Available as an in-house course
                                
 Course Overview

This course provides insight into key techniques that, if employed, will maximise the appeal of the proposals you write.

The course assumes that participants have some experience or involvement in proposal writing and want to make sure they are doing everything to maximise their chances of success.

The course is particularly designed for corporate finance advisors and commercial lawyers.

Significant elements of this course will take the form of a workshop, allowing participants to draw on the experiences of others, learn from each other and address issues specific to their own business and situation

Participants will be required to bring a scientific calculator and a laptop with USB port to the course.


By the end of the course participants will:
Understand the strengths and weaknesses in their own proposal writing style
Have a working knowledge of simple rules that will aid clarity in proposal writing
Have a knowledge of key tactics that will help them position
   themselves against the competition
Understand the broader selling process and how to optimise their
   position within it



 Course Content

Good and bad practice in proposal writing
Identifying your customer’s felt needs – what are the client’s “hot buttons”?
The value/ role of the proposal
Key sections in the proposal document – ticking the boxes
Selling yourself to your client – articulating benefits
Making your client the focus of your proposal – the discipline of starting with “you”
Selling your firm’s qualifications
A model example
What bad practice looks like

Good writing as a tool to communication
The essence of style
Remember grammar?
Tips to aid clarity
Eating, shooting and leaving
Examples where spell checkers will make you look foolish
  - real examples of atrocities committed by firms
  A few do’s and don’t’s

Workshop session
Analysis of real proposals
Discussion – what works – what doesn’t?
Examples of good practice – examples of bad

Context
Steps in the selling process
The role of the proposal
Where to put in most effort
Making the most of the process
The benefits of confusion and obfuscation
The roles different buyers adopt
How to find out what’s making you successful (or not!)
Key differences between the proposal and the contract or engagement letter

Fees
Fee setting strategies you can employ
Fees - real life examples from large firms
Your weasel words – optimising your approach
Things the customer will like, things they won’t like
Avoiding winning on price
Negotiating tactics to employ right from the start

Significant elements of this course take the form of a workshop. To facilitate this, attendees will be asked to provide in advance two examples of proposals they have seen or been involved with (one they would judge as an example of a good proposal, and one they feel could have been improved!).

To enable attendees to speak openly about their experiences, attendees will be required to sign confidentiality agreements prior to commencing the programme.