Evaluate Your Proposal Process

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Evaluate Your Proposal Process

by Alison Chandless

Here's a quick checklist to gauge the effectiveness of your proposal process:

1. Do your reps have time to customize content strategically for each customer?

2. Do your proposals portray the quality of your company and reflect your product positioning?

3. Can your customer use your proposal to understand your solution’s competitive differentiation?

4. Does your sales force know how to reinforce your solution selling strategies in proposals?

5. Are you confident that proposals arrive at customers without grammar, factual or technical errors?

Did you answer “NO!” to any questions? You may be risking more than the revenue from a lost deal. Poor proposals can cost future opportunities.

Consider

A winning proposal:

* describes solutions as well as product capabilities

* differentiates your solution from that of the competition

* reads like a selling document rather than a technical dissertation

* includes a compelling business case to impress decision-influencers

* illustrates your value-add with customer examples

About the Author:
Alison Chandless is former principal of KickStart Alliance. She can be reached at 650.34.6164.