A proposal comes at the end of a long sales process. You've discussed the issues a client is facing, and you're ready to put across your solution to help them achieve their dreams. This can be a daunting process, but getting an understanding of a successful proposal can really help.
1. Get to the point
It's important to remember that your clients are busy people. They have other meetings to attend, phone calls to make and emails to get back to as well as other problems to solve. Get the introductions and hello's out the way quickly, and dive straight in. Explain why you're here on today's call/meeting, and get your main points across early. Your client is itching to ask questions, so get your most important point across within the first minute or two.
2. Have a breather and ask questions
After you've spoken for a couple of minutes, stop and ask questions. This is a create way to keep control, but let the client have their say too:
- "Is this how you define success?"
- "Have I understood and prioritised your goals correctly?"
- "Is this a major challenge that you're facing right now?"
3. Make use of images to communicate
Although a picture might not speak a thousand words in this case, use images to capture and retain attention. Losing the clients attention because you've included too many wordy slides, and not provoked thought can be devastating to the success of your proposal.
4. Sell the vision
You love your story and your company, but the client loves theirs. They want to know how you can help them achieve their dreams and how you can help their company moving forwards. Help them to visualise how working together is going to be the best decision they've made.
5. Lead with stories, not data
Data is important, but without a story and an explanation of the data you can't capture the audience's attention. Come to the meeting armed with first hand experience of how you've helped similar companies in their position, and how that experience can be applied to their businesses.
6. Have a killer agenda
Your proposal meeting needs to have a clear agenda. Why are you in this call, and what do you want the end result to be?
- Challenge and Opportunities - Recap and capture attention by illustrating the opportunities or challenges that your clients are facing/overlooking. Make sure it's compelling to gain the clients attention for the rest of the meeting.
- Benefits - What will the client gain by adopting your solution? Use a case study or testimonial to support your point.
- Plan - Present the plan that will help the client the most, and resolve their challenges and opportunities.
- Company - Briefly share your company's background, including who your company helps with these issues.
- Call to Action - Before finishing, provide a call to action. Is the client ready to go right now? Give them the option to sign up immediately. Do they need a few days to consider it? Schedule a follow up call.
Being able to effectively present proposals is key to your success. Get the point across early, and gain your clients attention. Focus on the vision and success stories, and provide compelling reasons as to why they should consider your proposal.
