The Best Way to Kill Your Proposals

It’s a common scenario, and it kills proposals.

A seller sends a proposal out to a prospect. They’re excited because the prospect seems eager to move forward and hasn’t brought up any objections or indications that they’re even on the fence. A few days go by, the seller hears nothing. A follow-up is sent…radio silence.

Weeks (and several follow-ups) later, there’s still nothing but crickets.

The seller can do nothing but scratch their head and wonder what went wrong.

Sound familiar?

Remember: nothing kills a proposal faster than packing it with “value” and features that the client doesn’t need.

It’s counter-intuitive, the more value you provide, the better, right? Not so fast.

When you stuff a proposal with added benefits and features that were not discussed with the client, you risk leaving them wondering if they’re paying too much for something they don’t need.

Think about it: if you promise A, B, C and quote them a certain price, and then include X, Y, Z out of left field in the proposal, at the very least a prospect is likely to come back and ask for a price that reflect only A, B, and C. However, in many cases, the prospect will simply shop elsewhere, find another solution, and forget all about the proposal you prepared.

Feel like a prospect could genuinely benefit from some of your added services? That’s fine! However, bring them up in the form of questions prior to the proposal going out.

“We also offer service X, which gives you the added benefit of Y. Would this be something you’d like for us to add on?”

The worst thing you can do is assume they’ll want something and throw it in to the mix as a good gesture.

If you do, you’ll risk killing your proposal before it even reaches your prospect.

Be clear, specific, and consistent with your prospect’s needs and what you offer them via a proposal!