To put the importance of sales proposals in proper perspective, they are more than a vehicle to convey your message. They are your message.
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To put the importance of sales proposals in proper perspective, they are more than a vehicle to convey your message. They are your message.
Sadly, proposals that could be winners are often rejected. They may be filled with information, but the message gets lost and they fail to capture the recipient's imagination.
Proposals should be easy to follow. But watch out. What's clear to you, can be a mystery to others. Stay away from jargon, too. The ability to explain something simply earns you points.
How you structure your proposal makes a difference. Organize it so the main points stand out. Of all proposal outlines, “problem-solution” works well because it keeps the focus where it belongs: on the customer.
The problem expresses your understanding of what the customer wants to correct or improve. It's your grasp of the situation, so it's critical to get it right because your credibility is at stake.
If you've described the problem accurately, the customer will pay close attention to your solution. A good way to do this is by proposing options, preferably three. This way you avoid putting all your eggs in one basket, which makes it easy to get your proposal turned down.
For presenters, their proposals can be more important than how they present it. This is a huge mistake. They're a whole package. In the customer's mind, you and your proposal are one. If one is weaker than the other, the proposal suffers.
Here's how to present effectively:
• Set the stage. Don't allow your customer to guess where you're going. Make it clear you understand the customer's problem and lay it out clearly. Then, indicate that you and your solution reflect your company's competence for solving it.
• Maintain eye contact.
• Communicate confidence. Your proposal should be persuasive. You've built your case as your presentation moves from understanding the problem to an on-target solution and then to the climax of asking for the order. At no point in the presentation is confidence more critical than it is here.
If the customer perceives your presentation as the expression of who and what you are, you're well on your way to winning.
But don't forget, follow up is often a presentation's forgotten phase. Yet, it's the most important. Simply and clearly in a few sentences reaffirm your problem analysis, along with the benefits of your solution.
John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategy consultant and business writer.
