Legal Writing

The Beauty of the Proposal

Appearances can be so important.

Attorneys (many of them) realize this, and so they tend to their personal appearance before important meetings (e.g., the first meeting with a very attractive, potential client).

But when it comes to what they commit to writing, the vast majority of attorneys (and their firms) don’t consider appearances at all. Not one bit.

They set everything in 12-pt Arial, justified, and not hyphenated (except documents submitted to the court, which won’t even accept documents set in 12-pt Arial). What most attorneys commit to writing has the same level of appearance as the attorney who shows up for an important meeting wearing shorts and sneakers and a baseball cap.

And this can put them at a distinct competitive disadvantage.

Consider responses to an important RFP. Let’s say an attractive client has sent the RFP to a half-dozen firms. Five of the responses look bland (and are set in 12-pt Arial, justified but not hyphenated). They’re all printed on letter-size paper. The only color they use isn’t a color at all, and they contain no graphics. They might say different things, but the first impression anyone gets from looking at them is this — they’re all the same.

The same, that is, except for the proposal that was designed by a designer and produced by a pro. That’s the proposal that stands out; it’s the one that gets the most attention (at least initially). It’s the one that has an edge.

____________
I’m not alone in my thinking on this. Consider what Peter Darling (a highly regarded business-development consultant who’s worked on more proposals “than I care to remember”) had to say in his recent newsletter (?How to Prepare a Proposal — March 2009?) about preparing proposals:

Someone reading a proposal basically has two concerns. The first is, ?Can/will they do what they say they can/will?? The second is, of course, ?How much will it cost?? A great deal of this isn?t a logical conclusion, but the result of fast, intuitive evaluation. Or, to put it in English, someone reading your proposal will form a powerful impression of you, your company and your offering just based on how the damn thing looks. That?s what designers do.

A good designer can make a proposal look polished, expert and contemporary. They can make your company and your offering look expert, elegant and desirable. They can work wonders. They really can.

____________
If you’re preparing an important proposal, don’t put all your effort into its content. Put a fair share into its appearance. If you want a leg up on competitors, be sure your proposal is Set in Style.

Full post as published by Set in Style on August 21, 2009 (boomark / email).