Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts

Persuasion

With persuasion, we care very much about whether the reader is motivated to buy. Persuasion combines elements of information and evaluation. It should present facts accurately, and it should offer intelligent, informed opinions. But to be successful as persuasion, what we write or say should influence what the audience thinks, how they feel, or what they do.

Fortunately, the most effective pattern for persuasion, which I call the persuasive paradigm, is simple to understand and use. It consists of four steps.

First: The customer’s needs. The initial step in persuading is to demonstrate you understand the customer’s needs, issues, or problems. Your first job is to summarize the business situation briefly, focusing on the gap to be ...