When a business proposal is turned down, you spend countless hours digging deep to find out the precise reason for the failure. From product or service quality to the pricing details, you scanned everything you had offered to locate the crash’s loophole. But do you look closely at the last document you shared with the prospective client?
A tiny mistake in the business proposal is like a nail in the coffin, causing the tide to turn against you. A fact worth noting here is that the last document is scanned rigorously with the client’s lens, and no mistake made here goes unnoticed. While it is right to say that you need to understand the specifics of clients before you send a proposal, there are several deeper layers to it than just client-specific interests.
If I start listing out what you should add to making an impactful business proposal, then I might end up writing ten blogs in one. So let’s choose the other way round and dig deeper into the mistakes that can conveniently turn the tables opposite and cause the deal to fail.
Here are 5 fatal business proposal mistakes that can add more “no” than “yes” to your deals:
#1. Boring text-heavy proposals
Design is a part of communication. Your proposal needs to speak clearly to the viewer. While you might want to narrate the story of how you can add to your client’s success, a hit proposal is crisp and to the point. Cut down on long sentences. The font, color, typography and typeface should be consistent. These elements make the proposal easy to be read or scanned.
Instead of writing down everything, add images, graphs, tabular representations of facts and achievements, short infographics to highlight every positive aspect of your offerings. From the introduction to the end, keep it interactive, ask questions, present scenarios, give solutions, and make your business proposal a success.
Proposals with videos and images have a greater likelihood to win the deal, suggests a study by Proposify.
Keep your videos short. Vidyard found that videos that are under one minute get viewed by 2 out of 3 people. Also, consider adding subtitles or captions since 90% watch them with the sound turned off. Use videos to introduce your team, demonstrate the working of the product or feature a customer testimonial.
An interactive proposal can cut down the chase and it is an opportunity to reveal the worth and quality of your company.
#2. Where is social proof?
Today, 60-70% of the decision-making is done even before a buyer engages with a salesperson, found a Gartner report. Another survey by Accenture says that the majority of buyers conduct online research before buying a product. They rely on social media, blogs, third party reviews, search engines and case studies to gather the information independently.
With every passing year, selling on the internet becomes harder. To win amid the increasing competition, provide your customers with social proof that others are trusting and using your offerings.
If your proposal lacks case studies or testimonials, then you are truly missing out on the essence. Including social proof to your proposals conveys to the reader that you are the master of your trade, and you can deliver the promised results.
The social proof used should be able to pitch how well-suited you are to handle their specific needs. Use a well-crafted case study that can convey the history of the client, challenges faced, and how you solved their problem precisely in a compelling style.
Check if your case study is recent. Do not use outdated subjects that talk about a process that you no longer use. You might consider revising your case studies now!
#3. What when the potential customer has queries?
When you integrate live chat in your proposal, your conversions increase because your prospect can chat with you directly from the proposal. you can ease their fears, answer their queries and give them a final nudge required to seal the deal.
Real-time live chat enables quick follow-up which is non-intrusive and requires less back and forth which otherwise happens with a phone call or an email. The immediateness of live chat to address even the smallest concern with a single click makes customers love live chat as a mode of communication with a business.
#4. Lack of consistent content
When you use jargon and hard-to-understand language, it turns people off. In a business proposal, contrary to the belief that jargons make you look knowledgeable, you come off as unfamiliar, complicated and confused.
Imagine how untrustworthy the proposal appears when it has typos, incorrect terms and poor grammar. Tips to help you include copywriting basics in your business proposals are:
- Use active voice, short sentences and words that are used daily
- Add statistics to validate your statements
- Include CTA’s to direct the reader to the next section
- Take the assistance of Grammarly and Hemmingway to improve the readability
- You can hire a copywriter to review the proposal
Create a standard content library with an approved copy so that the right information gets shared with the prospects.
#5. Not focussing on the investment page
Overlooking the investment or pricing page can kill the deal. The pricing page can’t be loaded with options nor can it go without the desired plans. Find the sweet spot and strike the perfect balance.
Usually, three pricing options with a clear distinction between the upgrade and middle spot do the trick and convince the client to make their decision.
Dealing with the nitty-gritty of business proposals frequently can be a daunting task and is prone to errors. However, using foolproof strategies can ease off the burden and help in writing a successful business proposal. Here are those golden tips to do trick:
- Keep your best pieces handy to refurbish and reuse
- Use templates to expedite the process of creating proposals
- Keep a checklist handy for a final review before you share the proposals with clients
- Ensure that the client-specific information is updated
- Involve different people in the process of creation from project and marketing teams for better output
- Ensure that the proposal is accessible on different devices and in multiple formats
- Be consistent in presenting your brand image
Having a flexible approach in terms of allowing the client to self-verify the facts and processes is one of the crucial factors in sealing the deal. A pre-planned approach regarding the last moment discounts or EMI options is important to handle the last-minute client concerns. Use a CRM to father the relevant data about the client from the moment they become a lead which includes mapping their customer journey for valuable insights into their behavioral and business preferences.
Although a business proposal might sound like a technical piece, note that it is a combination of the psychological, behavioral, and financial aspects of several people in a well-curated document. Hence, put in place an automated and customizable plan to create successful business proposals!