A good conversation = a good offer
If you want to be able to make a good offer, your ears and what is in between play a major role. With your ears you listen to the questions and wishes of the prospect; the basis of your offer. It should also sit well between your ears. With a positive mindset you know how to successfully convert the question into the right solution and you almost automatically find the right tone and words. You then take this with you and enter it in your proposal. Smart, because you activate the "yes button" for the prospect.
Have you only received a request for proposal and not had a conversation? Then contact us anyway and still have that conversation. Ask questions you would otherwise have asked. The biggest advantage of a (telephone) conversation is that you discover whether the prospect is serious and whether the request matches your product or service. Moreover, you immediately separate the wheat from the chaff. A serious prospect appreciates the effort you take, while at the same time poking through fake applications this way. Requests that are intended, for example, to put pressure on an existing supplier. Applications where you can ask yourself whether you want to put effort into it.
A good offer = the start of a good collaboration
A proposal is an excellent means for a solid start to a good cooperation. And good cooperation in turn leads to good results, successes, follow-up assignments and orders. Win the trust of the prospect and pave the way for a beautiful, long cooperation! The following 3 tips will help you with that.
Tip 1: Honesty is the best policy
Be honest, also in your proposals. Nobody likes standard sales pitch. Be open about the results and any limits of your service or product. Indicate the conditions that determine the success of a solution, distinguishing what and whose responsibility it is. Yours or the prospect's? You create trust with this and the prospect feels more at ease because of your transparency. He looks at your proposal hopefully instead of suspiciously.
Tip 2: Be specific
Describe the different phases or the route of your offer. State the concrete goals, results and possible benefits. Do not forget the goals, because they delineate your offer well. With this you give direction, expectations are clear and you create peace with the prospect. That way he becomes more and more convinced that you are the right party for him. Do you find it difficult to be concrete?
Then ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the situation now?
- Where does the customer want to go?
- What is the ultimate goal?
- What is the difference between now and later and how do you see that?
- Can this be expressed in percentages, numbers, turnover, savings?
- How are the results measured?
- What is the deadline?
- What is your time estimate?
- What are critical success factors?
- Who is responsible for what?
- When to (interim) report and / or evaluate?
Tip 3: Inspire with words, tone and visuals
Always try to write in the language that your prospect (re) knows. That's why conversations, however short, are so important. You will notice which style, tone and words the prospect uses. Then adjust to that as much as possible. Do you offer the customer a product or service that he has no knowledge of? Then avoid typical (professional) terms. Rather emphasize the results and indicate that you would like to come by (even before the decision phase) to give a demonstration.
Also consciously use a number of (relevant) power words. We still decide 90% based on our subconscious mind. Power words are words that unconsciously evoke emotions and put a prospect into yes mode. Below you will find an overview of power words and what they evoke.
Feeling of safety
research, lifelong, demonstrable, unconditional, tested
Emotion
discover, revolutionary, ultimate, simple, fast, remarkable
Benefit
bonus, guarantee, free, profit, savings, discount
Explanatory
because, so, caused by, because of, because of
Urgency
temporarily, now, exclusive, gone = gone, only (today), immediately
Then the tone. How was the atmosphere of your conversation? Did you tutor each other quickly? Then do that in your proposal. Contrary to popular belief, you can communicate with you, you, you very respectfully. And if you kept it up, you can as well communicate warmly and personally in the u-form. We are there for you, 24/7 is just as pleasant as in your form. Whatever you choose, make sure you apply it consistently in your proposal.
Finally, the visual aspect, because this also sets the tone and inspires the prospect. Many people are sensitive to it and remember visuals better than words. A beautiful image or video can immediately put a prospect in the right mood. And maybe your prospect is an image thinker. You mainly convince visual thinkers with photos, videos, infographics and animations. Do not panic. Fortunately, with Offorte's visually set proposal software, you can quickly and easily integrate visuals into your proposals. Really, a child can do the laundry!
Good cooperation starts with your proposal
Make your proposal a good start to a great collaboration. Our proposal software helps you with this. Experience it yourself!
