How Fresh Are Your Sales Proposals? Expire the Outdated.

Anastasia Bogomolov

We all like to think we’re great at what we choose to do, at our day job. The work we engage in defines who we are, and much of the time we really are good at it – with practice we nail down our craft; boosting performance and confidence. And in the proposal world, you’ve deemed yourself a proposal Jedi, mastering your skill one submission at a time.

Outside the familiar confines of your workspace, however, the real world is always buzzing with change, effectively swapping what’s worked for what’s working now, this very second – scratch that, THIS very second.

The proposals you put together are as much a part of today’s ever-changing environment as anything else – byproducts of what’s happening now, when successful. To the point, if you’re looking to solidify your “Pro Proposal Creator” status, it’s imperative to check in on the freshness of your proposals, hopefully abandoning stale processes by creatively utilizing your proposal software…

But just how do you make sure you’re ahead of the game when it comes to your selling approach? Aside from applying best practices for How to Write a Winning Proposal (see below; a must read!), there are key things you may not be considering.

Let me clarify with just some of the questions you should take into account for keeping your proposal process current – aka primed for the win.

1. How long does it take to create a proposal? What can you do to turn them around faster?
   
2. What makes your proposals different? Is it clear to sales and to customers?
   
3. Who is the primary buyer of your solution? Are you personalizing documents to them?
   
4. Are you tracking if you win or lose? Do you know why you win or lose?
   
5. Are you happy with your proposals? Be honest!

Reflecting on these, and keeping yourself honest, you may have noticed a sort of pattern: you haven’t asked these questions in quite some time. And it’s not your fault. Just blame it on the nature of change. Or rather, address the constant of change by being nimble in your selling strategies – checking in on your proposals and adopting a consistent content review process to stay competitive.

Remember: worn-out presentations and documents won’t impress anyone; and just like deep inside you know they’re in need of a touch-up, your prospects are well aware too. Not to mention, if your proposal content isn’t truly personalized to the ongoing and ever-changing pain points of your buyer, you’re falling that much more behind – stalling the sales cycle.

Redefining the quality of your proposals by making sure that your content is accurate, well-written, client-oriented, and personalized consistently will convince your prospect that you mean business. And before you know it, you’ll WIN THAT BUSINESS.

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