Write Next Proposal With Client

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Another good one for Charles H. Green.

Write Your Next Proposal Sitting Next to the Client

We all know we should write proposals that are less about us. We know we should spend less space on credentials and methodology; we know we should focus more on results, benefits, and adding value in the proposal.

But we nearly always miss the biggest proposal opportunity of all—to build the relationship.

Yet there’s one very valuable thing that happens when you say, “I’ll send you the proposal.” You give the client an emotionally acceptable way of saying “no” to you. This may be the biggest reason of all that proposals exist. No one wants to be the agent of personalizing rejection; and frankly, we don’t want to be

Enter the joint proposal. What if, instead of the usual “send it to you Friday” line, you were to say: “Great meeting, Joe, we got a lot better feel for things today face to face than we could have done with more phone calls. Let me suggest we keep up that progress, rather than shutting it down.

“Let me suggest you book this conference room again for next Tuesday, and we write your proposal together.

“Together, we’ll address all the specs we’ve discussed--capabilities, costing, time estimates, benefits, payback and ROI calculations—everything we talked about. We’ll put in the stuff you need, and leave out whatever boilerplate you don’t need.

“I’ll bring everything I need from our side—pricing sheets, work design outlines—and I’ll be quite open about it. You come with the audience you need this to speak to, and the critical issues the proposal must address. As issues of interpretation arise, we’ll address them together. As issues of understanding arise, we’ll address them together.

“Together, we’ll write the best proposal that can possibly be written for the combination of you and us. Is that the best possible proposal for you? Maybe, maybe not. But we’ll both know that we got the best we had to offer for you out on the table.

“Joe, I know this approach is no guarantee we’ll get the job. In fact, it may become very clear to both of us as we write the proposal that we are particular well-qualified—or badly qualified—to do this work for you. Which means we’re reducing the likelihood of misunderstanding and surprise. Which is good for both of us.”

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