A sales proposal writer’s confession: when I was pursuing a degree at a storied university in the Northeastern United States, I did not think to myself, “I will use this education to one day craft sales proposals.” Furthest thing from my mind at the time, likely.
But now, after 15+ years in the real world of B2B sales, I craft sales proposals regularly using two tools: the first is that expensive degree I mentioned (sort of); the second is sales proposal automation software.
And while I’m still paying off the former and finding it hard to quantify ROI, my proposal software costs me less than $2 a day and presents a clear ROI- my closing rates have improved.
As my former classmates work on their “soon to be published” epic poems and Great American Novels, they may look at what I do and call me a “sell-out.” But I beg to differ, as the art of sales proposal writing is the art of selling in.
Selling in the art of writing sales proposals
Before I go much further about what to put in, what to leave out, whom to talk to, and other key considerations in every sales proposal, one more word about my education. I was taught to write well, but that hasn't served me well. Because, in most cases, with sales proposals… ya gotta write good.
Worrying about split infinitives, proper punctuation around non-restrictive clauses, and whether or not prepositions are something to end sentences with… these are not concerns for the sales proposal writer. Punchy sentences. Active verbs. Benefit after benefit . That’s the language of the proposal.
Before you open the hood on the sales proposal automation software that has the tools you need to build your quote, ensure the communication you’ll be putting in each proposal is as follows:
Problem/solution oriented: don’t present your product without first identifying their challenge. They will want to know you understand their issue before reading further.
Customer-focused: don’t start with your “About us” or anything similar. Open your proposal with an “About them” (the customer) as they will want to see themselves reflected in your proposal before reading further.
Industry-focused: a continuation of knowing your audience is knowing their space and its vernacular. Sure, not every industry has vernacular as complicated as this, but there’s usually standard terminology you can employ in your quote that says, “We’re like you.”
“Selling in” via proposal automation software
If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Who knows? But if the perfectly written proposal comes wrapped in a clunky template, or arrives late, it usually doesn’t make a sale.
Fortunately, for professional proposal writers there’s a professional proposal creation, delivery, and tracking tool: configure, price, quote (CPQ), which automates everything but the writing.
Sales proposal templates: dozens are usually included, and may be modified ahead of time to best reflect your brand and the markets you serve. All a rep has to do is drag and drop products into a template (and do a bit of the writing we talked about above), et voila.
Product and pricing configuration: a dynamic engine that enables easy adding/subtracting of products, services, and associated pricing to every proposal. This engine also (should) enable centralized administration of pricing and discount structures.
Quote tracking tools: While a platform like CRM has some basic sales quote tracking tools (e.g., sent; signed; not signed), it lacks the granularity and singular focus of proposal automation software, which tracks every critical step in the quote signing/deal-closing process.
And all of that and more is available for around $2 a day. Write on!
