“There’s nothing in This Book I Meant to Say.”
The title of this post sounds like something said to justify the quality, or lack thereof, of a proposal that had been produced in what Jon or I would term an “ad-hoc” manner. You know the type – no previous knowledge of the customer, the release of the RFP was a complete surprise, there wasn’t enough time, the necessary resources weren’t available, etc. As I said, you know the type.The title of this post is also the title of a delightful book by Paula Poundstone (one of my favorite comedians).Within the book, among the many great observations Paula brilliantly relates, I came across the following piece about Paula seeking help with a computer for one of her three children.
A teacher informed me that my daughter was eligible to receive some computer stuff through the school district. So, some guy from a place called the Computer Access Center called me to set up an appointment.Right away I said to him, “I really appreciate your help, but I need you to know I do not do computers. I know nothing about computers. I don’t even like computers. Please don’t ask me anything about what my child might need, because I simply don’t know.”He said he understood.We set up an appointment and I asked him for directions to the place.He said, “It’s on our website.”
Jon and I often see responses within proposals that are very similar to this.
This article was written by BJ on 24 March, 2009 and filed under Musings. If you found it useful, you can with others. To receive automatic updates, subscribe to The Proposal Guys via 
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Wait – so you’re saying that some people actually get RFP’s with previous knowledge of the customer, forewarning of the release, adequate time and resources, etc.?? Point me towards this Shangria-La!