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| A Note from the Editor |
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| Winning the Business |
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Often it all comes down to the proposal.
You may have established a strong connection with your
prospect, uncovered all their wants and needs, and routed
out all their objections but if your proposal is weak,
all your hard work will come to nothing. Having tossed
quite a few proposals in the circular file, I can tell
you Jim Kasper has valuable insights and guidelines to
help you write a proposal that will win you the business.
Sales Shebang is a high quality "girl thing."
Quality is defined as "a degree or grade of excellence
or worth." I was impressed to see the very high quality
of women sales experts presenting at this year's Sales
SheBang in Minneapolis. Many are good friends of SalesDog
and have been featured in the newsletter. Attendees will
learn from some of the smartest and savviest women in
sales including: Kim Duke of The Sales Divas, sales expert
Colleen Francis of Engage Selling Solutions, Anne Miller,
author of Metaphorically Selling, Leslie Buterin,
the top dog on cold calling executives, SheBang founder
Jill Konrath of Selling to Big Companies and many more.
Get
all the details here.
P.S. One of my male co-workers (who shall remain nameless)
asked me, "Is this a girlie thing or can guys go
too?" Sure, guys can attend, but...
We're bribing you! In case you missed it, we're
asking for your suggestions and thoughts (pro and con)
on this newsletter. To make things interesting, we're
bribing you. When you give us your opinion your name will
be entered in our drawing for a chance to score a really
cool Sony camcorder. We'll be announcing the winner in
our September 8 issue. If you haven't yet told us what
you think, better hurry! Go
here now. |
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| To your success, |
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Tina LoSasso
Managing Editor, SalesDog.com |
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Creating the Winning Proposal
By Jim Kasper
Jim Kasper shows you how to put together a well-crafted proposal
to help you win big.
As a professional salesperson, you expend a lot of energy creating
favorable first impressions. You work hard at prospecting, making
numerous cold calls and demonstrating strong questioning and listening
skills during your initial sales interviews with prospective customers.
Through your steadfast efforts, you're able to create interest for
your product or service and move a prospect forward in your sales
cycle. It's at this point that you look forward to setting the date
for presenting a proposal.
You've now entered the proposal stage of your sales cycle. This is
where you take all of the information you've carefully extracted from
interviews and incorporate it into a formal proposal. Like most professional
salespeople, you probably use a standard business proposal format.
In many sales environments that we've seen, the proposal format is
often overlooked even though it is perhaps the most important instrument
in your sales cycle.
Show some style
You need to ensure that your proposal format directly reflects your
sales style and product/service position. If you have an upbeat, aggressive
sales style, your proposals should mirror that style; they should
not be "dry" or "antiseptic." On the other hand,
if you operate in a technical sales environment, your format should
focus more on the data and specification areas. If positioning your
product/service as a quality high end offering, your proposal should
reflect a corresponding level of "polish." No matter what
your selling style or position, there are rules to follow that will
insure a strong, thoroughly read, widely distributed and understood
proposal.
Critical content
Test your proposal format for readership by asking customers and prospects
what they like and what suggestions they would offer to make it easier
to read and understand.
Check your proposal to ensure you've included the following elements:
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- The project name, customer's name, customer contact name,
date, your name, company, address, telephone, e-mail, and
web site
- An objective: a summary statement identifying the objectives
of the proposal
- An overview or brief description of the events that need
to take place
- A timeline of events and suggested dates.
- The proposition: Here's what I'm proposing to you, including
specifications
- The pricing and terms page (near the end)
- A page on your company's background and your personal
qualifications
- Professional references (other satisfied customers)
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Speak their language
Your proposal should make extensive use of your customer's "shorthand"
where appropriate. This shows them you were listening and have grasped
their culture and environment. Good examples are using specific titles
such as the Vice President of North American Laser Repair or specific
names of internal departments and groups. Be sure to highlight the
key points that the customer explained during your sales interview
and, if possible, use graphs and charts to illustrate those points.
Show your professionalism
Business proposals should be generated on your best paper stock. And
don't ever let a proposal leave your office until it is proofed by
someone other than yourself and who knows your business. Bind all
proposals in a cover or presentation jacket. That lends a strong sense
of professionalism to your prospect. Run as many original documents
as needed for the customer and an additional copy for backup.
Focus on your customer
Avoid loading up your proposals with quotes or references to products
or projects you've delivered to other customers which don't relate
to the customer you're proposing to. Instead, use ones which are valid
and applicable to that specific customer. While it may be impressive
to include an extensive list of completed work delivered to customers,
remember that the customer will likely lose interest if they have
to read through too much material that doesn't pertain to them.
The fine print
Many proposal templates we've seen include a statement of acceptance,
typically appearing at the end of the proposal. This paragraph states
that the customer accepts the proposal as presented, including the
price and terms. Some companies have their legal counsel draft this
paragraph to reduce the event of litigation. An alternative is to
confine the legal agreement to a separate letter of acceptance or
in a purchase order given to the customer after a verbal proposal
agreement.
The final paragraph on the proposal price and terms page should state
how long the price and terms are valid. This depends upon your industry
sales cycle and pending cost increases. You should not state that
the proposal is good for 30 days if traditionally it takes 60 days
to run your sales cycle.
Some thoughts on delivery
It's best to deliver as many proposals in-person as possible. Remember
your objective at the sales interview stage of the sales cycle was
to get your customer to grant you the next appointment to deliver
the proposal. Your presence shows the customer how important their
business is to you by setting a tone of immediacy. It also speeds
up your sale cycle by allowing you to address their questions and
overcome their objections.
If you're unable to deliver your proposal in person, then overnight
courier delivery or electronic delivery are your remaining options.
Be sure to ask your prospect for their preference and if they request
electronic, be sure to use a protected file format such as Adobe PDF
and in all cases set a specific time and date for follow-up.
By following these basic steps, you won't lose a sale in the proposal
stage.
Jim Kasper is the Founder and President of Interactive Resource
Group. Mr. Kasper has over 26 years of practical experience in direct
sales, sales management, sales training, and marketing. Contact him
at www.SalesTrainers.com
or call 800-891-7355.
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| Praise for Top Dog Sales
Secrets |
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"One of these top dog secrets can earn you a fortune."
– Jeffrey Gitomer
"It's like reading the best ideas from 50 sales books
all in one book."
– Michelle Nichols, Savvy Selling International
"I HIGHLY recommend it for the inspiration AND the skills
that one will learn or ‘re-learn.' It is easy to read,
entertaining, and very broad in topic selection."
– Lori Richardson, Score More Sales
Order
your copy of the book today to learn an effective
strategy that will help you take back control of the sale. |
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