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What are your thoughts on outsourcing proposal research and writing?
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4 Answers
This is a good idea as long as you find a writer who understands your business and is willing to work with you to develop your boilerplate (that goes in all your proposals) as well as your goals for specific proposals. You will still need to confer with the writer on the specifics of each proposal, but it will save you a lot of time, and will result in more professional proposals. Depending upon the specifics of your business, over time you may be able to develop "standard paragraphs" that may be selectively included in proposals, and down the road this will save more time and result in more standardization. The standardization makes it faster to turn around proposals and simplifies legal review.
In my opinion, for any number of reasons, outsourcing the writing because it is difficult for a writer to truly understand the subject matter.
However, I think having someone edit the proposal is a useful exercise. Whether this needs to be outsourced, I cannot say. There are significant benefits associated with having a editor. On a much smaller scale than a proposal, I have weekly blog that goes out to about 4,000 people. There is no way I would publish it without a third party editing it and sharing her comments, concerns, and recommendations.
Good technical/proposal writers are not easy to find, but if you look for them, you can find good business-specific, industry-specific writers who do know the business, know and understand the subject matter, and can write about it in standard English. It is difficult to find these good writers, and they are not "cheap" but in the long run, they can make money for you, save money for you and minimize the risks associated with sloppy and imprecise writing.
I would agree that it might be difficult to find a writer who truly understands the subject matter--and the writer is not going to be "cheap." I would also agree that if the writer does not truly and thoroughly understand the subject matter, they will not be able to do the job properly.
I also agree that a good editor is essential--but that was not the question. I believe that what the original question is asking is whether you would pay someone to write your proposals.
Few companies have an in-house resource with the writing skills and background to effectively write proposals in a tight timeframe. Proposals drafted by engineers, or committees or someone with "too much time on their hands" are frequently poorly written, are cobbled together from boilerplate and other company publications. Frequently they are difficult to read, do not answer the questions that they should and do not persuade the buyer that the company's proposed solution is their best choice.
I work for an independently owned, operated and published magazine who propagates a message that is so different from most that outsourcing any material that deals with brand identity or mission just cannot happen. Finding a writer who can step into your situation and completely grasp the motives and goals of your company is next to impossible.
I have taken the responsibility of proposals myself and found that response was mostly generated due to the major presence of a confident style of writing. Who better to write about a company than someone who actually breathes it every day. Coupled with the design, also crafted by yours truly, the proposals that come out of this office are completely synonymous with our brand image and mission. Outsourcing this, like anything else, could potentially change your company direction or the direction of a client.
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