The JF Guest Author Spot
Linda Richardson
I joined a salesperson on a sales call. A few days after the call, she asked me to review the proposal she developed for the customer.
As I reviewed the proposal, a light bulb went off. As many good salespeople do, she developed her proposal based on a "boilerplate" which, to her credit, she customized. As I read her work, I saw a lot of good information but also felt something was missing. In analyzing what it was, it was clear that she had started with the boilerplate and that set the foundation for the proposal.
While boilerplates can be great tools and time savers, and while good ones have customer benefits in them, they are the voice of your company. They should be leveraged, but not as the first step.
Proposals that win are proposals that speak the customer's language and, therefore, resonate with them. Getting the customer's voice in a proposal starts when you engage him or her in a deep needs dialogue AND listen and take great notes during the call. Notes let you capture your customer's thinking and language.
The key then is to use your notes to write the objectives for your proposal before looking at the boilerplate.
As you write the objectives, check off each point in your notes as you incorporate it into your proposal to make sure you miss nothing. Then build your solution around that, and then grow from the boilerplate - but even then be sure to customize every word from it.
Make your proposal easy for your customer to say yes to, making sure it reflects and illuminates what your customer wants to achieve. From your notes, replicate your customer's perspective, language, and needs so that your customer knows you heard him or her.
Unless you have a really fabulous memory for details, when it is time to customize a proposal and win deals, nothing will be more useful than the notes you take in deep need dialogues.
Linda Richardson is the Founder and Chairman of Richardson, a global sales training business. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence for 2006 and in 2007 she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the "Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals." Read more about Linda
Today's News: Over at Dave Stein's Blog he asks "How Do You Fix Sales Ineffectiveness?" and he concludes: "What's my point? The root causes of sales ineffectiveness are clear. There is plenty of sound advice about how to fix the problem. There is a proven path. The answers are there for everyone to see. There are companies you can read about and observe that have achieved sales excellence.
So, recession aside, why is sales as a profession and function, losing ground?
Let me know your thoughts, please." You can read the post in full and comment here
Fellow Top Sales Expert, Tibor Shanto of Renbor Solutions is running "The Ultimate Appointment Making Workshop" - and you can find all the details here
Tomorrow: I have received several requests in the past few days, all of them relating to "Elevator Pitches" - so tomorrow, the definitive guide on how to create a powerful script that will instantly sell you, your company and your solutions.
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