The competitive landscape is crowded, and potential clients are bombarded with outreach and options, making it difficult for any single proposal to stand out. In the competitive world of sales, breaking through the constant buzz to capture your audience's attention is more challenging than ever, especially in an uncertain economy.
Challenges facing sales reps:
The marketplace is saturated with businesses vying for the same audience, meaning sales reps must distinguish their proposals from numerous competitors.
Modern buyers are more informed and want personalized, value-driven interactions. But its rare that you get to meet and influence the broader buying committee!
The sheer volume of information available makes it easy for proposals to get lost in the noise
Often, sales reps have very little time to craft and deliver their proposals, making it crucial for them to be succinct yet effective.
In good times, you can focus on winning the champion and know that is enough to carry you through to close. But now, it's essential to influence all stakeholders (even though you don’t meet them), so you need to empower the champion to sell to the invisible buyers (ie. the broader buying committee you rarely meet).
Understanding these challenges is the first step. The next is navigating them successfully using tried-and-true strategies. Let's dive in!
Sales is hard. The proposal stage can be quite challenging, there can be all of these invisible buyers. Let's make it easy for your champion to sell internally (and multi-thread) to remove a bunch of friction from that process.
- Mark Tanner, CEO & Co-Founder, Qwilr
With any proposal, your #1 objective is to make it easy for your champion to sell internally 👉
1.Remove the friction for them in the buying process by making it easy to educate the invisible buyer
2.Differentiate from the competition
3.‘Show them a good time’ to build rapport and loyalty in the long run
It is your responsibility as a salesperson to make it as easy as possible for your champions to sell on your behalf.
Nick Cegelski, 30 Minutes to Presidents Club (30MPC)
Recommendations: 5 proposal plays that work
Key points:
Proposals should start by articulating the prospect's problems in their own words, framed as issues to solve rather than goals to achieve. Quote stakeholders directly stating the problems for impact.
Using the prospect's own words helps to grab attention and establish relevance. Include quotes from stakeholders articulating the problems. This not only showcases your understanding of their business but also positions your solution as the answer they've been seeking.
Once the problem is clearly stated, tailor your solution to address it directly. Avoid generic pitches. Personalization shows effort, understanding, and genuine interest.
Key points:
Overcomplicating a proposal can deter potential clients. Ensure your pitch is easily digestible, clear, and straightforward.
Make your proposal easy to consume. Avoid dense text walls. Use videos, graphics, collapsed sections, and other interactive elements so prospects can choose their level of depth and focus on relevant areas.
Give prospects some control and flexibility to choose package options while limiting analysis paralysis. Make the next steps clear.
A real example from a Qwilr customer: offering tiered pricing gives your customers the freedom and flexibility to 'choose their own adventure'. This customer saw an average increase of 43% gross profit in the 6 months following the introduction of tiered pricing 👇
Key points:
Dive deep into understanding your prospective client's industry, needs, and objectives. When your proposal is highly relevant to their specific situation, it increases the likelihood of engagement.
Use concrete data and examples that resonate with the client's situation. This reinforces the relevance of your solution to their needs.
Build trust by featuring logos of similar companies or aspirational peers, not just massive brands.
Use language mirroring the prospect's own terminology.
And when possible, show the seller's face and voice, like this 👇
Key points:
Every industry has its jargon, but using too much of it can alienate or confuse your audience. Avoid acronyms and jargon - stick to plain, straightforward language.
Use visuals such as infographics, charts, and images to break up the text. This not only makes your proposal more engaging but also can help simplify complex ideas.
Break down your proposal into clear, actionable steps. This not only provides clarity but also gives the potential client a roadmap of how to proceed.
Help champions position the proposal for internal stakeholders. Ask how they plan to explain it to involve them proactively. Arm them to sell internally.
Key points:
Qwilr (and similar tools) offer analytics capabilities so you know how engaged your prospect is, enabling you to follow up with your champion at the optimal time. With Qwilr, you get notified as soon as a prospect views your proposal with tracking on what sections were viewed, who viewed it, for how long, and more.
AND once they've seen your proposal....
Tools like Qwilr help sales reps create beautiful, interactive, web-based proposals - that not only look professional every time but also provide an enhanced (and engaging) buyer experience for potential clients.
Qwilr has a library of 110+ templates that can be tailored to individual needs, saving time and effort. Seamless integration with CRMs (including Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho and Pipedrive) and other tools simplifies sales workflows and speeds up the sales cycle.
Five actions to take today!
Research the prospect's terminology based on discovery calls and internal meetings. Build out problem statements incorporating this language.
Film personalized video walkthroughs of proposals to make digesting the core elements easy and engaging.
Compile aspirational peer logos and remove any out-of-context massive brand references.
Develop 2-3 package options with clear differences and calls-to-action around next steps.
Schedule time with champions to strategize on internal positioning and addressing concerns proactively
Final thoughts
Remember, the essence of a successful proposal isn't just about what's being offered, but how it's presented. Lead with a problem-centric approach, prioritize simplicity and relevance, and leverage modern tools to enhance your pitch's efficiency and effectiveness. By doing so, sales reps can position themselves at the forefront of their industry, building trust and engaging buyers through to close.
Proposal upgrade offer
Want to see what your proposal would look like as a polished, web-based Qwilr page? Our professional design team will transform your existing static proposal (PDF, slides, word.doc etc) into an interactive web-page for free.
Cut through the noise with interactive proposals, quotes and contracts. Get notified when a buyer takes action.
Modernize your approach to sales with Qwilr, and benefit from:
Improved buyer engagement with standout, personalized sales collateral that's always on brand
Increased sales productivity with less time spent on admin and more time to sell
Faster decision-making by enabling buyers with the information they need, and that's easy to share with the buying committee
Unique buyer insights from Qwilr’s sales intelligence, enabling sellers to reach a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ faster
Improved sales velocity move deals through the sales cycle quickly and efficiently
It's easy to create high-performing proposals and other documents at speed with Qwilr. Check out our library of 110+ free professional templates and get started today.
