- What's up?
It's Jamal, and welcome back to the channel.
In this video, I'm gonna show you
how to write a winning business proposal
so that you can get new clients
and close deals with spending less time doing it.
To follow along in this video,
make sure to click the link in the description
to download our free business proposal PDF.
Here's what's crazy.
62% of sales professionals report
spending 40 hours a week on proposals.
When you think about it,
you're like, isn't that your whole work week?
When do you do sales?
Doesn't make any sense.
There's got to be a better way to do this.
And the absolute first thing
that you need to know about a business proposal is
that it is not the same as a business plan.
This comes up over and over again online,
so let me clear it up for you.
HubSpot defines a business plan as a documented strategy
for a business that highlights its goals
and its plans for achieving them.
It's primarily used when seeking an investor
to put money into your business.
A business proposal is a formal document provided
to a prospect with the purpose of securing their business.
In other words, you write a business proposal
to get clients.
And because every client's needs are different,
your business proposal needs to be customized
to address those needs.
That's why working off a template can save a lot
of time and energy,
freeing up your sales team to approach more prospects
every business cycle
and actually do what they need to do,
which is, you know, sell some stuff.
(chuckles) You know what I'm saying?
So let's break down each section of the template
to make sure you understand what's needed.
Most business proposals start out with an executive summary.
This is a one-page document that a prospect can skim over
to get a gist of what you're proposing and why.
But just because it's the first page,
that doesn't mean it's the first thing you want to write.
In fact, it can be very difficult
to write a summary of a proposal
before you've written out the whole thing.
I'm sure we all remember in college
trying to write the intro of our essay
right at the beginning,
and then we actually write the paper,
and we're like, "Well, that intro was useless
'cause that has nothing to do with ultimately
what I ended up talking about."
So you have to go back.
Don't waste that time up front.
Do it at the end, all right?
Instead, move directly into part two of a business proposal,
which is understanding the problem.
Your job as a salesperson is
to help your client identify their needs,
and then offer your company as a solution.
Sometimes this is easy,
especially if you've already met with a client
and discussed their situation.
Maybe the client even sent you an RFP,
which stands for request for proposal,
in which they define the problem they're trying to solve.
But no matter how much information you're starting with,
the goal is to demonstrate your understanding
of the client's pain points.
So make sure your writing is always customer-focused.
Make the client feel like you understand them better
than any of the other competitors.
Now, in some cases,
you might not get the opportunity
to discuss a client's problems
before creating your proposal.
Some businesses thrive on identifying a client's needs
before the client even knows there's a problem.
This is very common in the SCO game
where optimization providers can run
in-depth analysis of a website and identify its shortcomings
before approaching the prospect.
You can do this,
but you also want to be careful you're not making
too many assumptions about a potential client's needs.
If you have hard data to back up your findings,
don't be shy about presenting it to your prospect,
whether they ask for it or not.
Now that you've carefully defined the client's problem,
the next step naturally is to propose to solve it.
If you did a good job in the previous section,
the prospect will be eager
to hear the solution your company can offer.
Odds are that the solutions you offer
to clients are similar,
which makes this section of the proposal easier to write.
That said, you still want to make sure
that you're addressing the client's specific issue.
So be sure to include some direct references to the client
so the proposal doesn't look copy and paste.
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- Here are three additional tips
for writing a solution that will impress prospects.
Focus on the process your company uses
to solve the client's problem.
A lot of teams fall into the trap
of pitching ideas to the client before the deal is done.
It's like if you're trying to shoot free throws
with a blindfold on.
It's like, I mean, you could do that,
but also why would you do that? (laughs)
Which is to say that you're probably gonna be missing,
and even worse, the client could be turned off
if you get the solution wrong.
Or even worse than that,
the client could like your solution,
then execute it themselves or with another vendor.
By focusing on the process,
you give the client a detailed explanation
of how you will solve their problem
without actually doing the work before the check clears.
Another important tip when crafting a solution is
to explicitly spell out the results a client can expect
if they work with you.
You want to define clear KPIs that should improve
after your solution is implemented.
But you don't ever want to make promises
in terms of hard numbers.
So if your solution will improve efficiency,
you can say something like, "We streamline the process,
resulting in fewer hours spent on the task."
You don't want to say, "Decrease time spent by 30%,"
unless you're actually guaranteeing that result.
And the final tip I have for you is don't say it,
show it with graphics.
Humans can comprehend something much more easily
if they visualize it.
So take time to create charts,
infographics, or any other visual asset
to help illustrate your solution.
Check out this example taken from a proposal
by a web development agency.
To be honest with you,
don't even understand the difference
between traditional web design and growth-driven design.
But I know that the growth-driven line looks better to me.
If there is nothing to illustrate,
you could at least include a features and benefits table.
You'll find this included in the business proposal template
that you can download in the video description below.
Now, so far, your business proposal has focused
on the client.
But now it's time to show them what you got
by giving some background info on your organization.
There are a lot of ways you can go about
trying to impress your prospect,
but here are a few general items to include in this section.
Give some background information
on the organization as a whole
and include the mission and vision of your company,
if it's impactful.
You can also provide some info about your executive team,
as well as any individuals
who will be working directly with the client.
And use case studies as a way to illustrate the work you do.
Remember when I said you shouldn't include actual numbers
when talking about results for the client?
Well, case studies are all about numbers.
So don't be shy about including some positive metrics
that you've had with previous clients.
So go ahead, flex a little bit, like this.
(Jamal grunts)
There you have it.
Once you have the clients thinking you're amazing,
it's the perfect time to hit them with your pricing.
A lot of organizations find pricing to be the hardest part,
particularly if the service you offer varies,
depending on the client.
Ask for too much, and you might blow up the deal.
Ask for too little,
and you can end up losing money in the long run.
You might even have to go back to your client
and ask for more money,
which is an awful position to be in.
I could do a whole video on pricing.
And if you'd like to see that actually,
let me know in the comments.
The one thing I want to tell you
about pricing is you should never call it pricing,
or costs, or fees.
Instead, try calling it investment, or venture, or asset.
Another tip, there can be the tendency
to offer an array of solutions,
or even small, medium, large set of solutions
with lots of upsells.
But research shows that offering a single solution
secures more deals.
And you could always upsell the client
on additional services as the work goes along.
You also want to be sure to set a payment schedule
with clear milestones and dates.
Otherwise, you can end up waiting forever to get paid
if the work slows due to roadblocks on the client's end.
Also, since we're speaking of schedules,
be sure to include a total project timeline
in your business proposal.
This sets expectations for the client,
while also adding a sense of urgency
for them to sign the deal.
And finally, you want to end every business proposal
with a call to action
that lets the client sign off on the deal
so you can get started working.
Even better, give them a direct link to make a payment.
This is proven to increase sales in many industries.
And there you have it.
Those are the tips on how to write a business proposal
and how to secure client deals.
If you have any questions,
be sure to leave them in the comments below.
And while you're down there,
be sure to like the video, hit the subscribe button,
and ding that notification bell so you never miss a video.
And if you haven't already,
make sure you download the free business proposal template
so you can start closing more deals.
Because if you win, I win.
We're in this together.
We're a community, all right?
And thanks for watching.
I'll see you next time.
This is very common in the SCO game where S...
Where S...
I win.
(chuckles) Whoops.
What are my hands doing?