Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking, “How is this guy possibly bringing together a renegade San Francisco police detective and a Hawaiian beach bum/naval intelligence officer/private investigator in a proposal writing discussion?”

How could two fictional characters who have never written a proposal teach me anything about creating a successful proposal?

Let’s take a look at both characters.

Dirty Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood’s character in five blockbuster movies in the 1970s, played a renegade cop. The movies were full of action, suspense, and drama.

Magnum, PI featured Tom Selleck in a hit television series for CBS that ran for eight years in the ’80s.

This is where the link to successful proposal writing comes into play. Both characters uttered those famous words: “I know what you’re thinking.” So you’re still thinking, “What does this have to do with proposal writing?” In 1971, when Clint Eastwood said, “I know what you’re thinking, idiot,” he followed it up with, “Are you thinking, ‘Did he fire six shots or just five?'” In fact, he used those words twice in the movie: once at the beginning of the movie and once when he caught the bad guy.

Actually, he was addressing everyone in the theater. Everyone in the theater, or at least those who got sucked into the drama, suspense, and action, was thinking, “Did he fire six shots or just five?” This was a brilliant script because the actor was speaking directly to the theater audience.

The series, Magnum, PI, became a hugely popular show featuring a great cast, great writing, exotic locations, and a mix of action, comedy, and suspense. But here again, the writers used the same technique in the 1980s that made the Dirty Harry movies successful in the 1970s.

On each show, Thomas Magnum spoke to the television audience. Once again, he drew you to the show because you felt that he was speaking to you. He would often start the segment by saying, “I know what you’re thinking.” Again, brilliant script writing.

Both actors spoke to the audience “knowing what they were thinking”. Therefore, if you want to be successful with your proposal writing, you need to focus on your client’s wants, needs, plans, and desires.

You have to think about them while creating your proposal. Forget all the great things your company has done and can do.

Forget how many offices you have or how many people you employ.

You need to clearly focus on your customers and how all that great stuff relates to them.

You need to make them believe that your proposal is “speaking” to them directly because they can “hear” you proclaiming, “Yes, I know what you’re thinking.”

The more you take a personal approach to your clients’ needs and words, the better your chances of getting positive results from your proposal.

So go ahead. Make my day!

Or rather, go ahead. Make your client’s day.