The Power of Proposal Templates
If your company wants to win a bid opportunity, your proposal in response to the RFP must be unique. You must address the customer’s issue or problems, and your offer must propose customer-centric solutions.
Using templates can make the proposal writing process much more efficient and cost-effective.
- A Proposal Template Addresses Common Key Elements
- Executive Summary – provides an outline for a typical Executive Summary and an example of a winning summary.
- Compliance Matrix – contains preparation instructions for the proposal (including RFP deconstruction procedures and a sample format).
- Technical Approach - provides a hierarchical task/subtask outline that the user customizes based on the statement of work from the RFP.
- Management Plan – the template provides a detailed textual outline of the Management Plan.
- Corporate Experience – contains standard introductory text and corporate experience summary formats which the user then tailors to meet the specifications of the RFP.
- Personnel - provides standard introductory text and resume formats which the user then modifies to meet the requirements of the RFP.
- Business Proposal – contains a detailed outline and spreadsheet formats.
- A Proposal Templates Provides Structure and Improves Proposal Responsiveness
To write a winning proposal, you must have a structure in place. Without it, you will not prevail.
Proposal templates provide a common structure and save significant corporate dollars because your staff does not have to reinvent the wheel for each proposal.
- Templates Save Money
Writing and editing a single page of proposal text can take five hours or more, which can add up significantly in terms of time and cost. On average, company management may estimate that it takes about an hour per page, but proposal managers often suggest that this estimate is too low. Based on a rough guide of five hours per page, a hundred-page proposal could require 500 hours of work and cost $50,000, assuming a professional writer bills at $150.00 per hour. However, using templates can lead to substantial savings, ranging from 30% to 60% off that estimate. The extent of savings depends on the type of proposal and the level of template refinement.
Criticisms of Templates
Some say that the use of templates makes a proposal bland and generic. This is true if the model text is not refined in such a manner as to make it appear that it was drafted precisely for the bid opportunity. It is, therefore, critical that time be spent on modifying the model text. Templates begin as generic content and become responsive if the proposal writers pay attention to detail. You cannot tailor too much.
Templates are Not a Magic Solution
A template cannot contain customer-specific content and should not be construed as a mechanism to write your entire proposal. Actual content must be written to turn the templates into one responsive proposal. The template provides structure and standard or model text as a starting point. This text must be modified to demonstrate that your business understands the customer’s needs and to provide your solution to the customer’s problem.
General and Specific Templates
Templates can be general and specialized for a type of service or solution. A general template is a detailed, textual proposal outline that includes standard chapter introductions, transition text for sections, writing guidelines, standard text, and model text. Several specific templates can be used within a company if a company offers services in specific lines of business.
Fedmarket's Proposal Writing Templates $490 - The Proposal Writing Template puts you in control of the entire process, and in control of your proposal writing team. The interface assists you in delegating sections of the proposal to co-writers, and helps your team pull together a coordinated effort without hassle.
We also develop business line-specific templates for individual companies.
Call (301) 960-5817 for more information on proposal templates or a quote on your selected RFP.
