Writing Clear and Effective Proposals

I’ve analyzed 100s of presentations over the years. The difference between good presentations and great ones often comes down to this… Contrast. Contrast creates the tension between the audience’s present reality and desired future. And, when done right, that tension leads to action. Here are the three most persuasive forms of contrast: #1: Problem-Solution Start by establishing a specific problem your audience faces, then reveal how your solution directly addresses it. This builds urgency before positioning yourself as the cure. In my TED Talk, I used this framework to demonstrate how presentations often fail to move audiences. I first established the problem: many presentations lack emotional impact and fail to inspire action. Then I revealed the solution: a specific structure behind history’s great talks that creates contrast between the audience's present reality and their desired future. The key is spending enough time on the problem before rushing to your solution. Make the pain real. Use specific examples, emotional language, and quantify the impact. #2: Compare-Contrast Structure your content by showing how two approaches differ…the current state vs. the future state. This creates natural tension between where the audience is and where they could be. Here's how this could look with a marketing strategy presentation: The opening half focuses on your current marketing approach. You’d tell stories of what you’ve done and where that got you, showing campaign examples and results to create urgency for change. Then you shift to the new marketing strategy. You’d talk about what's possible if your team pursues this new direction, give compelling data, and connect it back to your company’s mission. This creates a natural contrast between the present state, which no one is satisfied with, and a future state with limitless potential. #3 Cause-Effect Organize your information to demonstrate clear causal relationships and inevitable outcomes. This makes your case feel like natural law rather than opinion. Here's how this could look with a customer service improvement presentation: You establish clear causal chains in your current situation… Long hold times cause customer frustration, which causes negative reviews, which damages your brand, which leads to lost sales. Then show how your solution creates a new chain… Your omnichannel platform causes faster response times, which causes improved satisfaction, which leads to positive reviews and higher retention. Each link builds logically to the next, helping your audience follow the inevitable consequences of both action and inaction. But there’s a secret ingredient you need if you want any of these forms of contrast to truly convince your audience. Story. That’s why I made a FREE multi-media version of my award-winning book, Resonate, that gives you skills in using story in your presentations. You can grab your copy by clicking the link in the comments. #presentationskills

Revolutionizing Data Integration: ETL, ELT, and Reverse ETL in the AI Era In today's data-driven world, efficient data integration is crucial for businesses to gain insights and make informed decisions. Let's dive into the evolution of data integration techniques and how AI is reshaping the landscape. ETL: The Traditional Powerhouse Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) has been the go-to process for decades. It involves: 1. Extracting data from various sources 2. Transforming it to fit operational needs 3. Loading it into the target system (usually a data warehouse) Enter ELT: Flipping the Script Extract, Load, Transform (ELT) emerged with the rise of cloud computing and big data. The key difference: - Data is loaded into the target system before transformation - Leverages the power of modern data warehouses for transformation - Offers more flexibility and scalability Reverse ETL: Closing the Loop A newer player in the field, Reverse ETL: - Moves processed data from warehouses back into operational systems - Enables data activation, turning insights into action - Bridges the gap between analytics and operations AI: The Game Changer Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing data integration: - Automating data mapping and transformation rules - Identifying data quality issues and anomalies - Optimizing data pipelines for performance - Providing predictive maintenance for data workflows Tools of the Trade Open Source: - Apache NiFi - Talend Open Studio - Airbyte Proprietary: - Informatica PowerCenter - IBM DataStage - Fivetran As data volumes grow and complexity increases, mastering these techniques and leveraging AI will be key to staying competitive. What's your take on the future of data integration?

