Laura Ricci - The Magic Of Winning Proposals: The Simple, Step-By-Step Approach To Writing Proposals That Win, Getting New Clients, and Implementing an Unbeatable Marketing Plan

THE MAGIC OF

WINNING

PROPOSALS

Help Everybody Everyday
200 Laydon Lane
West Chester, PA 19380

Copyright 2014 by Matthew Handal

All international rights reserved. No part of this book or electronic files may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission from the Publisher. Reproduction of up to 100 words for the purpose of published review is acceptable to the publisher with notice by mailing a copy of the published review to Matt Handal, 200 Laydon Lane, West Chester, PA 19380.

First Edition 1998 by R3 publishing.
Second Edition 2000 by R3 publishing.
Third Edition 2006 by R3 publishing.
Fourth Edition 2010 (electronic publication) by R3 publishing.
Fifth Edition 2014 by Matthew Handal.

LCCN 98-093370
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ricci, Laura
The Magic of Winning Proposals / Laura Ricci
p.151 cm
1. Marketing and Sales
2. Marketing Management
3. Management: Organizational Change
4. Management: Organizational Effectiveness
5. Sales Training and Education

ISBN 978-1-5027-9219-8

Edited by Matt Handal
Earlier editions edited by George Wilkerson

The high point in the story of Peter Pan comes when Tinkerbell is dying and Peter turns to the audience and asks those who believe in fairies to exclaim that belief because thats what keeps Tinkerbell alive. Unfortunately, there are those adults who believe that a winning proposal is also magical. All you have to do is believe, they say. Its like magic; some people have the touch, and some dont.

Well, the fact is that Winning Proposals isnt magic at all. But there is some fairy dust in every proposal that wins. The good news is that no one owns the fairy dust; anyone can use it to write a Winning Proposal. This manual uses some of that fairy dust, and if you use these tools, the next time you write a proposal, youre likely to have people believing that you have found the fairy dust, too.

Foreword

Prepare to have your mind blown.

My desk is littered with piles of business books. Even my Kindle account has its own virtual pile of books. Some of them were bought. Some were gifts. Others were sent to me in hopes I would provide an endorsement.

Each of these books has a common thread that ties them all together. They are all half read. For whatever reason, after a few chapters (or even a few pages), I decided my time was better spent doing something other than reading the rest of that book.

So, why have I read The Magic of Winning Proposals from cover to cover so many times? I want to share my perspective on that.

What if someone wrote a book that provided the exact strategies the Coca-Cola Company or the Walt Disney Company use to beat their competition? And what if, in addition to that, this book contained the systems and forms they use to create this advantage? These are multi-billion-dollar corporations that today seem almost unbeatable. If it were ever written, that book would instantly appear on the New York Times Best Seller List. People would kill for that information, right?

Now consider this. The book before you provides the exact strategies multi-billion-dollar consulting firms (among them at least two of the top ten engineering consulting firms in the world) use to beat their competition. In addition, this book contains the systems and forms they use to create this advantage. Yet, in the ten years since it was first written, youve never heard of it. You didnt even know it existed. And neither did I.

I stumbled upon this book like a clumsy sailor would stumble onto a hidden treasure chest. It was never published as a hard cover or paperback book. Rather, it was used as a training manual for some of the top consulting firms in the world. Towards the end of her career, in 2010, Laura Ricci quietly published her manual as a digital book.

If I had not stumbled upon Lauras website in 2011, I probably wouldnt have known this book existed. If I wasnt reading every book on the topic of proposals because I was writing my own, I might not have been willing or interested in reading it. And if I hadnt reached out to Laura, like you, I wouldnt have truly understood what I held in my hand.

There are other books out there about winning competitive procurements. But what makes The Magic of Winning Proposals so much more useful is it doesnt just explain how to write proposals. It holds your hand and takes you through an easy-to-read, step-by-step, process...providing the forms to fill out along the way. Its almost like she does the hard part for you.

I subtitled the book, The Simple, Step-By-Step Approach To Writing Proposals That Win, Getting New Clients, and Implementing an Unbeatable Marketing Plan because Lauras guide to writing proposals is sandwiched in a no-nonsense approach to marketing your service-based firm.

Once you read this book, youll understand why I have such reverence for it and why we are all so lucky that Laura allowed me to pursue a dream...getting this book in as many hands as possible.

MATT HANDAL

Author of Proposal Development Secrets

Contents

ONE

Now You See It; Now You Dont:
Why Your Marketing Might Not
Work And What To Do About It

Why Spend Money on Marketing?

Picture this: A man walks up to you on the street. Hes nicely dressed, clean-shaven, and well groomed. Excuse me, he says, I wonder if I might have a minute of your time to talk to you about how I can save you a great deal of money.

What do you do?

1Step around him and keep on walking.

2Say Excuse me, Im in a hurry, then step around him and keep on walking.

3Say to him Of course Im interested. Please tell me more.

Unless youre a very unusual sort of person, youll do 1. or 2. But why? Well, regardless of how hes dressed or how polite he acts,