What is a Business Proposal?
A
business proposal is perhaps one of the most critical documents you
need to learn how to write. It is what makes the difference between
success and failure in any business you are embarking on, whether you’re
a freelancer or you own a company.
In today’s business world
filled with lots of opportunities, both online and offline entrepreneurs
spend so much time submitting business proposals to potential clients,
and not get any results. On the other hand, there are those that are
very more likely to get the contract after just submitting one business
proposal. Strange, isn’t it?
Now you can find out how these very successful entrepreneurs are able to do just that below.
What are really the Basics of a Winning Business Proposal?
Before
you start thinking of writing that winning business proposal, you must
first understand what it is and learn the fundamentals of it.
A
business proposal is just a written document that contains offers of a
particular product or service to a potential buyer or client. In other
words, it is the information contained in the written proposal that the
buyer or client would access to know if he or she wants your product or
not.
What type of Proposal is Suitable for Your Potential Client?
There are two major type of business proposals;
- Solicited Business Proposals: These are submitted in response to an advertisement published by the buyer, company or client.
- Unsolicited Proposals:
These are submitted or given out to potential buyers, companies or
clients even though they are not requesting for any proposal.
What is the Steps taken to Write a Winning Business Proposal?
The
secrete of writting a winning business proposal can be gotten from
three steps, love to call it the "3P steps", it include the following;
- Problem Statement Defining:
The first "P" is the problem statement. Now what is the problem
statement defining? This is defining the client's need, problems and
challenges in clear simple terms. Every organization or client has its
own pressing needs and challenges it faces on daily bases, so to proffer
solution to their problems, you must be able to define the kind of
problems they are facing, otherwise your written proposal would never
ring a bell. Now, how do one get to know about the client's problem? To
do so, you must learn the act of asking vital and relevant questions
about the client and carry out series of investigation, this would sure
help to find out about your client's challenges.
Below is an example of a properly written problem statement of a business proposal:
"With
the presence of social media in today’s advancing world, E&D Sons
Limited have hesitated to make the leap from traditional way of
marketing to social media marketing.
Their old fashioned marketing
tactics seem to be losing effectiveness and the company feels as if
they are missing out on a large segment of their market. In addition,
their competition has began acquiring the majority of the business in
the market and have brought E&D Media’s growing revenues to a halt.
- Propose a Proffered Solution:The
major objective of submitting a business proposal is to offer your
prospective client a solution to a particular problem. This part should
contain much more details as possible, and should be able to touch on
the current basic need of your client.Below is an example of a proposed solution:
"The
solution that is recommended for E&D Sons Limited. is to deploy
their company on all of the major social media channels such as Facebook
and Twitter; however, there is a major difference in creating social
media platforms versus creating a brand you can promote on those
platforms.
A marketing campaign must be created that would make
use of these media channels and creating immediate engagement with your
audience and customers. In order for this to be successful, you know how
to make sales. Initially, acquire some fans, followers, subscribers,
and connections and invite them to join you in particular discussion or
attend a specific event.
The purpose of this is not only to promote E&D Limited, but also to get feedback from the target audience."
- Pricing InformationThis
is the third "P" of every successful written business proposal. For
many clients, the pricing information is what will make them conclude
whether to offer you the contract or not.The skill to write this part
greatly depends on the solutions you included in the previous segment.
If the solution proposed will only take a short period of time, a Fee Summary will suffice. For longer projects, it is best to segment these payments to specific milestones in what is called a Fee Schedule list.
Key Points to Remember When Writing a Winning Business Proposal:
Now
that you know the essentials of a winning business proposal, think this
is the right time to go ahead and start writing, right? Well, not
really.
The key points written below would further guide you on
how to write a winning business proposal that gets their attention and
awards you the contract.
Do a Diligent Research!
First
and foremost, you must do a thorough research about your client, not
all clients would give you the explicit details of their wants and
needs, especially if you’re submitting an unsolicited business proposal.
Extend your research to include the competitors of your potential
client, and their customers as well. This will ensure that your business
proposal will be as comprehensive and as detailed as possible.
Put Yourself in their Shoes:
One
other thing to remember when writing a business proposal is to always
put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. By doing this, it
will help you provide information on things that they would most likely
ask, such as “Why should we pay you this much amount for the solutions
you’re offering” and “How can these changes benefit me?”
Why must it be You?
If
you are able to find out that a company or client has certain needs,
there is a probability that others would have done the same thing. That
means that there will be others that have submitted their proposals to
the company.
That being said, it is important to make sure to
highlight your talents, experience and other qualifications to convince
the client why they should choose you or your company.
