What makes a project proposal a winner? Design? Content?

[artraifi]

Hi all,

I hope you all are having a great day. Recently, I have been researching on ways to improve a project proposal - which I was planning to create a brand identity project. Accordingly, I have created a brief blog post where I shared the characteristics of a winning project proposal based on my research.

Now, I am turning to the public to discuss project proposals and get your opinion on characteristics that differentiate a great project proposal ("winning") from a project proposal.

Feel free to share your experience and stories.

Kindly,
Art

 

[Paul Murray]

Are you referring to a proposal with an intention to win work i.e. a pitch?

 

[artraifi]

Yes, I am referring to winning the actual job/position in the project which you have applied for. I have come to understand that how specific sections are ordered can strongly influence the perception of the client or whoever is going to evaluate the project.

 

[Mr D]

Have worked on government and commercial project bids. Good idea to meet exactly what they are looking for, I went over the questions with a fine tooth comb to gather an idea of what they were looking for. The way the question was worded gave clues as to how to answer.
Price tended to be scored high but some successful bids I saw didn't have price as the main issue.

There was a seminar I was at a few years back where they covered the national lottery bidding process for a few minutes. Camelot as I recall focused on being the known quantity, with known results and known processes. Must have worked, they won.

Another I didn't work on but did deal with the fallout from was an organisation that basically copied its previous bid with new updated higher figures and submitted it. So far out of what it could have done it was enough to make me mad.

The winning bid there was by an organisation out of area who had never done this type of work before. They did meet project requirements and were priced attractively enough (30% less than the current provider that copied its old bid). Crap service but that didn't matter in the process. They met the project requirements like the other bidding organisations did not want to.