If you’re running an emerging B2B technology company, you know that your first ‘early-adopter’ clients are critical to your survival. So you lock yourself in your office at the first sign of a Request for Proposal (RFP) or strong sales lead.

You commit resources and get your best people on board. Your proposal is perfect, the pitch is perfect — and then you’re rejected.

What went wrong?

p<. The answer could be a number of things, starting with pitching for business you couldn’t hope to win, says New York-based entrepreneur and proposal expert “Daniel Schutzsmith”:http://www.redcanary.ca/person/9533.

Schutzsmith outlined six best practices for both identifying proposal dead-ends and putting killer pitches together.

Six Best Practices for B2B Proposals

1. Watch out for window shoppers

Daniel suggests you start by avoiding ‘reconnaissance’ requests or leads.

“Informal requests are usually the deadliest,” explains Schutzsmith. “There might not be a deadline, there might not be a budget. It could be so off-the-cuff that they’re just asking because they thought about it last night while watching TV. You could end up spending three days of your week working on a proposal that goes nowhere.”

Formal RFPs tend to lay it all out: missions, objectives, technical requirements and sometimes even a budget.

2. Don’t be the third wheel

Your proposal may be perfect, but the company may already have their sights set on another firm.

“A lot of companies have a three-bid minimum and they can’t give the job to any company unless they get three bids,” explains Schutzsmith.

“As soon as I figure out that I’m the third bid in a three-bid situation, I back out.”—Schutzsmith

3. Let the professionals do their job

You may be a technical genius, but writing isn’t your forte. Put your best foot forward and get a copywriter to put your pitch on paper. You don’t need to break the bank on this one; you can hire freelance copywriters on an hourly or part-time basis.

4. It’s all in the delivery

No matter how technically sound your product is go beyond Microsoft Word and Powerpoint and add some flair to your work with graphs, images and colour. Showcase your company’s innovation right from the start.

“Believe it or not, e-mail isn’t the only way to send out a proposal,” advises Schutzsmith. Take the time to get it bound at a print shop and deliver a hard copy of your work.

5. It’s all in the process

“Put more emphasis on your process, rather than your strategy,” advises Schutzsmith. Strategy and objectives are important, but your process can set you apart. Give them a step-by-step process that you’ll be following, along with a milestone schedule outlining things like alpha and beta builds.

6. Tell them what they are paying for

Include a list of deliverables that you’ll be including with the project. These should be very specific things. Not only does this establish what you’re getting paid for, but it also shows an eye for detail.

And details are what sets apart the successful bids from others. But getting it in on time can go a long way too.

“Daniel Schutzsmith”:http://www.redcanary.ca/person/9533 is a design management consultant, among many other things, and a seasoned pro when it comes to writing proposals. He’s a regular speaker at tech conventions; including the “2007 Toronto FITC conference”:http://www.fitc.ca/event_detail.cfm?festival_id=12 where he delivered a talk on this very subject. For more on David’s take on client relations and the proposal process, visit “http://www.graphicdefine.org/”:http://www.graphicdefine.org/