Writing Killer Sales Proposals (Entrepreneur Mentor Series) [Paperback]

Bud Porter-Roth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2004 | Series: Entrepreneur Mentor Series

Whether bidding on a $5,000 project or a $10 million contract, the way a proposal is written and presented can mean the difference between winning or losing the bid.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Secrets That Proposal-Writing Pros Don't Want You To Know

Your proposal doesn't get a second chance to make a good first impression. You may think, "RFP is a dirty word, yet proposals are the precursors for almost every business-to-business exchange. Billions of dollars in products and services are riding on them every day, and they may--or may not--make the grade.

Get your fair share of the business. Take a lesson from the pros and master both the science--and the art--of writing proposals that get winning results. Learn the tricks that most proposal writers would prefer to keep under wraps.

Bud Porter-Roth, one of the most powerful proposal writers in the world, shares the secrets of the trade.

Step by proven step, you will:

• Create a winning proposal-writing process you can use over and over
• Determine customers' needs
• Define the organization, scope and content of the proposal
• Develop a winning strategy to do the job
• Get the proposal to the right decision-maker
• Know how and when to follow up to clinch the deal

Whether you're writing your first proposal or your 40^th, make it irresistible. Killer Sales Proposals is your best resource for closing any deal.

About the Author

Bud Porter-Roth teaches seminars on organizing proposals to management teams, sales representatives and system analysts. He draws on extensive experience as proposal manager at Ford Aerospace, Tandem Computers, Plexus Computers and TRW. Porter-Roth is from Mill Valley, CA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Entrepreneur Press; 1 edition (April 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932156712
• ISBN-13: 978-1932156713
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mr. Porter-Roth has over 20 years of experience as a consultant, with a focus on electronic document management, records management, and paper document projects. Mr. Porter-Roth participates directly in each engagement providing a hands-on approach to the business process analysis, interviewing users, and writing a final report and recommendation.

Areas of specific expertise include project definition, business process definition, requirements analysis, opportunity cost/benefit and TCO analysis, RFP development and vendor selection, and project quality assurance.

Mr. Porter-Roth has a broad based knowledge of public and private industry having participated in major projects for the IRS, state governments, local county and city governments, and private businesses in the financial sector, retail industry, petroleum industry, and others.

Mr. Porter-Roth keeps current on technologies by attending various technology conferences, speaking at technology conferences, participating on AIIM committees, and working with vendors during client engagements and system implementations.

Additional information can be found on my website:

http://www.erms.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Read" for every proposal and bus. dev. professional, April 10, 2004

By 

James D. Wininger (Roselle, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Killer Sales Proposals (Entrepreneur Mentor Series) (Paperback)

Whether you are preparing to respond to your first Request for Proposal (RFP) or your five hundreth, this book gives you the insight and knowledge gained from real world experience to make your next proposal a winner!

Having worked as a proposal manager for nearly 20 years myself, many of the "Tips" provided in this book serve as great reminders of things we sometimes forget to do in our proposal efforts.

You will find this book easy to read and follow along as you move from discussions on pre-proposal activity through delivery of orals and other post-proposal delivery actions. The numerous appendices, with their process-flow forms and checklists, will be a godsend to someone who is trying to manage a proposal for the first time. This book is much more than a "How To" guide; it gets into the real "meat of potatoes" of capturing/winning new business through the proposals process.

This book will be required reading for every commercial proposal or business development person who works with me in the future.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Notes from the author....., March 18, 2004

By 

Bud Porter-Roth "budpr" (Mill Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Writing Killer Sales Proposals (Entrepreneur Mentor Series) (Paperback)

Writing Killer Sales Proposals is written as a "hands-on" book that you can immediately use to help you write winning proposals. The examples are real examples taken from past work with clients, proposals I've written, and RFPs that I've responded to or written for clients.

In Writing Killer Sales Proposals we review important concepts such as the difference between features and benefits and the value of solution selling instead of product selling. We emphasize getting a clear selling theme established early and revisiting that theme as often as possible. And finally, we help you to understand how to organize and structure a proposal process that allows you to work more quickly and efficiently on the proposal mechanics - giving you more time to spend on the business issues, the solution, and pricing.

With this new book, I have incorporated my experience as an RFP writer and manager. I have provided many "tips" directly from my experience in reviewing proposals and speaking with others who write RFPs. This experience, as both a proposal writer and an RFP manager, provides me with a unique perspective and viewpoint that few proposal writers can offer in this industry. I hope that this experience shines through in these pages and that it will help you to write better proposals.

Bud Porter-Roth
Author

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good if you are new to selling, July 12, 2008

By 

lenonline (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Writing Killer Sales Proposals (Entrepreneur Mentor Series) (Paperback)

If you are new to selling this will be an excellent read. If you are a seasoned pro, I doubt you will get much out of it. Easy to read and follow.