The price is forgotten. The story isn't.
PROPOSALS WITH PURPOSE
(For companies in tenders and founders raising a round)
Designed to stick in people's minds and win when no one is watching. I've seen it and felt it many times. In a private tender, the most technical proposal doesn't always win. The one that's remembered when deliberation begins does. That's why I work to make choosing your proposal the most logical and safest decision.
This is how I wrote my own presentation, so you remember it when you have to prepare your next proposal and want something different.
If you're preparing an investment round, there's a dedicated section for you
"They're just flashes, I know they're just flashes". (Robe)
Your proposal was good, probably the best you'd made up to that point.
The reply email, same as always:
"Thank you, we valued it a lot…"
…until today.
How are they going to choose you if they don't even remember you?
You didn't lose on quality.
You lost because you didn't leave a mark.
If this sounds familiar, keep reading.
The same story as always?
Get out of the closet
That damn IKEA wardrobe wouldn't stop devouring my ideas. That's where most of my client proposals ended up, crammed together and forgotten inside that white monster that opened its jaws at the scent of my wasted efforts and even seemed to lick its lips as it closed them, condemning my work to oblivion.
And every client had one.
Every time I faced a new proposal, I researched, read, learned, thought, imagined and created. I set objectives, detailed the tools to achieve them, and gave the price.
Same as the competition.
What the client expected.
Sound familiar? It happens to all of us. It's a road you have to walk.
- "You came in second on price"
- "It came down to trust, we've been with the other agency for a while"
- "Your price is the highest. We're passing"
- "Your price is the lowest. We're passing"
- "We like your creative proposal, but it's slipping. For now we're not doing anything, we'll let you know when we pick it back up"
- "Thanks. We'll be in touch for the next one"
- "You weren't selected"
The wardrobe especially savored all those proposals loaded with work, effort and imagination, on a base of hope and courage, seasoned with a handful of "this time for sure" that added just the nuance the dish required.
You've felt that too, haven't you?
Sometimes I dreamed it was chasing me with its little metal legs, its doors opening and closing into a terrible, mocking grin.
Bastard.
All of them, bastards!
But this wardrobe wasn't only mine. It was, and is, the one many businesses have.
A few days ago I walked past the office of one of my oldest clients.
At the end of a hallway, behind a door with a sign that read "Storage", I saw it again. It was missing one of its doors, the edge trims had come apart and one of them hung there, clearly doomed to be ripped off and abandoned. It was missing a couple of shelves and its grin no longer scared anyone.
It was skeletal, with two empty brown folders on one of the shelves that had survived, and a box of shredded documents at the bottom next to two phone chargers that had long since lost their other halves.
I felt a certain pity for it. That monster taught me far more than any expert, guru or mentor ever did.
You can be very good, but if you don't get remembered, forget it!
I stopped feeding it a while ago, and now my proposals and my stories sit in a prominent place on the desks of the people who decide.
That's where I want to take your proposals. Get them out of the closet. Get them into people's minds. Make them want to read them again.
Make them still think about it at night. Make it the last conversation of the day with their partner.
Make it so that, two days later, when they have to meet with their team to review the different proposals, they remember yours perfectly.
Make the rest of their team feel the same way.
That's like running a hundred-meter race with a fifty-meter head start.
That's my job: getting you that head start.
Do you think that would let you win the race?
I know, I know… you want to know more.
You can download the presentation of my services, where you'll find a perfect example of what I offer. I promise you haven't seen one like it.
Here's what happens when someone takes the ten minutes it takes to read the story:
So I took your advice, and read it calmly. I thought it was great!! Honestly, you're good, really good. If you want, let's find a slot next week and talk a bit about what kind of proposal might work for our business.
Another one, a friend who always tells you the truth even when it's uncomfortable, told me this:
It moved me, so that's the way — your way, but a way nonetheless. I don't logically agree with everything. For example, not all purchases are emotional. So this is great and it does need to break barriers like you clearly say, overcome fears, but it's not for everyone.
I know, it's not for everyone. Is it for you? Want to keep reading?
If you have a private tender or a relevant B2B proposal at stake, we can look at how to reduce perceived risk and increase your real odds. You can download a real example of how I structure my proposals. And if it sounds good, let's talk.
What you've read so far isn't decoration or an attempt to show off my literary skills. I understand the Planeta Prize is out of my reach.
It's a demonstration.
For years I've seen how a well-built story sticks.
It's remembered. It's shared.
Today I apply that same principle where the future of many companies is really decided: their business proposals.
I don't charge to write a story that entertains your clients. I write to tip decisions, and for that I need more than a technical brief.
I need to understand:
- What's really at stake.
- What risk the decision-maker perceives. Are they the type who prefers "the devil they know"?
- What they want to achieve even if they don't say it (especially if they don't say it)
Among all that information there's always something that changes everything.
- A tension nobody says out loud.
- A hidden ambition.
- A phrase said in a meeting.
- A detail.
This is the hardest part, and maybe the most intuitive part of the whole process:
IDENTIFYING THE EMOTIONAL LEVER THAT TIPS THE DECISION.
That's the thread that runs through everything.
And once I finally spot the crack where the decision gets in, I weave all the technical side — services, pricing, timing, strategy — into that structure.
The result: a proposal that competes on conviction.
Why use storytelling for your communication?
Stories don't convince. They accompany. And when someone feels accompanied, they decide with less fear.
All the photos on this website were kindly provided by @joseluis. I know this link is a point where you might leave my site, but I promise it leads somewhere beautiful.
HOW I WORK
The muses opened their own communications agency a while ago and no longer have time for unannounced visits. I've never liked the words "method" or "system" — they sound too clinical — so I'll use the word "recipe" instead (once you finish reading the site you'll know why), understood as the right procedure for getting something done. And my recipe can't be missing the following ingredients:
- Deep strategic research.
- An X-ray of the decision-maker.
- Finding the narrative thread aligned with their principles.
- Blending technical substance with emotion without losing rigor.
- Preparing for deliberation.
I work with a limited number of proposals per month and they're not always available, because finding that thread can't be rushed, and because not every proposal needs what I do — only the ones with something important at stake.