Authoring Professional Sales Proposals

Before you embark upon your pursuit of a winning proposal – with appropriately engaging style and language – it is important to carefully examine the specific requirements of your customer, so that you can target your writing accordingly.

Organise your proposal

If you want your proposal to be a deal clinching document, its content should be focused on, and sensitive to, the customer. Your client must be able to easily evaluate your product, or service, and the terms of your offer. Make sure to structure the document with your ideas set out clearly, logically, and, hopefully, persuasively. In general, an effective sales proposal is structured as follows:

• Executive Summary
• Description of Proposed Product or Service
• Benefits to Prospective Client
• Value Proposition to Prospective Client
• Conclusion

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important component of your proposal. You should introduce your organization, outline your products, and their applications, and summarise the benefits, to the client, from choosing your business. Your client will form their first impression about you, and your company, from this section, so take special care to be as focused, concise and relevant as possible. As a rule of thumb, one, or two, summary pages, per 25 pages of proposal, is quite sufficient.

Product or Service Description

Provide specific details about your product, its applications, pricing and the terms of your offer. Try to anticipate the questions your client may ask, or any concerns they may have. Describe in detail the product features and functionality, how you propose to install or implement the order, and the time frame for doing so. Include all the unique selling points of your product, or service, that make it stand out from the competition.

Value Proposition to Prospective Customer

Highlight the “added value” benefits that may be derived from using your product, and list these in a logical sequence. You could use, for example, a numbered, or bulleted, list to describe the nature and extent of each of the advantages offered. Once again, draw attention to those factors that make your product unique, when compared to others on the market, and distinguish it from the competition.

Conclusion to the Proposal

The conclusion to a proposal should consist of a short summary of the highlights of your proposal and the next steps to be performed by both parties to take the negotiation forward. You may indicate, for example, specific issues that are to be taken up, dates, etc.

Style Conventions

The content of your proposal must, obviously, be noteworthy, but it should also be professional in appearance, if you really want to impress your client. Remember that the first impression is often the best impression – and you may not get the chance to make a second. Try to employ a straightforward, but business-like format, with suitable headings and sub-headings following a logical sequence. Use a suitable font style and size – between 10 and 12 point in a clear, uncomplicated font, is recommended, for ease of reading. Check for grammatical errors and proof read the entire document.

Conclusion

Anyone attempting to write their first sales proposal may feel overwhelmed by the prospect. It need not be as complex as it first appears, however, if you go about it step-by-step. Jot down, in your initial draft, what the prospective customer is likely to be expecting from your company, and how you will go about fulfilling those requirements. Keep the content succinct, to the point, and make sure that you cover all the relevant areas. Pay due attention to the organisation, and appearance, of your finished document, and you may be surprised at what you can achieve.