Here are five ways salespeople can boost the effectiveness of their sales proposals and bring in more revenue:

1. Eliminate any surprises. Prospects and customers don’t like surprises. When they read the proposal, they should agree that the solutions offered match the problems they’ve already discussed with your company.
2. Use the customer’s words. Encourage salespeople to use the customer’s exact terminology and ideas as often as possible when writing the proposal. Eliminate the inside terms your company uses that may confuse the customer. The more the proposal reads like a document that could’ve been produced within the customer’s organization, the more receptive the customer will be.
3. Let the prospect participate. The prospect is the insider. Nobody knows his or her business (and the problems associated with it) better. So it’s critical to incorporate his or her input when preparing the proposal. When prospects see their own ideas in the finalized proposal, they’ll be more likely to accept it.
4. Ask for pre-proposal feedback. There are times when purchasing decisions are made outside the cast of characters salespeople deal with at prospects’ companies. In these cases, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback from those decision makers, so adjustments can be made to the proposal before it moves to a higher level.
5. Make a link to future sales. Identify the links between the proposals being written today and future solutions. While a proposal should mention the short-term value a sale will deliver to the customer today, it can also mention opportunities to add future value.

Adapted from Exceptional Selling by Jeff Thull

Tags: Exceptional Selling, Jeff Thull, sales proposals