. Before you write an internal proposal, discuss your ideas with as many potential readers as you can to learn what those in the organization really think of them.
Readers’ Needs in an External Proposal When you receive an RFP, study it thoroughly. If you don’t understand something in it, contact the organization. They will be happy to clarify it: a proposal based on misunderstood needs wastes everyone’s time.
When you write an unsolicited proposal, analyze your audience carefully. How can you define the problem or opportunity so that readers will understand it? Keep in mind readers’ needs and, if possible, their backgrounds. Concentrate on how the problem has decreased productivity or quality or how your ideas would create new opportunities. When you submit an unsolicited proposal, your task in many cases is to convince readers that a need exists. Even if you have reached an understanding with some of your potential customer’s representatives, your proposal will still have to persuade other officials in the company. Most readers will reject a proposal as soon as they realize that it doesn’t address their needs.
When you are preparing a proposal to be submitted to an organization in another culture, keep in mind the following six suggestions (Newman, 2011):
Understand that what makes an argument persuasive can differ from one culture to another. Paying attention to the welfare of the company or the community might be more persuasive than offering a low bottom-line price. Representatives of an American company were surprised to learn that the Venezuelan readers of their proposal had selected a French company whose staff “had been making personal visits for years, bringing their families, and engaging in social activities long before there was any question of a contract” (Thrush, 2000).
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Budget enough time for translating. If your proposal has to be translated into another language, build in plenty of time. Translating long technical documents is a lengthy process because, even though some of the work can be done by computer software, the machine translation needs to be reviewed by native speakers of the target language.
Use simple graphics, with captions. To reduce the chances of misunderstanding, use a lot of simple graphics, such as pie charts and bar graphs. Include captions so that readers can understand the graphics easily, without having to look through the text to see what each graphic means.
Write short sentences, using common vocabulary. Short sentences are easier to understand than long sentences. Choose words that have few meanings. For example, use the word right as the opposite of left; use correct as the opposite of incorrect.
Use local conventions regarding punctuation, spelling, and mechanics. Be aware that these conventions differ from place to place, even in the English-speaking world.
Ask if the prospective customer will do a read-through. A read-through is the process of reading a draft of a proposal to look for any misunderstandings due to language or cultural differences. Why do prospective customers do this? Because it’s in everyone’s interest for the proposal to respond clearly to the customer’s needs.
For more about graphics, see Ch.8.
DESCRIBING WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO
Once you have shown that you understand what needs to be done and why, describe what you plan to do. Convince your readers that you can respond effectively to the situation you have just described. Discuss procedures and equipment you would use. If appropriate, justify your choices. For example, if you say you want to do ultrasonic testing on a structure, explain why, unless the reason is obvious.
Present a complete picture of what you would do from the first day of the project to the last. You need more than enthusiasm and good faith; you need a detailed plan showing that you have already started to do the work. Although no proposal can anticipate every question about what you plan to do, the more planning you have done before you submit the proposal, the greater the chances you will be able to do the work successfully if it is approved.
DEMONSTRATING YOUR PROFESSIONALISM
Once you have shown that you understand readers’ needs and can offer a well-conceived plan, demonstrate that you are the kind of person (or that yours is the kind of organization) that is committed to delivering what you promise. Convince readers that you have the pride, ingenuity, and perseverance to solve the problems that are likely to occur. In short, show that you are a professional.
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Demonstrating Your Professionalism in a Proposal
In your proposal, demonstrate your ability to carry out the project by providing four kinds of information:
Credentials and work history. Show that you know how to do this project because you have done similar ones. Who are the people in your organization with the qualifications to carry out the project? What equipment and facilities do you have that will enable you to do the work? What management structure will you use to coordinate the activities and keep the project running smoothly?
Work schedule. Sometimes called a task schedule, a work schedule is a graph or chart that shows when the various phases of the project will be carried out. The work schedule reveals more about your attitudes toward your work than about what you will be doing on any given day. A detailed work schedule shows that you have tried to foresee problems that might threaten the project.
Quality-control measures. Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your work. Quality-control procedures might consist of technical evaluations carried out periodically by the project staff, on-site evaluations by recognized authorities or by the prospective customer, or progress reports.
Budget. Most proposals conclude with a detailed budget, a statement of how much the project will cost. Including a budget is another way of showing that you have done your homework on a project.
ETHICS NOTE
WRITING HONEST PROPOSALS
When an organization approves a proposal, it needs to trust that the people who will carry out the project will do it professionally. Over the centuries, however, dishonest proposal writers have perfected a number of ways to trick prospective customers into thinking the project will go smoothly:
saying that certain qualified people will participate in the project, even though they will not
saying that the project will be finished by a certain date, even though it will not
saying that the deliverable will have certain characteristics, even though it will not
saying that the project will be completed under budget, even though it will not
Copying from another company’s proposal is another common dishonest tactic. Proposals are protected by copyright law. An employee may not copy from a proposal he or she wrote while working for a different company.
There are three reasons to be honest in writing a proposal:
to avoid serious legal trouble stemming from breach-of-contract suits
to avoid acquiring a bad reputation, thus ruining your business
to do the right thing