In this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class, I chat with Ruben Gamez, founder of Bidsketch, about what agencies are doing wrong on their proposals and you can do to win new business. Bidsketch is a web application that helps create professional looking client proposals in minutes.

Common proposal mistakes most agencies make.

The #1 mistake is talking about yourself in the proposal.

If you’re not talking about the client, the client’s problems, and solutions you can offer, then you’re proposal isn’t doing you any favors. Clients want to know that you understand their problems and that you have actual solutions for them. Those are the kinds of proposals that have the most appeal.

You also need to take the time to understand the buying process from the other side. Most companies go out and get a lot of proposals, meaning they talk to several agencies at the same time. It’s not the ideal place for you to be but it’s pretty easy to change that conversation.

Tell the client that, in order to help them, you need to talk about their problems and get as much information as possible. This will help you better determine if this is the right kind of client for you, as well as what solutions you can offer.

How to increase your proposal closing percentage.

Ruben puts the average closing percentage somewhere between 30-40%. If you fall into this range (or below), here’s a tip from Ruben for increasing your closings:

Give pricing options. Don’t just have one set price in your proposal. The only answer to one price is a yes or a no. By offering pricing options, you may be able to avoid getting a hard no.

Plus, your conversion rate will go up if you have multiple options. However, steer clear of having too many options; Ruben advises somewhere between 2 and 4.

My feeling on pricing options is different. If you’re asking the right questions and communicating with the client throughout the process, you’ll have already agreed on a price along the way. For me, you should pretty much have a “yes” by the time you get to submitting the proposal.

My advice is to use B-A-N-T:

* Budget

* Authority

* Need

* Timing

Using B-A-N-T to prequalify clients will save you so much time.

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