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Title: Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win Customers, Clients, and Contracts by Tom Sant ISBN: 0-8144-5100-4 Publisher: AMACOM Pub. Date: 01 November, 1992 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.64 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A persuasive book on persuasive writing.
Comment: Tom Sant has put together one of the single best books on proposal writing. Whether you are responding to a bid request or just designing a basic proposal the book is filled with tips for getting the winning contract. Everything is covered here. There are examples of bad proposals and details of what is wrong with them, examples of how to make your proposal stand out from the others and even a primer on the basics of persuasion. It is well organized and flows well from the beginning to the end of the process not only defining what should be done but why you are doing it. This knowledge gives you the ability to adapt to unusual situations instead of just using a boilerplate method for all your contracts. It even comes with a small but thorough checklist in the appendix to make sure that you have left no stone unturned in creating the proposal.
There is however, one point that I would like to have seen added to the book. At the last of the book he emphasizes the importance of editing your proposal. When you are done then read it again as a whole to see that it contains continuity, check it for spelling errors, check it for grammar errors, etc. Read it from front to back two or three times to make sure that you catch everything so that you don't lose credibility with your audience. While I agree totally, on long proposals I also start from the back section and read the sections from back to front. Why? As you are rereading for editing your attention to detail tends to decrease and you become more careless after a certain point. Starting from the back sections gives you a chance to read those sections while still fresh. Does it work? Well let's take a look at his book itself. No errors jump out at me until page 178 where the word "about" is spelled "abut". Well if that is the only problem then he has still done well. Then I got to page 186 where he has an example of a badly worded item. After showing the better wording the book states "That's a little better, isn't it? A little easier to understand the first time through?" Obviously he meant to say that it is "easier to understand THAN the first time through". And then a third error on page 188 where he is discussing the importance of using "complement" and "compliment" correctly. But during the discourse he actually spells "complement" as "conplement". A perfect discourse that suddenly has three errors within ten pages.
This is still a fantastic book on the details of how to write a proposal, things to do, things to avoid, how to persuade, how to focus the proposal or contract, etc. It belongs on the shelf of anyone who writes proposals and contracts or any form of communication, which involves convincing other people to see your position. I even successfully used the information in the book to detail the current status and proposed direction of a mishandled project and was able to win the client back and keep the contract.
Rating: 5
Summary: A great reference of the why's and how's of proposals.
Comment: Tom Sant does a great job providing a practical tool for all of us, "proposal challenged" people! He explains why various parts of the proposal are necessary, why the order influences the recipient, and gives lots of examples of good and bad elements. I found myself reading some of the bad examples without understanding why they were so bad. Then I would read the good example and be amazed at what an improvement it was!
If you have to write even just a one page memo requesting money, time, people, or any other resource, get this book! It has significantly improved my approach, I know it will positively impact yours as well.
Rating: 5
Summary: A legitimately great book
Comment: Rereading the reviews of this book, I was surprised by the one negative review of this book by Tony DaGiau. No surprise! Turns out that he runs some solo consulting company that competes head on with the Sant Corporation, Tom Sant's company! If Tony writes a book on dirty tricks, it'll be worth reading. Other than that, stick with Sant's book (and, if the book is any indication, Sant's company).
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Title: Handbook For Writing Proposals by L. Sue Baugh, Robert J. Hamper ISBN: 0844232742 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Trade Pub. Date: 11 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: STRATEGIC PROPOSALS: Closing the Big Deal by Robert F. Kantin ISBN: 0533126576 Publisher: Vantage Pr Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Sales Proposals Kit for Dummies by Bob Kantin ISBN: 0764553755 Publisher: For Dummies Pub. Date: 15 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
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Title: The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page by Patrick G. Riley ISBN: 0060988606 Publisher: ReganBooks Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Consultant's Guide to Proposal Writing : How to Satisfy Your Clients and Double Your Income by Herman Holtz ISBN: 0471249173 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: 25 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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