Sales quote writing simplified
Writing the perfect sales quote doesn’t require the skill set of William Shakespeare, or even a Stephen King. In most cases, all a professional sales proposal needs is:
1: an understanding of your macro audience (the business and market you’re targeting);
2: an understanding of your micro audience (the recipient[s] of your quote);
3: a decent command of the English language; and
4: sales quoting software to help create, send, and track your proposal.
Targeting a market in a sales quote
No matter what market you may target — technology, security, manufacturing, retail, puppetry, all of the preceding and more — each market has, in addition to its own product and service needs, its own vernacular.
The vernacular extends to language — especially acronyms: CR, for example, can means “conversion rate” to an internet marketer, but “change request” to a project manager.
The good news is that if you’re using quoting software to build your quotes, that means you’re using templates to build your quotes. And you can easily create a library of sales quote templates that has the verbal and visual vernacular built-in. I.e., your marco targeting is addressed before you begin!
Micro-targeting in a sales quote
Frankly, understanding of your micro-audience — the decision makers you’re working with during the sales process, the people who will be reviewing and hopefully approving your quote — can not really be taught or automated.
Knowing what an individual wants to to hear and and see in a sales proposal may only be gleaned the old-fashioned way — by forming a relationship with that person, understanding their expectations, and ensuring the content of your quote matches those expectations.
If you’re an experienced sales rep, this should be second nature to you. If you’re new to either the sales game or to crafting winning sales quotes, the good news is that it ain’t rocket science. Speak to the prospects in your sales quotes in the same way you speak to them in your sales calls, but with a touch more formality (as you’re sending what may be a legally binding document).
And remember to underpromise and overdeliver — Did you discuss a 30 day turnaround time, but know it can be done in 20? Did you mention a 5% discount, but can actually do 10? Share the good news in your quote!
Their, there, they’re...
Good grammar is a good thing, but “speaking their language” is even better. It’s ok to be conversational and even colloquial in a sales quote. What’s not ok are typos, grammatical errors (like, “Their will be a 10% discount” OUCH!), and any kind of dramatic pivot from the conversations that led up to the sales quote.
Catching typos and fixing poor grammar can be handled by a proofreader (if you don’t have one in-house, there are dozens of online services available, and for cheap!). Avoiding what we’re calling a “dramatic pivot” takes us back to section 2, and speaking in a language your recipient understands and is comfortable with.
An “anti-example” would be as follows: after a series of friendly conversations that warmed up your prospect and gave them a level of comfort in working with you, you send a sales quote that feels like it was written by a lawyer or a scientist.
Yes, you want the language in your proposal to be targeted and “clean,” but you also need to keep it familiar and friendly.
For building, sending, & tracking, quoting software does the heavy lifting
Writing a perfect sales proposal is rarely something the average sales rep is able to do right out of the gate. While most every rep should have excellent phone and face-to-face communication skills from day one, writing a targeted proposal well simply takes time and experience. Don’t be afraid to lean on your more experienced peers for ideas and assistance.
But for just about everything else in a sales proposal, you can lean on quoting software (a.k.a., quote to cash, configure price quote [CPQ], sales proposal automation). The best sale quote software on the market comes standard with professionally designed proposal templates, a dynamic product and pricing configuration engine (you simply drag and drop winning combinations into your quotes), and every tool you need to send and track sales quotes.
Additionally, CPQ solutions integrated with CRM systems — such as Zoho, Dynamics, Salesforce, and more — mean that you never have to leave your most valuable tech to send a quote. The same system you use to prospect, track lead activity, and create a sales funnel is the same system you use to create and send sales quotes.
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