What will you gain from going through Proposal Writing University?

It's the world's most complete and comprehensive guide on writing proposals. There is no exception or anything that comes close to it. If you write proposals on even a semi-regular basis, it's likely that by doing the things we cover here, you'll increase your conversion rate by upwards of 50%.

The run-time of the course is a little over 40-minutes without implementation or note taking. It's suggested you watch it through then dip back into it as a refresher when it comes to implementation.

Before we get started, I'll leave you with this one thought.

All proposal writing is, is just answering questions - that's it. It's the questions your potential clients need answering before they can buy from you.

Let's get started.

Writing an Executive Summary that grabs attention

The Introduction or Executive Summary as it's sometimes called, is the most important part of the entire proposal. Get this right and they'll read on while hanging on your every word.

Get this wrong and they'll be skipping to the price and likely closing it down. The only purpose of the Introduction of your proposal is to convince them you have understood their current situation and problems, and also their goals and where they want to be.

If you can do that you'll be a head and shoulders above your competition.

You need to demonstrate that you've understood your client's situation and problems. The only way you can do this effectively is by making sure you ask the right questions in the meeting.

This is definitely a conversation for another day but the crux of it is this - just keep digging. Ask "why?" like a child and find out the truth. At some point if you dig deep enough and let them talk, they'll tell you everything you need to know.

Much like before, the setup for this really stems from the meeting and your ability to extract information. By knowing their goal, or helping them come up with a realistic one, you can create that A to B bridge which is a simple thing to get their head around.

Your introduction then goes like this in verbal form:

"Here's your current situation and your problems. You want to be achieving XYZ in X amount of time. These are all of the things we're going to do to get you there. This is how long it'll take, this is the process you'll go through and here's how much it'll cost. If you think we've understood you and we're the right people for the job, sign here."

You just want a little cliffhanger at the end of your introduction to grab them.

"Continue reading to learn how we will have you achieving X in Y time."

"Read the rest of this proposal carefully for the step by step on how we're going to have you [goal] in no time"

"Keep reading to discover the steps we're going to take you through on your journey to reaching [goal]."

Describing the service you're going to provide

This sounds tricky but once you have a few little tricks nailed, this becomes easier and easier. This isn't supposed to be a description of what you're going to do, it's a description of what they're going to get.

It's important to find the balance. You don't want it to be so detailed it freaks them out, but at the same time it should be detailed enough that if there's a dispute you both have something to refer back to. Only you know where that balance is.

You're not selling what you actually do, you're selling the result they get at the end.

If you try to sell what you do, you end up writing technical information which in most cases will go over their head and create a disconnect.

By writing what they get in the end you're talking their language and it's something they can connect with. It's a simple thing to do when you know this trick and you'll be surprised how simple you can write and have it win work. It almost feels like you're cheating.

Yes, you'll need to demonstrate the end result visually with a sketch so they can "buy in" to the end result, but what are you really selling? In our built-in wardrobe example you're selling a clean, clutter free room with space for everything and the ability to start the day with a clean mind.

In our marketing example, this seems fairly straight forward because the marketing world understands this stuff. You don't catch too many marketers selling the idea of tracking click through rates or landing pages.

You'll catch them selling an increase in revenue. The nuts and bolts of how that's done is an entirely different conversation and it might only be mentioned as part of an action plan.

The "which means that" method is a simple trick you can use to take a technical description and turn it into plain English.

First you take your technical term, say "We're going to install an SSL certificate" then add "which means that", then simply answer it. So we have:

We're going to install an SSL certificate which means that [answer]. Now you answer it. So something like "You'll get the green padlock in the top of your website which shows your website is trustworthy and people are more likely to buy"

You can now get rid of the beginning part.

Try, where possible to write in shorter sentences with more line breaks. Whenever you can, use bullet points and numbers. It's far easier to read.

You probably don't need to do this every time but it's worth getting someone to read through it and chop out anything that is too technical or doesn't add to the case for using you. This is the bit where you'll "lose them" if you go overboard with industry information so try to bear that in mind.

Demonstrating your business process and highlighting how long it'll take

One of your potential client's burning questions is going to be "How long is this going to take?". Capitalise on that by making sure you explain the process too. This isn't something they're necessarily interested in but by reading it, it will calm them if it's a lengthy process, they've been burned before or it's a new thing to them.

