Business Issues: The Last Sales Pitch By Tom Basile GovBusDev.com The last sales pitch you make is your most important. It is when you have to close the deal, and we all know that there is nothing more valuable than a good closer. In the world of competitive government bidding, however, the traditional close does not exist. It takes a new form called “proposal.” That’s right; your final sales pitch is the proposal. The problem is, most organizations do not think of it this way. But the winners do. Too many companies still see the proposal effort as having two primary components: •a compliant response that answers all requirements of the RFP; and •price. Price is still a significant factor, regardless of what the evaluation criteria say, but in the era of “best value” you do not have to be the low bidder to win. If you are within a reasonable price range other factors are going to be what distinguishes the winner from the losers. So is it the technical quality of your proposal that will win? Unfortunately statistics show that a large percentage of proposals, often more than half, are considered by the government to be “technically acceptable.” And most professional proposal shops claim that 95% of their proposals pass the mark (which we are not sure is true, but we will accept that the number is high.) If large numbers of proposals pass the technical cut, and there are multiple proposals that are within the reasonable range on price, then what determines the winner? The answer is ‘proposal composition.’ Yes, you need to have the right answer—but ultimately it is not what you say, it is how you present it that will make you a winner. What does it mean to present as a winner? What are the components of good proposal composition? They include: How well is it written—not how accurate is the technical content, or how sophisticated, but how easy is it to read and understand? How does it look to the reader—is it attractive, well organized and easy to navigate; does it catch the reader’s eye, hold their attention, and open up their imagination to what you are trying to communicate? Does it communicate your marketing message—does it carry your branding forward into the evaluation process, building on what makes you the most attractive and unique potential supplier? Does it connect to the customer’s message—does it focus on the most critical aspects of what the customer wants and connect the dots between those wants and your capabilities? From front cover to back, this is your final sales presentation. It is your last chance to close the deal, so stop thinking about it in terms of technical sophistication and Section L requirements and start thinking in terms of creative presentation and linguistic eloquence. For more information, visit the website at www.govbusdev.com.