Quiz — Chapter 20: Proposals and Business Cases
Target: 70%+ before moving on. Answers and explanations are hidden — attempt each before expanding.
Section 1 — Multiple Choice
1. The chapter's threshold concept is best stated as: - A) Always include a "do nothing" option - B) The executive summary is not a preview of the document; it is the document - C) Features matter more than benefits - D) External proposals are harder than internal ones
Answer
**B.** Most decision-makers read only the executive summary, so it must *contain* the decision, not preview it. (A) and (C) are real techniques but not the threshold idea; (D) is a tendency, not the load-bearing concept. See §20.4.2. A document that asks "is this worth doing at all, and which way?"—comparing options including doing nothing—is a: - A) Proposal - B) Status report - C) Business case - D) Executive summary
Answer
**C.** A business case justifies an investment and chooses among options. A proposal (A) asks "will you let us do *this plan*?" The two often combine, but the option-comparison-and-ROI job is the business case's. (§20.1)3. The single best test of whether an executive summary is finished is: - A) It is under one page - B) It contains no jargon - C) A reader who reads only the summary can make the decision - D) It previews every section of the body
Answer
**C.** Self-sufficiency is the target—if the reader must consult the body to decide, the summary failed at its one job. Length (A) and jargon (B) matter but aren't the test; (D) is exactly the *wrong* model (it's a document, not a preview). (§20.4)4. "256-bit encryption" is a feature. Which of the following is the corresponding benefit for a small-business owner? - A) "Our system uses industry-standard 256-bit AES encryption." - B) "Encryption is applied at rest and in transit." - C) "Your customer data stays safe even if a laptop is stolen, so you avoid a breach and the fines that follow." - D) "The encryption module is fully configurable."
Answer
**C.** A benefit is the *outcome the reader feels*—here, data safety and avoided fines. A, B, and D all describe what the feature *is* or *does technically*, not what changes for the owner. The "so what?" chain ends at an outcome they care about. (§20.6)5. Why does including options you don't recommend make a business case more persuasive? - A) It makes the document longer and more thorough-looking - B) It signals rigor, pre-empts objections, and gives the reader agency - C) It hides your real recommendation - D) It is required by law for any purchase
Answer
**B.** A recommendation that survived a visible comparison is more trustworthy; it answers "but what about X?" before it's asked; and it lets the reader feel they chose. (A) is incidental and not the reason; (C) is false; (D) is invented. (§20.3)6. In a business case, the option that is most often the most persuasive number is: - A) The cheapest vendor - B) The cost of doing nothing - C) The build-in-house estimate - D) The contingency line
Answer
**B.** Pricing the "do nothing" option often reframes the proposed spend as the *cheaper* path and neutralizes the "let's wait" objection. (§20.3)7. Which is the strongest next step to end a proposal with? - A) "We look forward to your thoughts." - B) "Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions." - C) "We need sign-off by March 15 to lock this year's pricing." - D) "We are confident this meets your needs."
Answer
**C.** A single, specific, *dated* action a decision-maker can act on. A, B, and D are vague non-asks that get a document archived rather than approved. (§20.8, §20.10)8. When responding to a client's RFP (external proposal), the most important formatting rule is: - A) Use your firm's house template for brand consistency - B) Follow the RFP's required structure and order exactly - C) Make it shorter than competitors' proposals - D) Lead with your company history
Answer
**B.** Clients often score against a rubric; an unanswered or misordered requirement loses points no matter how good the rest is. Your creativity goes into the *content*, not into reorganizing their structure. (§20.9)9. A problem statement that says "the legacy system has accumulated significant technical debt" is weak for an executive audience because: - A) It is too short - B) It states the problem in the writer's terms, not in consequences the reader feels (cost, risk, time) - C) It uses passive voice - D) Technical debt is not a real problem
Answer
**B.** Executives don't feel "technical debt"; they feel weekly failures, $84K in refunds, a single point of failure with a retirement date. State the problem in the reader's currency. (§20.2)10. The recommended way to handle the main risks of a proposal is to: - A) Omit them so the proposal looks confident - B) List as many risks as possible to seem thorough - C) Name the few real, material risks and pair each with a concrete mitigation - D) Mention them only if the reader asks
Answer
**C.** Naming the real risks proactively (with mitigations) builds trust and lets you control the framing; omitting them looks naïve (A), over-listing looks anxious (B), and waiting to be asked (D) means answering from the back foot. (§20.7)Section 2 — True/False with Justification
Decide true or false, and give the one-sentence reason.
