So many salespeople are losing sales or selling at a low price, not because they were ineffective in the sales meeting, but because their proposal was weak. By implementing an effective and proven proposal strategy, you can both increase the number of closed sales and the average sale size.
Here are five tips to help you create that ultimate sales proposal:
1. Get rid of the boilerplate
Prospects will immediately skim through any information in a proposal that seems generic — and once he has begun skimming, he won't stop. If you are simply plugging a different name and company into the same template each time, you are hurting your chances of closing a sale.
Only include information in the proposal that you've learned in previous meetings with the prospect.
2. Focus on outcomes
Most proposals focus primarily on what the salesperson intends to deliver to the prospect. However, your prospects are never buying anything for specific deliverables — aka your product or service. They are buying the outcomes that you provide.
The same is true when someone buys a drill: the buyer doesn't care about the tool; he is more interested in the holes it creates. Focus your proposal on what your offering will do to improve your prospect's current situation.
3. Help them see value
When your prospect feels sticker shock, it's not because your price is too high. Rather, sticker shock happens when the prospect doesn't see enough value in what you are offering.
During the course of your meetings leading up to a proposal, be sure to outline the value, in dollars and cents, of what you are offering. Ideally, you can ask questions that will help your prospect articulate the value of solving his challenges. Then be sure to include this value you provide in your proposal.
Every outcome should have a corresponding value.
4. Give options
When you give your prospect one option in your proposal, he is likely going to want to shop around for some comparison. However, when you offer three different solutions — ranging from the most basic option that will solve his key challenges to a premium one with all the bells and whistles — you are providing some immediate context for his decision.
Plus, you increase your chances of closing a larger deal simply by offering that premium, high-priced option for your prospect to consider.
5. Make it a contract
Have you ever had a prospect say she was ready to move forward with a contract only to have the deal fall apart? This happens to salespeople all the time, and there is one simple solution. Make your proposal your contract.
Since your proposal already outlines the scope, simply include a section at the bottom that allows the prospect to sign if she is ready to commit. This will allow you to avoid any clunky back and forth after there's been a verbal agreement.
Which of these tips do you think will be most useful for you?
