David Cummings on Startups

Ideas for Sales Proposals

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David Cummings

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At today’s EO Accelerator Monthly Accountability Group we had a good conversation about doing sales proposals. As an entrepreneur or sales person, proposals can be one of the least fun things to do due to being time consuming and not always producing revenue. Here are some tactics we discussed:

  • Deliver a pre-proposal which is essentially a bullet point list of what you believe the client needs and let them know you’d like their feedback before fleshing it out into the full proposal
  • Never send a proposal over without being on the phone or in person while it is being read for the first time so that you can address any issues or concerns in real time
  • If it is an RFP, submit two proposals with one being exactly what they asked for and one being what you think is best so that the procurement person has to take them back to the stakeholder for feedback and input, increasing your odds of winning the deal

Proposals are an important part of business and these tactics should help you win more deals. Good luck!

Comments

4 responses to “Ideas for Sales Proposals”

  1. Charles Brian Quinn Avatar
    Charles Brian Quinn

    Fantastic advice David.

    We have several types of propsals too, ranging from detailed down to the specifically named One-Pager. It’s worth mentioning that on smaller scope work the one-pager can force you to get the gist of it down to “just one page.”

    Reply
  2. Charles Brian Quinn Avatar
    Charles Brian Quinn

    Fantastic advice, David.

    We have several types of proposals we send out, ranging from the “detailed” with all sorts of content about “the team” and “how we approach the work” down to the aptly named “one page proposal.”

    We’ve found the one-pager really helps us distill down (in one page) what we’re proposing, and can often lead to more detailed proposal creation.

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth Pagano Avatar
    Elizabeth Pagano

    The “pre-proposal” concept seems to get across the point that it’s a “draft” and allows the prospect to be involved in the process….gaining buy-in before the official proposal is presented.

    Thanks, David.

    Reply
  4. Hiring Your First Sales Person « 10,000 Startup Hours – David Cummings

    […] Ideas for Sales Proposals […]

    Reply

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