The really great proposal seems to have largely gone by the wayside for many small businesses. And this is a shame because for businesses that sell custom, higher-ticket items (such as services), the advantage of delivering a good proposal and a poor one or none at all typically means getting the business or not.
A good proposal leads the prospect from the problem to a
recommendation in a logical and orderly manner. It signals to the prospect that you’re a professional who cares and has
taken the time to think through their issue and deliver a solution.
The secret many professionals and companies don’t realize is that proposals are really easy to develop now. You can get a proposal template online, customize it with your logo, include general information about the company, then save and simply alter the prospect’s situation in each for all future proposals.
The key to a good proposal is the “Statement of the Customer’s Concerns”. By simply restating the issues that the customer is having along with their most important criteria in selecting a vendor (which you need to inquire), your conversion rate will increase substantially.
Consider the impact of good proposals in your sales conversion ratios. If you typically close 4 out of 10 prospects and you could close 5 out of 10 through the use of a good proposal template, how much more money would you be making from that one success?
Acquiring a good proposal template is easy and there are many options. Microsoft offers a couple of free ones through their online center. I also suggest looking at the Siebert Group (www.persuasionselling.com). They offer RFP software as well as a simple template package. The template package costs just $20 and is easy to use and set up. I highly recommend that you include effective proposals in your marketing/sales process for greater returns.
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