During my time at Qwilr, I’ve seen THOUSANDS of proposals. Here are 4 proposal plays that the best sellers use to close deals: #1 Lead With Problems Start your proposal by articulating your prospects' problems, ideally in their own words. Using quotes from relevant stakeholders within their organisation will grab your buyers’ attention and show you understand their problems. This immediately demonstrates that this isn’t just a generic pitch – you actually understand them and are focused on their specific issues. Doing this also puts decision-makers in somewhat of a tricky situation. They must either… 1. Disregard the opinions of their team as incorrect 2. Acknowledge they’re facing a problem, but decide not to look for a solution 3. Look for a solution (which you are providing in the rest of your proposal) Most (good) leaders will opt for the latter and will read on to better understand your offering. #2 It's Easy to Digest You MUST ensure your proposal is clear, straightforward and easy to understand. Remember, the folks who will be reviewing your proposal are incredibly busy and don’t have time to decipher endless information, searching for what is relevant for them. If your offer is easy to understand, it’s easier to say yes to. Avoid dense walls of text, and use images, graphics and interactive elements to simplify complex ideas. Always steer away from jargon. While it might showcase a level of expertise, you have to keep in mind that it’s likely a number of people will review your proposal. You need to make sure that EVERYONE will buy in. #3 Make It Relevant Buyers want to know that you’ve helped organisations that look like them, or the type of organisation that they aspire to be. Making sure that your proposal speaks to your buyers’ industry, needs, challenges and objectives will increase the likelihood of engagement Build your case by including concrete data and case studies that resonate with your client’s situation. CAUTION: It can be tempting to litter your proposal with logos and quotations from your “biggest” clients. You should not (always) do this! Instead, focus on featuring logos of similar companies or aspirational peers, not just massive brands. Remember, just because a company is “big” to you, that doesn’t mean your client will care. They want to know you can help THEM! #4 Keep Next Steps Simple It’s essential that you break down your proposal into clear, actionable steps – giving your client a roadmap on how to proceed and what will happen when they sign. You should also educate your champion on how to position the proposal to the buying committee, arming them to sell internally. Meet with them and go through your proposal, asking what needs to be removed and added (for other stakeholders) and how they plan to share it more widely. Want to send proposals that impress buyers and close deals? Try Qwilr for free at https://getqwilr.com

⏰ How To Improve Your Time Estimates (https://lnkd.in/egWd45RF), an honest article of lessons learned from going massively over on a fixed-price contract — with action points on what our estimates typically miss, how to estimate better and how to be prepared when things go sideways. By Dave Stewart. ✅ “Planned work” may be as little as 20% of the total project effort. ✅ “Extra work” increases proportionally to the complexity of the work. ✅ Account for changes (20%) and unexpected slowdowns (15%). ✅ Access to data, docs, tools, people is a huge estimate trap. ✅ Run postmortems on past projects to anchor yourself to reality. ✅ Estimate with at most 6–6.5 productive hours per day. ✅ Always estimate in ranges, and never in precise numbers. ✅ Safe way to estimate better is to estimate smaller units of work. ✅ Always add at least 15–20% of buffer time: you will need them. ✅ Every new team member speeds up the work by 1.5–1.8×. 🚫 Troubles start when designers aren’t involved in estimates. 🚫 Stakeholders rarely know what causes delays and extra costs. ✅ Re-iterate that late changes are expensive and cause delays. ✅ Life is full of surprises: budget too much, not too little. ✅ When in trouble, raise a hand, rather than doubling down. As Dave has rightfully noted, much of the work we do is actually happening “around the work” — on the fringes of the project, before, between and beyond actual design work. It covers everything, from daily routine tasks (emails, meetings, reports) to complex dependencies, unknowns and legacy limitations. In the past, I was always trying to underpromise and overdeliver. I was thinking that ultimately that would put me in a good light — appearing as accountable, reliable and committed to quality work, despite the initial scope. Yet it has also resulted in poor estimates, delays, late night work and overlapping projects. So instead, I started dedicating time into drafting a very detailed scope of work to estimate better. Typically it includes: 1. That’s how we understood the problem, 2. That’s what we believe the solution requires, 3. That’s the breakdown of tasks we’ll do, 4. That’s the assumptions we make, 5. That’s dependencies we uncovered, 6. That’s data, docs, tools, people need to be involved, 7. That’s how we are planning to solve it, 8. That’s when stakeholder’s (timely) input will be needed, 9. That’s milestones and timelines we commit to, 10. That’s the fixed scope of our final delivery, 11. That’s the delivery date we commit to, 12. That’s how pricing and payment will work, 13 That’s how we’ll deal with late adjustments and scope changes. And most importantly: for every step of the process — in emails, calls, meetings — make sure to mention that late scope changes are very expensive and will eventually cause delays. So ask for the best channels and frequency for communication with stakeholders. Chances are high that you will need it. #ux #design

