How to Write an Executive Summary for Your Business Proposal?

How to Write an Executive Summary for Your Business Proposal

Imagine the first page of a book you’re really interested in reading being horribly boring. Now imagine that same page is inside of a book that you were not super jazzed about reading in the first place. That very first boring page is going to make the rest of the book either really excruciating to read or make it all the easier for you to throw it to the side to never open again.

Guess what? The same thing applies to your business proposal and its executive summary. This article will discuss how to write an Executive Summary for your business proposal so that you won’t risk neglect of one of the most impactful pieces of your business proposal submission.

First, let’s get into what an Executive Summary is and what it is not.

What is an Executive Summary?

Proposals used to be difficult to write before. (Now the world has Zbizlink as a proposal response software making it all better). Lack of clear understanding on how to respond to a business proposal led to the challenge’s​ proposal writers ​used to face.

Lucky for you, you not only have the ​best proposal management software​ available, here you can also receive clear understanding on a critical business proposal element – the Executive Summary.

Think back to the scenario up top.

The Exec Summary is an introduction of your company and your solution to the evaluators of your business proposal. A first impression! It is almost always positioned as the very first content page of your business proposal or will always precede your solution.

Your Executive Summary must be eye-catching, informative, and solution driven. Sound easy?

Well, it gets tricky when you craft something that compelling within a one to three-page limit. The request for proposal (RFP) ​requirements will let you know just how many pages you get – usually one to three pages maximum.

Learn: ​what is the key to writing an effective proposal in response to an​ rfp?

Yes, the Executive Summary should somehow incorporate all these fine elements into a one to two page “summary”. Even if the RFP does not have a page limit, you’re better off keeping the Executive Summary short, sweet, and to the point.

Your next question is probably “how?”. We will get into that a little further down.

First, let’s make it clear about what an Executive Summary is not.

Your Executive Summary is not merely just a summary statement describing your proposal (talk about a misnomer!). It is an opportunity for you to knock the readers’ socks off with a mini story of who your company is, your solution to the prospective client’s problem, and the benefits of that solution. Emphasis on the word “story”.

Here are the top 03 ways to structure your Executive Summary: ●

Make it a narrative, NOT a statement. Instead of just stating the obvious, open the beginning of your proposal with an Executive Summary that is compelling and invites the reader into the narrative of the proposal. Write to the readers, not at them.

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Craft a capability profile, not a summary. Your Executive Summary is not simply a summary. The proposal readers are evaluating your proposal as soon as they begin reading. They will read the full proposal anyway, so it is best to present your company’s strengths as a potential partner in the Executive Summary with a solutions overview and proof points.

●

Emphasize the customer first, then yourself. Remember that you are writing the proposal to a prospective client. Introduce your understanding of the client’s needs first before you go into the narrative about why your company is the best choice.

An Executive Summary Example:

Hope you didn’t think we were going to tell you how an Executive Summary should be structured and not provide an example. Check out the example from a real-life staff augmentation state government proposal​ below to get a better idea of how to write an Executive Summary for Your Business Proposal.