Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 20Chapter 20

Proposals and Proposals and Requests for ProposalsRequests for Proposals

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

““To Propose”To Propose”

To propose is to put forward an offer, to make asuggestion that is open for discussion and consideration.

Proposals solve problems by putting forward solutions to readers.

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Internal ProposalsInternal Proposals

Offer solutions to problems that the organization is aware of

Offer solutions to problems that the organization did not initially recognize as problems

May be subdivided into everyday proposals (sometimes called “routine proposals”) and formal proposals

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Goals of Goals of Internal ProposalsInternal Proposals

To persuade an audience that a problem exists

To make the problem understandable

To argue that the problem should be fixed

To explain if/how the problem will escalate

To persuade an audience that the suggested solution makes sense

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Everyday ProposalsEveryday Proposals

Are fairly informal

Often take the form of memos or emails

Offer solutions to routine problems

Are written in response to problems that do not require great effort to define, identify, and solve

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Formal ProposalsFormal Proposals

Usually contain more information and address more complex problems

May offer solutions that require greater monetary commitment

May be addressed to multiple audiences

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

External ProposalsExternal Proposals

Work to persuade outside readers to accept the solutions the proposal offers

Are written to secure contracts that solve other organizations’ problems for a fee

Can be solicited or unsolicited

Can be classified as sales proposals or research and grant proposals

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Sales ProposalsSales Proposals

Persuade other organizations that the writer's company can best supply a service or product

Persuade through third-party expertise

Show feasibility in terms of money, reliability, and performance

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Research and Research and Grant ProposalsGrant Proposals

Persuade a sponsoring organization to fund research or a project

Can be prompted by the sponsoring organization

Are common within academia

Also help companies and organizations conduct research to help develop products and services

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Solicited andSolicited andUnsolicited ProposalsUnsolicited Proposals

External proposals are often solicited through: Requests for Proposals (RFPs) Information for Bids (IFBs) Requests for Quotations (RFQs)

Unsolicited proposals offer a solution to a problem that may not have been previously recognized.

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Requests for ProposalsRequests for Proposals

Are formal appeals put out by organizations to request that interested vendors submit proposals in response to a set of needs

Are sometimes preceded by requests for information (RFIs)

Promote competitiveness to secure the lowest price for a service or product

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Writing RFPsWriting RFPs

Understanding the form and function of RFPs also assists you as a proposal writer.

The key elements in RFPs can be categorized as: Information that RFPs provide Information that RFPs request

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Information Information that RFPs Providethat RFPs Provide

Title and/or brief description of the RFP

Contact information

Proposal schedule

Background information

Proposal selection process

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Information Information that RFPs Providethat RFPs Provide

Project summary and details Goals Budget Project Personnel Timeline Requirements Relationships and Support

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Information Information that RFPs Requestthat RFPs Request

Company/organization information

Proposed solution Summary Proposed Process Task List Time Line

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Information Information that RFPs Requestthat RFPs Request

Details of the proposed solution Functionality Options for implementation Originality Scale Technical requirements

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Information Information that RFPs Requestthat RFPs Request

Budget estimates Provisions to be made by the proposers Personnel to be employed References Portfolios Awards Certification and Licensing information

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

RFP EthicsRFP Ethicsand Professionalismand Professionalism

Understand that ethics are integral for a relationship to succeed

Never ask for the impossible

Disclose as much about the problem as possible

Provide sufficient time to compose proposals

Do not solicit for proposals that will not legitimately be reviewed

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Technology and RFPsTechnology and RFPs

Writers should try to reach broad an audience as possible through: The World Wide Web Subscription services Databases and lists PDFs Forms

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Writing ProposalsWriting Proposals

Offer feasible, realistic, well-defined solutions

Address audience needs

Display the credentials that allow readers to take the proposal seriously

To get acceptance, the Plan and Research phases are crucial

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

RFP GuidanceRFP Guidance Consult the RFP to learn the rhetorical context

Carefully read and analyze the RFP during the Plan phase of the PSA

Determine the problem presented by the RFP

Look for clues as to the proposal’s audience

Frame solutions in response to the problem

Determine what information is available, and what information will need to be researched

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Components of ProposalsComponents of Proposals

Organization is often similar to reports and manuals, including front matter, body, and end matter

Specific choices are driven by their contexts, purposes, and classifications

Avoid simply rehashing the structure of the RFP

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Front MatterFront Matter

Title page

Letter of transmittal (cover letter)

Executive summary (abstract)

Table of contents

List of visuals

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Body: IntroductionBody: Introduction

Proposal introductions inform and persuade readers by including: a statement of purpose a description of the background and/or an

explanation of the problem an account of the scope of the proposal an explanation of the proposal’s organization

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

BodyBody

The remainder of the proposal body details the solution(s) to the problem: Approaches or methods used Plan of action establishing validity and

credibility Qualifications (experience and references) Budget estimations Proposed schedule

Conclusion & Recommendations

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

End MatterEnd Matter

Contains materials that aren’t necessarily crucial to the success of the proposal but that do provide further information or clarification, such as: Bibliographies for citing outside research Glossaries for audiences with varying levels of

expertise Appendices for any additional information

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Use of TechnologyUse of Technology

Using templates can streamline the process

Many templates also include built-in help

Still, no technology is a substitute for solid rhetorical choices

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Whether you are trying to persuade readers to fund your research, buy your product, or hire your service, your writing is all that proposal readers will have to evaluate you and often the only chance you will have to persuade them. Thus, the writing in your proposal must be flawless.