2. The $5 Focus Group:  Can 15 Minutes Make Your Proposals  15% More Persuasive?
Chris Sant | chrissant.com
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

3. Complete the "Business Preference" Survey
Online at or a paper copy near the door
First-hand experience of what we're going to talk about
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

4. Benefits
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *
a)"Business will get better, but we won't know it when it does" Henry Ford
i.Now you can
b)Build a great content library
c)More persuasive
d)Empirical evidence to justify changes
e)A great way to think of your executive summary target audience anyway and practice writing the right way
i.Target to a non-expert
1.People overestimate the level of knowledge of the reader

5. Testing your language for persuasiveness
Fluff
Guff
Weasel
Geek
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

6. Fluff
i. Cliché expressions ii. Grandiose claims iii. Minimal evidence iv. Lack of specificity or relevance to the client v. In our research, eliminating fluff increased persuasiveness by 11.9%
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

7. Guff
i. Long, complicated sentences ii. Big words, complex vocabulary iii. Overuse of passive writing iv. In our research, eliminating guff increased persuasiveness by 52.8%
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

8. Weasel
i. Weasel words—“might” and “could” rather than “will” and “can” ii. Hyperqualification of every statement iii. Hypothetical and conditional assertions iv.Avoiding responsibility or accountability v. In our research, eliminating weasel increased persuasiveness by 66.3%
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

9. Geek
i. Jargon ii.Acronyms the client doesn’t understand iii. Too many assumptions iv. Focus on technical details rather than business significance v. In our research, eliminating geek increased persuasiveness by 106.1%
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

10. Amazon Mechanical Turk
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *
a)What it is
i.How it works
1.Part of Amazon
2.Can do the questionnaire right in there or link to another survey
ii.Cost 10 cents for 2 or 3 paragraphs and questions
1.You can pay more or less
iii.Make sure the costs, descriptions and everything else are the same, so you avoid bias
b)Research shows they’re basically completely average

11. Google Forms, Survey Monkey, etc.
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *
5.Google Forms, Survey Monkey and other survey sites

12. How to write a question Change your name and product names
“Imagine you’re a...”
1 to 10 scale
Different ways of phrasing for Needs vs Outcomes vs Solution vs Evidence
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *
a)Change your name and product names
b)“Imagine you’re a...”
i.Base this on your real clients:
1.Who they are
2.What they’re deciding on
3.What they’re using to make their decision
c)1 to 10 scale
i.Allows you to tease out improvements
ii.Most confusing to most clear
iii.Lease persuasive to most persuasive
Different ways of phrasing for Needs vs Outcomes vs Solution vs Evidence

13. How not to write a question
Don’t tell them what answer you want, what the point of the survey is, or anything else that may bias the results
Don’t call one A, one B or 1 and 2
Use generic names of the same length starting with different letters from the middle of the alphabet
All of your characters should be male or female, but not a mix
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

14. Statistical validity and what to do with the results
Mean
Median
Shoot for above an 8
What if your text goes from bad to so-so?
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

15. How to ensure they’re reading the whole thing
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

16. Targeting people like your client
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

17. Using the same questionnaire type again and again
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

18. Other tips Shuffle answers and questions
Include an area where they can provide comments on the text
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

19. Other things you can and should focus group
Case studies
Titles
Differentiators
Other types of evidence
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

20. How to focus group an entire executive summary
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

21. Data mining and correlations
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

22. Questions
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *

23. Contact Us
APMP
PO Box 77272
Washington, DC
Phone: +1 - (202)
Chris Sant Founder and President Christopher Sant Consulting chrissant.com
APMP BID & PROPOSAL CON 2015 | PAGE *