Writing Business Proposals?
How often do they win you business?
How much time and money do you lose
... when they fail?
Whether you write proposals just occasionally or frequently, it would be great to increase your success rate, wouldn't it? What would you have earned if your last rejected proposal had succeeded?
Take just 5 minutes from your busy day to review 5 of my Secrets to Creating Client-Winning Proposals below - I've used these to help my clients win business worth £2,000 (Design Business) to £75,000 (Property Agent).
1) Outline the Current Situation - This shows that you've listened and understood their position: the potential client needs to feel certain you really understand their needs; creating rapport in this way makes them more willing to buy from you. If you don't reinforce this, they might forget the seriousness of their situation and lose the motivation to buy from you.
2) Tell them why you're good at what you do - Clearly showing your experience, training or specialist skills shows them you're an expert without being arrogant: it tells the client they can trust you. Otherwise they may wonder if you're a novice, who'll use them as your training ground.
3) Share a recent case study - A success story highlights "We've already successfully solved this problem for others LIKE YOU": it adds to their picture of your expertise through previous successes and increases their peace of mind in appointing you.
4) Add pictures, illustrations and visuals where appropriate - A picture paints a thousand words. Remember that about 40% of the population are VISUAL people, rather than word-driven, so let them SEE IT too, or you risk switching off all those visual people with too much writing.
5) Use the right words - and that includes neither TOO MANY nor TOO FEW. The "Right Words" covers so much more than simply avoiding typo's and grammatical errors. The right combination of words will make a huge impact on the reader - they can convey a compelling message - or the reverse. A poorly written document will switch off the potential client just as quickly as any typo.
I've got many more tips and strategies than I have space to share here but use these and you'll enjoy more success!
Writing Business Proposals?How often do they win you business?How much time and money do...