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We have two big adversaries when it comes to sales proposals; the following tip can help with both of them.

1. Sameness. All proposals tend to look like every other sales proposal in the known universe to our customers and prospects. This is not a good thing.
2. LIT (Lack of Information Transmittal). Because of the way we format our proposals we often don’t communicate our added value. This can kill things right out of the gate.

What are the generally accepted rules of thumb from a salesperson’s perspective for sales proposal construction?

1. Bigger is better
2. Hide the pricing
3. Stuff it with as many brochures as we can find
4. Make it look really professional with pre-printed tabs, etc.
5. Find all the “boiler plate” text available and “find and replace” the customer’s name into it
6. Make lots of copies and send out more than the customer could possibly need

What are the general rules of thumb from a customer’s perspective when viewing a sales proposal?

1. Where’s the pricing page?

Our customers and prospects go right to the pricing page when initially viewing a proposal and could not care less about all the other filler we include.

Since we know this, we can use it to our advantage and overcome the Sameness and LIT (Lack of Information Transmittal) issues with the following proposal tip. Here’s how it works.

First, put the pricing page in a place that is easy for the customer to find. This will immediately make us look different. Next, comb through the entire proposal and find the absolutely most essential value added items that we would like them to see. Lastly, include these items on the pricing page.

Since we know they are going to immediately dive for the pricing page, we need to put the most important points where we know they are going to be looking. The pricing page. In fact, with this technique they can’t avoid seeing these important points.

This technique will hopefully get us invited to the “short list” party where we can do additional in-depth value selling.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

I’m going to shake some people’s foundational beliefs when I say this; printed sales collateral in business is a waste of your time and money. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you actually read printed sales collateral from a company you were contemplating doing business with? When was the last time you actually read printed sales collateral given to you by a salesperson you were trying to dismiss by asking them if they had any sales material they could leave behind. When you mail or leave collateral material you instinctively know that the recipient isn’t going to read it. When you were new to sales you used to end every unsuccessful cold call with, “I’ll mail you some information.” Mailing the prospect some information somewhat made you feel like you were moving the sale along, but in your heart of hearts you knew you weren’t.

So why do so many companies continue to print sales and marketing brochures? For two primary reasons. One, it’s a leftover from pre-Internet days. Two, the act of mailing something to a prospect or having a “leave behind” piece makes us feel like we’re accomplishing something. Old fashioned marketing managers will claim that you must have printed sales brochures. Twenty-first century marketing managers will tell you that your “sales brochure” is found on the Internet. Studies have shown that about 70% of business buyers go to the Internet for information before they place an order. They aren’t looking for an outdated sales brochure for this information.

Every sales organization that has been around for 20 or more years has a room or closet where they keep all their collateral material. This material is normally dusty, grossly outdated and disorganized. The second a brochure is printed it’s out of date. There’s a better answer, the Internet. Websites, blogs, email, wikis, etc. provide information to the prospect or customer that is current and can be done inexpensively and quickly. And, the prospect or customer finds it a better and more reliable information source on your products and services as well.

Cisco Systems out of San Jose, California with $30b in annual revenue is a great example of a company that has this concept down pat. Try to find a Cisco sales brochure. You can’t. Over the last 23 years they have educated their customer base to go to http://www.cisco.com/ to find information about Cisco. They work in an industry where things change in a heartbeat and there is a lot of information. A bunch of dated product literature lying around just wouldn’t work for them. And whether you know it or not, it won’t work for you either.

It’s the 21’st century. It’s time to realize that if customers truly want information about your company, they’re going to the Internet to find it.