"Send me a proposal." Sounds like progress. But it's actually one of the most dangerous moments in BD. Because most people say "I'll get that over to you by Friday." And that's where the deal quietly dies. After thousands of BD conversations, here's what I've learned: A premature proposal isn't a next step. It's a polite way of ending the conversation. Before you write a single word, ask yourself these questions: Do I actually understand their problem? ↳ Without that, your proposal is just a guess. Are they shopping around? ↳ Ask: "What criteria matter most in your decision?" ↳ Now you can write something that actually fits. Have we agreed on scope? ↳ Ask: "Can we spend 20 minutes aligning on goals first?" ↳ Clients approve what they helped shape. Is everyone at the table? ↳ Ask: "Who else should be involved before I write this up?" ↳ The person not in the room is usually the one who stalls it. Has budget come up? ↳ Ask: "Do you have a range in mind for this work?" ↳ Design the right solution — not just any solution. Does this even feel real? ↳ Ask: "Is this a real priority right now?" ↳ An honest conversation now saves weeks of wasted effort. And the most powerful shift of all? ❌ Don't say: "I'll draft something and send it over." ✅ Do say: "What if we worked through the approach together in 30 minutes?" Clients commit to solutions they helped design. Every time. The proposal isn't where you win the work. The conversation before it is. Stay curious. Ask better questions. Co-create the path forward. And when you do send that proposal? They'll already know the answer. What's one question from this list you could use this week? ♻️ Valuable? Repost to help someone in your network. 📌 Follow Mo Bunnell for client-growth strategies that don't feel like selling.

Most companies take days to make product decisions. We do it in 10 minutes. At Duolingo, Product Review (PR) is the heartbeat of our product development – and probably our most important meeting (of course, I’m biased!). When I joined Duolingo almost ten years ago, product decisions happened casually, often in informal chats at our desks. It worked for a while, but as we grew, it became a mess – key stakeholders were left out, and sometimes it wasn't clear if decisions were final or just thoughts. Over the years, we’ve transformed Product Review into a structured, efficient process that helps us move fast while also maintaining the bar for quality in our product. Here's how our Product Review works: -Each proposal gets exactly 10 minutes (down from 20, initially). The rationale for this length is because we want people to have clear, concise, and strong convictions. This saves time, but it also ensures what they are presenting is something they believe in. Luis von Ahn, our CEO, attends every single meeting. -We have three review formats based on the development stage: one-pager reviews for initial ideas, 1.5-pager reviews for concepts with rough designs, and spec reviews for fully fleshed-out features. -Reviewers are clearly marked and give feedback in a specific order, creating structure. (We also periodically switch up who the key reviewers are.) The meetings are open to anyone in the company. Beyond transparency, this serves as a training ground for developing product sense. -After each two-hour block of reviews, we hold a 15-minute debrief to evaluate decisions and continuously improve the process itself. The result? Fast decisions – but also enough structure to maintain our standard of quality across the app. Here’s a 1.5-pager from Emilia Cabrera, a product manager on our team, about an improvement for our streak session end screen. #productmanagement

Personalization isn't about sending more emails with someone's name in the subject line. It's about understanding the secret language of your buyer's motivations. What if the most effective personalization tactic was to speak to the buyer's biggest fear, rather than their biggest desire? 🤔 Reflect on this: 1️⃣ What are the unspoken concerns that keep your buyers up at night? 2️⃣ How can you use personalization to address these concerns, rather than just trying to appeal to their aspirations? 💡 Tips for marketers: 👉 Use data to uncover hidden patterns: Analyze buyer interactions, preferences, and behaviors to identify subtle patterns, revealing their motivations, pain points, and interests, enabling targeted and personalized communication. 👉 Craft messages that speak to pain points: Tailor messages to address specific fears, concerns, and needs of each individual, demonstrating empathy and understanding, and fostering trust and connection. 👉 Measure success by conversation depth : Evaluate effectiveness by the quality and depth of conversations sparked, rather than just surface-level metrics like open rates, to gauge true engagement and relationship-building. The goal of personalization isn't to manipulate, but to connect. To show up in the buyer's world with empathy and insight. To speak their secret language. What's that one thing you could change in your personalisation strategy today to start speaking your buyer's secret language? #b2bmarketing #saas #abm #contentmarketingstrategy #thoughtleadership #thethoughtleaderway

