Capturing customers is a big step for any business. Without an efficient system of automation of commercial proposals online, even with a group of well-trained salespeople and a good generation of leads, hardly an organization would be able to optimize the sales without getting lost in the processes and leave deals on the table.
But catching the attention of customers is never enough in and of itself. It is mandatory for any good manager to have the means to clean up the entire process and to retain this client through his commercial proposals.
When someone reads a contract full of swapped numbers, values inconsistent with the seller’s negotiation or even some spelling mistakes, the first reaction will be “is this the right contract?”. In extreme cases, it may even be that the customer cancels the contract and denounces the company for not performing the negotiation. And that’s just one of the many mistakes that can be made at the time of the sale.
To avoid these unfortunate accidents, here’s a complete guide to getting you the best deals for your customers. Follow us!
1. Understand how to make an effective online business proposal
Not all sales are as simple as those held in markets, coffee shops, or stores. There are cases where the customer knows exactly what to buy and how much to pay as soon as the order is placed.
Companies that make commercial proposals are constantly negotiating with their customers for a price that is best for both sides. This means that each order will be virtually unique for each customer.
To improve the fit of each proposal and avoid losing sales by details, here are 5 quick tips to improve the efficiency of your contract. Check out:
1.1 Prepare an attractive presentation
Most people believe that appearance is not the most important. In fact, it is not, but the issue is not just appearance. It is also functionality. If the formatting of your business proposals is correct, the size of the letter is well readable, there are no parts hidden by the stapling and the printing is not erasing with a touch, you have already gained some points with the customer.
1.2 Make the contract information clear
Something your customers will always want to see in your business proposals is the information they have already discussed with your sales team. Starting with his own name. Delivery times and length of service, agreed price and installment, everything must be informed clearly and objectively, without technical language, much less business jargon.
1.3 Always share contact details for questions
The customer doesn’t have every answer. So, it is your job to teach your customers how the service works and get their questions about it. Share contact details you find most convenient, be they your business number, extension, or even WhatsApp and Skype.
1.4 Create a Document Template
We have already mentioned that most commercial offers are unique to each customer. That’s true, but no one has time to write more than 4 pages of explanations to every customer who comes in contact. This would dramatically increase the cost per customer, which is not a financially healthy option.
The ideal solution is to create proposal templates, already with the didactic part prepared, and add only the relevant and unique part, such as negotiated prices, deadlines, etc.
1.5 Make sure the customer understands everything
The last thing you want is to cancel service after signing a contract. Before the handshake, explain every detail as many times as necessary.
2. Learn how to monitor commercial bids online
Something that you, as manager or entrepreneur, must repeat every morning when you wake up is: “I will never fail to keep up with the performance of my proposals.” Not keeping an eye on the metrics is one of the deadly sins of any entrepreneur.
Without metrics from your business propositions, there is no basis for making clear decisions or parameters to determine whether your business is going well or just navigating the bankruptcy triangle. And for this topic, we have 5 more tips:
2.1 Assemble a Flowchart of the Sales Process
A sales sector and a factory are not as different as they seem. Both have a stream of expected actions that helps to organize the process and increase the final quality of the product. Set the path for each customer, from the first call to the signature. This will help you better control the progress of your business proposals.
2.2 Automate the Process
Working with machines may not be enjoyable for many people, but everyone agrees that this way fewer mistakes are made and lesser details of the workflow are forgotten. Not to mention that the fewer mechanical processes required of the team, the more it can focus on creative solutions, improve customer relationships and seek new areas for the company.
2.3 Follow the completion rate of the sales funnel
Understand the “completion rate” which is the ratio between the number of potential customers and the number of sales made. The more commercial proposals are finalized with fewer contacts, the greater the efficiency of the process as a whole. Without the understanding of this rate, it is impossible to think of measuring the efficiency of each contract.
2.4 Hold periodic meetings to evaluate the process
It is much easier to accomplish any task when it has already become part of the routine. So keep it as a habit to meet once a month with your team to determine if business proposals are going well or badly. Take the opportunity to listen to your team in order to define the reasons for a fall, for example, or to think together the improvements.
2.5 Customer Relationship Management
Better known as CRM, it is the best friend of companies and teams that handle hundreds of customers simultaneously. It is a program that unites the functions of email, calendar, database, archive proposals, making everything easier to manage.
Did any client ask for a meeting? CRM will warn you if there is a time conflict and you will remember it on the right date. Lost someone’s contact? No problem, CRM has everything registered. Need to take over the sales of a colleague who went on vacation? Data is shared by all employees.
Find out why automating business proposals matters
3. Find out why automating business proposals matters
It has already been mentioned in the previous chapter that automating processes is highly beneficial to your company’s processes. And we’ve just talked about CRM, one of the best automation tools available to any business.
