Writing Effective Business Proposals

1
Writing Effective Business Proposals
Written by Jim Busch, TLI Faculty Member
Inspiring Dreams, Realizing Potential
2
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
OVERVIEW

• Welcome to Writing Effective Business Proposals!
• What is a Sales Proposal?
• A sales proposal is your companys offer to
  provide a good or service to a potential buyer at
  a specified cost and by a specified time.
• The purpose of a business proposal is to describe
  what you are offering in a favorable light, to
  demonstrate that your product would be a wise
  investment for them and finally, to illustrate
  that it will help them achieve their business
  goals.

WHAT IS A SALES PROPOSAL?
3
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
BUSINESS WRITING 101

• Business Writing 101- The 6 Rules
• Be Concise When in doubt, strike it out.
• KISS Keep it simple, salesperson! Use simple
  language and write like you speak.
• Take small bites Break your writing into
  digestible chunks.
• Listen to yourself Read what youve written
  out loud both to yourself and someone else.
  Youll be surprised what you hear.
• Check and double check your work Proofread,
  proofread, proofread!
• Have fun Make your writing fun to read and
  let it reflect your personality.

CONCISE KISS SMALL BITES READ
ALOUD PROOFREAD! HAVE FUN
4
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
WIIFT Whats in it for Them?
WIIFT
5
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• Why do customers request proposals?
• May just be a formality.
• Customer is 100 sold, has buying authority,
  but needs a rubber stamp approval from someone
  higher.
• Customer is 100 sold, but may not have the
  authority and needs to convince superiors to make
  the buy.
• Customer has no authority, is neutral, and
  willing to deliver the information to the
  decision-maker.
• Your customer has decided on a competitor and
  needs your proposal to satisfy a multiple bid
  policy.

WHY DO THEY NEED A PROPOSAL?
6
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• Remember
• A proposal cannot make the sale.
• Even though the proposal cannot make the sale,
  a bad proposal can lose the sale for you.

REMEMBER
7
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• Parts of a Proposal
• Cover Letter
• Objective(s)
• Options

PARTS OF A PROPOSAL
8
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• A good cover letter should
• Thank the customer for the opportunity to
  quote.
• Tell the customer a little about you.
• Tell the customer why it is in their best
  interest to do business with you.
• Tell the customer how you are different from
  the competition.
• Make a commitment to serve the customer.

A GOOD COVER LETTER
16
9
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
THANK THE CUSTOMER
MAKE A COMMITMENT
10
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
A LITTLE ABOUT YOU
HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT?
11
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
WHY IT IS IN THEIR BEST INTEREST TO DO BUSINESS
WITH YOU
12
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
MAKE A COMMITMENT TO SERVE THE CUSTOMER
13
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• Several other things worth mentioning
• I enjoyed learning about your business,
  compliments the customer and shows you are
  interested in understanding them.
• I am confident, we can, experience,
  assure you of my commitment, I look forward,
  uses strong positive language projecting a
  confident image.
• Like Beyer B. Wares, Ms. Beyer, You,
  your, shows your customer focus. Everybody
  likes to see/hear their own name.
• Like Beyer B. Wares, this statement
  establishes common ground with the customer and
  shows the synergies between the two organizations.

WORTH MENTIONING
26
14
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
The Layout of the Proposal
THE PROPOSAL
PAGE 1
PAGE 2
PAGE 3
15
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• The Objective Statement
• The purpose of including the objective is to
  remind the prospect why they are considering
  advertising.
• Buyer B. Wares Program Objectives
• To reach every consumer in the Beyer B. Wares
  stores core market
• To heighten awareness of the Beyer B Wares brand
  with local shoppers
• To drive store traffic and build customer loyalty
  and shopping habits through weekly promotion of
  Beyer B Wares specials and marketing events
• To reduce overall mailing costs while increasing
  the number of shoppers reached within each
  stores core market by leveraging TLI Shoppers
  ability to target specific geographic areas

THE OBJECTIVE STATEMENT
16
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Option 1
OPTION 1
17
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Creative Aspects
CREATIVE ASPECTS
18
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Investment
INVESTMENT
19
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Commitment
COMMITMENT
20
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Ad Production
AD PRODUCTION
40
21
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Advantages
ADVANTAGES
22
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Advantages
ADVANTAGES
23
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin

• Remember the following when building an
  effective proposal
• Use simple language.
• Organize your thoughts focus on the customer.
• Include a cover letter with your proposal.
• Give the customer no more than 3 options.

SUMMARY
24
Writing Effective Proposals Give me 26 lead
soldiers and I will conquer the world. -
Benjamin Franklin
Questions Discussion On behalf of The
Leadership Institute, I would like to thank you
for attending this training and wish you the best
of luck with all of your future endeavors.
SUMMARY