Is your sales team sending out too many proposals that don’t close? Some proposals seem to fall through the cracks and you never get a response. It can seem like all of that work was for nothing.

Before you give up – there is a solution! Follow these nine business proposal ideas to help your team close more deals.

1. Focus on how you will solve their problem

Too often, sales teams create proposals that focus on their offering. It includes the features and benefits that their product or service will offer the prospect, but ultimately, it doesn’t address the prospect’s needs.

At the beginning of your proposal, you need to address the prospect’s challenges that you intend to overcome. This will outline the specific objectives of the client and create a tool they can use to solve their problems. To do this, you have to first fully understand your prospect’s problems and then create a proposal that solves those problems. Using a template in your proposal software can help you stay focused on solving your prospect’s needs.

2. Know your decision-makers

If you don’t know your decision-makers, you may go through the sales process and then have your proposal stall when a person of influence, who you didn’t know about, stops the proposal from moving forward. You need to know the entire audience, including all decision-makers before you create your proposal.

3. Get to the point…fast!

Always remember you’re writing to business professionals. They are busy and don’t have the time or desire to read a long proposal. The goal is to get to the point as quickly as possible; they will appreciate your brevity. One way to do this is to focus on shorter paragraphs and sentences, which will keep you from writing longer sentences that contain too much fluff and may frustrate your reader.

4. Use simple and easy-to-understand language

Most business people don’t appreciate highly technical and jargon-filled business communications. That’s why you should keep the language in your proposal simple and easy-to-understand. The prospect should be able to read and follow along, as well as understand the key points easily. It’s also important not to exaggerate your claims because that type of hyperbole can undermine the credibility you have built.

5. Build trust faster with testimonials

Build trust faster with your potential clients by adding testimonials to your proposals. If you already have some testimonials on your website, add any relevant ones to your proposals. If not, then reach out to your customers and request that they share how your product or service has helped their business. Make sure your proposal software template includes a place for testimonials.

6. Give the customer options

Give the customer options in your proposal. Do this by including add-ons to your proposal that allow your client to see complementary services. This gives them a chance to get more out of the project. At the same time, it will enable your business to make a more significant sale. There are two advantages to doing this. One is that it gives your prospect the option to upgrade the project themselves so they can pick which one best suits their needs. It also provides the prospect with a chance to purchase higher-level services, allowing your company to make more money. Using online proposal software like QuoteWerks allows prospects to select the features they want.

7. Create real scarcity

Scarce products have a higher perceived value. Fear of missing out (FOMO) has a real effect on your proposal. You can add real scarcity to your proposals by adding an expiration date using your proposal software. State in the proposal that you can only offer the pricing for a limited time. After that, the price can change. This means the prospect can’t wait indefinitely to make a decision.

8. Proofread, proofread, proofread

Before you send out that proposal, proofread it and make sure there are no grammar or spelling mistakes. Even small mistakes, such as forgetting to include a semicolon, can be a problem that your prospect will find and judge you on. You can have a great looking proposal and yet have the reader catch flaws. It’s a good idea to have your team read over the proposal a few times to make sure you send it out without errors.

9. Call them after they read your proposal

Use your QuoteWerks proposal software to track when the client opens your proposal. After they read it, you can follow up with a phone call. This allows you to answer any questions they may have. Ideally, you might want to call as close to 10 minutes after they open the proposal.

Closing More Deals

Following these nine business proposal ideas will help your team close more deals and create more focused proposals. You will use simple language that helps them get to the point fast, and your testimonials will build trust. Meanwhile, real scarcity will ensure the prospect makes a decision more quickly. Finally, you can follow-up promptly and answer any questions they may have.

If you’re looking for the best way to implement all of these ideas, the right proposal software will help you keep proposals from falling through the cracks so you know when to follow up every time.

If you are ready to close more deals, check out the QuoteWerks demo today.

About the Author:
Brian Laufer
Vice President
QuoteWerks