Business Correspondance: Proposal Writing

Proposal Writing

    Introduction

A proposal is an essential marketing document that helps cultivate an initial professional relationship between an organization and a donor over a project to be implemented. A proposal is a persuasive offer to complete a task, submitted either voluntarily or in response to a request or an advertisement. Basically, it is like a report. It all depends upon the kind of the proposal and the amount of money likely to be spent. Unlike a report, a proposal may be sent to an expert or a review committee for evaluation and recommendation concerning the benefits of the proposed services, products etc.

A proposal is an offer by one party to provide a product or service to another party in exchange for money. It is usually a sales presentation seeking to persuade the reader to accept the written plan for accomplishing a task.

Proposal in general, aim to solve a problem, alter a procedure, find answer to questions, offer advice and training, or conduct research on a topic of interest to both parties. Given below are a few examples to illustrate the diverse purposes of proposals:

• To construct packing slots, buildings, bridges, highway
• To sell property, such as buildings, machines, airplanes
• To survey areas for possible water sources
• To plan and construct airport baggage conveyor systems
• To modernize the office procedures of a company
• To train international managers for work in foreign countries
• To improve engineering performance with a company

   Types of proposals

The two basic types of proposals are sales proposals and research proposals. Both these types may be either solicited or unsolicited.

  1)   Sales proposals – sales proposals are known as business proposals. They are sent outside the company to potential clients or customers. Sales proposals rarely duplicate one another in either structure or style. In fact, they often take quite different and creative direction like successful advertisement.

  2)   Research proposals – research proposals are usually academic in nature and mostly solicited. Professors, or the institutions for which they work, may submit a proposal to obtain a grant in response to a request or announcement from the government or other agency. A research proposal may even appear in a foreign language. For example, a research proposal submitted by an academic institution in India to a multinational company in Germany may be in German. Whatever the research project, the basic content does not vary.

An organization often knows in advance those individual and corporations that are qualified to bid on a job or help to solve problem. Hence, request may come via mail, or in the case of government, via newspapers.

• Solicited proposals – while preparing a solicited proposal, the company should remember that, in all likelihood, it would have many competitors bidding for the contract. To be successful at acquiring the contract, the company will not have to present excellent reasons to the solicitor to follow its recommendations but will also have to try to overcome the resistance from its competitors, i.e., the company’s proposal should have stronger and more powerful arguments than those of the others. So, it has to meticulously follow the proposal requirements of the solicitor regarding the problem, the required solution, specific work to be done or equipment to be installed etc.
• Unsolicited proposals – when a company prepares an unsolicited proposal, it needs to convince the reader that it understands the receiver’s problem and that it is qualified to solve the problem successfully.

   Parts of Proposals

  1)   Cover letter – it identifies the applicant to the fellowship submitting the project proposal. It identifies what person is sending them and what person is requesting them. It is signed by the applicant for the fellowship.

  2)   Proposal summary – it is less than one page. It describe the problems you propose to solve/ the issue that you want to address, how you plan to solve it, and how much it will cost.

  3)   Introduction – it describes you, your educational and/ or professional background relevant to the project, your language abilities, and shows your involvement and understanding of water resources management issues in your region/country/locality. It describes your expertise in the field and your ability to design and deliver the proposed project, companies/organizations other programs, activities, and accomplishments. It states why you are interested in the subject are of the proposal. It also mentions the support or acclaim you have received from others.

  4)   Problem statement – it states exactly and specifically what the problem is. It identifies the underlying causes of the problem. It documents the problem and gives evidence for person’s explanation of it. It gives information about, how many people are affected and how much serious and widespread the problem is.

  5)   Target Population – it argues convincingly why the target group has been chosen. It identifies the target population and states how many of them will benefit from the proposed program.

  6)   Goal – it identifies what you want to accomplish. The goal flows logically from the causes of the problem.  Accomplishing the goal will reduce or eliminate the problem. It is realistic to try to achieve the goal.

  7)   Objectives – they lead to the reduction of the problem and achievement of the goal. They are specific. They are measurable. It states by what date it will be accomplished.

  8)   Methods – it describes how you will accomplish each objective. It also states whom you will work with or who will help you, what their qualifications are, and what they will do. They identify the facilities, equipment, and materials needed to operate the program. It provides a time-line of the project development and implementation.

  9)   Evaluation – it describes the method you will use to evaluate (and monitor) the program. It tells the reader what you will be looking for in the evaluation. It describes what will be done with the results.

  10)Budget – the budget is an accurate reflection of the projected coasts and revenue involved in running your program. All the cost items are justified. It is easily readable. Preferably presented in a separate Excel document, with a line for each budget item.

  11)Future Funding – it describes how much financial support will be necessary to keep the program going once current funding expires. It identifies the likelihood of additional support, including other funders to which the proposal is being sent.

