How To Write an Executive Summary

SCENARIO: You've been asked to write the executive summary of for a sales proposal. Because you know your competitors are also writing proposals, you want to make certain that your proposal gets read and that it's well received. You know from experience that prospects tend to judge a proposal based upon what they read in the first paragraph; it's it's off, they move to the next proposal. Your challenge: select the most effective opening paragraph. Here are your choices:

• Corporate Overview. Describe your company and what it provides to its customers. This creates credibility and builds "social proof" that the prospect should hire you.
• Call to Action. Mention one or two key factors that differentiate your as a vendor and that make you the right company for the client to choose, then ask for the business.
• Problem/Need/Goal. Demonstrate your understanding of the customer's business situation by providing the results of your research into the customer's situation.
• Expected Outcome. Describe the potential positive impact on the customer's organization if the problem is solved, the need is fulfilled, or the goal is achieved.
• Solution Overview. Provide a brief overview of the solution that's being proposed, tying each element of the solution back to one of the customer's problems or needs.
• Evidence of Success. Cite examples of how you've helped similar customers in similar situations, in order to set a success-oriented tone for the entire proposal.

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• Part 1: The Problem/Need/Goal. Demonstrate your understanding of the customer's business situation. The definition of the problem/need/goal is more than a paraphrase of the customer's original requirements. Instead, it should reflect the results of your research into the customer's situation and should show that you understand their business. Examples: "You have identified a $5 million shortfall in revenue due to lost inventory." "You are seeking to grow your consultancy by 50 percent a year for the next three years."
• Part 2: The Expected Outcome. Describe the potential positive impact on the customer's organization if the problem is solved, the need is fulfilled, or the goal is achieved. Note that this is not a discussion of your solution's features and benefits. Rather, the focus is on the organization and the gains it will achieve from implementing your solution. Examples: "When problem 'A' is solved, you will have 50 percent less downtime..." "Achieving goal 'B' will allow you to open your products to new markets..." The reason the executive summary must address client-desired outcomes is to create a strong desire to move forward on the part of the decision maker. Focusing on the need gets their attention (part 1), but focusing on the gain sets up to gain their commitment.
• Part 3: Solution Overview. Provide, for the non-specialist, a brief overview of the solution that's being proposed. Ideally, each element of the solution should tie back to one of the customer's problems or needs and to one of the desired outcomes. Examples: "We are proposing 'A' because it solves the problem of..." "We are proposing 'B' because it provides the following value to your firm..."
• Part 4: The Evidence. This is a brief mention of why your are capable of delivering the solution on time and on budget: quotes from clients, accolades, awards, and so forth.
• Part 5:The Call to Action. Ask for the business. This can be something as simple as "We're eager to work with you." In asking for the business, mention one or two key factors that differentiate your as a vendor and that make you the right company for the client to choose.

CLICK for an example » EXAMPLE OF AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Here's a sample executive summary, written for a company selling sales training to a vendor of large vehicles used in manufacturing facilities.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As ABC's market has matured, your company has faced additional competition from a large number of global firms, some of which have manufacturing facilities in areas far from your own manufacturing facilities. Since many of these specialized vehicles cannot be driven on public roadways, your business model has suffered from high shipment costs. This has forced you to charge more for your products that some of your competitors in order to maintain profitability.

You have told us that you lack a standardized, repeatable sales process.Each sales professional creates his or her own individual sales process in order to address opportunities. As a result, it has been difficult for management to assess the pipeline, make forecasts, and generally run the business. In addition your sales reps lacked the formal business training to fully satisfy the needs of their customers. ABC's management saw this as a major liability since helping those customers to grow their businesses would clearly have yielded increased revenues and channel loyalty.
[i.e. The "problem/need/goal."]

You have determined that the best way to address this problem is to create a repeatable sales process and an ongoing program to build a greater level of business acumen throughout the sales organization. You except this process and program to increase sales by 20 percent per year over the next three years.
[i.e. The "expected outcome."]

We intend to do this in four steps: 1) Initial Assessment. We will interview ABC's sales teams in order to determine the current situation and needs. 2) Course Design. We will build a customized set of courses that will build and reinforce a sales process and provide ongoing business training. 3) Evaluation Support. We will create a steering committee and a method of measuring and analyzing the progress of the training.
[i.e. The "proposed solution."]

We are confident that this program will both increase forecasting accuracy and result in improved average performance of your sales staff. Our prior experience with customers XYZ and ABC leads us to believe that the growth goals that you've identified for this project can not just be achieved but exceeded..
[i.e. The "evidence.]

We are eager to work with you to implement this solution.
[i.e. The "call to action.]

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