Sales Proposal Writing

It is a fact that the skills and behaviour of the sales person can be the biggest differentiator a company has in an increasingly competitive market place.

However, in many cases the buying decision can be based on the written proposal. Some of the recipients of the proposal may not have been involved in previous meetings - so that proposal becomes the only basis for the decision. This situation is more likely in complex long sales cycles where there are a number of people involved in the decision making process.

An effective proposal must be.

• Clear
• Concise
• Persuasive
• Logically structured
• Professionally written

All of the previous sales effort can be wasted if the proposal does not fulfil these criteria.

Example Contents...

• The concept of communication - a coding and decoding process

• The one way nature of written communication

• Writing with the reader in mind - ease of decoding, understanding and assimilation

• The importance of separating the thinking process from the writing process

• The thinking process.

- How to structure an introduction using a 5 point planning method

- Structuring the main body of the proposal by using an "organogram" to establish the logic and sequencing of the topics

• The writing process...

- Translating the thinking process into a document

- Proposal structure using a 4 point model

- Using clear, concise language to communicate your message clearly

- Fog index and analysis