Creating More Effective Proposals

Written by Robert F. Abbott


The need for good proposals -repparttar business kind, notrepparttar 140723 marriage kind - struck me again a couple of days ago, when I received a poor proposal. I had talked onrepparttar 140724 phone with a sales rep, and then she followed up with a proposal.

You know what? Her proposal was even worse than her live sales pitch. It was a completely canned message, which wasted her time and mine. With that, some thoughts on creating effective proposals.

Let's start by dividing them into two categories: commodities proposals and differentiated (or value-added) proposals.

If you sell commodities, your proposals will be relatively straightforward, as you compete on issues like price, delivery, and product characteristics. The buyer makes a relatively objective decision, and all other things being equal, he takesrepparttar 140725 best offer.

That likely makes clarity your best proposal writing strategy. For example, if you have a significant advantage in one area, you might create a matrix showingrepparttar 140726 information in a table format for easy comparison.

Turning our attention to proposals for differentiated or value-added products, we immediately notice an important distinction. There are no easy comparisons among vendors, as there are with commodity sellers.

The buyer has to compare intangibles, which means subjective judgments. He can't compare one marketing consultant with another, for example, unless he hires both, which he's unlikely to do.

Since we're dealing with subjective judgments, it's good to ask, "What goes on inrepparttar 140727 minds of buyers?" Solving a problem or exploiting an opportunity probably topsrepparttar 140728 list for most buyers. Whilerepparttar 140729 solution may not be immediately obvious,repparttar 140730 need likely is plain torepparttar 140731 buyer.

Linking Features & Benefits

Written by Robert F. Abbott


I'm sure that you've had those Eureka! moments, too. When a piece of information suddenly helped you see or understand something that hadn't been apparent before.

For me, one came when I discovered means-end analysis, a marketing concept that helps us understand why listeners or readers might respond -- or not respond -- to our messages. It does this by clarifyingrepparttar relationship between product features andrepparttar 140722 benefits experienced by consumers.

I also believe it has great potential for developing communication strategies.

But first, let's reviewrepparttar 140723 marketing connection: Consumers know about products in three general ways:

* byrepparttar 140724 attributes (features) they possess;

* byrepparttar 140725 consequences of 'consuming' those attributes; and

* byrepparttar 140726 wayrepparttar 140727 consequences help satisfy personal needs.

Asrepparttar 140728 list suggests, these types of knowledge are linked, providing connections among attributes, consequences, andrepparttar 140729 value-fulfillment benefits we derive from them.

For example, a luxury car offers a number of attributes (features) that make it distinctive. Owning and driving one has some personal consequences, which might include showing others thatrepparttar 140730 owner is affluent and successful. That, in turn, satisfiesrepparttar 140731 owner's value-driven need to be seen as successful...

Now, let's look atrepparttar 140732 same example another way. A low-end car's attributes might include an inexpensive purchase price and economical operation. One personal consequence of owning a car with these attributes might be to have more money available for saving. And, that could provide value satisfaction by givingrepparttar 140733 owner a sense of accomplishment as she watches her savings account grow.

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