Winning makes us euphoric. Just as the 2016 Rio Olympics will be the proudest moment of some elite athletes’ careers, winning a major new business deal could be the most exhilarating thing to happen to your company.
Business development wins can give your company bigger accounts, new direction and greater credibility – and effective sales proposals can help.
Like Olympic sports, sales proposals require intense focus and teamwork to demonstrate your talent and infuse your company with prosperity. They take a lot of time yet they’re worthwhile for business growth.
Secrets of How to Win Fast
Since 2008 I have contributed to winning business proposals as a writer, editor and strategist in response to RFPs in healthcare, technology and energy. To help your company triumph with lucrative bids, here are several tips I have learned, which can make your next sales proposal successful:
1. Be obvious:
Some brilliant companies provide extremely customer-centric service yet their business proposals focus on their company and the features they offer. Instead, clearly emphasize the valuable benefits your clients receive from choosing you. Avoid burying your company’s benefits — make them obvious. Place them up-front in each section, ideally at the beginning of each paragraph. This helps you quickly answer what decision makers really want to know: “What’s in it for me?”
2. Be unique:
Beyond stating what your company does well, share how your company delights clients better than anyone else. Express your unique selling proposition to distinguish your brand and build a meaningful competitive advantage over your rivals.
3. Be specific:
Prove your company has relevant expertise by sharing specific examples of similar projects your team has worked on, especially if you achieved remarkable results. Appeal to your readers’ need for logical facts, figures and examples to give decision makers peace of mind that your company is competent, trustworthy and low risk.
4. Be riveting:
Tell a fascinating story of your company’s history of excellence. Structure your content to frame your company as a hero by sharing how you solved a problem with ingenuity and evoking positive emotions. Impress your readers by using positive, active language that keeps the content concise and easy to read.
5. Be vivid:
Take your story further by sharing authentic and captivating images that encapsulate your company’s most flattering qualities. Since decision makers tend to be busy, which makes them more likely to skim your proposal. Adding compelling images and powerful captions can bring your story to life faster in an abbreviated form, accelerating decision makers’ likelihood to choose you.
Win big and score new business by applying these proven tips for effective sales proposals. Tell your company’s most epic, true stories to expand your legacy by demonstrating how you deliver unique, meaningful value to your clients.
Lisa Goller is a marketing and communications professional with over 15 years of experience serving B2B, technology, retail and consumer goods companies. She helps businesses tell their story through irresistible content marketing and strategic communications. Learn more at lisagoller.com
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2 thoughts on “Win Big and Fast: 5 Strategic Sales Tips”
A client can sense if you are being genuine during the sales process. In other words, it’s important to convey to the client that you care about their business and not just the deal. Coming off too calculated can turn people off; however, remember that there is nothing wrong with being prepared. It’s okay to appear like you’re ready for every question that comes your way, just simply don’t act like you don’t care about the customer’s best interests.
Can’t agree more on these tips Lissa! Being a part of a large organisation’s marketing & Sales team, I started realising that customers’ don’t what you buy what you’re selling but, they want you sell what they need.