Proposal content that raised close rates by up to 22%
XPO competes for complex logistics contracts where the proposal is often the first real impression. As Manager, Content for Marketing and Proposals, I rebuilt how the team wrote, organized, and delivered that content, using tailored, industry-specific assets to raise close rates by up to 22%.
- Client
- XPO Logistics
- My role
- Manager, Content, Marketing and Proposals
- Scope
- 8–10 concurrent projects across strategy, business development, and proposals
- Timeline
- 2019 – 2021
- Deliverables
- Proposals, RFP and RFI responses, industry reports, and sales training
The challenge
XPO competes for contracts with some of the largest shippers in the country, and in that world a proposal has to do a great deal of persuading on paper. The team was producing solid responses on tight deadlines, but much of the content was general-purpose, scattered across systems, and slow to tailor to a prospect's industry.
The goal was to win more business without slowing anyone down. That meant proposals that spoke directly to each industry's challenges, a content library sellers could actually find things in, and a stronger, more credible voice for XPO in the market.
My role and leadership
As Manager, Content for Marketing and Proposals, I directed eight to ten concurrent projects spanning content strategy, business development, and proposal management. I owned RFP and RFI strategy and development, wrote and edited the proposal content myself, and worked with sales leaders and subject-matter experts across the business to bring each response together.
- Raised close rates by up to 22% with tailored, industry-specific proposal content
- Owned RFP and RFI strategy and development, directly supporting new business wins
- Wrote a monthly State of the Industry report that strengthened XPO's authority with prospects and clients
- Led the move from Confluence to SharePoint and Loopio, improving team efficiency by about 20%
- Built sales enablement and training programs for an 18–20 person sales force
The approach
I built industry-specific content and proposal assets so every response spoke to the prospect's world rather than to logistics in general.
I led the migration to SharePoint and Loopio and organized the content so writers and sellers could find, reuse, and adapt it in minutes instead of hours.
My monthly State of the Industry report gave prospects and clients a reason to hear from XPO between deals and added credibility to every proposal that followed.
Training and enablement programs standardized the content and the process, so the whole sales team told the same strong story.
Navigating the hard parts
With eight to ten projects in motion, I prioritized by deal value and due date and built repeatable processes so quality held up under pressure.
New tools and processes only work if people use them, so I brought stakeholders in early, showed how the changes would save them time, and then led the rollout myself.
Every response needed to feel written for one prospect, yet no team can start from zero each time. A well-organized library of industry content let us personalize quickly without cutting corners.
The work
Two long-form pieces I wrote for XPO's prospects and clients. Both open in Google Drive, where you can request access and I'll approve it.
“Nicole did a tremendous job of identifying further capabilities for the team to focus on, and then worked with all the right stakeholders to sell her concepts to reach alignment… I would recommend Nicole as a great team player, leader and teacher.”
What I learned
A proposal is persuasive writing, not a form to fill out.
The biggest gains at XPO came from treating proposals with the same care as any other high-stakes copy, which meant knowing the reader, speaking to their specific challenges, and making the case clearly. The systems and training mattered because they let that standard hold across every response, not only the ones I wrote myself.
I've carried that into every sales-facing content program since, where good writing and good process do their best work together.