Chris w better management summaries

Producing Better Management Summaries

25th June 2009

Copyright Get to Great Limited 2009 – 0870 421 5150

After this session...

You will produce better Management Summaries that will: Make customers want to read your proposals Make customers say “It felt like it was written

for us!” Make customers say YES

The BasicsProducing Better Management Summaries

Never forget…

This great quote / truism…

“If you want to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings and speak my words”

Cicero, Roman Philosopher, 106 BC

Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.


What are customers interested in?

NOW

NOW

US

OUR PAST

THEM

THEIR FUTURExx


Typical Management Summary

The Best Company is delighted to submit this proposal etc…

The Best Company is best placed to meet the requirements…

The Best Company is market leader in providing xxxx, yyyy and zzzz…

The Best Company has offices in all major cities on all major continents…


Importance of ‘Early Positioning’

Quality of pre-tender engagement

Quality of proposal Likely outcome and Return of Investment

Lengthy, influential, innovative, creative

Good or better (purpose written)

Win and 100% ROI

Lengthy, influential, innovative, creative

Average (more Cut & Paste than purpose written)

Disappointed customer awards you 2nd or 3rd – Zero

Limited Good or better (purpose written difficult)

Possible win, probable second or third – Zero

Limited Average (largely Cut & Paste)

Also ran... – Zero

None Good or better (purpose written impossible)

Also ran… – Zero

None Average (largely Cut & Paste)

Also ran… – Zero

“The majority of tenders are issued with a potential winner already identified.”Copyright Get to Great Limited 2009 – 0870 421 5150

Producing Better Management SummariesProducing Better Management Summaries

Management Summaries

What is a Management Summary?

The first and last thing that people

read in your proposals!

Management Summaries

What is a Management Summary? The ‘glue’ that pulls it all together The picture on the jigsaw puzzle box A brief but compelling summary of the

customer’s business requirement and your proposed solution

Why they should buy it from you Totally stand alone and self explanatory The key to getting the customer to read the

rest of the proposal

Drafting a Management Summary Input:

from the ITT and your relationship to date (vital)

Objective: Develop a draft Management Summary to

serve as a guide to the bid team (if there is one)

Worksheets: Management Summary Development

Copyright Get to Great 2009

Basic requirements before you start

A very good understanding of the customers headline issues and the underlying background

An understanding of the competitive position and what makes your offer unique – your differentiators

Some key messages using the customer’s language They say “maximise availability”, you say

“maximise availability” They say “reduced cost”, you say “reduced

cost”

Management Summary content

1. Identify with customer’s requirement and pain

Shows you understand them2. Paint their vision (“in an ideal world they

want”) Ghost ideas for them…

3. Paint their desired return on investment / benefits

And all this WITHOUT mentioning your company

4. Overview your solution (aligned to above)

5. Tell them why they should buy it from you (differentiators)

6. Commercial headlines (least cost option)

Who should write it?

Sales, or the owner of the customer relationship who understands them the best…

When should it be written?

Produce a draft before the rest of the proposal

Review and revise constantly as you develop your proposal

If you do this it will serve as a guide to others who are working on the proposal

What should be in it?

An elevator speech with your boss!

Tips and Tests

Always follow customer guidelines if provided

Be brief – two pages maximum Focus on the customer and their

requirement – not yourselves Apply the ‘we we’ test to check use of key

words If possible, get the customer to validate

your assumptionsAsk the So What question!

Creating a draft Management Summary

Complete each box in turn using bullet point detail only, not longhand!

Show them you understand their issues!

1. What is the customer’s business requirement, pain or issue that I am trying to provide a solution for?

Remember that this is about them, NOT you. The answer should be in the tender if one exists. Use their language, not yours.

Show them you understand what they are looking for!

2. What is the solution that they are looking for to meet this requirement?

Talk about them

Show them you understand how they will justify it!

3. What are they looking to achieve from this solution?

Results, benefits, ROI etc. Talk about them

Talk about your solution to their pain!

4. What is your proposed solution?

Tell them who will do what, where, when and how. Keep it short.

Use your Key Messages here!

Sell yourself and your solution!

5. Why they should buy it from you?

Only tell them facts that are relevant to their requirements; global reach is irrelevant if the requirement is for the Croydon office.

Use your Key Messages here!

Management Summary Development

Copyright Get to Great 2009

Any Questions?Did it feel like it was written for you?


Start Writing the Proposal

Always use the draft Management Summary as a point of reference

Most importantly, write what the reader wants to read, not what you want to write!

Always confirm that you can MEET the requirement

Confirm if you can EXCEED the requirement

Substantiate your claim with facts (known as Proof Points)

Guidelines to answering questions

Sell the features, benefits and value of your solution

Demonstrate understanding Talk about the customer and their needs –

then you! Follow the instructions in the ITT -

M/O/Nice Think Rudyard Kipling and his ‘six good

men’… Tell them WHO will do WHAT, HOW,

WHERE and WHEN and WHY


Apply the ‘So What?’ test to every answer Respond by adding ‘which means that…’

then Key Messages Refer to your company in the third person

singular – ‘Rockwell is…’ Refer to the customer in the third person

singular – ‘British Airways is…’ Apply the ‘we we’ test – again

The ‘we we’ test


Count occurrences of key words and expressions – use Replace in MS Word

Beware of many authors/many styles! Always make sure that someone checks

your answer If you are tempted to ‘cut & paste’, print

item and edit by hand before retyping

The problem with ‘technical’… It’s often all ‘features’ and the reader says

“so what?” Link a feature to a benefit that the customer can

specifically relate to or wants, i.e. which means that…

Ask yourself, will they say ‘“It felt like it was written for us!”?

Golden Rule No. 1: Only use ‘purpose written content’ in the

proposal, relegate all ‘pre-written content’ to the appendices

Golden Rule No. 2: Never assume the customer is a mind reader; tell

them the obvious stuff (to you) as well

The problem with ‘technical’…

Think about how newspapers present a story:

1/ a headline, 2/ a summary paragraph, 3/ the story

Answering Questions

Repeat the question, for example:Q. What colours are your solution available in? Our

minimum requirement is red, green and gold.

Answering Questions

Repeat the question, for example:Q. What colours are your solution available in? Our

minimum requirement is red, green and gold.R. Our proposed solution, XXXX, is available in red,

green and gold, thereby meeting your minimum requirements. XXXX is also available in blue, brown and black, and we can build-to-order in any colour with 5 working days notice.(So What? Which means that… )Choosing XXXX will provide CUSTOMER with a flexible solution that will enable them to meet and exceed the requirements of the ever changing consumer market, ensuring they stay ahead of their competitors in this highly lucrative but competitive market.

Answering Questions

Q. Please provide details of your major locations.

Think about why are they asking? Should you…

Provide a list of your locations? Provide a map showing your locations? Provide a map showing your locations in relation

to theirs? Provide a map showing your locations in relation

to theirs, and a statement about distance, and why this matters?

Answering Questions

Q. Please provide details of your major locations.

Wrong answer:Our offices are located in Northwich, Cheshire.

Better answer:Our offices are located in Northwich, Cheshire, which is within

20 miles of both your Warrington and Chester offices. An even better answer:

Our offices are located in Northwich, Cheshire, which is within 20 miles of both your Warrington and Chester office. This means that we are available to respond to your requirements quickly and cost effectively.

So let’s try some of this in anger!

Q. What command and control system do you propose within your solution?

What is the wrong answer?

What is a better answer?

What is an even better answer?

Chris w better management summaries

Business

Transcript of Chris w better management summaries