This blog has lots of advice on creating more compelling proposals and winning more business, but here’s a simple trick you can do in 5 minutes or less that will make your proposals better.
Search for “ly”. (Mimiran, Word, and just about every application for creating proposals have a search feature.)
When you come across a hit like “extremely”, “passionately”, “diligently”, etc, delete that adverb.
We use the adverbs to strengthen the verb (“extremely dedicated”, “diligently check”). However, you end up weakening the verb. Would you check in a non-diligent fashion? Just take out the adverbs. (It wouldn’t hurt to strip out a lot of other wasted words, too, but that’s a bit more complicated.)
Compare:
“We diligently check your keywords to filter out negative matches.”
“We check your keywords to filter out negative matches.”
Just removing the adverb helps. If we really want to highlight diligence, be specific about what you mean.
“We review your keyword performance every week to filter out negative matches and you can see any updates in your dashboard.”
You can also check for buzzwords with the Proposal Buzzword Highlighter.