#1 Send too fast
We are busy or are so excited that we send the proposal too soon. Before you know it you clicked on 'send' and just at that moment you can see from your corner that you have misspelled his or her name. The sweat breaks out, you asked for it so explicitly during the conversation. A misspelled name or other small sloppies are quickly made, especially if you want to handle everything too quickly. Of course, it could happen to anyone, but being allowed to make a proposal can be the beginning of beautiful, long collaboration. Well, if we keep that in mind, we might be less likely to step into those vicious traps. Fantasize it loose. Pretend you've already won the order or order, and then think about the potential it brings. Then you will automatically make more work of your proposal, bet?
#2 It’s just me, myself and I
It's not crazy to include something about yourself in your proposal. A customer will see what you contribute and how you do it. That could be decisive for a yes or no. But shooting through it and talking about yourself all the time is a different story. And yes, there are a lot of blowing jaws in the world, but most entrepreneurs and sales professionals are either just very enthusiastic about their product or service, even though they are insecure and feel the pressure to perform. Actually, it's very simple: put the customer and his question central. Focus on the Unique Buying Reasons instead of the Unique Selling Points. Which features or features of your product or service are important to your target audience, your customers. The best way to find out this kind of information is to engage with customers or prospects. We'll be right at the next proposal blunder.
#3 Do not have a conversation
Question: who has ever made a proposal based on an email or filled in contact form? Well, at least I do. In fact, I would have liked this kind of request in the beginning. That way, I didn't have to have sales or acquisition calls. I was anything but relaxed and especially concerned with all kinds of doom scenarios. What if they think the price is too high, what if they think I have too little experience, what if... Now we are 10 years later and I know better. If you don't have a conversation, you won't be able to make a good proposal. A conversation, however short, is a must for every proposal. Ask why they want a proposal for a particular product or service, what was the reason for example. Ask quietly, because what the customer asks is not always the same as what he needs. The client will appreciate it and you can make an appropriate proposal. Take notes and describe the atmosphere you spoke in during or after your conversation. It'll all come in handy later. Because, when you start writing, you know immediately whether you are going to address the customer with you or you. If you notice that a customer is resisting, chances are that he was only looking for comparison offers with which he can put pressure on other providers.
#4 Professional jargon
It really is not just the techies and ICTs who step into this trap. Lawyers, growth hackers (the name alone), medics, and you can think of a few of them yourself. What is for the one sliced cake is for the other, the customer, hocus pocus. Better look for understandable synonyms and briefly describe what you mean. This increases the chance that the customer will work with you. A sense of our knowledge arises; the customer recognizes himself in the way of communicating and can therefore identify with you more easily.
#5 Language errors
Entrepreneur or sales professional is unfortunately not equal to a good lyricist. You don't have to, as long as you pay enough attention to it. The most annoying thing is that most of the applicants (your potential customers) are so done. They see a sloppy proposal as a bad omen. Using a spell checker is really not enough. Leave your proposal a day to check it again or ask someone else to check the proposal.
The perfect proposal
I'm not sure if it exists, but you can certainly strive for it! Everyone makes a mistake sometimes, but if you take time and pay attention to your proposals, you will come a long way. Moreover, nowadays there are very clever proposal tools that make it a lot easier. Offorte is such a tool with which you can make a real deal of a proposal in no time. After setup, the design, layout and personalization are automatically arranged for you. So never copy-paste or search-and-replace errors again! In your own library, you can save and reuse successful text elements. And... if you can't figure it out at all, Offorte has an AI textwriter, an artificial intelligence driven writer who generates ideas and texts based on a few values.
