Does your business have a formal proposal or quote process, or require written confirmations, or other information before a prospect will purchase? If so, you have a “proposal” step in your sales process no matter what you call it.
You’ve invested a significant amount of time and money to generate leads, connect with and engage with prospects in some fashion. Your investment in these efforts is worthless if you don’t get the opportunity to submit a QUALITY PROPOSAL.
Like getting up to bat in baseball, the more opportunities you have to submit a quality proposal, the greater will be your success. Just a 3% increase in the number of prospects and opportunities you turn into proposals can yield increased profits with little time, money and effort. It’s the power of incremental improvement I’ve stressed in many of these newsletters.
Want More Proposals?
Here Are 4 Quick Tips
1. Measure- As always, continually measure your marketing. When it comes to proposals, measure the number of proposals as a percent of prospects engaged. Only by having a benchmark to measure against can you continually improve on proposal opportunities.
2. Speed- The speed at which you ask for the proposal opportunity AND deliver the proposal to the prospect is important. First, proposing quickly during or right after a prospect interaction is ideal since the prospect has top of mind awareness of you and your company. Second, proposing fast lessens the possibility that a competitor will steal the business away from you.
3. Handle Objections- If you feel resistance by the prospect to enthusiastically WANT a proposal or quote, it’s important to ask questions in order to uncover their objections or other issues they may have. If you don’t get enthusiasm and interest from your prospect in getting a proposal from you, you need to find out why. When the reason surfaces, you need to address it.
4. Diligently and Systematically Follow Up- Many proposal opportunities are lost because of lack of follow up. One example is a prospect who says he doesn’t have the budget or has decided he doesn’t want a proposal now. Conditions change and opportunities can resurface.
When it comes to getting proposals, measure your proposal activity, propose quickly, elicit and handle objections and diligently follow up. More proposals and more profits can be yours keeping these simple four tips in mind. Most important, take action on these tips and make sure they are incorporated and cemented in your business so that they become an integral part of your business for the life of your business.
