Dreaming of a White Christmas

While all of you were responding to those last minute tender requests that hit your desk just as you were packing for your Christmas holidays, I went shopping in London and got snowed in. My broomstick was a bit frozen and temperamental, so I wasn't able to pop in to see the Proposal Panda for a hot toddy. Maybe next time.

All dressed up and no place to go

I got a brand new home in November. I can now travel in style, surveying the world from the comfort of my transparent box. It gets a bit drafty on my broom. Unfortunately, no one took me out of the box in November. So it got a bit stuffy. Still, I thought up some fantastic proposal tips, tricks, potions and spells to try out. So I guess the time wasn't completely wasted. Have you heard my tip about quantifying the payback?

Just as you want to see the coins come flying out of that slot machine when you see 3 cherries, your customer wants to know the payback of investing in your solution. A good proposal shows the decision maker how much she will save, how much more productive the organization will be, or how her social goals will be realized. A convincing calculation of their return on investment is more compelling than a slogan or cliché. And a picture paints a thousand words, so show the payback in a picture or a graph if possible, rather than only showing facts and figures. Ultimately, your customer is weighing up the value less the cost of your solution. And this must exceed the value less the cost of doing nothing or choosing your competitor. Payback time for your customer, means winning the deal for you.

Panda Eats Shoots and Leaves

I recently entertained an international proposal ambassador. His mission to South Africa was to attend the first ever AGM of the local APMP chapter. We both have certificates to prove it. For those of you who don’t understand cryptic TLA’s, too bad – refer to the table of abbreviations on page 999 of the proposal I forgot to attach. Here I am greeting Proposal Panda. He eats shoots but he hasn’t left yet. Proposal Panda inspired me to continue the work he started. He shared with me some secrets on how to motivate bid teams in the dead of night and discouraged me from making potions for them to drink. Instead he showed me how to make a mean cup of coffee and explained what Red Bull does.


Sporting his new cap, he took some time off to go on safari to the local zoo. This elephant tickled his ear – how rude! Unfortunately his hectic globe-trotting schedule didn’t allow for a trip to the Kruger Park game reserve to see the rest of the animals known as the Big 5. And he’ll have to save Cape Town for next time. We told him that Table Mountain and the wine-lands are amazing. And the garden route is worth exploring. He fancies a pony trek in the Drakensberg and a beach holiday on the wild coast to unleash the wild panda within. He says he’ll be back for our first APMP conference!


We got chatting about the NOSE I use for persuasive proposals, and the 10 tips I train nFold customers to use. He thought I meant my own pointy nose. He’d forgotten all about Need Outcome Solution and Evidence to make my proposals more client-focused and differentiated.

It never hurts to re-visit the basics, so I decided helped him brush up on Tom Sant’s persuasive methodology by recommending Panda should read his classic and his latest books. I liked his concept of avoiding the pseudo-languages: fluff, guff, geek and weasel, in “The Language of Success” and found it an easy read. Even my emails have improved. His best practice theories are expounded in “Persuasive Business Proposals” - a great reference for proposal teams.

It’s great to have a new friend in proposals, even if he is a bear. And I guess that’s why the South Africans started the local chapter of APMP. There’s nothing like moral support to cheer one up. It’s nice to know you’re not the only witch trying to meet a proposal deadline – doing the impossible, with the unwilling, for the ungrateful. Here we are with our fellow proposal pioneers at the first ever annual general meeting of the local Association of Proposal Management Professionals. What a mouth-full!

Welcome Wendy Word

I’m a proposal pioneer and the official mascot of nFold in South Africa. My name is Wendy Word and I apply my magic skills to proposals that win you business. Join me on my journey in search of proposal excellence. My best friend is Sandy Pullinger and you can contact her at sandy@nfold.com if you want me to visit you, or if I get lost on my journey. I can’t wait to meet you and your team. Here you see how excited I am by the speed at which I’m flying around the room. There was no full moon available.