Write a Sales Proposal
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- List the key components of a sales proposal.
- Describe the purpose of a sales proposal.
- Create a sales proposal.
What Is a Sales Proposal?
A sales proposal is a document you create to show the value of your product or service. When you use a sales proposal, you show your prospect why they should invest in you and how you can help their business.
The most important elements in a sales proposal are typically:
- A description of the product or service
- A list of customer needs and challenges
- An explanation of how your product or service will benefit them, and why they need it
- The return on investment, or what the customer will get in return for their business if they buy your product or service
These key elements, among other details, take your prospect step-by-step through all of the relevant information. The proposal shows them why they should invest in your company’s offerings and gives them a concise summary all in one place.
Why Create a Sales Proposal?
Here’s how a sales proposal helps your customer understand the value and benefits you offer them–and how it helps you drive more sales, faster.
It makes the prospect feel valued. When you create a sales proposal that demonstrates how your product or service helps their business goals, the customer feels that you understand and value their business needs. They feel that you are truly invested in them and care about them.
It keeps everything in one place. You need to include a lot of details in your sales proposal such as the product/service summary, pricing and payment options, and how you’ll work together. A sales proposal keeps all of this organized and in one place, so the prospect can quickly and easily find all of the information they need. The proposal provides a good customer experience.
It increases your chances of closing the deal. A sales proposal aims to get your potential customer to take action by taking them through a business discovery process. It enables you and the prospect to move through these steps together.
- Step 1: Introduce the product/service and provide all of the relevant information.
- Step 2: Talk with your prospect about their existing problems or challenges.
- Step 3: Connect your product or service to those pain points to show how you can help with their challenges.
- Step 4: Now that your prospect knows there’s a “problem” and a need to fix it with your product or service, they will start looking into their options. This could include looking at your competitors as well.
- Step 5: The prospect sees why you would be valuable to their business and becomes a loyal customer.
Whew! That’s a lot of information in one document. How do you go about writing something that seems so complicated? It’s easier than you think. Let’s break it down.
Write a Proposal
Step 1: Understand Your Prospect. You’ve already started identifying your prospect’s needs and pain points. Using the steps below, you can get to know your customer on a deeper level, and then include the relevant information that you uncover—what they care about–in your sales proposal.
- Research your customer and their business needs and get a clear picture of their timeline, budget, challenges, and points of contact.
- Create a request for proposal, or a document that includes all of the details of the potential purchase, such as goals, budget, timeline, deliverables, and so on.
- Ask the customer questions to delve deeper into their business and what they care about.
- Do market research to understand who their customers are, who their competitors are in the industry, and how you can add value to help them run their business more effectively.
Step 2: Outline your proposal. Here are the specific elements to include in your proposal.
- Title page
- Introduction (about your company)
- Challenges they might be trying to solve
- Solutions you can provide for your customer
- Selling proposition and benefits
- Pricing
- Timeline
- Case studies
- Client testimonials
- Terms and conditions of working together
- Next steps
Step 3: Write your proposal. Start writing your sales proposal based on all of the research you’ve gathered. Make it short and sweet—about 2–3 pages is ideal. You want to keep your customer’s attention, and make it an easy read!
Step 4: Proofread your proposal. It’s important to proofread your work, as the document is a direct reflection of you and your company. Here are some steps to take when proofreading.
- Check for spelling and grammar errors.
- Set your pricing from low to high.
- Simplify your language.
- Consider adding images or helpful visuals/charts.
- Use a consistent voice and tone.
- Ensure content flows well and answers all of the customer’s questions.
Step 5: Make it easy to understand and accept your proposal. If you need your customer to sign your proposal and send it back, consider using eSignature software or something that makes the process easy for them. When the steps in the process are easy to complete, you’re that much more likely to close the deal.
Now that you’ve seen the sales proposal writing process, you’re set up to build a great sales proposal. Happy writing!