You have to have a good story

So far this year, my reading list has been quite out of the ordinary - a bizarre combination of business books and fantasy.

In addition to reviewing two books for the "Industry Speaks" website, I read Weld Coxe's "Marketing Architectural and Engineering Services," reread "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis and somehow latched onto Rick Riordan's five-book "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series.

So far, I have read "The Lightning Thief," "The Sea of Monsters" and "The Titan's Curse." I'm about 120 pages into "The Battle of the Labyrinth" and "The Last Olympian" is sitting on my kitchen counter, (not-so-patiently) waiting its turn.

I know this series usually lands in the "Young Adult" section of the bookstore or library. I'm such an avid fantasy reader, because it takes me away from the technical writing that fills my workdays, that I'll start almost any book of the fantasy genre that looks like it was written for "ages 15 and up", to see if the story grabs and then holds me.

These stories grabbed and held me -- and held me tight! What could be better escapist fare than a story of young teen-agers in today's world, who are the "half-breed" (Riordan's word) children of a mortal and a Greek God (demigods), battling other jealous gods, the Titans and some classical monsters, and saving the world, as every teenager thinks he or she can do standing on one leg with one arm tied behind his or her back?

The point of this admission is not to let all of you in on the secret of what I like to read when nobody else is around. The point is:

You have to have a good story to grab and hold a reader's attention, and to move the reader to some action, even if just to turn the page and keep reading, or to buy the next book in the series.

When you develop a Statement of Qualifications for a prospective client, you want to move that client to ask you for a technical proposal, or to send you his next RFP, or hire you on the spot.

When you develop a technical proposal, you want to move the client to select you for the project assignment, or at least to invite you to make a short-list presentation.

In either case, you have to develop a compelling story to convince the client to take the action you want him or her to take. What will the client consider compelling? Many of the clues are in the RFQ or RFP.

• The RFQ/RFP tells you what to include -- include it -- in the order the client uses.
• The RFQ/RFP explains the evaluation criteria -- make sure you demonstrate that your story proves that you meet those criteria.
• You are presenting your relevant projects -- humanize them -- tell the story of the client's need and your solutions, or the project's challenges and how you overcame them.
• Use pictures with your project stories -- make sure the pictures have people and/or cars in them, to indicate the size and scope of the project.
• Talk about how you resolved community issues, how you made the client the "good guy" and his project something the community wanted.

Remember, a good story touches the heart. Every purchasing decision -- whether the purchase of a new car or the procuring of an A/E team -- has an emotional component. If your story has all the emotional punch of a CSI specification, it will be a very hard road to selection.

 

"Udderly Austin"

(Austin downtown cow art collection)