Thoughts on one page proposals

First off, how do you like my stock photo selection? Does anyone even present like this? Feel like this deck could’ve been emailed and saved everyone time. No one wants to be there anyway...

Ok, on to proposals.

No one loves answering RFPs and writing proposals. However, they are necessary when running an agency or working as a creative professional. Regardless if it is a one page SOW or a full blown deck. Different clients have different expectations. Sometimes, clients are not sure what should be in a proposal either, and it’s our job to guide them through this buying process. So how do we, as agency owners, or business development professionals know what those expectations are?

At Avex we have a few different types of proposals, depending on the size of the project, the client and previous conversations. Ideally, we’ll have multiple conversations to understand our client’s goals and problems. If we agree upon the approach and solution verbally, the proposal can be a simple SOW to outline terms as well as value and timeline. However, in some cases we need to present further details about how our process differs from our competitors, SaaS recommendations and previous case studies. 

My absolute favorite approach is to introduce our services, case studies and value proposition in a deck, early on in the process. This will help establish if we are a good fit for one another and if our budgets are aligned. 

From there, we dive deeper into how we can solve our clients goals. Both creatively and through technology. This can be via video conference or in-person. The proposal itself can now be a simple, easy to digest, one page outline of services, deliverables, value and timeline. We walk our clients through the process and address any concerns or risks. This approach has saved us a lot of time as well as our clients previous time. 

Our goal is to make the process as seamless as possible. Helping our clients make the right decisions. Regardless if it is our agency or not. We need to remember that we are not only selling a service or product. We are interacting with real humans! The process needs a more human touch and that can only happen via conversations that are open and honest. The document or presentation does not matter as much. So why not make it as simple as possible! 

How are you approaching proposals? Curious if anyone has taken a one page proposal approach as well. 

Visit https://avexdesigns.com for some more content on e-commerce and other stuff.