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If you are setting out to win, you need an X factor, an ace up your sleeve. If you are looking to land new or repeat business — an ideal way of closing deals, a sales proposal is your answer.
From the veteran salespersons to the rookies in big and small entities, they all need to know how to come up with an effective sales proposal to help them seal business opportunities.
What is a sales proposal?
A sales proposal is a document by which salespeople offer products or goods or services to prospective buyers.
An excellent sales proposal will help you achieve the following outcomes:
It shows that you fully understand the needs of your prospect – After thorough research, you are supposed to be able to relate to the challenges that the prospect is facing.
It convinces your prospect you’re the best solution available to them – A solution designed by you to specifically address the problem of the prospect.
It inspires them to take action. It gives your prospect the confidence that they have all the information they need to make their decision. This includes clarity around budget, deliverables, and the steps they must take to kick off the process.
Tips for writing a sales proposal
When done properly, a sales proposal is the difference between closing and losing a deal. Here are a few guidelines for doing it right.
1. Be brief and precise
To make it simple here – the longer, the more boring. Everyone wants to read through your presentation and make a quick decision rather than go through a whole lesson of your sales proposal. And frankly, people have short attention spans.
Make good use of language and every word will count in your favor. Since it is about the prospects challenge and solution you have for them, let the sales proposal only mention areas that are important to the prospect. Your company biography is useless here.
2. You are solving problems
Never forget that this sales proposal is about the customer and not you. Endeavor to solve their challenges and problems, rather than ticking deliverables off your obnoxious list.
Go ahead and emphasize your extended understanding of the prospect’s problem and how your company has gone the extra mile to solve exactly that problem. This is much more compelling to a prospective buyer than a laundry list of features and benefits – which in most cases, they are not interested in.
3. Give several options
Do not the mistake of having one solution. Provide about 3 of them and let the prospect be spoilt for choice. That works in your favor as it builds trust for your capabilities.
Instead of providing just one option for the prospect to decide upon, provide multiple options for the prospect to choose from. This will accomplish two things. First, you’ll be able to offer a higher level—read: more expensive—options in your proposals. This can frequently lead to prospects choosing higher level deals than you had originally expected.
Also, this will more than often prevent the prospect from trying o search for solutions elsewhere.
4. Use visuals
Human beings are impressionable beings. The human brain processes image 60,000 times faster than text. You can’t fail to use this to your benefit.
Presentations using visual aids were found to be 43% more persuasive than unaided presentations, according to a study by the University of Minnesota.
Visuals like graphs and charts will help you break the monotony of text in documents and also help deliver the message better and easier. Some information might remain the same, but you need to remember to specify the problems and solutions.
5. Customize your templates
Once again we say, it is not about, but rather, the prospect. It does not make sense to copy and paste ideas and approaches from one presentation to a specific client to another document.
Make sure your proposal is presented to the right prospect, outline their specific problem and solutions you and or your company can provide. Show them that you understand their problem better than anyone else, and then explain how you can solve it better too.
Conclusion
The sale is not about you but the customer. Therefore, the sales proposal is meant to benefit the customer. Some salespeople view them and an old model of operation but well-written proposals have a high conversion/deal-closing rate. Every salesperson needs them.
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