| Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. |
SitePoint tribune |
Issue 417: October 9th, 2008 News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Design Professionals |
Introduction
We all recognize the type—the person who, at a social gathering, completely dominates the conversation and is only interested in one subject—themselves. You're aware of who I'm talking about, aren’t you? We all know someone like that. What if your sales proposal came across to the prospect just like that annoying person? How you write your proposals can give clients a greater understanding about who you are as an organization or freelancer. This edition takes a look into that great deal-maker or breaker, the sales proposal, an important tool in any sales negotiation. We’ll continue the sales theme by looking at some informative articles and blog posts that have appeared on the SitePoint web site over the years. Then, let’s talk about coffee and posture—with some reader feedback about a recent Tribune I penned. Finally, fellow Tribune Editor, Brendon Sinclair, and his son, Jack, expect to arrive in Brisbane this Friday after riding across Australia for the last thirty days, raising money for charity. Congratulations to both of them on such a huge achievement! Miles
Miles Burke
Upgrade Your Business Potential
Learn more about Enterprise Hosting from AIT Summary
Editor's PerspectiveSecrets to a Great Sales ProposalIn the introduction I spoke about those conversation fizzers: egomaniacs who are their own favorite topic. We all know someone like that, right? But are we in danger of coming across that way in our sales proposals? Pardon, I hear you cry! How could we sound like this? Well, for a start, do you spend the first few pages covering all the awards you have won, and the bright history of your team? How far into the document before you learn what the prospect wants? Are the prospect's objectives even covered in your proposal? I’ve read many sales proposals from web companies over the last decade or so, and it still amazes me when I come across this type of example: a mind-numbing twenty pages in length, with pages 1 to 16 about the web company, and page 17 the first sign of discovering what the prospect wanted. How did I get my hands on this proposal? Well, our company won a job, and the client gave me this blundering document to show what not to do in business. We shared a laugh reading through the novel-length sales pitch together—where they also took the liberty of misspelling the client's name on the covering page! The secret of successful proposals is to focus on what the prospect wants to hear. They want solutions to their problems, benefits for their projects, and most of all, they want to be convinced that you understand what they need. Sixteen pages talking about yourself (especially at the beginning) is subconsciously stating that you believe you are far more important than their project! You should mention who you are and what you do, but after their project details, and one or two pages should suffice. Or perhaps make it a separate document entirely. Make sure you’ve included the basics: timeline, budget, and deliverables. Reiterate your understanding of the prospect's requirements, and make sure your proposal clarifies how your solution will help them. Spell-check, then spell-check again—misspelling a prospect's name is just plain lazy. Use short sentences, avoid long paragraphs, and keep the entire proposal succinct; a technical specifications document can run to dozens of pages, but a sales proposal shouldn’t. Speaking of technical, don’t get all abbreviated on the client. The average prospect doesn’t know what half the abbreviations we use mean, and we shouldn’t expect them to, either. Sell benefits, not products. You may have a great content management system, email gateway, or other product, but talk about the benefits of these, not the product features. Include testimonials or links to similar projects if you can. This shows you have a proven track record, and understand their requirements. If you lack any design skills, ask a colleague to give the document some sparkle, and then use this as a template. A polished document is clearly marked with headings, sub-headings, and block quotes (if required). Conclude the proposal with a call to action. Don’t just end it with a price for the job. State what the terms are, and make it easy for the prospect to action the starting process. For example: "Send this page back, signed and dated, and we can commence immediately" is far better than a dollar figure on the last line.
Enter the ultimate contest for XML developers
From the Archives:Sales ProposalsWay back in 2003, Chris Yeh's contribution, Write Proposals That Sell, discussed the five simple steps that he believes should be covered in a proposal. Do you ever respond to traditional Request for Proposals (RFPs)? Andrew Neitlich wrote an informative blog post in Suggested guidelines for responding to RFPs, proving that you shouldn’t believe you need to answer every RFP that comes your way. Here’s another great tip from Andrew: learn from your lost sales. In Lessons from a lousy sales week, he gave us four excellent concepts to consider.
What about Posture?Two weeks ago, I wrote about health being your best business insurance (edition 415). This was partially inspired by fellow Tribune author, Brendon Sinclair, who is now approaching the end of his thirty-day cycle across Australia—a mere 4,500km (2,800 miles). I received some terrific emails after publishing this Tribune, and I’d like to draw your attention to this response from Richard of Rockingham, Western Australia: Great article Miles, good to see that SitePoint realizes that a lot of readers may not be exercising as they should be. However I've found that it's usually better to tell people to reduce (their) intake of caffeine and coffee rather than simply giving it up for water; I would never give up my first—and only—coffee of the day for water but then again, I do drink around 1.5 liters (approximately 3 pints) of water throughout the day. Thanks for your feedback, Richard. I know I said swap caffeine for water, however I didn’t mean to suggest entirely! Being partial to a morning coffee myself, I’d never make such a rash statement, however I do encourage reduced-coffee and increased-water intakes. It was remiss of me not to mention that an ergonomic office chair can make all the difference. Ideally, your chair and monitor heights should work so that you can plant your feet on the ground, and look straight ahead at your monitor, or only slightly down; Staring too far down or up can strain your neck. There are some notable online articles about posture and ergonomic chairs: General Workstation Ergonomics, from the University of Texas, Benefits Of Ergonomic Office Chairs by Safetyology 101, or an article from HR World, The Ultimate Guide to Workstation Ergonomics: 10 Easy Tips (and a Huge List of Resources).
Survey Competition: And The Winner Is...I would like to thank everyone who has provided feedback on the Tribune since I started writing. It's useful for me to read, and helps refine future editions. I may not get an opportunity to respond to every person who emails; however, I promise that I read them all. Thanks also to those who have completed the survey. We're very pleased to announce that the winner of our survey competition, as selected by a random number, is Finian Paibomesai, a freelance graphic designer from Kemptville in Ontario, Canada. Finian, your copy of The Web Business Kit 2.0 is on its way to your door. Congratulations! I'll be discussing some of the result of the survey in coming issues; that's all for this issue of the SitePoint Tribune though—I'll be back next week for more insights!
Miles Burke
|
Latest Release
Free Samples
Latest TutorialsDouglas Crockford: JavaScript Doesn't Suck
Derek Featherstone: Accessibility is More Than Compliance
Digg's Designer Divulges Design Details
Hot Discussions
New BlogsNews & Trends |
||||||||
Help Your Friends OutPeople you care about can benefit from the wealth of information on new and maturing technologies available on the Internet. Help them learn how to do it by forwarding them this issue of the Tribune! |
|||||||||
You are
subscribed as :
Unsubscribe from this list. Mailing Address:48 Cambridge St, Collingwood, VIC, 3066 AUPhone: +61 3 9090 8200 |
JavaScript guru and
Yahoo architect, Douglas Crockford was in Sydney town recently for the
annual event that is Web Directions South. He kindly gave up some of his
time to chat to SitePoint's Kevin Yank on the continuing evolution of
JavaScript.
Whilst at the Web Directions South conference, Matt got the opportunity
to chat with the talented designer behind popular web sites Digg and
Pownce, Daniel Burka. The interview reveals some fascinating insights into
the design decisions behind one of the most highly trafficked sites in the
world.