onestepfurther.co.uk - Quickstart - How to Increase Your Proposal Bid to Win Rate



	Quickstart - How to Increase Your Proposal Bid to Win Rate (Please add bev@onestepfurther.co.uk to your address book so your issue of *Quickstart* reaches you each week. *Quickstart* *Grow a Profitable Consultancy and Still Have Time for a Life* In this issue Note from Beverley - Reading Offers Inspiration One Step Further - Increase Your Proposal Bid to Win Rate Upcoming Events - Successful People Keep Learning Personal Reflections - From Team to Network Note from Beverley I took some time this week to read more than I normally do. Business Week - interesting article about the speed of new business in "Survival of the Fleetest". Fast Company - views of what the next 20 years might bring in everything from business to health to the environment and I started re-reading Empires of The Mind : Lessons to Lead and succeed in a Knowledge Based World by Denis Waitley. I was inspired and energised by how the simple act of making time to read a variety of books and magazines was not only enjoyable but also gave me new ideas, different perspectives and grew my knowledge bank. Note to self - do this much more often! Have a good week Beverley bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 www.onestepfurther.co.uk Author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success Buy the ebook and/or become an affiliate and earn some extra cash One Step Further Want to increase your chances of winning business in customer sales situations from maybe 1 in 5 or 1 in 4 to something substantially better, like 1 in 2? Then when did you last look at your sales proposal and evaluate it against what makes customers inclined to buy. In a recent Portsmouth University survey, buyers put price as the fourth or fifth in their list of priorities when choosing a supplier. The factors they placed above price were, Trust, Return on Investment and Risk. The question is, does your sales proposal address these key factors? For example, do you start your proposal with a monologue about you, your business and your industry, or does it start with what customers want to hear? Us, our business, our problem? Do you demonstrate that you really do understand in detail your customer's problems or issues and do you demonstrate how your product or service provides a solution? Do you just list the prices, which you will charge your client, or do you demonstrate the return they will receive from investing in you and your company? Buyers want to know what you are going to do for them. How much cost your solution is going to take out of their business; how much you can increase their sales; how you can increase their cash balances. The best Return on Investment, providing other key issues are answered, wins! Do you understand how buyers perceive risk? Questions like, "Can we trust this company to deliver?", "Will they be around in 5 years?", "Am I at personal risk if I choose this company?" are what buyers ask of themselves when choosing a supplier. It helps explain why they often choose the safest option from a well known source, even though you might have the best solution. Are you tackling these issues head on in your sales presentation and in your sales proposals? If not, you are diminishing your opportunities to win the business. Too many sales proposals are uninspiring and ill-conceived. No time has gone into creating them. Too often they are something that has evolved and the same template is used over and again. Just the names of the guilty are changed. If you want to win more business, then start by taking a fresh look at your sales proposal and how you might influence more people by understanding what it is that persuades them to choose you. In sales, coming second doesn't win many medals. Written by guest author Colin Potter, Chairman of ProposalGENie, the automated sales proposal providers. ProposalGENie was first created for a telecoms service provider, which saw sales soar from £3m to £23m in less than 3 years upon the introduction of their automated sales proposal system. www.document-genie.com Upcoming Events MORE THAN A PULSE AND A CHEQUEBOOK - 1 DAY WORKSHOP * Are you still trying to be all things to all people? * Are you frustrated by the lack of return for your sales and marketing efforts? * Are you unclear about what your real priorities are? * Are you still avoiding going niche? You are not alone. From a recent survey of consultants these are some of the top challenges they said they faced. So in response I've decided to run a 1 day workshop, which will shed light on how you can overcome some of these challenges. Date: 26 April Time: 0900-1630 Venue: Heckfield Place, Near Reading Investment: Early bird saver of only £147+vat To find out more go to April Workshop or register your interest by emailing me at bev@onestepfurther.co.uk with "A Pulse And A Chequebook Are Not Enough" in the subject line, as an indication you would like to reserve a place. So go ahead and put April 26 in your calendar and send me that email. (I'd love to run this event in the North of UK too, so let me know if you're interested, where would be a good location and I'll see what I can arrange for May) ********************************************************************* Global Phone Conference** Are you a coach or a consultant that offers coaching as part of your services? Then you'll want to sign up for the Global Phone Conference on 5-7 April. Here are just some of the things you'll learn. * How to use the power of word of mouth recommendations to build your business * How to write newsletters effectively that produce readers and buyers * Advanced marketing skills that will grow your practice faster than you imagined * Easy to follow guidance on creating products that people want * Market your events so that they sell out time and time again * Find, win and deliver lucrative corporate contracts * Leverage your knowledge not your time * How to build your business by being an associate Find out more and register at Global Phone Conference P.S. Yours truly will be running a teleclass at the conference at 17.45 on 7 April called How to Leverage Your Knowledge Not Your Time Personal Reflections Those of you that have been part of the *Quickstart* community for a while will know that there are 6 key strategies I focus on, to help consultants grow a profitable consultancy and still have time for a life. Those 6 strategies are, 1. Take Control of Your Time 2. Create a Clear Vision for Your Future 3. Attract Your Ideal Clients 4. Acquire Raving Fans 5. Build Effective Business Systems 6. Lead a High Performance Team Strategy 6 has often raised some eyebrows as people say "I don’t have a team to lead" This tells me that I need to refocus that strategy so that it reflects what I really mean and is more attractive to people, otherwise it might be a detractor - which is not good; and all because I didn't make it clear. So strategy 6 is now Develop a Network of Strategic Alliances and at the heart of this strategy is... * In order to grow your business you can't do everything yourself * The things you choose to do are the things you enjoy and are the best person to do them i.e. you are the most competent and you are accountable * Everything else can be done by other people * Creating partners and a network of alliances gives you expertise you don't have, resources you need and channels for marketing, sales and delivery to compliment your own * Creating joint venture opportunities offers value to your business and another person/company that would not have been possible by each person/company on their own. By developing a network of strategic alliances, you are creating a team: a team that has your company vision and values at its heart. The network adds value, creates support and generates ideas, revenue and inspiration, which increases your performance and bottom line potential. My learning from this is that just because I know what I mean doesn't mean other people take the same meaning. That can create confusion and confusion in your clients or potential clients is not good. So listen to what your clients are telling you and adjust accordingly. Learning never stops and that's a good thing Best Regards Bev bev@onestepfurther.co.uk +44 (0) 1344 625713 PAY IT FORWARD & Tell a Friend Who do you know that's left the corporate world and set up business as a consultant? Have you received *Quickstart* from a colleague and would like to receive future issues? We grow by recommendation so why not invite others to join the *Quickstart* community so they can subscribe immediately and get their free ecourse Discover the 5 Most Incorrect Assumption that Independent Business Consultants Make. Go to www.OneStepFurther.co.uk Thank you.





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