Formal vs. informal proposals: Which nets more?

​The answer might surprise you
 
You’ve got an opportunity to perform a service for a client. All they need is your bid, and all you need is their green light. Sounds so simple when it’s described that way, doesn’t it?
 
As you certainly know, there are two general ways to bid on a project, what we’ll call “formal” and “informal.” Formal is just that: Lots of detail, lots of pages, lots of supporting documentation; think “RFP response.” Informal is more like a well-constructed email. And of course, there’s everything in between and some that even go beyond (e.g., the handshake deal). But for the purposes of simplicity, let’s examine the two approaches as described and see which one wins out.
 
The formal approach.
 
This is a big, standalone document. It’s a proposal. Typically, it will include:
 

• An overview/background of the situation that led up to the proposal.
• The stated challenges.
• The proposed methodology for meeting those challenges.
• The resources required to execute the methodology.
• The timeline/milestones.
• The team providing the services.
• Any supporting documents/attachments/exhibits (often as an appendix).
• The price/terms.
• The basic “Sign here to proceed.”

 
Let’s review the pros and cons of this approach.
 
Advantages. The strength of a big detailed document is the details. If you and your team have struggled and argued over each point, you can consider them all well-considered. And they leave little room for misinterpretation by the client. You can simply refer them to Page Five, Paragraph Six, Bullet Point Two when they have a question which is already answered there.
 
Also, a document of this ilk has nothing that can be lost in translation, i.e., when it gets passed around/forwarded among the client’s team. You don’t have to be there to explain any of it.
 
And, to be candid, a document like this—with its racehorse plots, Gantt charts, and exhibits--looks impressive. If you’re proposing a million-dollar engagement, it certainly helps if your proposal looks like a million bucks.
 
Disadvantages. Many of the apparent advantages of the formal approach are also, paradoxically, many of its weaknesses. Let’s start with all those details. Man, are they ever a burden to read. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once said that the reason he prohibits PowerPoint presentations by his team is that they make life easy for the presenter, but not for the audience. Same thing here. When you think of your proposal as something to be read, suddenly all those anal little details will slide over into the MEGO (“My Eyes Glaze Over”) column. Should it really require 45 minutes to read?
 
Similarly, the penchant for perfection that accompanies a formal proposal can be its undoing. The tiniest mistake or typo can undermine its professionalism and credibility; imagine a scratch on a crystal ball, or on a classic car in a museum.
 
The other disadvantages of this approach are subtler. If the thing is so polished, it will come across as “set in stone.” There may be one or two small parts that you think are minor, but the client considers deal-breakers; it’s harder to gauge their reactions when you slide them something that seems immutable.
 
Finally, a formal proposal, by its very nature, is impersonal. It forces distance between you and the client. Is that what you really want? Is that what they really want?
 
The informal approach.
 
As we said at the outset, this can take many forms, but for our purposes, let’s think of it as a very well-written email. It can cover many of the points we’d bulleted above for the formal approach (e.g., challenges, methodology, timeline, price), but it does so far more succinctly. Importantly, it does so far more conversationally. The informal proposal doesn’t have a cover page. It’s not meant to be printed and bound. Indeed, it’s not for “client company” consumption; to the contrary, you want to address it, if at all possible, to just one person at the client company, cc’ing his or her teammates/lieutenants as necessary.
 
The structure might go something like this:
 
“Dear Sara,
 
“Thanks so much for meeting with me and my team on Friday; per your request, here’s a quick overview of how we might proceed on the ABC initiative you’d discussed.”
 
And so it goes from there, such as “I think this can be done in three phases: First, we’d need to review prior work and conduct interviews with your team and any clients you select; next, we’d hold a workshop to bring your team up to speed on our methodology; and third, we would provide a written outbrief of our findings.” Of course, all of this is made up/generic, but if you think about it, that single sentence above does all the work of several pages in a typical formal proposal.
 
As this imaginary example makes clear, your client will “get it”; after all, they just met with you on Friday! Joking aside, this kind of proposal-cum-email is simply an extension of a (best-case) in-person meeting or (next-best) phone call, and your job is to keep it personal.
 
Advantages. You can take everything you just read about the formal process and turn it on its head. The informal approach is fast. It can be created quickly: you don’t need a huge team slaving for weeks. It can be read quickly—meaning, you’ll get a response quickly. It’s not formal, so a typo won’t kill it; heck, it’s just an email. It’s not carved in stone. To the contrary: it invites dialogue. It encourages the client to tweak it to their liking (“I’d love to hear any changes you or your team might offer to what I’ve proposed”), increasing your odds of landing the assignment. And it promotes client intimacy—not distance—which is what you want, and what your client wants. Don’t they want to feel special, and to get your utmost personal attention?
 
Disadvantages. This kind of approach does not work as a standalone document. People who weren’t in “the Friday meeting,” as we’ve called it, will be out of the loop. So it must go straight to decision-makers. It’s also not the preferred modality of bean-counters/procurement departments/RFP source-selection committees, but there are ways to skin that proverbial cat.
 
Guiding the process.
 
If you can’t tell already, we’re far bigger fans of the informal approach than the formal approach—and for good reason. We’ve seen the former best the latter, time after time.
 
But it’s incumbent upon you to create the opportunity for yourself to employ the informal approach. Don’t expect it to just be dropped into your lap. Make a conscious and deliberate effort to keep all communications personal—meetings, vid chats, phone calls—as possible, so that the informal proposal is simply a “Let me draft up a quick email for you to put it into writing” kind of thing. When you’re getting closer to the actual sign-off, you can assemble all the required supporting documents (if any), and shuffle them off to Procurement or the RFP vetting team as needed. The lesson here is to cultivate the relationships so they’re never arm’s length—or formal proposal’s length—again.
 
Another approach.
 
You might be surprised to learn that we have clients that lean on us to help with proposals—both formal and informal—all the time. Their clients don’t know it; we remain invisible in the background. But the results speak for themselves. Contact us today and let’s help you seal that next deal. 

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