Re: Writing Sales Bids

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- YAHOO -dot- COM>]

Hi, Elna.

I have to disagree. If you've ever read a proposal
response from any one of the telecommunications
companies, you would read more technical information
than you ever wanted to see in one place.

I did proposals for Bellcore and Ernst&Young, and
maybe 90% of the content originated with SMEs, who
were, infact, some of the most technically oriented
developers I know. Some of them were involved in
inventing the phone system that we know and hate.

The purpose of the proposal tech writer is to look at
the technical gobely-gook and turn it into English,
yet retain or augment the impact of the value.

Yes, it is market driven. However, the marketing slant
is as follows:

-----
SME: The doowadiddy chip will transmit data at a rate
of 4.72 gazillion megamopits. It costs $3,675,000.

Reader: So? Is that good? What does it mean to me?

 -- OR --

TW: The dowadiddy chip, developed and patented by
Megadiddy Corp, will transmit data at a rate of 4.72
gazillion megamopits. This will allowing you to
complete the transmission of your muladata 3.7% of the
current rate, while allowing you to utilize existing
technological resources and assets. It will save you
$4,200,213.67 per year in operating cost.

Reader: Holly s***! Where can I get one before my
competition does and how-the-hell have I lived without
it till now!?
-----

The difference? One is the feature that may not mean
squat to the reader and one is the feature and its
benefit to the propective customer in areas that are
important; higher productivity and greater savings at
a lower cost.

Is one less technical than the other? Is 800 pages of
this stuff "glossy"?

I would even venture to say that with businesses in an
increasingly market-driven and competitive
environmnent, companies are finding greater value in
writers that can "speak the language" of a user in
terms that make their offering more attractive.

Don't cut short those that can write dry data in an
interesting and maybe even compelling manner.

In fact, I'd also venture to say that if more writers
could structure their material in an interesting
fashion, there would be a fewer number of bored
readers and more of our documentation would GET read.

>
> Writing proposals is a special art, but one
> generally found in marketing, not
> technical writing.  Your boss may be assuming what a
> lot of management types do
> - if they think you can write at all, obviously you
> can write anything. Hence
> there must be no difference between writing manuals
> and writing sales literature
> and proposals.
>
> WRONG.
>
> Being able to write proposals is a 'nice to have'
> addition to one's resume, but
> it doesn't usually get you more technical writing
> jobs.  Technical writing, by
> definition, is supposed to have a degree of
> precision about technical terms that
> marketing writing tends to gloss over.  In terms of
> career development, it's
> definitely a detour from a linear path. And yes, you
> can probably expect
> resignations.
>
> > If I hire someone for this work, what kind of pay
> rates should I expect to
> > pay?
>
> Whatever the going rate is for marcom people in your
> area.  Which is usually
> less than the going rate for technical writers.
>
> Elna Tymes
> Los Trancos Systems

===
John Posada, Merck Research Laboratories
Sr Technical Writer, WinHelp and html
(work) john_posada -at- merck -dot- com
(pers) jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com
732-594-0873
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