Business proposals have become a fact of life in almost every industry these days, which is why the jobs boards are full of tender writing positions at the moment. Some people rail against the pitch procedure and complain of the lost time and money. That, though, is a poverty mindset, as with a little preparation and some lateral thinking you can use the proposal stage as a way of standing out from the crowd.
Actively invest in your proposal process and you will find that not only can you streamline the process, you will also win more business and that will ensure that every penny spent pales into insignificance with the boost the new clients bring to your bottom line and overall business growth.
You can have the vast majority of every proposal laid out and filled in before you have even spoken to a new client if you are smart with the graphic design. The client-specific parts of the proposal can even be loosely laid out and you simply have to write and flow in the right text and images to win the client.
If you currently write a fresh proposal each and every time then this will have several different effects. First of all it will improve the quality of your proposals as you refine sections, rather than simply starting afresh in a random fashion. Certain blocks of text will become absolute mainstays and you can A/B test with material you’re unsure of to see the impact it has on your success rate, which brings a scientific element to your proposals. Third, it will ensure in the client-specific parts that you actually answer the points the client wants rather than clouding the issue with your own material, which is safely segmented off. Finally, it will make the whole process faster, cleaner and simpler, you’ll spend much less time on each proposal.
With the process streamlined, it’s time to think about presentation and there is simply no substitute for high quality folder printing. Picture two proposals. One is swiftly typed out and emailed across as a PDF, the other is a media rich, brochure quality printed proposal with images, clever graphic design and a professional, branded look that just jumps off the desk. Having a printed presentation allows the reviewer to physically handle your proposition and will naturally increase the attention and time spent reading yours in comparison to a digital version.
Which one would you want to work with? So invest in high quality printing if you want higher conversion results, from brochure printing to folder printing for each proposal. Change your approach to the proposal and bidding process and you will no longer see it as a time sink and the business equivalent of buying a raffle ticket. You will see it as an opportunity to mark yourself apart and to leave 90% of the competition in your dust before you have even got to the meeting stage. Increase your business growth and get in touch with us for more tips. Print UK
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