Posted by BJ under Word play & writing | 
While traveling recently I cam upon a sign that read, “We buy cars. Run or No Run. Give you much money.”
As I suspect would be the case for many of you, this immediately struck me as very incorrect language. Obviously, it should have read, “Whether the car is running or not” or something along those lines.
But then I gave this some thought. This sign was posted in an economically challenged area* and one in which the majority of people spoke little to no English. In all probability, using proper English would have resulted in the intended audience not understanding what was being offered.
So, while it might make any of us cringe to read such a sign, it is an excellent example of writing the intended audience.
*No Jon, I wasn’t hanging out in this part of town. I was passing through, having taken detour to bypass a congested highway.
Posted by Jon under Musings |
Steve Mullins, the chair of Strategic Proposals’ board, is one of the leading lights in the world of procurement. While we were chatting the other day, he made a marvellous observation:
What’s the scariest phrase for a buyer to hear after selecting their supplier?
“What a brave decision!”
I love this. I well recall from my own procurement days that, whilst we focused on what good would look like, the flipside was always a concern: what if this went wrong? Can you imagine a buyer saying any of the following:
• I want to have to work really, really hard personally to make this work
• I don’t mind my users shouting at me
• I don’t mind my bosses shouting at me
• If it’s late, who cares….?
• Unexpected extra costs? I don’t mind going to ask for more money
• Bring on the excitement – I love surprises!
I doubt it. And it re-emphasises the need to think about the customer’s hopes and – especially – fears when formulating your proposal strategies.
Posted by BJ under Musings |
On a recent five-day trip to Austria, via London, the luggage of my sister-in-law Mary and niece Betsy was lost. Though they were told by the airline that it had been found at Heathrow and were being sent on to them, it never arrived. Further inquiries to the airline resulted in them being told the luggage was lost and that the airline had “written them off.”
When coming back through Heathrow, with only a short time before her flight was due to depart, Mary, determined to find her luggage if possible, made some inquiries and was directed to a room within the terminal. As she told me afterwards, “I was directed into the ‘bowels’ of the terminal, down a long dimly lit passage to a much less than inviting room with a sign on the door that read, ‘Do NOT come here looking for lost luggage.’
At the counter sat two stone faced women who did not appear at all happy to have someone disregard their sign. I sheepishly told them I was looking for my lost luggage. One of the women begrudgingly took my slip of paper and with a grunt informed me I took look on the shelves if I wanted to but not to expect to find my luggage. Betsy and I entered a huge warehouse with several rows of shelves at least five or six shelves high. There were at least a thousand bags, of all shapes, sizes and variety, the majority of them being black and without much in the way of identifying marks. Bags were two and three deep on each shelf. It was utter disarray.
Betsy and I looked for some 30 minutes or so and, as it was approaching the time we needed to get back to the gate I said to Betsy, “Well, I don’t see them.” Right as I said that she said, “I see mine.”
Unlike the majority of the bags in the room, Betsy’s bag is bright pink. A small corner of it was just visible behind a couple of other bags and Betsy spotted it. Fortunately, the 3 other bags were nearby and Mary and Betsy quickly located them.
So, if the next time you see me at an airport or hotel and you notice my bag has been spray painted with pink polka dots, you’ll know why.
Posted by BJ under Musings, Processes & best practice |
In a previous post I wrote about my brother-in-law, David, preparing a meal for a dinner party. I spoke about how he started preparations for the meal some 8+ hours before it was to be served.
As I was discussing with David and my brother Ken the parallels to proposal preparation – getting started well before the RFP was released – my brother asked, “And did you notice what David did first?”
“David began by clearing the kitchen counter, emptying the trash and checking the edge on my knives.” (David hadn’t brought his own knives and was using Ken’s, which he found to be somewhat dull. Ken brought out his knife sharpener and David sharpened each of the knives.)
We discussed this parallel to proposals. Rather than jumping into things, David took the time to prepare his work area and his tools. Having the proper tools and an appropriately set up work space allowed David to then focus on the task at hand, rather than having to repeatedly stop to find a tool or to make room to work.
It is the same with proposal development.. Those who have an appropriate space in which to work and the necessary equipment and tools, are able to focus on the task at hand – developing and are able to work much more effectively and efficiently…resulting in higher-impact, higher-quality responses.
