Proposal Copywriting and Graphics
Nexa has supported efforts for numerous responses, including government proposals and commercial proposals. We help companies with proposals for federal government, state and local government, and private sector business proposals. Our primary areas of support are proposal graphics, proposal copywriting and editing, and proposal presentations.
Many of our clients find that an external party can bring a new perspective to the proposal. For example, an independent observer may point out questions whose answers seemed obvious to your team but are not so clear to an outsider, or may raise new issues that had not previously been noticed. With timelines often short and schedules hectic when responding to an RFP, this outside look can be critical.
Proposal Graphics and Design Support
With the complex nature of responding to an RFP, busy schedules, and the stress of meeting a short deadline, proposal graphics can often seem like an afterthought or an unimportant detail. But organizations that give short shrift to graphics do so at their peril; graphics are a crucial part of any proposal, serving multiple important functions.
Graphics first and foremost break up the monotony of text. Keep in mind that your audience will be reading multiple documents often consisting of dozens if not hundreds of pages. A visually unappealing document with long stretches of uninterrupted text will look not only tedious but unprofessional. In contrast, a proposal with thoughtfully designed and purposefully placed graphics will invite the audience in and give the reader’s eye a break while simultaneously emphasizing your win themes.
Graphics should never be used merely for the sake of using graphics, however. Every graphic should give your reader a deeper understanding of your organization and its offerings. A well-designed proposal will use graphics to highlight key pieces of information, drawing the reader’s attention to important points without being obtrusive. The right graphics will reinforce your brand throughout the proposal, while giving a sense of visual unity and coherence to the entire document.
Proposal Copywriting and Copyediting
Partnering closely with your subject matter experts or writers, our team works to thoroughly understand your prospective customer’s needs and challenges as well as the solutions, benefits, and features offered by your organization. Our philosophy is that proposals should always be written with the perspective of the buyer in mind, with every page crafted to tell a story about how your offerings satisfy their needs better than anyone else’s. Canned responses and “cut and pastes” from previously-used templates no longer cut it in today’s competitive environment.
Depending on your specific needs, our team will work with you and your staff on:
- Determining the right strategies and win themes
- Setting up a compliance matrix
- Organizing and outlining the content and key points
- Capturing information from subject matter experts
- Expanding outlined points
- Addressing issues raised in the Statement of Work
- Deciding which information should be presented graphically
- Revisions and rewrites
We will establish style guidelines based on the RFP’s compliance requirements and incorporating your organization’s branding and visual identity, to be applied consistently throughout the proposal.
In the final stages, our team ensures the proposal as a whole has a single voice, with complex information communicated clearly and concisely and style guidelines applied consistently. The result is a smooth, clear read that presents the buying audience with straightforward and compelling reasons to award.
Proposal Presentations
FAR 15.102 states: “Oral presentations by offerors as requested by the Government may substitute for, or augment, written information. Use of oral presentations as a substitute for portions of a proposal can be effective in streamlining the source selection process.” Although oral presentations are not always part of the bid process, where they are called for, they can play a make or break role.
We can craft presentation support materials that are consistent with the proposal and written materials. Ideally, both the oral presentation materials and the written proposal will be developed in tandem, serving as pieces that complement each other rather than the oral presentation serving as an afterthought to the written proposal. Since presentation materials for federal government contracts are often strictly limited in number of slides, graphics and copy must convey a great deal of information in a limited amount of space. It must therefore be very concise and clear, highlighting only the most key points rather than attempting to regurgitate the entire proposal. The Nexa team is highly experienced at developing presentation support pieces that adhere rigorously to the given requirements while also presenting an attractive and polished image.
