Proposals that CLOSE
Raju Mandhyan
Executive Coach | Learning Facilitator | Cross-Cultural Leadership | Presence n Presentations for CEOs | Sales and Nego Skills | Mind-Mapping for Business Applications
Unless you and your customer have found a single, fail-proof solution to their needs, it is always prudent to present a few options. In the industries and businesses, I have had work experience with, offering options was the norm, and they worked well for me. The number of choices offered to customers varies by industry. It is surprising, though, that many of them never offer more than one solution. Remember the fact that scenarios are always changing. Customers change their minds. Their life and business situations change. Or a wily competitor might sneak in a faster, cheaper and better answer to your customer’s needs. These variable risks are reduced when you offer multiple options. These options set up mental perimeters for your customers but also give them space to maneuver.
The 10-Step formula for proposals:
1. Place yourself in the mind of the buyer. Recognize and note which mental stage of the buying process she is at.
2. Plan the depth and flow of the proposal before you begin writing.
3. Open with sincere congratulatory or complimentary remarks about their business, brand and plans for innovation or expansion.
4. Gently flow into an explanation of the needs you have discovered and analyzed from your meetings with them. Be clear, objective and open to corrections made about their needs. Summarize the needs while highlighting key results from the impact of using solutions offered by you/your company.
5. Describe the solutions and their explicit benefits, supported by details on the depth and scope of the features.
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6. Offer options; NOT just one, fail-proof, best solution. Take your one, fail-proof, best solution and then create, at least, three variances of the same solution by changing the scope, the timings and advantages in each of the three options. Offering options is an invitation for your customer to take part in finding the solution. It creates a sense of ownership in their minds.
7. State one single price offer for each of the three solutions together with two possible ways for them to pay. Offer incentives if the payment plans are in your favor.
8. Follow through with the long-term, monetary and performance advantages of your proposal.
9. Never end a proposal with a “final take it or leave it” type of tone. Keep your tone open and invitational so they don’t feel cornered and uncomfortable discussing business with you.
10. Peg a validity period to your proposal and its terms because the offer you make now may change over time, most certainly if the client takes a long while to decide.
Again, I do want to emphasize that these suggestions are broad and generic, all options can be offered in many different ways. These suggestions are taken from my book, The HeART of the Close, and can be used for options offered in a written form or in person by way of a presentation