contractor success Six Techniques To Customize Your Boilerplate Material Making your literature unique will help you win more requests for proposals. By: Michel Theriault Y Your proposal must stick in the client’s mind so when they evaluate it and chose a winner, they are comfortable with and con-fident in your ability to do the job. Unfortunately, many companies tend to rely on a lot of boilerplate material and equipment or product flyers when putting together their proposals. The lack of details and effort won’t excite the client or hold their attention when reply-ing to requests for proposals (RFPs). A winning bid must be customized to the client’s situation and should be linked with the specific scope and unique needs of the client. Rather than using a boilerplate or includ-ing generic information, the reasons for choosing you and your company need to be described specifically. Additionally, this information needs to be sold to the client based on the solutions, features and benefits that distinguish you from the competition. Instead of general solutions, your propos-al must speak directly to the client’s needs and provide details that show you under-stand the client, support what you are say-ing and that you know how to serve them. Use these six techniques to customize your boilerplate material: 1. Research what’s important to the client Find issues or hot buttons by networking, speaking with people who are familiar with the client and by searching the Internet for news and articles about the client. Find presentations and articles given by the client’s decision-makers to understand what they care about. Edit your proposal to address these issues within the boilerplate material and describe the benefits you have related to their issues. Use headings to clearly identify the cus-tomized material. 2. Scan the RFP documentation for keywords Look for phrases, words, terminology, acronyms, job titles, etc., and incorporate these into your boilerplate material. Either replace your terms with theirs or explain how your terms By outlining the specific solutions you and your company can provide to a client, you increase your chances of winning a contract. 44 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2010 Image courtesy of Enviro-Solutions Ltd.
CMM – Archives Oct 2010: 44
