I took 50 000 proposals sent during 2020 to see if I could find a pattern of what makes a good proposal. Hopefully, there are some insights you could use to increase your close rate :)
If there are any statistics you are interested for me to look up that can help you. Please comment and I will see what I can do.
Find 1: Quality over quantity, winning proposals are shorter.
To my surprise, accepted documents tend to be “shorter” than not accepted documents. The average text length might be shorter but samples show that the text is accurate and specific.
Find 2: Send proposals on multiple channels.
86% of accepted documents were sent both as email and text. Your client might be busy and appearing in several channels might increase your chances of getting the job.
Find 3: Remember to follow up on sent proposals.
The average time from sent to accepted was 7.7 days. This is probably a no-brainer for most sales reps. But it seems that a proposal is most “hot” right after it is sent. So make sure to follow up with the customer to clear up any questions or concerns.
Find 4: Win rate is higher for branded proposals.
Taking a look at a sample of all proposals it became quite apparent that branding matters. Proposals that were designed & professional were winning a lot more than plain-looking ones. This could be due to the fact that might be perceived as a lot more seriously and funded compared to others. Because more often than not, your client will be comparing your offer with several others.
Find 5: Offer multiple packages to increase your chances.
Giving your client a couple of options to pick between increased the chances of winning by 36%. Quite impressive. If I were to speculate why my guess would be that offering packages shift the client’s mindset from a “no/yes”-question to a “Does package A, B, or C suit me the best?-question”
TLDR: To increase your close rate: Send short specific quotes using multiple channels (email & text) and follow up soon after sending. Make sure that your proposals are branded and that you provide additional options right on the quote.
