The fastest way to lose a proposal

There are a lot of ways to impress owners when submitting your proposal. Here are some tips on what not to do.

Knowing the wrong strategies is as important as knowing the right ones to win more work.

I often use boilerplates and go-bys when putting together proposals because they can speed up the process and make our writing time faster and more efficient.

The number one mistake I see people make is using boilerplate text and go-bys without tailoring them to the specific proposal.

You want to make your owner feel special. Even when you have a few proposals in the works, you must make each owner feel like they’re the only one you’re focused on.

I find that the best way to personalize the content is to use the same language as the owner uses. If they use certain titles or ask for specific experience, mimic those descriptions and words to a T.

And to know if you’re doing it right, do the “twin test.” If your document reads like it’s the twin of another document you’ve submitted, you haven’t personalized it enough. Go back through and make it more unique to the proposal.