It's an exciting time to get a professional started on something that will improve your life or business. Feeling like you're part the way through that process is extra exciting.

You can use this to your advantage by demonstrating your business process but indicating they are part way through already.

Step 1 - Initial call to see if we're a good fit
Step 2 - Discovery meeting to discuss situation and goals
Step 3 - Presentation of action plan <----We're here now!
Step 4 - Approve action plan
Step 5 - Design and approve
Step 6 - Development and approve
Step 7 - Launch procedure

It makes them feel like they're part way through the process. It's subtle but it's harder to back out when you're part way through something.

Writing about yourself without looking sleazy or bragging

In general, you don't want to be writing about yourself. You absolutely shouldn't have an 'About us' page. What is worth doing is subtly dropping in moments of awesomeness. Household names you have done work for, awards you've won, your team size, your office.

Anything that demonstrates you're a "real business" in this age of everyone pretending they're bigger than they are.

This is how you do it in a cool and classy way.

Tony Robbins will often drop into conversation when talking about something he wants to get across, that he's advised Bill Clinton or Michael Jordan or other famous stars.

It's unlikely you'll be making claims like that but subtle hints of awards you've won, results you've achieved, clients you've worked with are all great ways to add weight to your point.

In a world where there's never been so much stuff made up from how big your business is, to work you've done, it's almost impossible to have anyone believe anything these days.

That said, there are a few things you can't embellish easily such as physical offices and staff. If you have offices, then try to subtly work that in; if you have staff, make sure you use that.

A great way is to show the people who will handle the different stages of the process. You'd use photos typically and it could look something like this:

Using social proof to win your potential client over

It's vital you use social proof to demonstrate that you've done this kind of thing before and it's your bread and butter. We recommend using case studies where possible. This is how you do it in a way that is super relevant to your potential client and instantly builds trust.

There's more to proving you do good work than just showing an example of it finished. In the case of a logo, you could look at it and think that the logo itself is the end result and therefore the thing that should be assessed.

It's easy to see why you might think that but the end result is actually a lot more than that. It's the knock-on effect that new logo has had on the business. Has it resulted in a shift up-market, what effect has it had on the team, the presentation of the business and how they're perceived?

These are things that matter a lot more than which colours and typeface you used on another business' logo.

Making your case studies relevant has more of an effect than you think. There are two kinds of relevance. The first is industry related and the second is goal related.

If it's industry related you'll be finding another client you've worked with in the same industry. If you get a lead from a catering business and you've worked with another catering business, that will carry a lot more weight than if you show a case study of a virtual assistant.

Unless however, it's goal relevant. So if your catering company enquiry wanted to double their lead count each month and you have that virtual assistant you helped achieve exactly that, someone in a similar position would find that extremely relevant and hold it in high regard.

How to price your services for the maximum fee possible

Pricing isn't easy and it's made harder when there are so many people pitching for the same work. Done right though, you can not only win the job but win it at a higher rate than your competition.

This is how to price your services and how to get a higher fee.

Finding out the budget. This is from our friend, Troy Dean over at WP Elevation but the strategy goes like this. You first want to find out the budget so you just ask outright like you would any normal question - why? Because it is normal, so you just say:

"What is your budget for this project?" If they say they don't want to tell you, or insinuate they don't want to give you a clue, you just say "Oh, it's okay, you don't have to tell me what it is, I just want to make sure you have one".

This is key for a number of reasons. First, if they don't have one, you're now best placed to help them come up with one. Secondly, it's a nice little positioning statement that lets them know you're unlikely to work with them unless they have one.

Paula Scher famously sold The Citi Group a logo for $1,500,000. It took her 5 minutes to draw and she did it in the meeting.

Here's the full story. It's a great lesson in charging on the value to the business rather than the time it took you to do it.

When presenting your price on your Investment page in your proposal, it's a really good idea to use this opportunity to get a testimonial in there. It can work wonders in "softening" the mental moment of seeing a high price.

The price shouldn't be a total surprise but it can help soften the blow. Here's how it might look in reality:

Allowing your client to up-sell themselves with a base price already set can be a nice way of getting a little extra boost on the transaction value. If you do this right you can easily get another 10% on each deal.

