Three Tips for Creating Custom Proposals
Creating custom proposals is necessary if you’re creating custom projects for your clients. But you can invest hours into completing them and then get no response. Nada. Crickets.
I recently had a colleague ask, “How do you not get ghosted after going through all the trouble of creating a custom proposal?”
Custom proposals were torturous for me when I first started my business. In fact, I can still get stressed out over them once in a while.
But they are an excellent opportunity to show up as the expert, organized and ready to implement your strategy to make things better for your client. Keep in mind that people come looking for you because you can do something that they either can’t do or don’t have the time to do and their business will suffer if they don’t get it done.
So if you can exhibit a calm and confident presence, they will feel safe, and trust that they are in good hands.
I had one particular client - we will call her Jessie - and when we had our first call she was all over the place. No plan, no strategy, no processes. She was winging it, not doing anything with intention.
When she received her proposal, she told me how relieved she was that someone could clear a path for her in her business. The truth is, many business owners are so overwhelmed they can’t figure out what they need to do. Looking in from the outside I could see that Jessie needed to see the steps she had to take and where to start. The proposal I sent was just the beginning.
After each call she became more confident, clear on her goals and the actions she would take each week to achieve them.
It takes some rock solid confidence to hit send on a document that basically says, I am an expert, this is what I strongly recommend, and this is the cost. There’s no room for being wishy washy.
And like anything else you have to write for your business, there are the typical challenges - perfection paralysis, imposter syndrome, and a whole lot of rewriting and editing.
I have agonized over many proposals, overloading my poor accountability partner and coach with all sorts of messages.
Here are three major tips for you when writing proposals:
Tip #1 Creating proposals in a reasonable amount of time
Some of my clients have taken a number of days to create one proposal. This can be counter-productive in regards to time and money. If you spend ten hours creating a proposal that is for roughly 20 hours of work, you just cut your revenue in half.
Start by creating a general template. Write sections that can be dropped in. Use bullet points to list factual details, and consider signing up for a CRM platform like Dubsado or Honeybook to create proposals, contracts, and invoices.
Tip #2 Take time to create a pricing list for your services
Starting from scratch with pricing for each proposal is a mind-drama-time-suck that you do not need. Make sure you break your services down to small elements where possible so as you add those elements you have the costs available.
Deciding on standard prices for your work is an excellent reminder of your worth on days when you feel less confident. When you are clear on your pricing, you can quickly calculate a total without questioning yourself.
Point #3 I learned along the way never to just email a proposal
I ALWAYS set up a meeting and present my proposals live. This allows me to genuinely address what they need and exactly how I plan to meet that need. I can explain in detail the steps we will take and the benefits the client will experience. Most of the time I get an immediate answer on the call. For the occasional client who needs to “think about it” - I set up a time for follow up.
I can’t remember the last time I had someone ghost me on a proposal, but I know it’s disappointing when it happens. I created this process to get an answer even if the answer is no. Then I know where I stand, I wish them well, and I move on to the next potential client.
In my Path of Action Strategy and Execution Groups one of the things we focus on is processes, like writing effective proposals. I also work one on one with clients who need to grow their business and need a strategy to do so. You can find out more about me and my services by setting up a call with me.
P.S. Ready to stop spinning in place and get to the other side of your goals? Here are several ways I can help:
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