The Executive Summary More Than Just an Intro
By Dan Safford

The Executive Summary is the most-read part of your proposal. Everyone who has anything to do with evaluating the proposal will read at least part of it; sometimes it will be the only thing they read. Your Executive Summary must be a compelling sales document.

The Executive summary is the most important section of your proposal. It distills your entire offer-what you will do to address and solve the client's needs-in a very few pages, even paragraphs. Every word of the executive summary should be loaded with sales meaning-benefits to the client, reasons why he cannot help but select you. Every graphic you use must be thought out to the last detail, from the image you use to the colors you select to the captions you write. 

Everything about the executive summary needs to be focused on driving the message of your proposal home to the reader. The reader must come away from reading your executive summary with a clear idea of what you offer and why it is in his best interest to select your solution to his problem.

What is the ES? The Executive Summary is a sales document. Period. It presents the winning themes and strategies you have labored to develop. This is your primary purpose in writing the Executive Summary, to present, arrange, and phrase the facts in a way that will leave the reader with the inescapable conclusion that only you are right for the job.

The Executive Summary may have different names. You may call it simply Summary, or it may be the Introduction to your proposal. If the client has given you a format that does not allow for an Executive Summary (if he has given you an outline to follow and a strict page count), then you should make your cover letter your Executive Summary. 

But whatever you call it, make sure you have one.

Who reads the ES? The short answer is: Everyone! The first level evaluators-the ones who are reading your proposal to score against a set of criteria-will read it before going on to the rest of the proposal. Many times there is a second level evaluator-maybe a single person, maybe a panel, to whom the first level evaluators have submitted their scores for the proposals along with their assessments of each. These second tier evaluators will often read only the Executive Summary, and the summaries of the first level evaluators. 

The final decision maker will likely give a cursory glance to the Executive Summary. And the Executive Summary is often the only thing the short-list interview team will read about your proposed approach. 

A final note. The Executive Summary is too important to save to the last.  Start early, and revise as the proposal writing process moves forward.