  12)Supporting material – letters of support, prior work in the area. Other supporting material is included (press articles etc)

   Drafting Business Proposal

Sample Proposal for Process Improvement Situation: Customer calls to our helpline are currently answered by an assistant who asks the customer if they are calling to report a new problem or to check the status of a previously reported issue. If the customer is calling about a previously reported issue, the assistant asks the customer for the Incident ID #. The assistant then places the customer on hold, calls a customer service representative, advises the representative of the reason for the call (new problem or Incident ID #), and transfers the caller. Proposed Solution: The role of the assistant who answers the call could easily be replaced by an automated system, which would allow the customer to press 1 for a new problem or 2 for a previously reported issue. If the customer pressed 2, they would be prompted to enter their Incident ID #. The caller would then be routed to a customer service representative, along with the Incident ID #, if applicable, which would be passed along via the phone system. Steps Involved: Purchase a new phone routing system that would allow these capabilities. Program and test the new routing system. Convert Incident ID #s from a combination of letters and numbers to numbers only. Communicate the new workflow to customer service representatives. Benefits: The new process would eliminate the need for assistants to answer customer calls, freeing them up for other tasks. Each assistant typically answers 30 calls per day. At an average of 42 seconds per call, this would give each assistant an additional 21 minutes per day. Customer service would be enhanced, as the first voice that would greet the customer would be that of the customer service representative who will ultimately assist them. Potential Obstacles: The cost of the new phone routing system (approximately $700 dollars). This cost would be miniscule compared with the savings over time associated with the additional capacity of the assistants. The time associated with programming and testing and developing the new ID system (48 total man-hours). Again, the time saved by implementing the new procedure would more than make up for this initial investment. Resistance of customers who do not prefer dealing with an automated system. No solution is going to please every customer, but most consumers today expect to be greeted with an automated system when calling a business. One option is to allow customers to press 0 if they’re unsure how to answer the automated questions. Customer service issues with early callers whose ID # still contains numbers and letters. The above solution concerning the 0 option would eliminate this problem as well.

Sample Proposal for Cost Savings Situation: Our current printers print on one side only. All prints generated for employee use or customer mailouts require a separate piece of paper for each page of the document. Proposed Solution: The addition of a duplex printer and a duplex printing policy would allow the company to save considerable money by printing on both sides where possible. Cost savings would result from using less paper, fewer paper clips and staples, and less postage on larger mailouts. Steps Involved: Purchase a printer with duplex printing capabilities. Show employees how to set printer options to print on both sides. Communicate the new policy requiring employees to use duplex printing wherever applicable. Benefits: Duplex printing would reduce the following costs: paper ($250/month), supplies ($25/month), and postage ($15/month). Duplex printing supports the company’s green initiatives to reduce waste. Potential Obstacles: The cost of the new printer ($1200). The new equipment would pay for itself within five months of use. The time associated with setting up employee workstations for duplex printing and communicating the new policy to employees (approximately 1 hour per employee). Additional months of use would offset the costs associated with this hour of lost productivity. The resistance of employees to change and follow the new procedures. While there will always be those resistant to change initially, this is not a difficult adjustment to make. However, management may need to visit the issue with employees who are regularly found not adhering to the new policy.

Sample Proposal for Safety Measure Situation: Outside claims adjusters who regularly inspect homes, including roofs, are trained in ladder safety and get daily hands-on experience handling and climbing ladders. In-office claims adjusters watch a ladder safety video when they are hired but receive little to no additional training thereafter. When catastrophes strike and in-office claims personnel are solicited to assist the outside claim representatives, they are inadvertently put in harm’s way due to their relative inexperience with proper ladder use. Proposed Solution: Since all claims personnel could potentially be asked to make site inspections, each new claims adjuster should receive hands-on ladder safety training upon being hired. If called upon to assist with a catastrophe situation, in-office adjusters should be given the option of a brief refresher in ladder safety prior to being deployed. Steps Involved: Design and implement a new hands-on training program on ladder safety. Purchase additional ladders for use in the training. All current in-office claims personnel attend the new training. Design and implement a refresher course to be conducted when catastrophes are declared. Conduct refresher courses for existing employees as needed. Benefits: The new process would decrease the likelihood of a claims adjuster being involved in a serious accident, eliminating potential worker’s compensation claims, health insurance premiums, poor employee morale, and employees’ time off work. The new training options would increase the likelihood of in-office adjusters being willing to volunteer their time when a catastrophe strikes by boosting their confidence in their ability to do so safely. Potential Obstacles: The time associated with designing and conducting the initial and subsequent courses (estimated 120 hours for the first year of implementation and 36 hours in subsequent years). The safety of our employees is of utmost important, so even the prevention of one injury is a priceless investment to the company. Additionally, the elimination of potential worker’s compensation and health insurance costs, as well as employee time off, would offset the time lost by the training. The cost of additional ladders for the training (approximately $320). This is a minor cost and would also be offset, as explained above. The time lost by employees undergoing the training (1 hour per employee plus 30-minute refresher, if applicable). This investment is miniscule when considering the value of the employees’ safety. Determining who would conduct the training in the event of a catastrophe. Since outside claims adjusters are quite busy when a disaster hits, one potential solution might be for an experienced in-office claims adjuster to conduct the refresher course.