When you think about it, proposal writing is really about telling a story. A story about how your solutions to problems are better than your competitors' in ways that really matter to your customers. All too often, the story is written by authors who are responsible for different chapters with no clear idea of the setting, the characters, the ending, or even the moral of the story. When the proposal manager puts all of the chapters together for the first time (Pink Team) it's no wonder that the feedback is all too predictable – "solutions not clearly articulated", "claims are unsubstantiated", "compelling themes and discriminators are either hidden or missing".
What is a Theme?
A proposal theme is most commonly defined as a "central idea (feature and benefit) that is supported or proved". Most proposal experts generally agree that themes and supporting discriminators are the MOST EFFECTIVE way to distinguish your proposal from the competition (other than price). Themes are really the fundamental building blocks for telling your story. Themes are not sales slogans. Most slogans are easy to remember catch-phrases like the current Washington Post slogan: "If you don't get it…you don't get it". This slogan is easy to remember, but lacks any real subscriber features and related benefits such as readability, cost, readership, breadth and depth of content, customized subscriber packages, and so on.
What's a "Win Theme?"
The term 'win theme' is commonly used throughout the proposal industry and only makes the subject of themes more confusing. Win themes are higher level (meta theme) features and benefits that transcend the entire proposal. Effective proposals usually have no more than one or two win themes that are focused on what customers care about the most – typically low cost, low risk, proven solutions, innovation, or performance-based accountability. The trick is to develop a hierarchy of themes with increasing levels of detail that support each win theme.
What's a Proposal Theme?
Most themes are really proposal themes – feature and benefit statements at the volume, section, sub-section, and even paragraph levels. Proposal themes are much more specific than win themes. They usually appear as a highlighted first sentence and serve as a mini-summary of the subsequent narrative. Well written proposals have themes in every paragraph and every graphic. Volume themes are proposal themes that typically focus on technical, management, past performance, cost, or other volume subjects. Section themes are proposal themes that focus on section topics within each volume (think RFP Section L for Federal procurements). Requirement themes are proposal themes focused on requirement level topics within sections and sub-sections (think RFP Section C).
Why are Themes Important?
Proposal themes answer the evaluator's most important question: "Why should we select you?" Volume, section, and requirement themes support the win themes by sending an explicit message to evaluators that is repeated over and over in subtle and not so subtle ways throughout the proposal. Well written themes provide clear and convincing reasons for capturing the attention, and even the imagination of evaluators. When evaluators finish reading their assigned sections, the alignment of solution features with customer benefits and supporting proof points leave no room for doubt, confusion, or skepticism. The bottom line – your proposal is easier to evaluate, tells a compelling story, and has clearly articulated themes that score the most points.
