We’re proposal writers creating long-term procurement strategies for AEC firms that land them big money contracts
Generalists are dying and specialists are thriving.
Being intentional about who your firm is, what jobs you’re going to pursue, and who you want to connect with are the key ingredients of a comprehensive business development strategy.
The Problem
You want to grow but competition is tight
Time
You’re an expert and your expertise is best deployed in your craft. You didn’t study persuasive writing, graphic design, or market positioning therefore, writing proposals isn’t the best use of your time.
Quality Projects
You want to get those money-making projects where the profit margins are high, headaches are low, and employees are engaged. The problem is, so does everyone else.
A Bigger Opportunity
If you were putting out an RFP for your cancer treatment, would you go with one of the 10 generalists submitting or would you go for the single oncologist?
Writing the proposal is just one aspect of the procurement process
Our high-growth clients have developed a thoughtful, long-term strategy that involves proposal writing, market positioning and differentiation, and relationship building.
And by the way, that oncologist can charge nearly twice as much and still win the job.
The Problem
Quality Projects
You want to get those money-making projects where the profit margins are high, headaches are low, and employees are engaged.
Time
You’re an expert and your expertise is best deployed in your craft. Writing proposals and developing long term marketing strategies is not the best use of your time.
“I spend hours on a proposal but I have no idea how well it stacks up to the competition”
It’s hard to know how much effort is required to draft that winning proposal. You want to put your best foot forward, but you have a million other things that are just as important.
Sinking all that time and effort, when you don’t know what the outcome is going to be, is a scary feeling. It brings up the haunting question, “Did I just waste a whole week on a proposal that doesn’t even stand a chance?”
“What is our competition doing that we aren’t?”
Is the evaluator expecting something I'm not delivering?
Does the document design actually matter?
Is my writing poor? Is it boring?
Do I really have to write new content for every submission?
Professional proposal writers can help with these questions and so much more.
We know what your competition is submitting. We’ve seen dozens of proposals and dozens of bid documents from all types of organizations. We can help you identify the key attributes that make your firm different and uniquely capable at fulfilling the contract. We’ll help you stay compliant with all the RFP requirements and help you strategize to maximize your scores on each question so you have the best chance of winning.
Our Secret Sauce
Problem: “How do we make our firm sound different than all the others when they do virtually the same thing?”
Writing Formulas
Why do Hollywood movies follow predetermined formulas that have been done to death? Because they work. They hook in the audience, activate their emotional triggers, and speak to their inner desires. The same thing goes with marketing copywriting formulas. When you land on a well-written website, or see a convincing advertisement, it likely follows one of these formulas. We have developed frameworks to inject these storytelling and copywriting formulas in your RFP responses to give your submission a resonance your competition won’t match.
Custom Design and Branding
When you pick up an iPhone, before you even touch the screen, a set of emotional events are happening within you that convince you that this is what you want. Apple builds their products design-first, form over function, because they know design projects value. When it comes to proposals, the values you project should match those of the project. If you’re building a school, you should project hope and inspiration. Our designers know how to project those values with colour, typography, and imagery, creating an emotional impact before a single word is read.
Empathy
Nearly every proposal submission ever written has been way too self involved. The wrong philosophy: look how great our firm is. The right philosophy: look how well we understand your problem and here’s how we’ve humbly solved those problems in the past. Each answer should start with empathy – how can you demonstrate your understanding of the Project Owner’s gravest concerns?
Strategy and Messaging
Question by question, how do we maximize each score? What are the common narratives we want to string together? In the eyes of the Project Owner, what is the best outcome for this project? What are they absolutely afraid of and trying to avoid? It’s questions like these that drive the initial strategy sessions so that we can string together consistent messages that hit the right emotional triggers.
Our strategies work.
In the last year we have helped secure over $100M in proposal victories.
You can spend marketing dollars on websites, PR, advertising, and the like—but there’s no marketing spend that is more directly tied to growth than proposal writing.
For professional services firms, taking on new projects and developing new relationships is the fastest way to grow—and doubling down on your proposal process is the way to make that happen.
You would hire an expert to create your website, but why not your proposals?