Stop Doing Proposals

If you want to close more sales, stop doing proposals. Yes, I realize that some industries and virtually all government contracts require proposals…we’ll deal with that in a few minutes.

Before we get into that, let’s examine why I’m suggesting that you stop doing proposals.

Time wasters

The vast majority of proposals never result in business. Here’s why:

Many requests for proposal are a way for the prospect to avoid explicitly telling you “No, I’m not interested.” It’s much easier to avoid your phone calls, follow up emails, texts and other communications. This is especially true when the prospect has previously had a difficult time getting overly-aggressive salespeople out of their office after they’ve said “No.”

Some requests for proposal are made because the requestor is hoping to gain enough insights to be able to produce the result on their own. The more detail you provide in the proposal, the greater the likelihood they’ll attempt the solution on their own.

Either way, you’ve expended a lot of time and energy creating a proposal that’s highly unlikely to be accepted. That proposal also sets the stage for you to waste even more time and energy with follow up communications.

Industry practice

If you’re in an industry in which requests for proposal are the norm, don’t write a proposal unless you are involved in writing the specs for the proposal. You need a way to distinguish your offerings and writing your strengths into the specs increases the likelihood of getting your proposal accepted.

Absent the ability to write specs, try to develop relationships with the customer that assures them a fair price and consistent results. This is another way to avoid the price buyers in your industry and align your company with customers who share your values…and don’t want the hassle of reviewing proposals when you are a consistently reliable, fairly-priced alternative.

If proposals aren’t an industry norm, you may be wondering “What’s the alternative to writing a proposal when it’s requested?”

Alternatives

I don’t write proposals; I memorialize agreements. When a prospect and I agree upon scope and terms of a project, I memorialize that agreement and it becomes the document we both work from in our dealings.

In instances when prospects aren’t sure that they want to move forward, I suggest that they take time to consider what we discussed. I tell them that I’m not going to follow up because I don’t want to become a nuisance. I let them know that if they’re interested in moving forward, they’ll call; if not, they won’t; and whatever they decide will be the right decision for both of us.

If a prospect requests a proposal, I tell them that I don’t do proposals. Then I ask them what they want to know that we haven’t discussed. This forces them to either communicate their concerns or admit that they’re just buying time. The vast majority of the time, they say that they don’t have any more questions, they just want more time to consider the offering. That’s when I use the language outlined in the previous paragraph.

Prospects have a right to request a proposal. I have a right to decline to do one. I learned early in my business that my proposals never resulted in business, so I stopped doing them.

Takeaways

More often than not, the request for proposal is a way for the requestor to avoid telling you “no”…or for them to pick your brain with the intent of doing it themselves.

If proposals are an industry practice, either involve yourself in writing the specs or develop agreements with like-minded companies that preclude the need for proposals.

Don’t do proposals, memorialize agreements. If you can’t reach a verbal agreement with a prospect, set them about the task of considering your offering as communicated in the sales call, with the understanding that they’ll get back to you if they’re interested.

This approach helps you avoid wasting time preparing a proposal that’s unlikely to generate business while letting the prospect know that you’re not hungry for business…something that bespeaks a level of confidence they’re unaccustomed to seeing.

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Resources

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