Learn how to balance customer feedback with your own expertise and creativity in proposal writing. Follow these tips to write clear, persuasive, and winning proposals.

Follow a structure approach understand customer goal, challenges and priorities, customer industry, common pain points and regulatory requirements Engaging in conversation with customer to gather detailed feedback insights, using survey to capture customer feedback on specific aspect of proposal, look for common themes and pattern in feedback. Prioritize impact areas Ensuring that proposal address main concern requirement highlighted by customer feedback, using expertise to propose solution that are innovative, practical and customized to customer needs. Use creative element like storytelling, visuals and clear and concise language. Leveraging creativity to design unique solutions Proposal need to be consistent in tone style and messaging

Last updated on Oct 11, 2024

How do you balance customer feedback with your own expertise and creativity in proposal writing?

Customer feedback is a valuable source of information and insight for proposal writing. It can help you understand the needs, preferences, and expectations of your potential clients, as well as their pain points, challenges, and goals. However, customer feedback can also be overwhelming, conflicting, or vague, and it may not always align with your own expertise and creativity. How do you balance customer feedback with your own professional judgment and innovative ideas in proposal writing? Here are some tips to help you achieve this balance and write winning proposals.

1 Know your audience

Before you start writing your proposal, you need to know who you are writing for. Who are the decision-makers, influencers, and end-users of your proposed solution? What are their roles, backgrounds, and motivations? How do they communicate, evaluate, and decide? You can use various methods to gather customer feedback, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, or online reviews. However, you also need to analyze and interpret this feedback in the context of your audience. What are the underlying needs, problems, and opportunities behind their feedback? What are the key messages, benefits, and evidence that will resonate with them?

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Hitesh Chopra

Strategic IT Leadership and Digital transformation executive, Certified Independent Director, EXECUTIVE MBA INSEAD , Former-Accenture, Atos | PMP| PgMP | PfMP | ITIL Expert
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Follow a structure approach understand customer goal, challenges and priorities, customer industry, common pain points and regulatory requirements Engaging in conversation with customer to gather detailed feedback insights, using survey to capture customer feedback on specific aspect of proposal, look for common themes and pattern in feedback. Prioritize impact areas Ensuring that proposal address main concern requirement highlighted by customer feedback, using expertise to propose solution that are innovative, practical and customized to customer needs. Use creative element like storytelling, visuals and clear and concise language. Leveraging creativity to design unique solutions Proposal need to be consistent in tone style and messaging

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Kari Dolan

Proposal Writer and AI Proposal Integrator
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Achieving a balance between customer feedback and your own expertise and creativity is critical. While customer input offers valuable insights into their needs, it's essential not to be overly constrained by it. You can use it as a foundation to tailor your proposal, addressing specific concerns while presenting your expertise and creativity to elevate the solution. At the end of the day, you are the subject matter expert for the proposal process.

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Gabriel Tan, Assoc CIPD

Human Capital Leadership | PMP®| DACE | ACTA | CEI-KAH | GCP | Catholic | Son | Father | Husband
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Start by actively listening to and understanding the customer's needs and expectations, using their feedback to identify core priorities. Integrate this input as foundational elements in your proposal while leveraging your expertise to enhance and expand upon these ideas. Use creativity to propose innovative solutions that address customer needs while showcasing the unique value you bring. Ensure the final proposal reflects both the customer’s vision and your professional insights, resulting in a document that is not only aligned with their goals but also demonstrates your value as a partner. This balance builds trust and positions you as both responsive and forward-thinking.

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Olivia Bahrami, CERP™

Founder & Owner at The RFP House | Helping companies in global mobility, insurance, and SMBs win more through compelling RFPs | RFP/Proposal Expert, Educator, Thought Leader
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Compare your customer feedback to your current RFP workflow, process and content. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and validate if there’s any constructive feedback that can be extracted and implemented in your RFP process go forward. Be open to updating your content or process to reach your audience without losing the essence of your offering.

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Florence Bugembe

Reconstructed, period. | Among other things, I write about proposal writing for beginners | Co-Founder @UboraboraAssociates
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In any proposal, the focus should be on addressing the customer's problem, as it's often the reason the RFP exists in the first place. Here's a breakdown of how I would approach this: 60%: Centered on the customer's pains. 20%: Customised for the evaluators, —on their specific needs. 10%: Focused on my solution & how it alleviates their pain. 3%: About me, the bidder — just enough to build credibility. The rest dedicated to evidence and supporting documents to solidify my claims.

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2 Define your scope

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you need to define the scope of your proposal. What are the objectives, deliverables, and outcomes of your proposed solution? How does it address the customer's feedback and requirements? How does it differentiate from your competitors and alternatives? You need to align your scope with your customer's feedback, but also with your own expertise and creativity. You don't want to promise something that you can't deliver, or that is outside your area of competence or interest. You also don't want to limit yourself to what the customer already knows or expects. You need to find a balance between meeting their expectations and exceeding them with your unique value proposition.

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3 Structure your content

After you have defined your scope, you need to structure your content. How will you organize, present, and support your proposal? What are the main sections, headings, and subheadings of your proposal? What are the key points, arguments, and evidence that you will use in each section? How will you use visuals, charts, tables, or graphs to enhance your content? You need to structure your content in a way that is clear, logical, and persuasive for your customer. You need to follow their feedback and guidelines, but also use your own expertise and creativity to make your content stand out. You need to use a consistent tone, style, and format that reflects your brand and personality.

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4 Revise your draft

Once you have written your draft, you need to revise it. How will you check, edit, and improve your proposal? What are the criteria, standards, and best practices that you will use to evaluate your proposal? How will you incorporate feedback from your colleagues, peers, or mentors? You need to revise your draft in a way that is objective, constructive, and collaborative. You need to respect your customer's feedback, but also trust your own expertise and creativity. You need to be open to suggestions, but also confident in your decisions.

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5 Test your proposal

After you have revised your draft, you need to test it. How will you measure, validate, and optimize your proposal? What are the methods, tools, and metrics that you will use to test your proposal? How will you collect, analyze, and act on feedback from your customer or other stakeholders? You need to test your proposal in a way that is reliable, relevant, and actionable. You need to listen to your customer's feedback, but also show your own expertise and creativity. You need to be responsive to their needs, but also proactive in offering solutions.

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6 Deliver your proposal

Finally, you need to deliver your proposal. How will you submit, present, and follow up on your proposal? What are the channels, formats, and timelines that you will use to deliver your proposal? How will you communicate, engage, and persuade your customer or other stakeholders? You need to deliver your proposal in a way that is professional, compelling, and memorable. You need to balance your customer's feedback with your own expertise and creativity. You need to show them that you understand their situation, that you have the best solution, and that you are the right partner for them.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you balance customer feedback with your own expertise and creativity in proposal writing?

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1 Know your audience

2 Define your scope

3 Structure your content

4 Revise your draft

5 Test your proposal

6 Deliver your proposal

7 Here’s what else to consider

Proposal Writing

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