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446 Writing Proposals

Readers’ Needs in an External Proposal Most readers will reject a proposal
as soon as they realize that it doesn’t address their needs. When you receive
an RFP, study it thoroughly. If you don’t understand something in it, contact
the organization. They will be happy to clarify it, because a poor proposal
wastes everyone’s time.
When you write an unsolicited proposal, analyze your audience carefully.
How can you define the problem or opportunity so that readers will understand
it? Keep in mind readers’ needs and, if possible, their backgrounds. Concentrate
on how the problem has decreased productivity or quality or how your ideas
would create new opportunities. When you submit an unsolicited proposal,
your task in many cases is to convince readers that a need exists. Even when
you have reached an understanding with some of your customer’s representa-
tives, your proposal will still have to persuade other officials in the company.
When you are preparing a proposal to be submitted to an organization in
another culture, keep in mind the following six suggestions (Newman, 2006):
• Understand that what makes an argument persuasive can differ from one culture
to another. Paying attention to the welfare of the company or the commu-
nity might be more persuasive than a low bottom-line price. An American
company was surprised to learn that the Venezuelan readers of its pro-
posal had selected a French company that “had been making personal vis-
its for years, bringing their families, and engaging in social activities long
before there was any question of a contract” (Thrush, 2000).
• Budget enough time for translating. If your proposal has to be translated
into another language, build in plenty of time. Translating long technical
documents is a lengthy process because, even though some of the work
can be done by computer software, the machine translation needs to be
reviewed by native speakers of the target language.
in this book • Use simple graphics, with captions. To reduce the chances of misunderstand-
For more about graphics, see ing, use a lot of simple graphics, such as pie charts and bar graphs. Be sure
Ch. 12. to include captions so that readers can understand the graphics easily,
without having to look through the text to see what each graphic means.
• Write short sentences, using common vocabulary. Short sentences are easier
to understand than long sentences. Choose words that have few mean-
ings. For example, use the word right as the opposite of left; use correct as
the opposite of incorrect.
• Use local conventions regarding punctuation, spelling, and mechanics. Be aware
that these conventions differ from place to place, even in the English-
speaking world. For instance, the Australian state of New South Wales uses
a different dictionary for spelling than all the other Australian states.
• Ask if the prospective customer will do a read-through. A read-through is the
process of reading a draft of the proposal to determine whether it reveals
any misunderstandings due to language or cultural differences. Why do
prospective customers do this? Because it’s in everyone’s interest if the
proposal responds clearly to the customer’s needs.

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