How to Write Proposals - Doing the Up-Front Work Part 3 - Research

What information do you need? Where can you find it? Is it accessible? Is it necessary?

The research process began when you were asked to make a bid on a proposal? If there was a briefing you would have done preliminary research on the client and what they wanted to achieve. You'd have decided whether this project was something you wanted to do, or respectfully decline.

You've chosen to bid. Your team will need to sit down and discuss what research to do, who does it, and how much of the bid budget to allocate.

Discussion comes first. People have different backgrounds and skill sets. You open up the conversation and encourage everyone's participation. You want their input and ideas. Really listening to what individual team members have to say becomes very important and of extraordinary value. It generates and clarifies direction.

If time is short-and it usually is with proposals-prioritize which research is most important. If there's information you simply must have compared to what might be useful, weigh that first. Sometimes it's easy to get what you want. At other times it seems impossible-the people you need are on vacation, you can't access a particular web site, the information you want will be released in six months but you need it by week's end. Regardless of the situation, try to obtain what you need. Too often people go for what's easy to get, which may be useful, but not what you need.

My experience in getting information is that it usually depends on the client. How willing is the client to spend time with you? Or rather, how willing are client staff to help you? This can be tricky, depending on their availability, and whether assisting you interferes with their regular work. Or, whether they like you. I once ran into a situation where a client's marketing department had already decided which firm they wanted to win the proposal and it wasn't us. They weren't exactly forthcoming with their cooperation. The lesson here is do whatever you can to make things easy for the client and client staff.

Expert advice

You may require expert advice. Where do you go for that? Do you have to pay for it? Will that expert component be a part of your actual bid?

The danger of perfection

When do you say enough is enough? I've been in situations where we didn't have all the information we would have liked. There wasn't enough time to get it, or the information wasn't readily available, or it was going to cost too much. At some point you have to realize that you have as much information as you're going to get, and that's what you must work with. If you get the project, then you can check further with the client to see if you need further information to complete the job.

I enjoy doing research, finding out the information I need to submit a proposal consistent with what the client requires, and to exceed client expectations. Encouraging full team participation and doing the appropriate research helps give you more of the necessary up-front foundation for developing a successful proposal.

Neil Sawers develops books and e-books to help entrepreneurs, small business and students write more easily and effectively. Visit us at http://www.howtowriteproposals.com and download our free chapters containing key tools to help you get your message across in the way you want.

Have you heard the latest on the Bhutto Assaniation in Pakistan?