By Synthia Ontila
BUSINESS PROPOSAL TIPS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR CLIENT SAY YES!
Why would your business need to write a proposal?
“In today’s competitive business environment, your ability to write powerful proposals could mean the life, or death, of your business,” says Sue Clayton of Entrepreneur magazine. Writing powerful proposals helps businesses win jobs in today’s competitive business environment. To bid for the job, you must submit a proposal, which will explain how your company would meet the client’s needs and should convince the client to hire your company, instead of your competitor.
Charles Wakefield, a Principal Partner at Tectonics International Inc., a Scottsdale Arizona consulting firm that helps organizations change their business processes, systems and other internal structures says,” Getting our first service contract was not a matter of luck. We provided a very professional proposal that was well thought through. We also had people with the specific total quality management and participative management experience this Texas- based transit organization was looking for.”
When you are writing a business proposal, you want your potential clients to say yes to your proposal. According to Meredith Hart, “A business proposal can bridge the gap between you and potential clients. It outlines your value proposition, and its primary purpose is to persuade a company or organization to do business with you.” Writing a business proposal can be daunting. You want to get the business proposal in as soon as possible but you have no idea what to put in there, how long it should be, or even where to start. You are asking someone to choose your company and hoping that they understand why you are the perfect fit.
According to Inc., “A business proposal is sent from a supplier to a potential client for the purpose of winning a specific project. It is a written document and it can either be requested by the client or sent unsolicited.” Many service-based businesses rely on proposals in order to sell their services and bring in new business. Writing a business proposal requires that you convincingly articulate your understanding of the potential client’s problem, as well as the reasons your company is the best choice. Let’s take a look at how to write a proposal that gets your potential clients to say ‘Yes’.
Just like writing anything else, a well- written proposal begins by gathering information. Confused about what a business proposal is? Mary Cullen of Instructional Solutions defines “A business proposal is a written offer of services tailored to a client.” You can also look at a business proposal as a bid to obtain a business. AppInstitute further defines a proposal as,” A document that’s used to secure work.” From the various definitions, you can think of a business proposal as a sales pitch or a job interview on paper as you have to sell yourself.
Government agencies and most big companies may require you to submit a proposal in response to their RFP. Or a new client could want an in-depth look at why you’re the right business for the job. Proposals can be Solicited or Unsolicited. Whether your proposal is solicited or unsolicited, the steps to create your proposal are similar. If you don’t understand the client’s problem, you cannot propose a solution.
A client may request a proposal on a project in the course of a sales call by just saying,” You know, that is interesting. Why don’t you send me a proposal on that?” In other cases the proposal may be a formal solicitation, also called RFP (Request for Proposal). RFP specifies the products or services to be provided, the qualifications sought, and the deadline for submission. Solicited proposals are created as a specific response to a client’s proposal. This may mean that the client has already decided to make a purchase. Only the selection of a vendor remains to be done. So make sure to stick to the guidelines as per the RFP. A good example is Charles Wakefield of Tectonics International Inc., who examines every RFP carefully. He says,” We don’t send everybody a proposal who asks for one, because researching and writing is a fairly expensive process. First, we decide if we can design a good program for them. Then, we look for projects that have some potential for us strategically, contracts that offer continuing relationships and good networking possibilities.”
An unsolicited proposal, by contrast is a proposal you provide to potential clients although not requested. The proposal is specifically aimed at a well- defined and limited activity. An example of this kind of proposal is let’s suppose your company does accounting services, you might send a proposal out to a large company to gain their business. You have to be very convincing so as to gain their audience.
The key questions you should always aim to answer in your business proposal include: What is the Problem Statement? What is your Proposed Solution? What is your Pricing and Methodology? Building a business proposal is like building a house. Just as the structure of a house varies based on location, architect and owner’s preference, business components can vary based on industry, company size and many other factors. Your proposal is your direct chance to win new business so keep the client in mind in each step of the proposal preparation. So what are the roof, walls and foundation of your business proposal?
Are you worried that you do not have an excellent business proposal? It is normal to feel overwhelmed and a little bit anxious about writing a successful business proposal. Don’t leave your business’s success up to chance. Follow these steps below to write winning proposals
Most documents always have a Title Page or what others would call, a Cover Page. A business proposal is no difference. A great business proposal requires a great cover page as it speaks volumes about your business; and if done correctly, it can make a fantastic impression. Did you know that 96% of people equate design with how trustworthy a business is? Even if your proposal is well written, offers a cost effective creative solution and adds a ton of value, if your cover page is not attractive, it’s going to put the prospective client off. It is often said that titles should be eye-catching. But what do we mean by an eye-catching title? Let me use an example to show you the difference. Assume you are given these two titles: Marketing Project for Company X and Increasing Leads through Social Media Campaigns. Which one automatically strikes your interest?
Most people’s proposal titles are like the first title. If yours is like that, then you are definitely missing out on a valuable opportunity to stand out from your competitors. The problem with the title is that it is too general and boring. The type that one would just glance at it and move on cause no one wants to really read it. Good titles like the second one should be short but specific enough to include the results the clients want. So when you are writing a proposal title ask yourself if the title you have written is something that will make your client want to read more. In the cover page too, your name/ company name, your client’s company name/name of the person you’re submitting the proposal to, company logo and date of submission should be included.
