How can you avoid common proposal mistakes?

Sales engineering is just as much or more about people as it is about the product or service your company is selling. When engaging a prospective customer, do not lead with a 10 minute presentation about the origins of your company or what your company has accomplished thus far. Instead, lead the conversation with the customer in mind. Immediately find out what pain points they are experiencing. Once you determine the pain points, dive into how your product or service can help alleviate those pain points. By building this rapport with customers and showing them that your presentation is all about them and their success, the presentation should go much smoother.

Knowing your audience entails you knowing their pain points and speaking from their pain points makes them give you an attentive ear.

Ensuring your proposal closely matches your client's RFQ requirements is crucial. Buyers prefer not to have to recalculate the information presented in your format. Strong proposals also reassure customers that they can confidently manage any post-purchase complexities, with price often not being the primary determinant in their decision-making process. A common sales blunder is also to not ask for the sale. Good luck!

I completely agree! Before creating a proposal, one must thoroughly understand the customers specific needs or challenges. You can do this by actively listening to the client during initial engagement with them or studying their environment to gather crucial information that will support in creating a proposal that addresses the unique requirements of the prospect.

Knowing your audience is crucial in any job. However, when writing a proposal you have to know them on 110% if you want to win. The best way is talk to your prospect, ask questions, follow up with them, find their pain points and learn who will be reading your proposal (C-level, mid management, a single department,...). Always ask simple questions, so that everyone understands what you want to learn. Using jargon or difficult language may cause that you will get a wrong answer to your question. If something is unclear, always ask additional questions, or try to get other people involved in the communication.

Feature heavy presentations will not cut it anymore. Customers today want to understand how your solution will affect their bottom line. How much time am I saving? How much faster can I do this? How can I help my team be more effective? How much money is this going to save me? Once one starts focusing on how their solution affects the customer on their day to day, then showing features and functions become second nature. Of course, you need a great product behind you to make this work, but by putting the customer pain point first and center, there is a much better chance your product will solve a deeper need which would not be uncovered with a simple feature heavy presentation.

In your proposal, it is important to explain the features and technical details, but it's even more important to show the final outcome. Your customer wants to know how your solution will help them, e.g. they will save time, money, less people will be able to do the same job, etc. Show how other customers are using your services, set up a demo and/or a free trial account if applicable.

It all about adding value to the prospect’s current operation. You have to be able to show some evidence, past examples, real stories etc to prove your point. Technical sales or sales engineering is value- based sales. Also, your product value proposition message is very important. If you get stuck in the “ me too” trap, you are done. You must be able to position your product in the “ value wedge”.

When approaching a potential client with a commercial proposal, it's crucial to conduct thorough research and personalize your communication. Clearly and concisely articulate the benefits of your product or service, providing evidence through testimonials and case studies. Offer customization options and transparent pricing while proactively addressing potential concerns. Maintain professionalism, set a reasonable deadline for decision-making, and conclude with a clear call to action. Building trust and rapport is fundamental in increasing the likelihood of securing a purchase order.

If you're responding to an RFP that you did not help the customer create, you're too late. Either back out or try another tactic to completely disrupt the process. Your competition is already ahead of you.

When responding to RFPs, READ and RE-READ all the documentation. Take notes and make sure you understand requirements. There is usually a possibility to ask questions anonymously for a first few days - use this option. Once the answers are published, read all of them, not just yours. You can learn a lot from other participants. When you understand the scope of work, start preparing your proposal. Gather all the necessary documentation (certificates, CVs of employees, etc.) and note what topics must be covered in your technical offer. Ask your relevant colleagues for inputs based on these topics. Start writing.

The obvious is to focus on the pain points, but beyond that, quantify them to include them in your proposal and have the highest leverage possible. Solving all the "pain" may not be possible, and working in a proposal that addresses the least important ones, that may be critical in your opinion but may be not that important for your prospect, is only wasted time for both parties.

One thing i learned during my sales job was that even though its important to showcase your technical expertise, avoid overwhelming the customer with jargons. It can be confusing. So for clarify, whenever possible, use layman's terms.

When writing a proposal, the best practice is to save versions of your document. You may want to come back to older versions. Proofread your text. A good way is to print it out and read it on paper. If you don't have this option, wait for a day and then proofread your document. Your brain needs a break from it. Ask your colleagues to read your document and let them tell you if it's understandable. They may spot a mistake or a typo that you wouldn't see yourself.

Following up is necessary. Ask the customer if they've received your proposal and let them know that you are available to answer any questions they may have. Get back to them in a week or two and ask again if everything is clear. You may schedule a meeting for them to answer the questions, show a demo or explain some more details. If you get a negative answer, ask if you can follow up with them in a few months. Sometimes the "no" is only because of lack of money at the moment and they may be ready to buy your solution in the future.

After sending the quote, calling the client an agreeing on a follow up date is a must. It makes them more commited to share their decision with you

Following up is a must. Make sure you to pick up any objections, address them properly and confirm if the objection is addressed.

Avoid large proposal documents full of marketing material. Do not copy product documents / data sheets into the proposal, include links to the data instead - this is actually better because the data in the links can be updated. Customers will skip through the marketing material when going over the proposal: be very mindful not to put a lot of it that the proposal reader will skip through a lot of material!

- Personalize your presentation to each buyer's demands. - Customers usually allow single-word replies and comments in RFPs. Explaining what sets you apart from your competition. - To improve your proposal presentation, include graphics and practice utilizing technology. - Don't give up when the prospect objects. Instead, discuss and disagree. Understand why they rejected the offer and give alternatives. - Know your competitors and, without saying it, highlight your company's strengths, especially when it's your competitor's deficiency?that might raise customer questions. - Failure to create an urgency is a typical sales blunder. Identifying pain areas is vital, but conveying why taking action now is crucial to closing the business.

Getting more information for the proposal preparation from the customer avoids the gap between both the parties, this is often common mistake where the gap remains for preparing the proposal..