Letters of Proposal

These documents are the lifeblood of consulting, and have thus had a good deal of thought lavished on them over the years by consulting firms. Most firms follow this approach:

S =  You have a problem (1 or 2 sentence description of the problem)

C =  You have decided to bring in an outsider to solve it

Q =  (Are you the outsider we should hire to solve it?)

The Answer to the implied Question is always "yes," of course, generally followed by a 4-part structure:

1. We understand the problem

2. We have a sound approach for solving it

3. We have enormous experience in applying that approach

4. Our business arrangements make sense

In putting words on the introductory structure, you tend to imply the Complication and the Question, so that it might read something like this:

We were delighted to meet with you to discuss the problem you are having in determining the best way to tackle the automotive aftermarket, in the face of conflicting points of view within the company. This document outlines our proposal for helping you sort through these alternatives and develop a strategy that will permit you to gain a sizable share in a short time.

This way of structuring a proposal is generally used for new clients, where the consultant wants to devote considerable attention to explaining the problem in such a way that his obvious expertise in the area becomes apparent to the reader.

In situations where the client is well known or the proposal is merely a formality, you will probably find it cleaner to put the description of the problem in the introduction, as I explain more fully in, Defining the Problem.

S =  You have a problem (3-4 paragraph explanation)

C =  You want consulting help to solve it

Q =  How will you go about helping us solve our problem?

In this case the rest of the document is structured around the approach the consultant will take to solving the problem, on the theory that it is on the basis of the approach that the client will make his decision to hire. (Although alas that is not always the case.) This structure encourages the writer to weave the examples of his experience in with the explanation of how and why he plans to take the particular approach he is describing. The business arrangements are generally placed in a covering letter.