T1. "A strong proposal can contain a business case inside it."
Answer
**True.** The section of a proposal that proves the investment pays off (cost, return, comparison to alternatives) *is* a business case embedded within the larger plan-approval document. (§20.1)T2. "Because executives are busy, you should make the executive summary as short as possible—ideally one or two sentences."
Answer
**False (as stated).** The target is *self-sufficiency*, not minimum length: the summary must carry the whole decision (problem, ask, justification, cost, next step). If that takes a half-page, a two-sentence summary is too thin. Short, but complete. (§20.4)T3. "Listing a feature like 'native Salesforce integration' is sufficient if the benefit is obvious to anyone in the industry."
Answer
**False.** Even "obvious" features should be stated as benefits, because the decision-maker may not be the industry expert and because the *quantified* outcome ("saves ~6 hours per rep per week") is what persuades, not the feature label. Don't make the reader do the translation. (§20.6)T4. "An internal proposal can usually assume shared context that an external proposal must supply."
Answer
**True.** Internal readers know the company and often the problem, so re-explaining wastes their attention; external readers start from less trust and context and need it built. (§20.9)T5. "The cost of doing nothing belongs only in a business case, never in a proposal."
Answer
**False.** Cost-of-inaction strengthens the problem statement in *any* persuasion document—it answers the executive's reflexive "what if we wait?" whether the document is labeled a proposal or a business case. (§20.3, §20.10)Section 3 — Short Answer
Two or three sentences each. A model answer and one-line rubric follow.
S1. Explain why naming the risks in a proposal makes it more persuasive, not less.
Model answer + rubric
**Model:** Experienced decision-makers know every plan has risks and distrust one that claims none, so raising the risks yourself proves you've thought it through, lets you present the mitigation alongside the risk (controlling the framing), and builds trust that you won't hide bad news later. **Rubric:** Credit for the trust/credibility point *and* at least one of: pre-empting objections, controlling the framing. (§20.7)S2. A colleague's executive summary opens with three sentences of industry context before the recommendation. In one sentence, state the problem and the fix.
Model answer + rubric
**Model:** The ask is buried under context the reader already knows—move the recommendation to the first sentence and demote (or cut) the context. **Rubric:** Must identify "buried ask / lead with the recommendation." (§20.4, §20.8)S3. Give the "so what?" chain that turns the feature "automated nightly backups" into a benefit for a small-business owner.
Model answer + rubric
**Model:** Automated nightly backups → so what? → you never lose more than a day's work → so what? → even if a server fails, you don't have to re-key lost orders or lose a day's sales. **Rubric:** Credit for ending at an *outcome the owner feels* (no lost work / no re-keying / continuity), not at a restated feature. (§20.6)Section 4 — Applied Scenario
P1. Write and self-grade an executive summary. You're proposing that your department adopt a shared documentation platform to replace scattered files. Facts you may use/extend: engineers waste ~4 hours/week hunting for information; onboarding a new hire currently takes 6 weeks partly due to missing docs; the platform costs $30,000/year; a pilot team cut search time by 70% and onboarding to 4 weeks. Write a stand-alone executive summary (≤ 170 words).
Rubric
Grade your own against five checks (1 point each; 4+ to pass): 1. **Ask leads** — the recommendation is sentence 1. 2. **Stands alone** — problem, ask, justification, cost, and next step all present; a reader could decide from this alone. 3. **Quantified** — at least two real numbers (4 hrs/week, 70%, payback, weeks-to-onboard). 4. **No hedging** — "we recommend," not "we believe it may be worth considering." 5. **Dated next step** — one specific action with a deadline. If you scored below 4, the most common miss is burying the ask under context—delete everything before the recommendation and start there. (§20.4, §20.8)Scoring & Next Steps
| Score | What it means | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| < 50% | Core concepts not yet solid | Re-read §20.1, §20.4, and §20.6, then redo Section 1. |
| 50–70% | Partial grasp | Redo Part B of the Exercises (revision), focusing on leading with the ask and features→benefits. |
| 70–85% | Solid—proceed | Move on to Chapter 21, and do Exercise C1 (write an executive summary) if you haven't. |
| > 85% | Strong—stretch | Try Exercise E1 (full mini-business-case) or the Deep Dive in Case Study 2. |
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