B2B Sales Proposals that Increase Revenue

Here are some tips for marketers on developing or enhancing a proposal template for your company. Keep in mind that, although it helps to have a template, every document must be customized.

Preparation The basis for strong proposals is preparation. If you don’t have a solid foundation from meetings with prospects, you won’t know what is important to them. Prospects have to know that they have been heard, whether information was provided in requests for proposals or verbally. Sue Barrett suggests that, whenever possible, salespeople ask clear questions (versus leading ones) to get to the heart of issues, priorities and needs. They should take detailed notes. And if they can quote exact words, it demonstrates that they have really listened to prospects.

Before leaving meetings, sales should verify they understand what prospects want. Setting expectations about what they are going to do in terms of timelines, proposal preparation, follow-up and so on is critical.

Put the prospects’ priorities first in the proposal. You should not begin with a bunch of details about your company. Until you establish you understand the goals and pain points, no one will care about your expertise, capabilities, features, etc.

With the help of sales, collaborate with customers to build proposals that include all the information they require. You should also help them address the questions the rest of the decision-making team will have. Successful proposals must be easy to elevate for the contacts to streamline the approval process.