Lots of agencies just shoot over the price by email and pray the potential client just says “YES.”

That’s what we call a proposal grenade, and you can learn more about that here.

Since I published that video, I’ve had lots of question that boils down to this:

If I shouldn’t proposal grenade my client, Mike, what SHOULD I do??

Well in this post, I’m going to show you exactly what you should do when you walk your clients through your proposal for services.

#1 Ask Lots of Questions

Now this technically should happen before you ever build your proposal for the client, but it’s a step that some people skip.  We actually conduct what we call an Initial Discussion (or ID) meeting with the client.  We aim to do 10% of the talking and only ask questions that will help us get to know the client and their goals.

#2 Explain Your Solution & Services

What services you are suggesting they deploy which will provide the best opportunity to achieve the goals you identified?  

Remember that your client might not understand some very basic things about the services you offer.  Walk them through what you’ll do, how it works, and how long it might take to get it going.  

#3 Explain The Investment

Talk to your client about the investment for the project.  Don’t give into fears around speaking about the financials.  When you talk about the investment this is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your confidence and worth.  And never refer to the investment as “price” or “cost”.  Nothing your agency does should ever cost your clients any money because they should be able to expect a return on their investment.

#4 Let Your Client Talk

Once you’ve discussed investment, this is a great time to be quiet.  Let the client talk, and if they don’t have anything to say, ask them what questions you can answer for them.  If a client has an objection to moving forward with your recommendations, this is the best time to find out what it is so you can address their concerns.  If a client doesn’t say yes on the spot, that means there is something holding them back. It’s your job to figure out what it is.

#5 Ask For The Sale

Showing the investment and asking for the sale is NOT the same thing.  Just because they saw the investment doesn’t mean that you don’t also have to explicitly ask the client for the sale.  Your job is to make a recommendation for what they should do and ask them what they think about moving forward with it.

#6 Suggest The Next Step

It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the client’s commitment to move forward or not.  Always suggest the next step.  If the client is undecided, one of the worst things you can do is to end your meeting without scheduling the next meeting.  If the client is ready to go, they are probably eager to get the project started.  Either way, there should be a clearly defined next step that you are going to take.
If you want to learn more about how to create proposals that close,  apply for a call with our director of coaching. We’d love to help you put together a strategy that works for your agency.