Bad Effects of Tourism
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SUMMARY
Author Frank Stasiowski offers questions to ask a client before writing a proposal. These questions will shed light on the details of project and illuminate the client’s intentions.
PREPROPOSAL MEETINGS
Sometimes clients schedule formal meetings for all firms interested in submitting a proposal on a project. During this meeting it is important to gather information and ask questions and, above all, listen.
Do not discuss or offer your proposal strategy at this meeting; it’s premature.
If the client doesn’t schedule a formal meeting, consider offering to arrange an informal one. This is a good opportunity to build a better relationship with the client, learn more details about the project, and perhaps “read between the lines” of the request for proposals (RFP).
Ask open-ended questions. Learn everything you can about the project, the client’s experience with previous projects, and the client’s expectations for this one.
The following are sample questions, organized into categories. Not all questions, or the form of the questions, will be appropriate in every instance. Use the sample questions to stimulate your thinking and broaden the scope of information you might seek to acquire in a client interview.
Determining Client Need
• What led you to our firm?
• How can we help you?
• How would you define the scope of this project in general terms?
• What is our overriding goal for this project?
• What problems or obstacles to achieving this goal have you already identified?
• Where does this project fit into your organization’s long-range planning?
Project History
• How did the project originate?
• Who developed the idea?
• Is the idea similar to someone else’s?
• Who in your organization is supportive of the idea? • Who in your organization questions, or questioned, the need for the project?
• Is there any opposition, either internally or externally? •
SUMMARY
Author Frank Stasiowski offers questions to ask a client before writing a proposal. These questions will shed light on the details of project and illuminate the client’s intentions.
PREPROPOSAL MEETINGS
Sometimes clients schedule formal meetings for all firms interested in submitting a proposal on a project. During this meeting it is important to gather information and ask questions and, above all, listen.
Do not discuss or offer your proposal strategy at this meeting; it’s premature.
If the client doesn’t schedule a formal meeting, consider offering to arrange an informal one. This is a good opportunity to build a better relationship with the client, learn more details about the project, and perhaps “read between the lines” of the request for proposals (RFP).
Ask open-ended questions. Learn everything you can about the project, the client’s experience with previous projects, and the client’s expectations for this one.
The following are sample questions, organized into categories. Not all questions, or the form of the questions, will be appropriate in every instance. Use the sample questions to stimulate your thinking and broaden the scope of information you might seek to acquire in a client interview.
Determining Client Need
• What led you to our firm?
• How can we help you?
• How would you define the scope of this project in general terms?
• What is our overriding goal for this project?
• What problems or obstacles to achieving this goal have you already identified?
• Where does this project fit into your organization’s long-range planning?
Project History
• How did the project originate?
• Who developed the idea?
• Is the idea similar to someone else’s?
• Who in your organization is supportive of the idea? • Who in your organization questions, or questioned, the need for the project?
• Is there any opposition, either internally or externally? •