The traditional "Quotation" was originally devised during the
Industrial Revolution of the 1850's and has changed little to
the present day. It is a totally Dickensian format and
absolutely out of date
in a situation where supply so completely outstrips demand. We
are now 155 years on, and selling through proposals has gone way
past this old fashioned legal junk. Continue to include it if
the
legal eagles insist ( and they will, but then they still wear
stupid looking wigs, and bow to "Hizzoner") - but don't expect
it to do anything but harm in terms of helping you achieve the
sale.
Selling proposals are ideally designed with seven
sections. These sections must be used in the proper order. They
are:
Introduction & the Customer's Objectives.
Start by thanking your prospect for meeting you and requesting
the proposal.
Then state your understanding of the objectives your customer
wishes to achieve. Show them that you understand their
issues, concerns, problems, worries, doubts and fears. This
achieves two things. It switches your customer's concentration
to the subject of the
proposal, and shows that you are also focussed on meeting his
needs- not your own.
Your Recommendations
Having defined your customer's objectives you should now present
a condensed picture of the product (s) you are
recommending that will achieve these objectives, with a brief
outline of
how each objective will be achieved (preferably using the
priority order established with your customer at the Fact-Find
meeting).
Specification sheets for complicated equipment/furniture should
be added to the proposal (at the back of it) and referred to in
this section.
Summary of Additional Benefits
Additional Benefits, Value, Merits, Extras, and Differences that
your customer will derive over and above the specification
should be summarised in this section. * Ensure these extra
Benefits are relevant to your customer. * When you list them,
make sure they are benefits, not features.
Financial Justification
This is the most important section. Very few of us will buy
anything unless we can see clearly that the goods we are buying
will give us a return- in money saved or made, in time saving,
in
durability or less frequent replacement cost, in lower
maintenance, reduced waste, more flexibility, etc.
Professional buyers also have an extreme interest in that animal
known as the "payback period" or amortisation of the financial
investment.
The majority of sellers expect the customers to work this out
for themselves. Some customers do. Many of them don't. One thing
of which I am sure. If you work it out for the customer (when
your competitors fail to) you have another significant edge when
it comes to closing the sale.
You can cost justify in several different ways. And if you can
show more than one cost justification, do it- putting your best
one first.
Your Guarantees, After-Sales Service and Testimonials.
Don't leave your Guarantees and After- Sales Service to the
small print in the document. They are much more important than
that, so spell them out. Maybe it is the most important thing in
your customer's mind - if anything goes wrong down the line. He/
she will have to carry the can if they made the purchase
decision!
So put their minds at rest. Tell them how good your Guarantees
and After Sales service is and how fast your service technicians
will respond.
Back these up with third party references. Customers whom you
know will be happy to take their call and make the right noises
on your behalf - because you have asked them to, well in
advance (don't tell them what to say, please).
Another method of increase your credibility is to include a page
headed "Our Capabilities" outlining the success of various
applications of your equipment in different situations. Every
sales professional always has a dozen appropriate third party
references ready to go.
Offer names and phone numbers in this section or include copies
of testimonial letters at the back of your proposal.
Budget Summary
All factors that may be used for negotiation purposes should, if
possible, be mentioned on this page....in other words layout the
complete package, that will enable you to change the package if
the budget needs to be changed to suit a customer requirement.
Include such things as; Quantity, Specification, Delivery,
Installation, Training, Technical Service, Guarantees, Service
Charges,....anything that is in the package that you can use for
negotiation. Of course, this will
also help reinforce the overall value you are offering your
customer.
Re-name it "Budget Summary", a term perfectly understood and
acceptable in today's business world. Stop perpetuating this out
of date crud.
Conclusion
Proposals that follow this template can be constructed in the
form of a letter or as a series of separate pages (my preferred
option), enclosed in a professional-looking binder.
Where the proposal is important enough it must always be
delivered personally to your buyer, giving you the
opportunity to take him through it under your control,
highlighting or marking
the most relevant / important aspects of it, and ensuring that
these items will draw his attention in subsequent readings.
Quotations Tell, Proposals Sell.
Keep Selling with Integrity
Maiti?
About the author:
Maitiu MacCabe is the CEO of Great Expectations Coaching, a
Dublin, Ireland, based coaching practice. Visit:
"http://www.greatexpectationscoaching.com/index.html"> Great
Expectations Coaching Home page for a wide range of articles
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