How To Write a Service Proposal
By VICKY BROWN
First off – yes, you need a proposal. It’s a critically important part of the sales process, in fact it’s the culmination of the sale. Where the sales rubber meets the road, if you will. But also remember, it’s not the sale. The sales process started long before a proposal even comes into the picture. So, don’t try to stuff your whole sales process into the proposal. And don’t send the proposal too soon in the sales process.
Get to know your prospective client first, discuss their needs, in fact I did a whole episode on how to handle a Sales Discovery Call – take a look if you’re feeling stumped.
Then, once you’ve had the call, then it’s time for the proposal. Oh, and by the way – don’t confuse not sending too soon in the process, with sending slowly. Because, the longer it takes you to get the proposal to them, the colder the prospect gets
For example, let’s say you need something – maybe bookkeeping help. So you reached out to your friends and colleagues for referrals, or maybe you went searching on the inter-webs. In any event, soon you find yourself on the phone with someone who really ‘gets’ you. She understands your problems, knows the things that concern you most, and most magical of all – she’s created a service that seems like it fits your every need. Not too much of this, or too little of that. Like goldilocks – it’s just right.
And to top it off, her sense of humor seems to be right in sync with yours. This might be the one. Ah, it would be soooo good to stop worrying about all those numbers!
At the end of the call, you agree she’ll send you a proposal – because of course now you’re wondering how much this perfection might cost. So you can’t wait to take a peek at that proposal.
A day goes by, then 2, then a week – still no proposal. Finally 2 weeks later, you get an eMail with the proposal.
Wait, who is this again.
In the past two weeks you’ve spoken to 5 other possibilities; other problems have taken first chair – basically, you’ve moved on. And besides, if a 2 week delay is her ‘best foot’ – what’s it going to be like working with her. Absolutely no alignment on sense of urgency.
And besides, you spoke with someone yesterday that seems to be a good fit – AND they sent the proposal yesterday afternoon. It showed they’re prepared, organized, and responsive. Oh yeah – they’re the one who’ll get your business.
Does this story sound familiar? It should, it happens every day. In fact it happened to me just last month.
An attorney I was interested in working with, send me a proposal and engagement letter 15 DAYS after we spoke. Talk about moved on – by then I had engaged someone else, they had worked on the problem, solved it and billed me.
I think you get the idea – it’s important to be timely in every part of the sales process – most importantly the proposal. So let’s talk about how to get a solid proposal out the door, quickly, every time.
Now my framework for proposals is streamlined. Sure, you can get more involved and turn the proposal into something grander – something approaching a sales booklet. But my in my experience, prospects want 3 main pieces of information (and they will always read them in this order
1) how much is it 2) what is it 3) why are you the one to do it.
And no matter what order you put those items in, the potential client will jump around to them in precisely this order. And since, when they’re jumping around, they’re skimming – why don’t you make it as easy as possible to find the vital info you want them to have.
Now, keep in mind, depending on the prospect and their process, your proposal may be structured slightly differently. For instance, if you’re a B2B company, and dealing with other entrepreneurs or small and medium sized business owners, then this is the perfect framework for you.
But if you’re selling to Fortune 500 companies, well then you can count on the proposal getting passed around, and in many cases it may be the only introduction that some people will get to you and your company. In fact, you may never talk to them on the phone, or have an opportunity to dazzle them with your personality and know how.
In that case, your proposal will have to do much more of the heavy lifting, and be much more customized and in depth. In fact, your proposal will most likely be one of 20 they have on their desks.
You might even find they request a specific outline from all the consulting companies, because it makes it much easier for them to compare apples to apples.
Now, if you want an episode outlining how to create a proposal for a large corporation or multi approval pitch, then leave a comment below.
For now – back to the B2B, small and mid sized business proposal.
Now again, before you even sit down to create the proposal, you’re going to want to have a Discovery Call. Then use the information you’ve gathered to fill in the blanks of the proposal.
I say ‘fill in the blanks’ because, although this may look customized to the prospect, you absolutely do not have the time to create individual, fully customized proposals for each opportunity. You’d spend all your time doing proposals and nothing else.
No, you definitely want to use a template.. And just to give you a little boost, I’ve created a Service Proposal Template. .It’s easy to follow, fill in the blanks, and will quickly get you a professional, customized proposal every time. You can grab it by using the link in the description.
There are 7 main sections of the proposal; the Table of Contents, Objectives, Your Services or Solutions, your About Us page, Testimonials, the Investment sections and Next Steps.
Now as we go through this you’ll see that a couple of these can absolutely be put in a cover letter or eMail – so remember, this is a framework you can use and adapt to your style.
“… We have to get over our fear of rejection. You don’t lose, you learn. Learn how to make your service better, or your sales pitch, or better define your target market. It’s all about getting the information you need to win on the next go round.“
The Table of Contents is just what it sounds like. It’ll help the reader navigate quickly to the various sections. You’ll create this page last.
