Success Tips Newsletter
In this issue: 75
percent plus
proposal close rate formula
by Eric Albertson
Word count:
542
Time to read:
2 minutes
Proposals that
don’t close
If I had invested as much time in
the stock market as I have in writing proposals, I would
be retired by now. Ever feel that way?
All I want for
Christmas…
Is a proposal that will close. I
don’t need perfection. 75 percent+ would be just dandy.
Dang things,
these proposals
Janet couldn’t give it away. Here
she was, a young 35, dressed to the nines, great
education, loved her customers and she couldn’t get more
than about 25 percent of her proposals to close. Her
husband was fed up with her devoting weekends to writing
the dang things, and her boss was beginning to think she
was an airhead.
Proposal 911
Janet called and asked for help. If
I couldn’t help her, she was going to quit. The
frustration wasn’t worth it.
Better pay
through a few simple distinctions
We helped Janet discover a few
simple distinctions that changed everything. Practically
overnight, she was closing more and more of her
proposals, until she was north of that magic 75 percent
close rate.
First, Janet
started asking why. Why her company? Why this product
and service? Why hadn’t they done this earlier? Why do
it now? If she didn’t get a good answer to one or more
of these questions, she didn’t propose. Lesson one: If
you don’t understand the why’s, you are probably going
to lose.
Second,
Janet started asking about the impact. What will this
mean to the buyer? To the company? To the sponsor? To
the team? Not only that, she asked what the specific
impact in dollars were likely to be. Usually the target
didn’t really know. Janet helped them work it out using
their numbers until they got to an impact number that
they agreed was real. Lesson two: Buyers usually have
not thought through the true impact of buying what you
are selling. They will need your help to do so.
Third, Janet
quit trying to use the proposal to sell. Rather, she
began viewing the proposal as an opportunity to put into
writing an agreement that had already been reached. We
gave Janet a proposal format that she had to fill out
from discussions with the person at the target account
who could get ink on the check. (That was another little
innovation. Janet was surprised to realize that at least
a third of the time, she hadn’t been actually dealing
with a person who was responsible for solving the
problem that the proposal was intended to address).
No more proposal
weekends
Janet began to follow this two-part
rule: 1.) She had to collect all the details that the
proposal format required; 2.) the
real buyer at
the target account had to agree with the details. If
both those requirements hadn’t been met, Janet couldn’t
spend her weekend creating a proposal.
Everyone seems
to fight the idea
Janet fought initially. Pretty
soon, the proposal rate started to go up. As Janet got
better at following the process, her close rate climbed.
Now Janet closes about 90 percent.
Yes, there are
more than three tricks to a great proposal
Yes, there were a few more details
we covered with Janet. But, if you follow just the ones
in this newsletter, you should see a big improvement.
Let clarity and agreement be your primary guide. And
give up the wishful thinking.
How many of your
proposals do you really close?
Margin Boost
Tune-up
If you want to master the dynamics
of building a great proposal, you have two options. The
most comprehensive approach is to take our Margin Boost
class, starting November 8th and running for
7 weeks. Go
here for more details, or
here to register. The class is $995, and it is
100 percent guaranteed.
Mini proposal
tune-up
An alternative to the Margin Boost
Tune-up is to send a blank email to me at
eric@succeedinginbusiness.com. Write
PROPOSAL in
the subject line. I am putting together a two-session
class on building proposals that will cover the bulk of
the critical components of successful proposal writing.
The class will cost $147. You can also get an optional
proposal review for an additional charge of $99.
Your personal
ROI is the key
The important thing about both of
these classes is that learning how to produce better
proposals will slash your proposal-writing time. It will
also give you the tools to make a lifelong improvement
in your ability to make more money, while working less.
Cheers,
Eric
eric@succeedinginbusiness.com
(503) 635-2319
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