Winning Proposals

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

In his introduction, Hans Tammemagi mentions that writing successful
business proposals is a combination of art and science. On one hand, a
business proposal has to contain as much research and factual
documentation as a business report or sometimes even a small book. On
the other, it must be attractive to the reader and highly persuasive.
Tammemagi himself is something of a rare combination of art and science.
He writes from more than 20 years of experience in the business world.
He is the kind of guy who still gets a little misty-eyed over the memory
of his first big winning proposal. At the same time, his prose is highly
engaging on what, in less-talented hands, could easily be a deadly dull
topic.

The text is divided into 10 mainly how-to chapters: “The Fascination
of Proposals,” “To Bid or Not to Bid, That Is the Question,”
“What Is Persuasion?,” “The Six-Point Guideline for Winning
Proposals,” “The Building Blocks,” “Efficiency Equals
Profits,” “Persuasive Meetings,” and “Unsolicited Proposals.”
The last chapter includes a bibliography, along with more than a dozen
document samples and suggested proposal formats. Tammemagi takes novices
through the entire process of proposal writing, from cover letter to the
final review. Because some readers might want to copy his sample letters
virtually verbatim, the guide’s format could have been more helpful
with a spiral binding so that the book would lie flat on a desk while
the reader’s hands are working a keyboard. Whether you are a solo
entrepreneur working out of a basement corner or a rising executive in a
global conglomerate, there is much useful information in this concise,
readable book.