The Winning Proposal Blueprint

Hi! You’re here because you’re a woman who runs a consulting business, and you want to learn how to make it more profitable, more stable, and more fulfilling. In our world, that means being able to get more of the right kind of clients into your business and get paid on your value, not your time, so you can build a business that supports your life, not the other way around.

If you’re like a lot of women consultants, you’re so good at the work you do, but the process of getting new clients feels a bit like unfamiliar territory. You’ve gotten this far with referrals or word of mouth, but you know you should be doing something more proactive (but you don’t want to be salesy). You also know that what got you here won’t get you to the next level in your business.

If that’s you, you’re in the right place.

Here you’ll learn strategies you can use to attract more of the right kinds of consulting clients and get paid more for your consulting contracts, in a way that doesn’t even feel like selling.

Along the way, you’ll discover that you aren’t “bad at sales.” (I promise.) You simply haven’t learned yet. But you can learn how, feel comfortable, and actually be good at it.

We’ll cover the three critical areas to master in order to get higher-paying consulting clients:

Attract (attracting more of the right clients and filling your client pipeline)

Guide (leading a sales process and keeping clients engaged)

Close (helping clients say yes and getting paid more than you ever thought you could).

I'm glad you're here! Let's dive in.

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Consultants, ?you know that feeling when you’re stuck at your desk at 10:30pm trying to figure out how to write a proposal that will get a YES??

Just imagine how it would feel if you could create a completely customized proposal in about an hour, get a yes, AND get paid more.

A client came to me for help recently. He told me his biggest problem was most of his proposals were leading to NO or NO RESPONSE.?

I told him what I’m telling you… That NO is probably a symptom of another problem.

Like many of the consultants I speak to, my client had a sense that he should be charging more. But if he couldn’t land the client at this price, he didn’t see how he could possibly get them at a higher level.?

How did we solve the problem?

• We started with his messaging. We created a powerful painkiller statement that struck at the heart of the value his clients really need.

• We overhauled the way he did discovery so he could have sales conversations that felt more comfortable and provided better information to write his proposal.

• And then we used the Winning Proposal Blueprint, to create a proposal that focused on the information the client really needed to make their decision.

• This included pricing that reflected the value the client would get, rather than the deliverables or time it would take.?

Listen, if you've ever gotten a no to a proposal, I know it can be soul crushing. You invest energy, try your best, and still it doesn't work.?

And it can be very easy to shrink back and charge less or even give up.?

I’ve been there, and so have many of the women I work with.

I know how it feels to think, “If I can’t sell at this price – which I know is less than I’m worth – I’ll never sell at a higher price.”

And then the really snarky voice pipes up: “And maybe I’ll never be able to work with the clients I really want.”

Let me tell you this. It’s not that you’re doing something wrong. You just need to get to the root causes of the problem.

And that probably isn’t the proposal you just sweat blood and tears on.

Get these essential pieces dialed in first.

??? Are you selling to the right people? Does the value they want most align with the value you offer??

?? Are you asking the right questions in discovery to figure out if the client is a fit, and get all the information you need to create a winning proposal?

?? Is your value clear in your messaging, your price, and your proposal?

?? And finally… are you approaching your proposal as a summary of what you’ve already agreed, rather than a selling tool?

When my client put these foundation pieces in place he could sell to the right people with the right messaging. They understood the value he was offering. It was easy for them to say yes.

He sent me this message:

if you could raise your price AND get a yes, what would that do for your business? How would that feel?

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If you’ve ever gotten a “no” on a proposal, you might be mentally pushing back on me right now. Because losing a proposal sucks.

No matter what we believe about ourselves in our strongest moments, when a blow strikes, we remember we have a soft center.

But remember, it's not an assessment of you –?or your skill, or your talent, your experience, or even your scope, or your price.

And remember, whatever the outcome of your next proposal, you’re still amazing, and the world still needs what you have to offer.

Don’t let the response of one client weaken your self-belief.

Just pair your self-belief with know-how. That’s how you become unstoppable.

If you know you need to work on any of these foundation pieces, you need the Winning Proposal Blueprint. Reply to this email and I’ll send you the link.

To your success,

Leah

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Hi! I'm Leah Neaderthal. I'm a sales coach for women consultants and the founder of Smart Gets Paid .

When I left my corporate career and started my first consulting business, I learned three things very quickly:

1- It’s 1000x harder to sell your own stuff than to sell someone else’s.

2- Marketing is not selling.

3- I had no idea how to sell.

I needed clients, but I didn’t know how to actually get them, and I was terrified of coming off like a used car salesman. It made me doubt whether I was even cut out to run a business.

So I taught myself how to get new clients in a way that feels authentic, allows me to be myself, and that works consistently. I now teach these techniques to others. Because I know it’s possible to learn how to land clients, and actually feel comfortable doing it, once you know how.

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Whenever you’re ready to start landing higher-paying clients, here are three ways I can help you.

1. Listen to the Smart Gets Paid Podcast

You’ll hear me chat with my actual clients as we tackle their biggest challenges in getting new clients, and you’ll learn sales strategies you can use today in your own business. It's the only podcast that can help you land higher-paying clients in your B2B consulting business. Listen on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform.

2. Get your copy of Referrals on Repeat

If you’ve gotten clients through referrals or word-of-mouth, and you want to start getting referral clients more consistently, get your copy of Referrals on Repeat, and start getting more referrals coming into your business today: smartgetspaid.com/referrals

3. Break through to the next revenue level in your consulting business with help from my team and me.

Learn the proven, step-by-step system women like you are using to get more of the clients they want, get paid way more for their consulting contracts, and build confidence that they know what they’re doing to get clients. Send me a message here on LinkedIn with “Breakthrough” in the first line and I’ll get you the details.