Creating Powerful Proposals

John A. Sexton, Ph.D.Founder and Creative Director

Groupmind, Inc.

creative thinking, reimagined

Building a Culture of Innovation

Business Speed Dating

THURSDAY

May 2nd6:30pm

THURSDAY

June 6th6:30pm

The Connected BusinessFree Workshop Series

3 MORE DATES JUST ADDEDTHURSDAY

July 11th6:30pm

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August 8th6:30pm

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Sept. 12th6:30pm

heyjohnsexton.com

@heyjohnsexton

#proposals

What do you do?

Why did you start doing it?

Need Money Must write Proposal :(

Write proposal... or maybe rush

through it.

Stuck with same kinds of jobs, or the same rates

Don’t win the jobs we really want

http://www.flickr.com/photos/migulski/2273289856/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Let’s vent.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhilowitz/4351445649/

Bad proposals...

* lose jobs* leave money on the table * keep you stuck.

http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/261745/slide_261745_1729771_free.jpg?1352278486043

The Real Problem

The skills you develop bydoing the work you love...

...are not the same skillsthat help you get

better jobs in the future.

Unscientific Graph Time!

Unscientific Graph

Skills /Product Quality

Income

Ability to Communicate Value

Skills /Product Quality

Income

Ability to Communicate Value

Unscientific Graph

Joshua Bell Storyhttp://youtu.be/hnOPu0_YWhw

Joshua Bell Story

* One of world’s best Violinists in DC Subway* Handcrafted 1713 Stradivarius Violin worth $3.5 M* Played 6 pieces in 45 minutes

* Previous night, sold out audiences of $100+ tickets* Over 1000 people walked by* ~ 20 people gave a total of about $32* No applause, no recognition

* Similar experiment occurred in 1930s, similar results

Skills /Product Quality

IncomeValue Communicated

Joshua Bell Experiment

Product Quality

Income Value Communicated

Apple

Product Quality

Income Value Communicated

Snuggie

25+ Million sold (Fabricated?)$500,000,000+

What is the purpose of a proposal?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oscar805/8590961651/

Purpose of a proposal:

communicate the valueof your product or service

in solving a problem important to your client

Estimates vs. Proposals

Estimates Proposals

What, How Much What, How Much, Why

Focused on Price Focused on Value

Treats work as commodity Persuades &Builds relationship

Effective ProposalsYou Client

More wins Feels understood

Higher pay Gets good value

Better clients Appropriate solution

Less wasted time Trust you can execute

You are uniquely well-suited to help the client achieve their goals.

You are uniquely well-suited to help the client achieve their goals.

http://www.startwithwhy.com/About.aspx?n=1

Simon Sinek

Emotion drives Decisions.

People don’t buy what you do,they buy why you do it.

People want to work with people that

believe what they believe.

• Demonstrate that they can trust you

• Show the client you understand their needs

• Be honest, be yourself

Love

Like

Approve

Indifference

Distrust

Web Designer

Inspired by: http://chasingthestorm.com/brand-relationship-onion-people-and-brand-relationships/

Clients want to trust you!

Unfortunately, many of them have broken hearts.

And other bad people are out there... just waiting to do it again.

It’s All About Them

Clients only care about youto the extent that you can

help them achieve their goals.

Embrace that.

Listen

Demonstrate Understanding & Communicate Value

Share your best ideas

OK.

Enough with understanding stuff.

Give us TRICKS!

Uncover Root Causes& Determine VALUE

Dig deep to find the reasons behind the requests.

What’s the Real Problem?

What’s the VALUE of solving it?

How are you uniquely qualified to solve it?

Situation Appraisal:Current vs. Ideal Situations

Get them to imagine the gap and show how you can close it.

Problem Statement

Goals & Objectives

You

Get PersonalMake a personal connection

in your cover letter.

Dear sir or madam

Hi Katie,

It was great speaking with you

Tuesday...

Provide Data,But Not Too Much

Just enough to satisfy the rational brain that seeks to justify our decisions with facts.

0

25

50

75

100

2009 2010 2011 2012

Give OptionsChange the conversation from“yes” or “no” to “which one?”

$15,000 $10,000

Reach Best Value Budget

$7,500

Loss AversionReduce the price by taking things away.

- Social Media- Branding

$10,000 $7,500

- Website- Self Respect

$15,000

Winner’s Package!

Goal-Gradient EffectShowing progress that has already been made

motivates people to continue.

YOU ARE HERE

Project Complete!

DONE!

Find us!

DONE!

Fill outquestionnaire

Review Proposal

Review Prototypes

Make Accepting EasyExplicitly spell out next steps & make it

possible to accept the proposal immediately.

Accept Proposal

1

2

3

More Proposal Writing Tips

RIGHT PERSON

Make sure you build a relationshipwith someone who can say

YES.

FAST

2 Business daysor less.

MEANINGFUL TITLE

“Building a Modern Web Presencefor NextDoor Chicago”

not

“Web Design Proposal”

BRANDED TEMPLATE

for layout and generic sections

...but your proposed solutionsneed to be unique for each client.

SIMPLE LANGUAGE

No Jargon. Write for your audience.

SHORT

5 Pages or less is ideal.

SKIMMABLE

Use headings, subheadings, bullet lists & callout boxes, to

break up long passages of text.

VALUE & OUTCOMES...NOT DELIVERABLES.

“Increased exposure to & influence with your target audience...”

not

“Mock-up with 3 Revisions”

STICK TO YOUR PRICES

If you need to go lower, take awaysome of the VALUE.

Avoid dropping a deliverable or reducing revisions for

a discount of X.

FOCUS

Show that you are uniquely suited to understand& solve the client’s problem.

Cut anything that doesn’t directly support that.

Proffread

Proofreed

Proofread

GET BIZNUS RESULTS!!

Thank you!

Building a Culture of Innovation

Business Speed Dating

THURSDAY

May 2nd6:30pm

THURSDAY

June 6th6:30pm

The Connected BusinessFree Workshop Series

3 MORE DATES JUST ADDEDTHURSDAY

July 11th6:30pm

THURSDAY

August 8th6:30pm

THURSDAY

Sept. 12th6:30pm

heyjohnsexton.com

@heyjohnsexton

#proposals