In the previous blog, we continued our discussion of the critical questions sales management should ask when it comes to closing must-win deals and explored “Can We Make It Easier For The Customer To Buy?” in which we introduced the concept of Multiple Acceptable Options to manage uncertainty and risk. In this blog, we’ll show how we can use options in our Proposal as well as address the question “Is Our Proposal Compelling?”
My observation is that B2B sales proposals are treated more or less as a “check box” exercise. Meaning that we are now at the point in the sales cycle where we should give the customer a proposal. When I work with buying organizations to help them position and close critical deals with key suppliers, part of my job is to review supplier proposals. I really hate this task because I already know what almost every supplier proposal will say. They’re all about the supplier and their products, services, features, office locations, growth, recent acquisitions, etc. They’re all innovative, world-leading, and Gartner upper-right quadrant. And I don’t know how this math works, but somehow they all manage to be number one in their field. It’s no wonder customers have a hard time choosing one supplier over another.
