Responding to RFPs requires the ability to see different possible interpretations of every question. Here’s an example of how to do it.
“I spent the first eight years of school in Denmark. Getting in trouble a lot.”
“For what?”
“Probably talking back to teacher. Could have been fighting. I was a bit rebellious. Here they used the strap, but in Denmark a bamboo cane.”
“Did it hurt?”
“Well, you didn’t sit down for three days and it left welts, but it didn’t hurt me in the long run…”
Reprinted with permission from Nebraska by Dummies, Volume Two, by Barbara Carlson
Sign this guy up as a proposal writer, right now! He concisely answered two possible interpretations of the question, “Did it hurt?” Considering how hard it is to get people to read the question and answer even one interpretation, this ability is gold in Proposal Land.
Want to read more on hearing and answering the question that was asked? Go to Not From Where You’re Standing.