Estimating the Rate of Return

For thousands of years,the Inuit people of Alaska and Canada have hunted whales as their primary source of food. They go out into the ocean in small boats, and pound on drums and the side of their boats to drive the whales toward shore(whales have very sensitive hearing, you know). Then, when the whales are in shallow water, they attack and kill them. Now they use harpoon guns and more advanced weapons, but they used to do it with little more than spears. Now why on earth would they do that? There are much simpler and less dangerous game they could hunt-geese,rabbits,seals,walruses even. They could fish. Why go after the largest, most powerful mammal on earth? For that matter, why did primitive humans hunt mastodons? We've all seen the "artist' recreations" of a tribe of scantily clad Neanderthals surrounding a wooly mammoth the size of a beachfront condo,attacking it with little more than sharpened sticks. Okay. So why did they do that? Why not pick on something your own size?

Highlight your proposal

It is a good idea to highlight your proposal so the customer can quickly find the high-value content that directly addresses the factors he or she thinks are important. For proactive opportunities, customers tend to search on their own key criteria until they find a differentiator. Then they stop and make a decision. This implies that it's vital that we organize our sales presentations and proposals to focus right away on the criteria that the customer thinks are most important. Often, these factors will address issues such as: # 1. Are we getting what we need? Does this solve a significant business problem? Will the proposed solution work in our environment? # 2. Can this vendor really do it? Do they have the experience and resources to perform on time and on budget? Are they competent? # 3. Does this represent good value for the money? Is the proposed pricing fair? What kind of return on our investment will we receive? Don't forget to post your comment.

What does this mean for our sales effort? Answer #3

we need to differentiate between opportunities where we are acting to the customer's request for a proposal and opportunities where we are offering a solution proactively. When we submit a proposal in response to an RFP, we must recognize that our first job is to avoid elimination based on some arbitrary or trivial issue. That means following directions carefully, answering all of the questions and requirements, and making our compliance to the bid as obvious as possible. An effective tool in this area is the compliance matrix, a table in which you list each of the client's requirements, give your level of compliance with that requirement, and possibly offer a brief comment or explanation.