In my previous blog post I discussed the importance of crafting a solid business proposal as it represents your company, your brand and even yourself when you’re not in the room to have the conversation in-person. But what’s involved in building a top of the line proposal?

One Size Does Not Fit All

There are different proposals for different situations, so a single outline won’t work for every situation. While there are general guidelines to follow for the creation of various proposals, this post will focus on sales proposals.

1. Professional: As the saying goes, people form an opinion of you within the first 7 seconds of meeting. A proposal works the same way. While creating a professional proposal sounds easy it’s often overlooked because you’re focused on the details within. A compelling coverage page is similar to that of a resume. You’re putting yourself, your brand and your capabilities in front of an audience that you cannot talk to. If your cover page looks unprofessional, you’ve already moved to the bottom of the pack. Make sure that your proposal has a professional, impactful cover page, is formatted correctly and free of any grammatical or spelling errors.

2. Accurate: The accuracy of your proposal spans several levels. At the highest level, if your prospect finds anything within your proposal that is inaccurate, your credibility is shattered and you can kiss any hopes of doing business good-bye. A common example is repurposing an old proposal. I recommend never doing a “save as” on an old proposal even if you successfully closed a deal with it. You are leaving too much room for error by trusting a simple “find and replace.” A good proposal will include many words and phrases specific to each client and industry that cannot be captured. Next, ensure that the content you are presenting is accurate. If your winning proposal was sent five months ago, have you checked with internal stakeholders to confirm updates have been made to specific marketing content, price sheets, services information or case studies. Sending outdated content sends a message that you haven’t taken the time to truly understand your prospects’ needs, or worse yet, you didn’t listen during your conversations with them.

3. Comprehensive: As mentioned above, this is the area that will vary depending on the type of proposal being created. Generally speaking, however, every standard proposal should include these elements:
a. Objectives: What are the core business challenges your customer or prospect is experiencing that your solution will address?
b. Solution: What are the key features and benefits that you can offer to solve the stated objective and how will it help your customer or prospect?
c. Budget: How much will it cost?
d. Process: What will the implementation process and timeline look like?
e. Credibility: Clearly articulate that you understand the problem your customer or prospect is trying to solve. Then explain why your organization offers the best solution.
i. Case studies: Who else have you helped solve similar challenges?

4. Balanced: Your proposal cannot be all about you – avoid a one-sided proposal. At APMP’s Midwest Symposium last October, I attended a session led by Steve Rosemurgy of Allstate who discussed the delicate aspect of company branding within a proposal. It’s natural to want to tell the prospect all about how your solution will help them solve their problems and business challenges, but remember they need to also understand how you fit into their ecosystem. Through your proposal, show your prospect that you understand their needs, in their language and better than your competitors by equally representing their company as well as your own.

5. Timeliness: This is another easy objective to achieve, yet an easy one to miss. If you promise a prospect that you will have a proposal in their hands by end of day, it better be in their hands well before end of day. End of day is not 10 p.m., end of day is before 5 p.m. in the time zone they’re in.

There are many moving parts in building a good proposal. It takes a great project manager to ensure that all necessary pieces come together with enough time to review, edit and finalize the document to be able to deliver to a client or prospect on time. It is crucial to your business that you implement a process that enables sales reps ample time to build the proposal, as well as obtain the necessary reviews and approvals prior to sending out.

Building a kick-ass proposal does not have to be intimidating, as long as you have all the necessary components and treat it with the care and respect that it deserves!

Tell me, did I miss any critical steps that you follow during your proposal process?