Looking to increase revenue? You must be aware of a popular sales myth that impacts your ability to generate more sales. The sales myth is that a proposal is a necessary component of the sales process and it is required to close the sale. The premise is that once you give your prospects a proposal, the next step is to close them. Wrong! Once your prospect gets a proposal, the next step is to chase them. If you are looking to increase revenues, an increase in the number of proposals generated is not an indicator of potential or future sales.
A recent blog post by Shameless Sales Brown captured Sales Cooke’s passion and disgust associated with proposals. In his blog, Shameless correctly stated that a proposal is requested for “one of three reasons:
1. They want to compare prices and terms.
2. They want documentation to prove to their bosses that they are doing a ‘good job’.
3. They need a document to help them internally sell the vendor they like to other influencers and decision-makers that they work with or for.”
The harsh reality is that most proposal requests fall into the category of either scenario 1 or 2. Rarely is a proposal used to help sell your offering to others in the organization. Why? If you are really dealing with the decision maker, who’s approval do they need?
Effective proposals are really “agreements” that are presented when you are at a point with the decision maker that they have decided to do business with you and all you are doing is working out the details. So next time someone asks you for a proposal, do what Shameless recommends–“are we at a point where you have decided to business with me?” This will start a whole new level of dialog. This dialog will be productive and you will really learn what the decision making process is, who is involved, what they are really looking for, and what you will really need to do to get the business. If you want to effectively increase your revenue stream, stay out of the trap of generating proposals and work on developing sales opportunities that result in agreements.
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