Blog · Tag
executive-summary.
11 posts in this archive.
Executive summaries: the shortest high-leverage document in B2B sales
The canonical pillar on executive summaries. Why one page decides whether the proposal gets read, the five parts of a strong exec summary, two before-and-after rewrites, who signs off.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 12
A short Friday field note — three exec summaries rewritten this week. A commercial SaaS bid, a federal task-order response, and a managed-services renewal. The standalone installment before Monday's long-form pillar.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 11
Part 11 of the monthly series. Three real executive summaries, anonymized, rewritten. What was wrong in the original, what changed in the rewrite, and what each one taught about the shape of the RFP it responded to.
Section 1: the executive summary nuances most teams miss
The executive summary is the section most teams write last, worst, and most generically. When you write it depends on the RFP's shape. Three shapes, three rules, and the nuances nobody tells you.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 9
The January installment of the rewrite series. A public-sector services bid, a SaaS renewal proposal, and a financial-services DDQ opener. Three before-and-afters and what each rewrite was actually doing.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 8
The December installment of the rewrite series. A year-end DDQ-fronted RFP, a public-sector re-compete, and a managed-services renewal. Three rewrites and what each one was actually doing.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 7
The November installment of the rewrite series. A defense bid, a commercial RFP, and a security-questionnaire cover letter. Three before-and-afters and what each rewrite was actually doing.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 6
The October installment of the rewrite series. A SaaS bid, a federal IT services bid, and a healthcare DDQ-fronted RFP. Three before-and-afters and what each rewrite was actually doing.
The executive summary that fits on two pages, always
Length is a win-theme signal to evaluators. A two-page executive summary is a commitment; a six-page executive summary is a hedge. Six compression moves I run every time.
Three exec summaries I rewrote this week, part 2
Three illustrative before-and-after exec summary openings. The patterns that fail, the edits that work, and why the second sentence is where most exec summaries lose the reader.
Win themes are not value props
Six win themes — four that fail the swap test, two that survive it. The difference is the difference between a theme an evaluator scores and one they skim past.
See the proposal workflow
Take the 5-minute tour, then start a trial workspace when you're ready to run a real pursuit against your own source material.