Email, cold calls, and LinkedIn messages are all great avenues to connect with your prospect.  But perhaps the most underutilized component of the sales process is (spoiler alert) the proposal itself. Whether you’re a newly established business or one of international renown, an enticing proposal dramatically helps your business efforts. And today, Donald is joined by co-founder and CEO of Proposify, Kyle Racki, to learn how sales leaders and teams can understand the power of the proposal.

Your proposal is a unique space to differentiate yourself from the competition.

• When a prospect asks for more information, typically a salesperson sends a google doc with raw numbers, small print, and terms and conditions. In other words, you’re missing a critical marketing touchpoint where you can tell your story.
• The result? Your proposal will be dumped in the (virtual or physical) trash.

Create a proposal that isn’t just a series of words.

• You’re pitching to a person, not a machine. There’s a thought process behind it that can lead to a better and more personal proposal.
• Proposals that include images close at a higher rate.
• Nobody will read a 10-20 page document, but people will skim a proposal for the highlights. Framing your text with images will make it far easier to read.
• Including images and video makes for a more engaging and interactive experience that communicates the experience of actually working with the company.

Other overlooked proposal elements: 

• Sometimes people will accept the first proposal they get, regardless of pricing or offerings. And even if there are discrepancies, there is a positive correlation between the speed of proposal delivery and closing rates.
• If you make a prospect wait two weeks for a proposal, they’ll have already solved the problem or found a different solution. 16% of proposals are won within 5 minutes of it being sent, and 42% within 24 hours.
• If your prospect opens it twice, they’re interested. But if they open it four or more times, the chance to close goes down.
• The great thing about the proposal file is that you can see proposal open rates and how many times people click through it.
• Proposal reviews, whether over-the-phone or in-person, with the prospect, lead to better closing rates because you can clarify points and directly address potential objections.

Kyle’s major takeaway? If you put more effort into sending a fast proposal (and still put effort into it) you’ll edge out most of the competition.

Check out proposify.com to check out the platform and their blog, which contains helpful sales and proposal information. You can also connect with Kyle directly on LinkedIn. Join Donald’s Facebook group, The Sales Evangelizers, to find a community of people to share, reflect, and grow with on your sales journey.

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.

Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.

But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.

This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master sales fundamentals and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.