Growing your business into a reputed, well-known and recognisable brand is something that every business owner wants to unlock. Be it during the small-business growth stage or after you have reached a milestone in your journey.
Writing business proposals has been a time-tested and proven process that can help make networking and getting in touch with potential vendors and other businesses easier. However, there’s more to a business proposal than just stating your reasons and perks. Here are some common mistakes to avoid.
5 Mistakes That Can Kill Your Business Proposal’s Potential
Not having a well-planned, structured approach:
A haphazard and loosely tied business proposal will not convey why your business establishment is worth investing in. Reading through a lengthy proposal that offers no USPs or lacks a structure will not create the best first impression, preventing your potential relationships from shying away from working with you. Instead, focus on creating an engaging, crisp and adequately structured proposal. Notably, be sure you are using the same tone and language when generating a tender response as well to maintain consistency.
Focus on details:
A business proposal without the required details will do you no good. It will keep your prospects confused and nowhere near to being considered worthy of a deal. These are a few details you must add to your proposal:
A brief and easy-to-understand product description
The solution you are aiming to achieve/provide
The nature and scope of work
List of involved tasks in the project
Timeline required for the project
The project costs (fee) to be paid
These pointers carefully and strategically cover every aspect of the project and where your brand comes in with the solution. It also ensures that your prospects have a definite timeline throughout the project that they can expect work to be delivered within.
3. Using too much jargon:
Your prospect should be able to understand what they are reading without having to refer to a dictionary. Consider using simple, everyday language that is easy to understand and clearly tells your prospect about you. A business proposal laced with difficult and forced jargon hampers the quality of understanding and how your brand is perceived (unnecessary use of jargon has a negative impact).
4. Not proofreading your proposal:
Once you are done with writing your proposal, devote ample time to proofreading and editing it. This process is crucial as it will help eliminate any redundancy in content, irrelevant information and grammatical errors.
5. Highlight your values:
By highlighting your values, you are making the brand more trustworthy and credible without excessively making efforts to convince your prospects. It is also advised to personalise your proposal so that when it's being read, it seems personal and not like a template that was also sent to everyone else. Focus on providing a solution and request feedback to ensure that the next time you are sending a proposal, it offers a better solution.
Parting words
Writing a business proposal is challenging and exciting in many ways. While it presents your business with the opportunity to reach out to more prospects and turn them into customers, getting the writing part right is of paramount importance. Be sure not to make it excessively about you and overdo the jargon, as coming across as smart and approachable is the key to building industry-wide business credibility.
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