When you get really good, you want to look out for the features, or things your client's eyes light up for. These are always the things you make the up-sells because they'll nearly always choose it.

Here's an example of how this looks to your client when viewing a proposal with options they can select:

It's not a good idea to present packages because the risk of choosing the wrong option is too great. If you're asking someone to choose between a $1, $1.25 or $2 option, it's not difficult. The cost of getting that decision wrong is marginal. Who cares.

The same thing doesn't apply when you're making a business decision where the difference in price is in the thousands. Try to avoid putting your potential clients in positions where they are in control of decisions they're not really qualified to make.

Get the budget, find out what they want and present them with the right solution. Don't give them an "out" with a cheap option just because you're not confident enough in your recommendation. If that is the situation, work on it.

Try to take a doctor's approach. Ask questions, listen, do your discovery and then prescribe the solution.

Moving your client from "maybe" to "Yes!"

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make with their proposal strategy is not explaining the next steps, or put simpler, how to buy.

It doesn't need to be a big section but not including it is asking for failure.

Make it simple to buy and you'll win more business.

Your next steps page should be dead simple. There should be absolutely nothing to think about. Here's how simple it should be:

"We would absolutely love to have you as a client. To get started is really simple.

Step 1: Simply type your name in the box below.
Step 2: Pay your deposit on the next page
Step 3: Your account manager will be in touch to book in your first call
Welcome aboard."

It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that.

Getting your contract signed along with your proposal

Lots of businesses get the proposal verbally agreed, then try to get a contract signed, which rarely happens, then start work anyway. This is way more common than it should be. The easiest way to get yourself covered is get every proposal signed and include your terms of business as a page within it.

This saves getting 2 things signed, or worse yet, operating without a contract. The exception to this is if you're dealing with a massive company with a legal department. This is explained in this session.

How to use guarantees in your proposals

Guarantees are a great way to "put your money where your mouth is". Whether you agree with them or not, there's no arguing that they work. There's a way to use a guarantee without risking doing all the work and having someone call it in.

Simply by adding a guarantee of any description will increase your conversion rate.

Exactly what to write in the email to your client containing your proposal

There's no need to make things more complicated than they need to be. This is one of those times.

Keeping the email you send with your proposal short and simple is not only easier but it means they stop referring to the email and instead read the proposal.

Think of it like writing the address on an envelope. You don't put the letter on the envelope do you?

The actual email you send to your client should be straightforward. No nonsense, nothing to read, just literally a link to the proposal itself. Here's the wording:

"Hi _____

As requested, here is your proposal. Click the link below to read it.

We'll be in touch.

Thanks

Adam"

Resist the urge to be overly friendly, include small talk and especially don't include anything that is in the proposal. No clues, no pricing, nothing.

Writing proposals quickly wins you more business. Here's how you do it.

Sending proposals quickly results in a higher conversion rate and a faster time to sign. We know this from the 2018 Proposal Report. This bonus session gives you several ways to make sure you can send the proposal at lighning speed and increase the chances of winning the deal.

In the 2018 Proposal Report, using data from over $120,000,000 of won proposals, we discovered that by sending your proposal within 24 hours, you stood a 25.4% higher chance of winning the deal than if you sent it in just 3-4 days.

In addition to this, the time to sign was an average of 6 days when sent within 24 hours vs 11 days when sending in 3-4 days.

The biggest reason people don't send proposals quickly is procrastination. It's the fear of the job and that it's going to take a long time. Simply knowing it won't take ages can be the difference between doing it quickly and leaving it.

The simplest way to crack on is to know what you're editing. Really it should only be the following (assuming you're selling the same thing over and over).

• Introduction
• What you get
• Timescales (should be the same but might need adjusting slightly)
• Choosing the case study (2 clicks from the Content Library)
• Price

Most of this is very very quick and easy. 90% of the work is the introduction. The rest is minor changes and can be done in seconds.

Structuring a proposal template to give your client everything they need

Knowing how to treat your template and structure your proposals will put you in great stead as you progress in your business life.

It's the most important document your business has and treating it well, improving it, nurturing it and growing its quality will reward you with bigger deals, higher conversion rates and a better business.