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How to craft a winning proposal

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Sports managers will often be in a situation where they have to write a business proposal to a potential sponsor or another kind of prospective client. Although good proposals seldom win deals directly and always will have to be followed up by a face-to-face meeting, bad proposals can definitely lose these potential deals and thus lose the opportunity for having the crucial face-to-face meeting. Every offering is different and needs to be presented in a different way, but this handful of hints inspired by the latest book by Tom Sant, "Persuasive business proposals - writing to win more customers, clients and contracts", might be helpful to you next time you are going to write a proposal to a prospect.

Hint no.1: Be persuasive

The easy way is of course just to "clone" old proposals by changing name and updating basic information, but we all know that prospects are not interested in bulk or irrelevant detail and they don't want to have to work hard to understand what you can offer them. So tell them directly that you have a solution that can provide value. Don't explain too much, make your proposal persuasive instead.

Hint no.2: Focus on the gap to be closed

The best was to demonstrate that you understand the prospect's needs and problems is to include in your proposal a clearly formulated summary of your offering by focusing on the gap to be closed between the prospect's actual situation and the situation the prospect will experience if he/she agrees to your proposal.

Hint no.3: Focus on the results they want to achieve

Although it might seem more intuitive to state the problem and then offer the solution, you must remember that your goal is to motivate and that the problem might not be motivation enough. Many of the prospect's problems will never be solved anyway (because it is not worth the effort) so you must convince him/her that the problem that you can help to solve is the one that is worth addressing.

Hint no.4: Recommend a solution

Many proposals simply describe their products or services without linking them to the prospect's specific needs. Don't be passive when you recommend a solution but instead use clear language to get your points across in a strong, positive way ("we urge you", "we recommend"). The prospect must be convinced that the benefits derived from your proposal will be large.

Hint no.5: Keep it simple

The prospect is not as familiar with your work and offerings as you are. Don't confuse or distract with too much technical detail and/or jargon. Make your proposal as short, sharp and as clear as possible. Use illustrations and avoid acronyms whenever you can. Always try to keep your sentences short, with a maximum of 20 words per sentence. The simpler and the more readable, the better the proposal - the better the proposal, the better are your chances of turning the prospect into a client.

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