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Let’s stop pretending surprises are the problem. In my work as a PM coach and AI strategist, I see the same silent cost killers across industries and domains. If you're serious about preventing budget blowouts—start here 👇 𝟭. 𝗩𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ↳ If the goals aren’t clear, neither are the numbers. 👉 Clarity isn't optional. It's the foundation of budget integrity. 𝟮. 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ↳ “Best-case scenario” isn’t a budget. It’s a trap. 👉 Historical data + pessimism + AI = your best shot at accuracy. 𝟯. 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 ↳ Integration. Training. Stakeholder churn. Rework. 👉 Out of sight ≠ , out of scope. Name them. Cost them. 𝟰. 𝗡𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 ↳ The scope will change. Budget should too. 👉 Add a formal change reserve—or prepare for firefighting. 𝟱. 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 ↳ Risks are registered. But are they costed? 👉 Great PMs budget for risk like CFOs budget for downturns. 🔁 𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗦: 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼 𝗢𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 ↳ “Finance owns the numbers.” “PM owns the plan.” 👉 Translation: No one owns the result. Fix that first. 💡 Budget overruns aren’t fate. They’re friction. And with modern tools—especially AI—we can now identify and mitigate cost drivers before they escalate. Curious how? That’s what I coach. 👇 𝗗𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. 💬 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆. ♻️ Repost to help PMs control costs without killing team morale. 💾 Save this post for later—it’s your quick checklist for budget sanity. ➕ And follow Markus Kopko ✨ for more. #projectmanagement #budgetcontrol #pmcoach

Are my clients rethinking their AI strategy and spending levels in light of this week’s AI meltdown? No. If you know how to calculate ROI, you can justify the business’s AI spending upfront, so this week’s AI correction isn’t affecting your strategy. The ROI from last year’s data and AI initiatives should pay for this year’s spending. This year’s ROI should have already paid for next year’s AI budget. Increased spending must be offset by realized gains in revenue or cost savings. Each year during the budgeting process, we break down the gains from the current year’s initiatives and ask for a small part of that ROI to be reinvested into next year’s AI initiatives. Estimating ROI is always workflow-centric. Start with the current state and define the value it creates as the baseline. Introducing data, analytics, machine learning, or AI into the workflow changes it, defining the future state. We can estimate the value of the future state workflow in terms of cost savings, improved business outcomes, or features that customers are willing to pay for. Typically, this is a range, not a single value. The upfront estimation justifies the spending. We must also track ROI after the initiative is deployed to verify our estimation framework’s accuracy. This tracking helps justify next year’s spending. If we made the business $20, we can ask for $5 of it back to fund next year’s data and AI budgets. If we made the business $20 more in 2025 than we did in 2024, we can ask for an additional $5 to fund more data and AI initiatives in 2026. This is how you build an ROI flywheel. Prove value. Use it to justify doing more the following year. Deliver more value. Accelerate delivery and increase the number of initiatives funded next year. Maintain the cycle. Businesses that implement an AI ROI Flywheel don’t need to worry about hype cycles and market sentiment swings. Focus on delivering and quantifying customer and business outcomes. The rest is noise.

Want to know the best way to make the most out of your data? Integration! Here’s how: By connecting ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and SCM (Supply Chain Management) data into one data model, you can gain valuable insights, streamline operations, and drive growth. 𝗘𝗥𝗣: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 ERP systems manage core business processes like finance and inventory, reducing manual tasks and providing a clear view of operations. Think QuickBooks, Xero, Net Suite and SAP 𝗖𝗥𝗠: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 CRM systems help you track sales and customer interactions, enhancing customer service and driving sales growth. Some popular vendors are Salesforce and HubSpot 𝗦𝗖𝗠: 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 SCM systems manage the flow of goods, ensuring timely deliveries and better inventory control. Oracle and SAP have good options for SCM as well. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? • Improved Accuracy: Integration enhances financial planning and forecasting. • Customer Insights: Better understand customer behavior and preferences. • Operational Efficiency: Identify and eliminate inefficiencies. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 For Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), integrated systems provide accurate data for better forecasting and decision-making. They help optimize resources, ensuring your business runs smoothly and efficiently. Integrating your ERP, CRM, and SCM systems can transform your business, making it more agile and competitive. Start small, pick the right tools, and see the difference in your business operations.