Hello, let's talk about what goes into what is many would say is the single most important part of a business proposal, the executive summary. Why is the executive summary so important do you think? Well surprisingly enough, once you've submitted your proposal to your client, the executive summary is often the only part of the proposal that will be read by the majority of the decision makers. So it's important to get the key elements of the summary just right. By the end of this video, you will be able to articulate the different elements of an executive summary. So what is an executive summary? First, the term executive summary is a bit of a misnomer. It's called a summary but actually it doesn't really summarize the rest of the proposal. Instead try to think of an executive summary as an overview of the proposal. In this summary you should be providing brief information about what the content that matters would be to anyone who would read it. From the chairman of the board to a junior business associate. This means the content will focus on organizational issues and outcomes not technical content and language that can confuse some readers. Think carefully about only including content that matters to provide a clear overview of your proposal. Save the nitty gritty details for the business proposal itself which will more likely attract a more technical audience. The next element to focus on is the potential clients needs. This means clearly articulating and perhaps reminding them of the problem they're experiencing. And showing them the benefits of solving this problem. An executive summary should attract the clients interest by showing you understand the specific problem they are experiencing and it's affecting their profitability or productivity. This will be unique for each executive summary that you write. After this you should motivate the client to take action. To get this problem solved by showing them that will there will a significant benefit or payoff to solving this problem or meeting this need. Okay. So let's talk about how to make this more real. Let's look at an example of how you could attract a potential clients Interest. By focusing on their specific need or problem. Then hold that interest by reminding them of the benefits of solving this problem. Imagine you are writing the executive summary for a proposal you've developed for a busy city hospital that wants to make it's staff patient interactions more time and cost efficient. First you'd want to attract any reader's attention by articulating the problem this hospital is solving, or facing, sorry. Pause this video now and take a few minutes to read through the beginning of the executive summary for this proposal. First, we would remind the client of the problem they're solving. So here we write physicians and nurses working in your hospital have indicated the current process for recording cases is awkward, time consuming and inaccurate. As you explain to us the current process is an outdated one which operates with a number patches in additions that have been created in-house to deal with the mute emergencies as they have appeared over the years. In these first two sentences, you're showing the client that you're aware they're dealing with an aging operation system that's creating problems when the staff needs to update patient records. So we write next simplifying the process of updating case files, entering patient care notes, and documenting treatments can save Smithson Hospital hundreds in hours and thousands of dollars every week. In fact, we estimate it can save your physicians a total of 150 hours weekly and your nursing staff a weekly total of 1,850 hours. After you've attracted the audience attention and shown your awareness of their problem, these sentences are where you keep your audiences attention by given them an overview of the benefits that would be of solving the problem rather than simply ignoring it. So the benefits of solving problems caused by this aging computer system are clear and to the point. It would help them save a lot of money and provide both the doctors and nurses with more time to deal with their patients rather than wasting time inputting data into this troublesome system. Hopefully this would inspire your potential clients to continue reading so they have an idea of how to solve this problem. Pause this video again so you can take the time to read through these key sentences. The next key element to any executive summary is to provide an overview of how you propose to solve the problem your client is experience. This should provide just enough detail to answer any general questions they may have about the recommendation while being general enough that you do not alienate or confuse any readers whose background or technical knowledge to understand what you are proposing is lacking. Remember, try to tie in your recommendation to the problem the company is experiencing and be clear about how your proposed system would actually address the problem. This may seem obvious, but proposal consultants have pointed out again and again, that the majority of business proposals they read, simply describe a product or service. Rather than clearly making a recommendation that is obviously tied to the problem. As you provide an overview of your recommendation, this is also your opportunity to explain how your proposal and your company is different from the other companies who are also submitting proposals. Don't expect your potential client to be able to simply read between the lines to know how unique your proposal is, you need to make this clear especially in your executive summary. And finally the last major element in your executive summary is to keep in mind is to clearly address the practical aspects of the proposal. Perhaps how much money it will be needed to reinvest it versus the benefits that will be attained. Some basic information about the schedule you propose to implement your recommendation. And finally you could indicate whether or not you can meet any specific technical or considerations your client may have. Remember you don't need to go into detail for these practical issues, but you do need to address the issue of cost versus benefit, and briefly explain the schedule you're proposing in order to solve the company's problem. But the details for these matter should be found later in the proposal. Remember that you want to emphasize what you can do for your potential client, how you're unique from the others who may also be sending proposals to this client. This should be the key element throughout the entire executive summary. Well, I hope after reviewing the information in this lecture, you feel a bit more comfortable in your ability to articulate the key elements in an executive summary for your successful business proposals, and thank you for watching.
