5 Tips for Creating the Perfect Proposal

Many salespeople spend hours putting together proposals that are never going to close. This is avoidable! Simply follow these five tips to create the perfect proposal:

1. Keep it Short: Many salespeople believe that the longer their proposal is, the more impressive it will seem. But the reality is that a 40-page proposal is not helping you close the sale. In fact, it’s hurting you. By requiring your prospect to review a long proposal, you are creating work that is likely to be put off. Keep your proposal short and sweet.
2. Remove All Obvious Boilerplate: This is in line with the first tip. When you put information in your proposal that is clearly boilerplate, your prospect will begin skimming and will likely miss the information that is actually important. Curb your prospect’s urge to skim by only including information that is completely relevant and necessary.
3. Focus on the Prospect’s Outcomes: Most proposals focus almost exclusively on what you intend to provide, with little attention paid to what the product or service will actually accomplish for the prospect. Instead, center your proposals around what your offerings will achieve.
4. Give Three Options: Your prospect will naturally want to weigh his options, so when you present him with a single solution, he can only turn to offers from your competitors for comparison. However, if you propose three different options that hit different levels of service – and price points – you provide context for your prospect. This way, your prospect is more likely to make a choice without looking elsewhere. Plus, he may even choose the premium option.
5. Make it a Contract: Ever had a prospect say that she wanted to move forward with you, only to have the deal fall apart during contract negotiations? You can easily avoid this pitfall by making your proposal a contract that the prospect can sign at the final meeting. Don’t create an opportunity for the deal to fall through by having to later email or fax over an agreement.

By following these five tips, your proposals will close much more consistently.

How do you make your proposals stand out? Please share below in the comments.

Marc Wayshak is author of the book Game Plan Selling and a sales keynote speaker