Guide to doing unsolicited proposals by Matt Cameron
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MATT CAMERON, VP of Sales, Scripted
Proposal writing:
Eventually you are going to compete with companies that have an army of people who help with writing proposals.
History:
Used to work for large companies:
HP
Wang
EDS
Salesforce.com
Yammer
Scripted
**Has spend $0.5M to acquire a customers in the past.
Guide to doing unsolicited proposals
Here is how you write a proposal for a large enterprises.
Dont lose a deal alone, don’t win a deal alone. Win as a team. Use your board members and investors to help you with your relationships.
If you are going to compete against a giant, don’t go head to head.
use minimum viable headcount
1. Prospect intelligence - research your prospect:
Pro tip 1: Guerrilla tactic: Look at a prospects relationships on LinkedIn to learn more about how they think.
Key Individuals:
work history
state of origin
publications
Pro tip 2: Find your target decision maker group. Use your investors to get intros, and go and have lunch with them. Understand their issues, their workflow, their needs.
2. Do competitive analysis of your competitors for the prospect:
Deeply understand your competition and then show this to your prospects. Put your best food forward.
Description of offerings
Style
Target Market / Strategy
Customers
3. Create a Strategy statement:
We will maximize our strengths in […] by […]
We will minimize our weakness in […] by […]
We will neutralize their strengths in […] by […]
We will amplify their weaknesses in […] by […]
4. Create a Solutions worksheet:
Solutions
Alternatives considered
Discriminators
Proof/Experience/Performance
5. Draft headings, themes and graphics:
Tip: a pull quote looks like a graphic, but is easy.
Best: a quote from a customer.
2nd Best: a quote from an industry leader
3rd Best: a quote from an executive in your company
6. Write an executive Summary
should summarize the entire document.
price
next steps
how you should engage
Add a graphic or use a quote:
analyst quote
customer quote
executive from you company quote
7. Use graphics as a weapon to ensure your intent is understood
Summary:
Research your prospect - Firm and individuals
Know your competition - plan to outflank them
Address the competitive strengths/weaknesses by ‘ghosting’ them
Weave your message throughout the proposal
Use Four box organizer for unsolicited proposals
Next steps:
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