Some clients do ask for a cover letter also called Introduction while other clients do not need one. If you do not need one, you can skip this section. If your client requires a cover letter, make sure to make it interesting and make the prospect want to go through your proposal. Keep it short and friendly and give a background of your company and what makes you the best. ClientPoint, a company that writes business proposals for clients’ advices that in your cover letter, do include: your company, address and contact information as the header then start with the name of the recipient( probably with their designation), name and contact information of client’s company and the date. A good example of a great cover letter is a blog by ClientPoint. The blog gives you an idea of how your cover letter should look like and make it easy for you to write one.
Almost all proposals require a Table of contents. ClientPoint, believe, “A table of content is a nice touch to a business proposal. Because clients who receive business proposals from many companies want to save time, they will probably read only the table of contents and the summary.” That is why this part is also very important for a successful business proposal. Meredith Hart emphasizes the importance of table of contents to help with easy navigation of the proposal and makes it look more professional.
The executive summary is probably the only part most of your potential business partners might read so make it count! That is why you need to make it worthwhile. Just like the name, it is a summary for a busy executive. This section is more about selling than summarizing and sets the scene for the proposal. Give a brief summary of your entire proposal. Highlight the problem and why your solution is the right one in a persuasive way for the client. Here is a great resource that should help you to write a high-quality executive summary: https://articles.bplans.com/writing-an-exectutive-summary/
In the problem statement, Business Life hacks advices that in this section, “Dive into the client’s problem and present your thorough understanding of the client’s problem.” Develop urgency for the client to find a solution. The best way to understand what the client’s problem really is to get to talk to them. You can ask the people in the organization about their concerns, operating policies and their management philosophy. To get to know their client’s problem, Charles Wakefield of Tectonics International Inc., interviewed the Senior managers in the client’s quality and training & development departments, as well as a purchasing agent and this is what he came up with,” We learned that our client’s goal was to reach a higher level of customer service and they wanted to do that by changing the management process.”
If you are unable to speak to the organization’s employees, do some secondary research. This may save you from proposing a solution that may have been tried before or unacceptable to the client for reasons best known to them. You may also discover some underlying issues that were not addressed in the RFP and need to be considered. A good example of a problem statement is how ClientPoint Software helped Mauzy Heating, Air and Solar double sales by clearly stating the problems that their clients were facing. A good example you can borrow from on how to write your problem statement is by WOW Essays, a free essay database that have many samples on proposals on Virgin Airlines. The case study on Virgin Airlines clearly highlights what needs to be included in the problem statement and it should be in pros form. Also the problem statement should be short and bring out the problems well as per how you have come up with. Shervin Freed, coauthor of Writing Winning Business Proposals(McGraw-Hill) says,” If you don’t understand the client’s problem, you certainly can’t propose a methodology that is going to solve the problem.” So for you to be able to come up with a strong methodology, you need to get this part right.
“Now it’s time to figure out how you’ll deliver on the client’s needs and figure out the steps you’d require to reach the end goal and in what order they need to be done. This is the section that is known as Proposed Solution or Approach and Methodology. If you are having difficulty with this, use Charles Wakefield suggestion of brainstorming issues. He says,” My partner and I get together and discuss what kinds of things our clients need and in what order. It is going to be different for each of our clients, depending on whether they focus more on customer service or on cost savings. We then design an intervention that is specific to their organization.” To ensure that your methodology is practical, analyze its costs and benefits, as well as the time and resources it will require.”
When Amazon wanted to build the second major headquarter, they sent out an RFP to different cities for them to make a bid. Virginia, the city that won the bid used Mckinsey & Co. consultants to analyze the chances they had of winning based on Amazon’s wish list: a talented workforce, accessible transportation options, high quality of life, and a favorable business climate. Using data from 20 categories, solutions were obtained. Stephen Moret worked with the state officials, local politicians and business leaders to craft the solutions too for six weeks. He then hosted site visits and coordinated discussions with Amazon executives which eventually led to the win. On reading the RFP that Amazon sent, the solutions that were given were as per the request. So always tailor make your solutions to fit the client’s needs. A winning proposal means writing for the client’s valuable solution to their problem.
The question that the clients would be interested to know you’d answer is what makes you stand out? The part that you get to fully answer this question is known as the Qualification/ About us. This is where you really sell your company. Make it as interesting as possible highlighting your expertise so that when the prospective client reads this section, they may feel as if they know you. Aditya Sheth of Venngage in her blog gives a great example of how your About us section should look like.
When you are writing a business proposal, there has to be a section where you list the prices for your products or services that you offer. This is the Pricing/ Budget section. The more specific and clear you can be about the prices, the better. Make sure the prices you give are also accurate. You can use a pricing comparison table to clearly identify each product with the prices. Be as specific as possible so that when the client agrees to the business proposal, they are clear on your prices. Include all costs you anticipate or will be incurred in this section and how the payment is to be paid. If you do not know how to go about project estimation, FreshBooks cloud accounting has made it easier for you here https://www.freshbooks.com/hub/estimates/estimate-projects.
The fine print falls at the end. This is called the Terms and conditions. Your legal team comes in handy here. They should make sure the terms and conditions are clear before they send out the proposal.
As The Youth Café, we always endeavor to make our business proposals as attractive for the prospects as possible. For our Mission and Vision to be achieved, there has to be teamwork; not only internal but also external. We use business proposals to form partnerships with other organizations for the good of the youths. We also offer trainings to our people to better their business proposal writing skills for us to be able to secure clients to work with.
Synthia is a researcher with The Youth Cafe
If you really want your business proposals to stand out and give you the best chance at winning new clients, feel free to contact us.
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