When it comes to proposals, organizations are fast evolving. They are seeking proposal consultants accompanied by better proposal practices. The procurement field is ultimately focusing on objectivity and transparency. This means a proposal with high quality makes all the difference.
However, while most organizations are taking their proposal writing to the next level, some are still missing the vital part; editing. The editing process helps you eliminate simple mistakes, plain persuasive, or confusing remarks. That is why you will need the ultimate editing guide to help you achieve an outstanding proposal that will get you the deal.
Responsiveness And Compliance
Getting an RFP and submitting one is not all about answering the questions and stating a quote. It is all about reading between the lines, understanding what the client wants, and then promising to provide it as best as possible. Once you get an RFP, go through it diligently with your proposal consultant. Ensure all questions are intensively answered. While doing that, you can turn on the ‘Track Changes” and make any changes as you continue. If the proposal has a compliance matrix, then the whole process becomes easy as you do not have to comply with one.
The Executive Summary
Once you are through with the compliance matrix, move to the executive summary, read all the segments, and then read the body text. Please pay close attention to the executive summary as most of the time, it is the only read part by all evaluators. Ensure it conveys a powerful and concise proposition, the benefits of your proposed solution, and the understanding of the prospect’s needs.
Key-Value Components
It is time to get to the remaining parts of the proposal. Look deeply at the theme statements, graphic captions, callouts, and section headings. These areas will get the evaluators going deep into your proposal, so you want to do a thorough job with them. Ensure each reinforces any of the three differentiators in the executive summary.
Organization And Flow
How does the body text look? Look deep into each portion and ensure an evaluator will find and understand the information easily. Ensure each section has a number, subheadings, and paragraphs in a proper sequence. Furthermore, the most important information should be at the beginning of each section, and all the information therein should be necessary.
Word Choice And Readability
Now that every sector of the proposal editing is in place and all the necessary information is within. What is the readability of your proposal? Start reading afresh while inserting revisions for clarity, emphasis, and writing style. Try being as simple as possible, and break up any long sentences and clauses. And finally, does the proposal comply with your organization’s in-house writing style?
Proofing And Formatting
It is clean-up time now, do a thorough grammar and spelling check. Once you finish and you are sure everything is right, do a final flip to ensure the formatting is right, and do away with any simple errors like age breaks. Then, do a final table of content updates and ensure all the key sections are visible.
Feedback
Now that everything is clear, it is time to get back to your proposal team or the writer and let them know how they did the work. Forward the edited draft to them and have them go through it. Let the writer know the intentions for the revisions and discuss with them what their intention was in the first place.
Proposal editing is tedious; it needs a keen, patient expert who understands what to do and when to do it. The process of editing may be long but is worth every second. The best way to handle the editing and still have time to do the corrections is to devise an in-house due date. This can be a few days or even a week before the actual presentation date. It gives enough time for editing and room to make all the necessary changes.
