Clay M. Kelley, PHR

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals The goal of this discussion to invite you to take a fresh look at the document that you present to your prospects in an effort to win their business

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Belief: Fancy proposals don’t sell HRO deals

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Belief: There are many reasons why prospects buy from you – They believe you can help solve their issues – Better their situation – They trust you

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Belief: Prospects DO NOT buy from you because you present a fancy proposal. In contrast, prospects are not likely to choose to engage your firm if your proposal doesn’t adequately represent your company’s services, or if the numbers are presented confusingly.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Bullets Do whatever you want in this section…you can change layout if you have screenshots or other content to display.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Questions to Ponder 1.What is a proposal? 2.Does the proposal have an ex-date? 3.Does the proposal illustrate the prospect’s specific issues?

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Questions to Ponder 4.Does the proposal communicate how your company is going to solve the prospect’s specific issues: problems, needs, wants, etc.? 5.Does the proposal illustrate specific competitive advantages that set your company apart from competitors?

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Questions to Ponder 6.Does the proposal illustrate each area of your service offering: human resources, workers’ compensation/risk management, employee benefits, payroll administration?

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Questions to Ponder 7.Does the proposal illustrate an implementation plan, timeline, or schedule? 8.Does the proposal illustrate a financial summary or comparison of existing costs on one page?

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Questions to Ponder 9.Does the proposal contain testimonial letters from loyal clients? 10.Does the proposal contain the client service agreement and all documents required to become a client or require the prospect’s signature?

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 1.A proposal is a business case for outsourcing.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 2.Every department in the organization should have some say in the content of the proposal.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 3.Size matters! – There are situations where a twenty-four page proposal is totally appropriate. – There are situations where a four page proposal is totally appropriate.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 4.The proposal pages should be flexible and customizable. – There are situations where the financial summary or the implementation plan should be at the front of the proposal. – Pages should be flexible as to order of content.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals The proposal should be able to arrange these pages in the prospect’s order of priority as another competitive differentiator. Any services not provided (e.g. risk management for an accounting firm) should be omitted from the proposal.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 5.The proposal pages should contain an expiration date.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 6.The proposal should illustrate the prospects’ issues.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 7.The proposal should illustrate specific solutions that customize the proposal to the needs of the client.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 8.The proposal page should contain an implementation plan. – Implementation plan demonstrates logical next steps, timelines, commitments, and expectations.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals

9.Proposals should have multiple ways to illustrate the financial summary – When presenting to the prospect, you should only present one illustration of the financial summary.

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals 10. Proposals should contain a comparison of the prospect’s costs and your fees. – Comparison gives context to the conversation. – Understanding the financial aspects of the proposal helps the client make a decision!

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals Bonus Strategies – Include testimonial letters – Include CSA and all documents requiring a client’s execution

10 Strategies for Building Winning Proposals If I can help you in any way, me at