Winning proposals: Why was your proposal rejected?

Rejection is always hard to accept, and often potential clients aren't clear why they turned us down. We assume it has something to do with price or their relationship with a competitor. Are these the reasons why we are not winning proposals?

Here are other reasons why you may not be winning proposals:

1. Ambiguity of proposal and value offering

The proposal is one of, if not the most important document you’ll give to your prospective client when trying to win their business.

It’s easy to make the mistake of leaving out certain information from our proposals because we think we’ve covered it on our website or in initial discussions with a prospective client. But clients often pass the proposal to others within the organisation, these people aren't necessarily up to speed with your previous correspondence with other members.

Winning proposals should start from the beginning and clearly outline everything that’s of relevance to the client and the value you are offering should be featured in its own section so it won’t be missed.

2. Unfamiliarity of approach or methodology

Maybe the client isn’t familiar with your approach or methodology to solve their problems. Follow the example of larger organisations, who are usually good at making their approach very clear. This gives their prospective and existing clients some extra assurance that they’re in capable hands.

3. Fear of the unknown

If you’re too different from the mainstream it may scare off prospective clients who have absolutely no idea what to expect from working with you. It’s important to be different but not too different. Business is still largely a conservative practise.

4. Lacking true confidence in initial meetings

Sometimes when we’re very excited or care very much about winning the approval of a prospective client we can, subconsciously, give off the wrong vibes. For example, we may be saying the right things but our body language tells a different story. If we come across as being nervous, insecure or caring too much, it can elicit negative feelings in the client.

When engaging a new supplier, clients need to feel assured that they’re making the right decision. Anything that can help minimise doubt, reassure the client and have them feel comfortable with you is definitely worth looking in to.

It’s also wise to consider asking prospective clients to provide you with feedback on your sales process so you know where you’re going right and wrong, regardless of whether you win their business.

But be careful how you do this, you don’t want to get on their nerves!

Paul J. Morris is an information systems strategist. This incredible title means that he helps businesses become more efficient at what they do while keeping them on track with their goals.

6 comments | Add your own

Paul, what you said is very true. Confidence is nice to have in the initial meetings and even meetings thereafter but they must also be sending out the right signals.
And being too confident and enthusiastic can also sound fake.
I work on proposals all of the time and try to have as much information available as possible as I dont always speak with management. Brad from Melbourne
Some great tips in here Paul. Too often proposals look lovely and are brimming with long words, yet fail to perform as they should (and could). Robert Gerrish from Flying Solo | Read my articles
Thank you, Paul -
We have a very high strike rate with our proposals because, I believe, we listen to what the potential client wants, we seek to understand their real needs and their environment, we undertake several hours of research prior to presenting a proposal, and we don't simply reitterate what the client has told us - we ennunciate clear processes and expected results. I e-mailed your article to a friend as they do not have a high strike rate and they routinely spend $10,000 on each proposal - they are in a different industry from us but a creative one nonetheless. I hope your article will help them evaluate better their approach to developing proposals.
Cheers, Penelope (Adelaide) Penelope Herbert from Adelaide
Paul, I believe that most proposals tell people how clever the proposer is and forget to tell buyers how important their needs are - as a result, losing bidders tell their mates at the bar how 'stupid' the prospect was! Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
This is so true. The process of reading the proposal is one of the moments of truth for the prospect. Other moments of truth include the initial contact, meeting, whether the proposal was sent on time, the way the service offering is outlined and how the follow-ups were made. In this whole process, if the initial contact was a pull based one, the chances of succes are much higher.
www.searchenginerankings.com.au describes how pull based marketing can improve the strike rate.
Anup Batra from Melbourne, Australia
Great article. The of the unknown is one I often come up against. The psychology of of proposals can be a bit of a mind field. I have some psychology videos on my website at http://www.nuganics.com.au .
Kind Regards
Tim Tim Lester from Coolum, Queensland

6 comments | Add your own

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