Picture a daunted proposal evaluator who has yours and a pile of other proposals to read. Visualize hundreds of pages of boring technical text with sparse graphics, until lines turn into ants running through a page. What will this evaluator remember about your proposal by the time he or she reads the next proposal, and the next?

Enter the greatest (and the most misunderstood and misused) invention of proposal persuasion: your win themes. The main task for your win themes is to make an evaluator remember why they liked your proposal. What are the three things they may recall about your proposal at the end of a grueling evaluation period?

Here are some rules of thumb for win theme placement in your proposals:

• There should be no more than three to five proposal-level win themes – otherwise you will confuse an evaluator and they will not remember the most important points of your offer.
• Your most compelling win theme, the reason why you should win, should go on the first page of your executive summary or your proposal introduction. You may put the other proposal-level win themes in a focus box or a graphic on the front page as well.
• You can have up to ten section-level win themes for each major proposal section.
• The same win themes, stated in different ways, with different facts, proving they are credible, can appear in multiple ways throughout the proposal:
  
  - In your executive summary.
  - Under section headings.
  - In a focus box, a vignette, or a pull-quote.
  - Woven into the text.
  - Featured in a graphic or an action caption under a graphic.

Unfortunately, a great many companies approach win theme development incorrectly, and fail to realize the full potential of a win theme. Here are some of the common pitfalls:

• Treating win themes as slogans, failing to show what’s unique to you, and what’s in it for the customer.
• Doing it too late in the game to affect the overall proposal win strategy and to produce action items that are helpful for positioning to win.
• Taking too long to develop win themes, trapping your team for hours in unproductive marathon-like sessions – with only ho-hum results to show for it. 

If you would like to master developing killer win themes in a short amount of time, and learn how to use them to produce win strategies to upset your competition, consider attending our two-day workshop called Proposal Solution Development: Win Themes, Management, Risk, Past Performance, Resumes, Technical Volumes, which we will be holding on November 17-18, 2011 in Rockville, MD. We will share OST’s innovative method for win theme development, as well as techniques, templates, checklists, and practical exercises to shine in management sections, risk sections, past performance references, resumes, and technical volumes. This course focuses on solution development, including concepts of operations, and explores in detail the type of content that goes into compliant, compelling government and commercial proposal sections. Learn more or register at www.ostglobalsolut ions.com/proposal-solution-development. 

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Upcoming Capture and Proposal Management Classes:

•     Nov. 10-11. Preparing Winning Multiple Award and Task Order Proposals
•     Nov. 15-16. Proposal Speed-Writing Workshop: Writing Better Proposal Sections in Half the Time
•     Nov. 17-18. Proposal Solution Development: Win Themes, Management, Risk, Past Performance, Resumes, Technical Volumes
•     Dec. 5. Cost Proposal Strategy for Proposal Managers
•     Dec. 6-7. Proposal Management: How to Write Less and Win More
•     Dec. 8-9. Capture management: How to Position to Win before an RFP Issuance

To learn more or register please go to www.ostglobalsolutions.com/training/schedule.

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… PROPOSAL support: If you are short-staffed, your proposal load is heavy, or you don’t have the right skills in-house, we can get you the right help. Please contact Ben Goessling for your proposal development needs at 301-384-3350 ext. 104, or send us an inquiry at service@ostglobalsolutions.com.

… BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT support: Outsource your business development to our experts and find government contracting opportunities in your core competency areas. Contact Alex Brown at 301-384-3350 ext. 102, or send u s an inquiry at service@ostglobalsolutions.com.

OST Global Solutions, Inc.
Your resource for Capture and Proposal Management
...Because there is no second place in proposals!
+1.301.384.3350
service@ostglobalsolutiuons.com
www.ostglobalsolutions.com
7361 Calhoun Pl, Suite 560 Rockville, MD, 20855

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