Following Up On Your Proposals Wins You The Business 

It is astounding just how many ‘quotes’ get submitted but never followed up.  

A client of ours took over another business some time back and started going through their old quotes … noting that an incredible number of quotes had not turned into sales. So he phoned the prospective clients concerned to find out why. Specifically, why the company he’d just bought had actually LOST the jobs. 

To his utter amazement, a very high proportion of the people he rang not only hadn’t asked THIS company to do the work, they hadn’t gone back to anyone else either … and the job was still waiting to be done! He’d just opened up a goldmine of opportunities. 

NEVER ASSUME that the person to whom you submitted a proposal will take the initiative to call YOU. ALWAYS keep control of the transaction. You should set a date in your proposal on which you’ll call back. It could be the same day or a week later perhaps, depending on the complexity of the proposal. 

Adding a new ‘twist’ to the equation to move the prospect to action 

It’s tough out there, sometimes prospects just WON’T make a decision! You’ve given them compelling benefits in your proposal. You’ve mapped out a verifiable set of figures and logic that stand up to their scrutiny … logically the client SHOULD give you the go ahead … but still they deliberate. 

If this is the case, it’s possible they’re playing you off against someone else. You know your service is better. But you fear you’re going to be passed over on fees. 

Two things. You COULD cut your cost or fees … but you have to ask yourself very seriously whether you WANT to be serving clients at a lower price … where you cut your margins or have to cut corners on your service standards or your quality. If that’s what you want, then that’s your decision. 

Sometimes however, it is far better to say to the client that you simply WON’T compromise on quality, point out the risks of going for the cheaper option, and offer to step out of the running.  

This takes good judgement. But very, very often it PAYS OFF! You see, prospects in business and private persons are ‘taught’ to angle for the lowest fee! But what they REALLY want in most cases is VALUE. 

One of my favourite quotes is so appropriate here. It comes from one of the world’s most successful business people in one of the world’s most price-competitive industries. His name is Carl Sewell, and was the owner of five spectacularly successful (and super-profitable) dealerships in and around Texas in the U.S. 

Carl says: “At first I thought we could be cheaper than everybody else, but that’s not really what most people want. Yes, everybody wants a good deal, but price is rarely the sole reason they decide to buy. After you’ve been to a restaurant, you don’t remember exactly what the hamburger cost, you only remember whether you liked it or not. Besides, we can’t compete solely on price. No matter what we charge, somebody – because they’re smarter (they figured out a way to be more efficient) or dumber (they don’t really know what their costs are) – can always charge less.” 

People buy the ‘deal’. Personally, I don’t like the word. But it does describe what many people see themselves getting … so let’s work with it. 

People buy the ‘deal’ … the package. They will only make a decision solely on price – if you MAKE them!  

Give them nothing more than the price to base a decision on, and price IS going to be the deciding factor. 

And that leads us to the second observation … you can ADD VALUE often at very little extra cost … added value that far outweighs the price differential! 

If your prospective new client is equivocating on the proposal, or still comparing you, ‘apples with apples’ to competitive submissions… 

Make your apples into BIG JUICY PEARS! 

What do I mean by this? Very simply that you have a perfect opportunity to add extra value, sweeten the pot … so that you CAN’T be compared directly with some other firm’s ‘quote’, and you stand out as offering REAL service excellence. 

In what form might that added value be? Could it be: 

• Extra training for the people who’ll use your product or services 

• An extended warranty or guarantee on your services 

• Access to special ‘hotline’ service 

• Packaged-in related products or services at no extra cost 

Of course, depending on the nature of your business, there’s a multitude of opportunities here. The apparent ‘soft cost’ options … added value that doesn’t COST all that much to provide, yet which has a very high perceived value. Check out our article on harnessing the power of ‘soft cost’…

To summarise – so much time, effort and money go into getting to the point when you are ready to send a ‘quote’ and it is such an important step in the sales process, that it’s VITAL that they work hard for you. And do a great job for your prospective customer who has the chore of deciding from 2, 3 or 4 options.

Implementing these ideas and strategies into your sales proposals (no longer quotes) can have a dramatic and significant impact on sales outcomes, achieving higher prices, with less discounting AND with better conversion rates. We’ve seen it time and time again. 

And – not only does a great proposal (or Action Plan, or Implementation Schedule etc) have a really positive impact on your prospective customers, they can really help to reinforce to you and your team the value of what you are proposing as well.