Table of contents for Powerful proposals : how to give your business the winning edge / David G. Pugh and Terry R. Bacon.

Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog.

Note: Contents data are machine generated based on pre-publication provided by the publisher. Contents may have variations from the printed book or be incomplete or contain other coding.


Counter
Contents
Acknowledgments	000	
Introduction		000
Chapter 1	The Power of the A+ Proposal	000
The Proposal: The Make or Break Move 	000
How to Put the "Power" into Your Proposals	000
	Be Compliant: Powerful Proposals Give Customers What They Request	000	
	Be Responsive: Powerful Proposals Address Customers' Needs, Key Issues, 
		Values, and Goals	000
What Proposals Reveal About You	000
Six Key Elements of High-Quality Proposals 	000
Evaluating Proposals: The Best and the Worst 	000
Challenges for Readers	000
Chapter 2	A Simple Notion: A Proposal Is a Sales Tool	000
The DNA of Proposals: How Organizations Buy Products and Services 
	Purpose
	Audience
	Organization
	Reader Intent
How Buying Decisions Are Made
	They Won't Buy, Unless You Sell 
Powerful Proposals: Simple, Clear, and Precise
Four Compelling Questions Every Proposal Must Answer
Question 1: Why Us?
Question 2: Why Not Them?
Question 3: So What?
Question 4: How So?
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 3	Getting Your Message Across: Technical Proposals for Every Reader
The Competitive Advantage: Reader-Friendly Proposals That Sell
	Compete by Communicating
	Know Your Audience
	Overcome Differences
Designing the Proposal
	Two Messages, One Proposal
	Double Exposure Techniques
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 4	Sell the Benefits: Customer-Oriented Proposals
Why Steak Without Sizzle Is Not Enough 
Customer-Oriented Proposals
Who Are the Buyers?
What Buyers Look For
	The "Me" Proposal
	Reading the Customer's Mind: The "You" Proposal
Five Essential Components of a Customer-Focused Proposal	
	Uncover and Respond to the Customer's Underlying Need		
	Address All of the Requirements and Requests
	Mirror the RFP
	Emphasize Benefits, Especially Intangible Ones
	Develop an Effective Proposal Strategy
	
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 5	What It Takes to Win: Credibility, Acceptability and Preference
Establishing Credibility
The Right Experience
The Right Solution
The Right Technology
The Right Team
Establishing Acceptability
Negotiable Terms 
Competitive Price
Conducive Political Environment
Creating Preference
The Right Relationships
A Compelling Story 
Winning Behaviors 
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 6	Winning Executive Summaries: Your Most Powerful Selling Tool
The State of the Art: High-Tech Summaries
A Powerful Executive Summary: Focus on the Benefits 
Preparing to Create an Executive Summary
	Develop Your Win Strategy
	Build a Compelling Story Line		
	The GIFBP Matrix
How to Design an Executive Summary with Impact
	Brochure Format: Your Best Sales Tool	
	Issues-Driven Executive Summary 
Ad-Style Executive Summary 
Four-Page Executive Summary 
Product-Emulation Executive Summary 
Customer-Empathy Executive Summary 
Living Executive Summary: An Evolving Sales Tool 
	The Five Steps
	Executive Summary Quality Check
Chapter 7: Timing Is Everything: Positioning to Win	
How to Position Your Company to Be a Key Player
Begin Early: Build Relationships, Develop Influence, and Win the Customer
Creating a Company-Wide "Can-Do" Attitude
Challenges for Readers
	
Chapter 8: Proposal Management: The Art of Containing Chaos
Frontloading the Effort: Plan and Design 
Freezing the Offer
Planning for and Conducting a Superior Kickoff Meeting
	Solidify the Team
	Lay the Foundation: Proposal Planning
	Establish Credibility: The Process
	A Failed Kick-Off: Danger Ahead
Revising for Quality: The Final Touches 
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 9	Getting It Written, Getting It Right: Guide to Creating Compelling 
Proposals
The Seven-Step Section Development Process	
	Step 1: Determine the Content
	Step 2: Organize the Content
Step 3: Develop the Themes
Step 4. Develop the Visuals
Step 5: Develop the Proofs
Step 6: Create a Mock-Up
Step 7: Draft the Section
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 10	The Red Team Review Process: Making Sure the Power Is in the Proposal 
The Role of Reviews in the Proposal Process
Themes and Visuals: The Contributions of the Pink Team 
Pink Team Objectives
Pink Team Process
Applying the Pink Team Review to the Final Draft
Does It Have What It Takes: The Red Team Review
Who Is Needed: Selecting Team Members
Red Team Objectives
Red Team Process
Long-Term Benefits
Challenges for Readers
Chapter 11	Learning Forward: Win or Lose Protocols for Continuous Improvement
Administering the Protocols 
	Customer Interview	
	Internal Review
	Lessons Learned
	Improvement/Implementation Plan
Challenges for Readers
Appendix A	The Ultimate Weapon: Maximize Proposal Effectiveness
		with Techies Who Can Sell	000
Appendix B	Models of Issue-Driven and Ad-Style Executive Summaries		000
Index			000
About the Authors
	000

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:

Proposal writing in business.
Business writing.