Elements

Elements to consider when developing your organisations sales proposals.

Customer Focus
Your sales proposal needs to talk about your customer more than you talk about your organisation. If you do not understand your customers’ needs or requirements then go and learn about them. If you do not understand your customers’ needs or requirements you will not be able to deliver a sales proposal that fulfils their needs or requirements and articulate that clearly or concisely.

Have clear win themes and objectives
Buyers make decisions on clear articulated and presented information, which can be easily read and understood. It is worth investing in how to deliver and produce sales proposal from professionals that have proven and successful systems like universities and private institution. Sales proposal should not overwhelm readers with information and should include images/graphics, correct layout, easy navigation and nicely balanced colour schemes.

Perception is Everything
Sales proposals are face of your organisation to your clients and must show this better than your competitors. Investing in content creation, design, and branding to produce your organisations sales proposal will help you maintain a minimum benchmark.

Value
The last thing you want to get involved in is a price battle. If you and your competitors cannot show how you are better and can deliver more than just a commodity product or solution, like after hours service and 99 percent customer satisfaction or information like “our customers on average have been with us for 10 years”, then you need to find what is different or where you can demonstrate your organisations value.

Provide Implementation details
Your organisation should include who will be involved in the implementation, an implementation plan and a timeline. Clearly show how all steps in reducing the risks associated in doing business with you are minimised.

Develop Sales Proposal solutions
Having systems or solutions in place will allow your organisation to limit liability in bad output whilst being more efficient in delivery to you clients will help with client satisfaction.

Consistency
Stop your sale professionals cutting and pasting from old materials or doctoring old proposals. When this occurs the quality of your sales proposals is likely to fall and create and bad perception of your organisation to your clients. Sales Proposal solutions aid your sales process and help your sales professionals to produce the best output they can.

Sales proposal processes
Your organisation should have clearly defined sales process that are easily followed and measured. If you are not able to measure your inputs and outputs you will not easily be able to improve the elements to your sales proposals which are developed. Measuring your win rate is one way in which you can measure success.