I contrasted this form of advertising to the way real estate firms market and sell their services. We tend to throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. Some of us continue to believe that the thickest RFP response will win the business. We all know that most of the information in responses to RFPs is neither interesting nor compelling. Statistics are dull, case studies are trite, and fluff is, well, fluff.

But how do you put your clients and prospects on the edge of their seat during your presentation? How do you leave them wanting more? How do you leave spaces in your written proposals for them to imagine and develop their own conclusions? Here are some thoughts:

How many times have you been at a cocktail reception and noticed a small group gathered around someone relating a fascinating story? What is it about the speaker that gets others to stop and focus? I contend that it's not the speaker but the universality of the message. More often than not, the story is either one in which you a) can picture yourself or b) find yourself emotionally engaged. The trick for service providers is to find stories that both grab the client's attention and strike an emotional chord.

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