Sell a complex,technical product to nontechnical buyers

Speaking the customer's language is an important part of winning his or her trust. A flexible proposal process can help you communicate effectively even if the buyer lacks in-depth knowledge of what you're offering. Sell the"smarter"customer: Smart buyers want to gain as much as possible while spending as little as possible. If you don't show them what they gain by choosing your recommendations, they will inevitably focus on the other half of the equation:spending very small.

Helping you sell

Look at your proposals very well as part of your overall sales and marketing activities,rather than narrowly as the formal means of responding to a particular request. Seen that way, a proposal can help you build your business in many ways, including some that extend beyond the immediate opportunity to which you are responding. The obvious:helping you sell. The proposal's most important job is to help you sell something. (In no profit realm,it should help you obtain funding in support of your mission and purposes.) To go a bit further,though, a high-quality, carefully constructed proposal can help you.

The important lesson in a quality proposal

The client may use your proposal as the basis for soliciting bids from your competitors. It does not happen often,but it happens often enough that you should be careful. The important lesson is that you should always do some prudent quality proposal. There is no point in submitting to some people who have no budget,no authority, or no real interest in working with you. There is even less point in submitting to someone who may take your material and share it with your competitors.

The potential client

What about the clients who issue RFPs or request proposals with no intention of buying something? They are looking for free consulting,and to the extent you answer all of their questions,you may be giving away the solution. Or the client may solicit bids in an effort to"beat up" the existing vendor. Does this really happen? Yes. Is it ethical? No. If you are selling a product,you have wasted time and energy,because you've prepared a proposal for somebody who never intended to buy anything. But if you're selling a creative solution,an idea, a syestem design,or other intellectual property,you may have lost much more.The potential client may glean enough substance from your proposal that he tries or she tries to do it without you, using your concepts but developing them internally.

Soliciting creative ideas or getting free consulting.

Decision makers face a tremendous number of demands on their time and abilities. They need to know what's out there, who has it, and how much it costs. They need to know if there are new ways of handling old challenges.What are the trends in the industry? Who are the new people in the game? It's overwhelming. One way to establish a base of information is to ask for proposals. As long as you are honest with the sales representative about your time frame, there is nothing wrong with this practice.

Slowing Down The Sales Process

Sales is a little bit like courtship.The word "proposal"applies to the final part of both activities.In the early stages of both,the process can take on a momentum of its own. We become happy and enchanted with new possibilities, and we hastine forward.Asking for a written proposal slows the sales process down.The customer figures that it will take several days,maybe even a couple of weeks,for the salesperson to put together a proposal,which give the customer time to think about this decision calmly,to weigh the options,to determine whether this opportunity will look as good the morning after as it does now.

Adding Objectivity to the buying process

It appears odd,but some people don't want to buy from people they like. They're afraid that if they really like the sales man or woman, they will somehow make a bad decision based on rapport or friendship. If that strikes you a goofy way to make a buying decision, join the club.(After all, wouldn't you rather do business after the sale with people you like?) Regardless, it makes enough point to some customers and prospects that they will try to create an arm's length relationship by asking you for a written proposal.

Clarifying Complex Information

Do you sell something so complex that it would take you more than ten minutes to explain it to your father? If so,it's possible some of your prospects don't understand it, either. A proposal gives the nontechnical customer a chance to study,analyze,ponder,get help, and eventually understand.

Comparing Offers

Comparing vendors,prices or offers. Ask yourself this question,am i the only vendor this prospect is talking to? It's possible you are being asked for a proposal so that your recomendations,pricing and evidence can be compared to a competitor's. Buying products or services can be difficult, especially when the decision maker must deal with an array of options,lots of conflicting claims,and little practical knowledge of the area under consideration."Getting it in writing"is the traditional way to deal with this challenges.

Get good proposals for your clients

Why do customers ask us for a proposal when the recommendations we have made in person so obviously make sense? Because the proposal has value for them.For instance,a good proposal can help the decision maker to: 1.Compare vendors,or prices so he or she can make an informed decision 2.Clarify complex information 3.Make the buying process more"objective" 4.Solicit creative ideas,get free consulting and become educated.