By Jay Conrad Levinson- The “Father of Guerrilla Marketing”
You run several ads, capturing the attention and awareness of your key prospects. You do three mailings to those prospects, hitting the bulls eye with each mailing. Then you do a telemarketing follow-up and are actually invited to make a presentation. This is when many companies fall flat upon their faces because they haven't a clue about making proposals.
Let's fix that right here and right now.
TEN STEPS TO MAKING GUERRILLA BUSINESS PROPOSALS
Doing everything right with your marketing, but failing to make the sale with your proposal is like hitting a baseball over the outfield fence, then getting called out at home for failing to have touched home plate. Ouch!
Guerrillas know that doing 99% of a job right is really doing that job poorly. They realize that they've got to do everything right because it's at proposal time when the rubber meets the road. If the proposal is poor, all the prior marketing has been a waste of time, money and energy. Here are ten guerrilla tips on how to make proposals that get you the business and help your other marketing pay off where it counts:
1. First, be sure that you qualify your prospects . It's not enough that they have your attention. When they sign on your dotted line, you both must gain, That will only happen if you're right for them and they're right for you. Chemistry counts in people-to-people and business-to-business bonds.
2. Second, begin to warm up the relationship by building rapport with your prospects. You won't want to walk into their office or conference room a complete stranger. Your job is to forge a bond before proposing.
3. Third, identify a real need that your prospect has and be certain that you can fill it. Never forget that people give their business to firms that can help them solve their problems and exploit their opportunities.
4. Before agreeing to make the proposal, make it your job to be sure that the prospect is able to use your services right now and not at some future date. And be certain that you're presenting to the ultimate decision-maker .
5. Decide exactly what you want to show and tell during your proposal so you can plan intelligently, back your words with graphics, and ask for the order. Then, rehearse your presentation till you've got it down pat.
6. Prepare a document to leave with the prospect after you've presented. It should cover the high points, be self-contained, and include the facts and figures that might have bogged down your presentation.
7. Craft your proposal in a way that addresses your prospect's goals . Create a single sentence that proves this. Repeat that sentence several times during your presentation and restate it in the written document.
8. Present your proposal in a logical manner so that one point flows into the next, making it easy to follow. The organization of your proposal is almost as important as the content. Show why you're qualified to get the business. Then, prove that you're particularly qualified.
9. Speak and write in the first person, centering everything you say around the prospect. The idea is to talk about their business , not about yours. Only speak of yours when you are showing how you can help them.
10. Use the services of a talented art director to help you reinforce your points visually. You must always try to visualize what you are saying, and if your visuals are shoddy, you probably won't get the business.
During your presentation, you've got to get the prospect to like your company, to like you, to like what your company can do for the prospect. A bit of humor helps here. And you've got to actually ask for the business at the end. Don't underestimate the power of straightforwardness.
Finally, send a thank-you note immediately after the presentation. To engage in guerrilla follow-up, be sure to call the prospect to see if there are any unanswered questions, to see if there's anything else the prospect would like, and to try to establish a start date for you doing business together. The follow-up should be directed to your prime contact and to the person who has the authority to say "yes."
The more information you have about the prospect, the greater the likelihood you'll get the business. The more you prove you understand the competitive situation, the more likely it is you'll get the business. The better the chemistry between your people and your prospect's people, the greater the chance that you'll get the business. And the stronger your personal bond is, the stronger your business bond will be. |
