How To Create A Winning Proposals That Sells | Sales Presentation Skills Training

A written document provides the financial and qualitative information necessary to make an informed engagement decision. While in most instances the written document is a small portion of the buying decision, it can be the deciding factor.

What Is a Winning Proposal?

A well-written proposal will first review the information the top decision influencers have shared with you about their issues and the value of solving their needs and wants. Capturing the specific value of changing service providers will present the financial logic to support a buying decision.

Top management is primarily concerned with profits. In many businesses, the technical aspects will be delegated to the user buying influence. A proposal should only contain the technical support necessary to support the business reasons.

How long should the written proposal be? The proposal should be long enough to cover the relevant aspects of solving the prospect’s issues. Seventy percent of the length should be focused on the prospect and less than thirty percent on you and how great your firm is. You may want to ask the prospect how long the proposal might be. You may also simply put the proposal in an engagement letter format, so when the prospect signs you are in business.

How Do Buyers Choose You?

It is crucial for you to understand the buying conditions of each decision influencer and of the committee or group designated to make the decision. You will rarely have the luxury of interviewing each person on the committee, but you must do your best to have an audience with the person who has “big YES” authority. The committee should have established buying criteria such as reputation, number of similar clients in the industry, solid references, and good personal chemistry. In your proposal, you might list all the buying conditions and address your capability to deliver each one.

A key element in the written proposal process is for you to present your proposal in draft format to as many people in the decision process as possible. By presenting the written document and asking for feedback, you can hone the document and your understanding of the issues to a more precise solution.

Conclusion

Just as canned presentations and four-color brochures do not close the big sale, the boilerplate proposal does not work either. Boilerplate proposals are usually seller-oriented and will rarely impress your prospect.