To further deepen your knowledge in this regard, see also 5 very clear reasons to automate your business processes and achieve exponential sales growth.
3.1 Large scale cost reduction
Instead of paying an X amount for a person to just organize business proposals throughout the day and formulate periodic reports, how about putting a program in place to do it all on your own? Think of your company that can carry out about 1,000 proposals: will only one employee be enough to manage all these contracts?
Admittedly, automating business proposal processes makes it easier for the sales force on a daily basis as the team can give up the operational tasks to focus all efforts on sales strategies. That is, in addition to the cost reduction itself, there is the maximization of revenue sources for the company.
3.2 Minimization of human errors
Making small mistakes is no sin in any company, as long as there are ways to deal with those adversities. The problem is when these mistakes accumulate and commercial proposals start to get lost in a sea of lack of data and information mismatch.
With a machine responsible for following the protocols and doing the accounts, there will be much easier in the daily lives of the teams, since this mechanical work will be done automatically. This prevents the loss of a customer because of a deadline or lack of response, for example.
3.3 Increased control over the process
Another huge advantage of playing legwork for the machine is that it can record all the steps of the process. If any changes are made to a document, a customer has the updated record or some commercial proposals are started or finalized, the server registers who performed the action and when. Thus, if it is necessary to check some data, there will be the least chance of any contradiction occurring.
3.4 Speed up contract completion
Every more minute a salesperson goes by checking his schedule, looking for documents in poorly organized folders and dialing the wrong contact number is less a contract that could be finalized.
Having to spend less time on these tasks means having more time to talk to potential customers and send business proposals. Remember, lost money is not only what you spend without needing, but also the one you fail to earn on missed opportunities.
3.5 Raising overall performance
Think about it: if processes become more agile, fewer errors occur, more process control, and total costs are reduced. In this scenario, that ratio between contacts and sales naturally becomes more favorable to the company.
With this, the team also becomes more motivated, since it will see in the automation the chance to grow the business itself, minimizing operational work and focusing on strategies.
4. Five mistakes you can not make in business proposals
It has already been mentioned the capital sin of not following the performance of your sales properly. But of course, they are not the only ones. When it comes to making your business proposal, a lot of care that must be taken, or your entire sale can go down.
So now we bring the 5 most serious and general errors to be avoided:
4.1 Procrastinate
One of the biggest sins in commercial bids is waiting too long to send the contract. It is no use having a perfect text and didactic if no one but you will read it. If a ready-made template already exists, make the necessary modifications for the customer in question and do not overwrite it at the time of sending.
We are talking about your customer, a person who is in a hurry to receive results, not a wine that tastes better as it gets older. If possible, either reach the meeting with the written contract or send everything on the same day.
4.2 Do not enter basic information
Contacts, services, prices and deadlines. Never stop putting them on paper. Even if you have already discussed it openly with the client, a written and signed document is the only guarantee that the agreement will be fulfilled. Without this basic information, your business proposals will be at least incomplete.
4.3 Use difficult words
Most people who make a service request do not understand the jargon, technical language, or any other internal communication codes. Even if you have to make an effort, try to make your language accessible to the point where a layman can fully understand the message of the proposal.
4.4 Do not have your own model
One of the biggest and worst mistakes anyone can make while sending a contract is to believe that any borrowed model will do.
Of course, studying business proposals from other companies may be a good starting point, but copying them and changing just a few details is always a problem. The language may not be appropriate, the service proposal may not be adequate and the model may already be known by the client, creating a huge problem of plagiarism.
Before you start working with a sales team, create your own standard contract and have each employee review it. If everyone agrees, conduct a customer test and ask for feedback. From this information, it will be possible to draft more efficient proposals.
4.5 Do not archive everything at the end
Lastly, your business proposals cannot just be copied or reproduced anywhere. Lack of registration can generate suspicions of tampering, in addition to being able to disappear with some judicial proof that would defend your company in case of legal action. Even if you prefer the old paper files, it is still important to keep them preserved and organized.
Conclusion
Now you know how important it is to have an efficient process to create business proposals that, in addition to capturing the prospects better, will certainly retain your entire clientele. By following the steps we have shared, you will convey security and reliability, with well-done proposals. After all, they are essential tools for the success of your sales.
Stay tuned: by implementing a system of efficient business proposals, training your team well and good marketing, in addition to lowering costs, your business will experience strong growth.
About DocSales.com
DocSales is software that facilitates the process of making and sending commercial proposals and contracts, from the simplest to the most complex.
The result of its adoption is more efficiency and agility for its processes since it allows the time savings in the preparation of the proposals, greater control for the phase of proposals of the sales funnel and effective analysis of its commercial area.
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