Most people think that a quotation or proposal is simply a document which imparts to the customer or prospective customer what you will supply and the price. A quotation (or proposal) can be so very much more. In fact, if you want to be a successful person in selling your products or services, then you need to do better than the average.
6 key elements of a quote or proposal
Your proposal or quotation can really make an impact on your customer. If done well, it has a positive impact.
1. Professional
Your documentation must be professional. It doesn’t matter if you’re a lawyer or an electrician or a consultant – you need to appear professional. Your wording should reflect that professional manner, be typed and correctly formatted (such as consistent fonts) and, of course, free of spelling mistakes.
If you’re selling $20 items, you may well get away with a one-line email or a carbonised quote book, but if you’re selling, say, $80K products or services, then regardless of your industry, a professional document must be utilised.
2. Have all the information
Most businesses get this part right; have all the relevant details of what is included. Be sure to include what is excluded as well, especially if exclusions may be assumed to be part of the job or service. Price and GST need to be very clear and this will be a great time to include your general T&Cs (terms and conditions).
Please don’t forget to include contact information, especially a phone number, so someone can ring (or email) to easily ask questions. You know your business and what information people will need; give that to them so they don’t have to go asking. You might think that forces them to reconnect with you – but guess what – it might actually force them to choose your competition.
3. Marketing
This is where I frequently see the ball being dropped. You’ve included your details and price, but why stop there? Why wouldn’t you include a brief spiel about you or your business? Why wouldn’t you include half a dozen key points on why someone should work with you? Why would you not include some raving testimonials from your customers? Naturally, all this information needs to be presented in the right format and manner.
4. Visuals
Don’t be afraid to utilise visuals. This might be photos of other jobs, charts or graphs or some other relevant image that substantiates your case to make it clear you’re the best choice. Just a warning; if you choose to do a before and after photo, be sure the focus is on the after and people don’t get caught up in the negative before imagery.
If you are the product (ie a business coach like myself or a consultant), then include your photo so that we can connect with you as the person. It makes the proposal so much more personalised. Remember that a picture says a thousand words and something which is aesthetically pleasing to the eye will add appeal. You want to draw people with both logic and emotion.
5. Make it easy
Be sure your prospect can easily open the document. For this reason (and also to ensure there are no edits), I recommend you send your proposal as a PDF document. Whether the person uses a Mac, PC or an old version of Word (or something else), almost everyone has a PDF reader on their computer or device. Also, ensure the file is not too large.
6. What’s next
Have a call to action at the end of the document and clearly outline what happens next and how they can proceed. People are often left wondering. It goes without saying (but I will) be absolutely sure if you email the quote, you check it was received, AND that you follow up afterwards. It is NOT your prospect’s job to do your job as the salesperson – which means you don’t expect them to do the follow-up – that is your job!
