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If you’re pitching your company to a potential client or bidding for additional business, one of the best ways to do so is through business proposals.
A business proposal is a direct response to a prospect’s request for proposal (RFP). It’s essentially a sales tool that, if it is well thought out, addresses the client’s requirements and communicates your solution clearly. A good proposal can be the difference between you landing the project instead of your competitor.
As you grow your company, you’ll eventually get more confident and more comfortable putting together business proposals tailored to each RFP. Think about creating a proposal template for clients that you can use for all your new business pitches, which should ideally contain these six elements to make it stand out from the rest.
Understanding of the problem
Start by showing your understanding of the customer’s needs and why it’s important to them. Put yourself in their mindset by asking questions like: “What is the problem we’re trying solve? What’s the solution? Will it resolve the issue for the long haul or is it a short-term fix? How much time do we have to find a resolution? How much will it cost?” You can even discuss the implications of not resolving the problem, such as the impact to end users and the client’s overall bottom line.
Why your solution works
This is where you build your credibility. Once you’ve proven that you understand the client’s challenge, the next step is to present your solution and that you can actually deliver on it.
One way to do this is to share anecdotes about how you’ve helped companies in the past, particularly issues that are similar to what the prospect is trying to resolve.
On the other hand, if you haven’t addressed the type of issue in front of you, be honest about it. Transparency will go a long way to building long-term trust, especially if the prospective client decides to go with your solution.
The value of working with you
Apart from your expertise, what other incentive does the prospect have to choose your company over the competitor? Does the prospective client see the value of working with you — as in your ability to respect confidentiality, communicate clearly and professionally, and work under tight schedules? In other words, are you the kind of vendor or service provider the prospect will be comfortable working with?
As you state your case, also be mindful not to be critical of the competition, even if the prospect is the one who brings up negative comments about other bidders. It’s fine to acknowledge the prospect’s bad experience, but it’s more professional to be respectful of your competitors.
Samples of your work
To go along with the anecdotes about other clients’ previous projects with you, we recommend including actual samples of your work in the proposal. This section would then serve as a testament to your qualifications as a project bidder, and why the prospect should award the job to you based on your success with similar projects. The stronger evidence, the higher likelihood that you will win the job.
Proposed scope and timeline
In this section of the bid, you are outlining several important details about how you plan to carry out the project. This includes items such as:
- The deliverables you will be responsible for
- Items the client may have to provide to ensure the success of the job
- Potential roadblocks the two sides may encounter during the course of work
- A timeline of the project, including milestones and deadlines
Furthermore, be realistic with expectations. The important thing is that both sides agree on the scope of work before any actual work begins.
Project cost
Besides providing a total cost for the project, the prospect might appreciate an itemized list for each task involved. If doing so might result in too much detail or busy work, you may opt to break it down by milestone or stage instead. However, an itemized list gives you and the prospect room to negotiate or prioritize, should your original estimate become an issue. In the end, the cost information you include here should be what the prospective client asked for in the RFP.
As for the price itself, make sure you match it with the value of what you’re offering. If the prospect insists on driving down your estimate, you can agree to do so — but not to the point where it devalues what you bring to the table.
We wish we could say that covering all these elements in your proposal ensures that you win the business. Unfortunately, you win some and lose some. Either way, the experience of submitting a bid should be rewarding for you and the prospect, as both of you have dedicated time and effort to the process. The only thing we guarantee is that by considering our suggestions and aligning it with the requirements of the RFP, you will put yourself in position to seriously contend for the job.