Next comes the Objectives. You’ll use the objectives section to talk about the desired outcome of working with you. Remember, you’ve already had the Discovery Call, so you know their needs and by now you’ve developed a strong list of desired results your service can deliver.
Now, although this seems like it would be a lot of work, don’t stress about writing this section. The secret is beforehand to make a list of the common issues clients bring to you. Then write a short paragraph on what part of your service addresses that problem and fixes it. Then just go back to that list when you’re writing a proposal, and drop in the appropriate paragraph (and of course, do any editing that makes sense). To the client, it’ll look like you wrote this proposal specifically for them.
The next section is the Services section. It’s where you can list your services (for us it’s things like our retained services or project services etc.) I include the services that I think would be appropriate for that client. Of course, if you only offer one service, that makes this section easier. Oh, and don’t forget to include your unique selling point or USP.
A USP is a feature or aspect of your service that sets you apart from competitors. It should be something that customers can’t get elsewhere; and it’s clear, concise and memorable.
A USP can come in many forms, such as incorporating the latest technology for products/services, specific expertise in the client’s area of business, or ease of use.
Just be sure when you’re developing your USP, that you’re thinking carefully about who your target audience is, and what’s important to them. For instance, almost everyone says they have superior customer service. But in fact, that’s used so much (sometimes truthfully, and sometimes not), that it doesn’t really have much meaning these days. It’s ceased to be a unique selling point.
Next up is the About Us section. This section gives you a chance to give the prospect a peek at who you are, your history, and the talent you and your team bring. Feel free to include certifications and awards in this section.
Then comes the Testimonials section. Now, this section is optional – but it gives you a chance to highlight past client wins. I will say that generally, I see this information either on the website, or referenced in the cover eMail – it keeps the actual proposal document from being too long.
The next section will be The Investment. Now, lots of proposals in the past referred to this as Fees or Costs. But I like Investment; because it speaks to the partnership you want with your client, and that they aren’t simply paying you to do a task – they’re making an investment in the further success of their business. That’s a shift in mindset, it puts the client in a different perspective – and it sets you apart – as a business partner vs. just a vendor.
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Be sure to include everything that will impact their investment in this section. Implementation fees, recurring third party costs (even if you don’t know specifically what they are, at least reference the possibility that they exist).
And finally, end with an overview of Next Steps.
Now, here are a few pro tips:
First, leave the insider jargon for your colleagues. Your proposal should be something that can be clearly understood by a high school student. That’s because ‘ease of read’ is one of the most important factors in creating your proposal.
You see, people don’t READ proposals – they use them as reference material.
And like I said earlier, they will always, and I mean, always, read it in this order: 1) how much is it 2) what is it 3) why are you the one to do it
So that means they’ll look at the Investment page, then the Objectives section, and then the Services section.
So you should keep the narratives as short as possible, use bullet points – anything to make it easier to read and grab the information they’re looking for.
Another thing to keep in mind – consider being a bit more general in outcomes – for instance “our target is to increase your growth” vs. “we will increase your growth by 40%”. Why? Well, because I’ve actually seen proposals added to contracts as Addenda, meaning those metrics become part of your service agreement. So unless you’re guaranteeing that growth – don’t put that number in the proposal.
On the subject of cost – make sure you’ve created a fee schedule ahead of time. There isn’t anything worse than trying to figure out what to charge on the spot. And besides, without a fee framework that you’ve analyzed against your cost to provide the services – you can easily find yourself upside down by charging too little.
Now there are a couple of these sections that can easily go into a cover eMail – in fact, that’s where I put them. The objectives, testimonials, and certainly the next steps. By putting the objectives in the cover eMail, they stay up front for anyone reviewing the proposal. Testimonials and case studies are usually just too long to include in the proposal – or even the cover eMail for that matter, so I usually link to a web page in the eMail. And Next Steps go in the cover eMail too. Things like, I’ll follow up on Tuesday etc.
And finally, the most important part of the proposal well it’s actually an Action Item – FOLLOW UP!
So many times we don’t follow up – and usually it’s because we’re scared. I don’t want to hear the ‘no’; I’m not sure what they think of me, my company, our services. I can’t take the possible rejection.
Listen, whether or not you follow up – a ‘no’ will still be a ‘no’. You just won’t know about it, so you’ll sit there ‘what if-ing’ yourself to death. And besides, why assume the negative. It could easily be a yes, or a maybe – but I need more information. And if that’s the case, and you don’t follow up – well, you just lost a potential sale.
We have to get over our fear of rejection. You don’t lose, you learn. Learn how to make your service better, or your sales pitch, or better define your target market. It’s all about getting the information you need to win on the next go round.