Every customer has problems to be solved.

The point is that the salesperson has to go beyond the product need and into the wider array of needs customers have in buying, in making the buying decision, in using the product effectively, as well as in the future of the business. To do that successfully, the salesperson has to see what he or she is selling in a different way. The salesperson's offering is not a product or service or even a family of products or services. Rather, the offering is the total package of benefits associated with doing business with the salesperson's company. This extended concept of the offering-including the deal itself, the efforts of the vendor to make the product work, and the customer's business success now and in the future-gives the salesperson more solutions to apply to customer problems. The more solutions the salesperson brings, the more value the customer feels. When the salesperson brings a lot of value, the total offering-the full package of solutions to the broader array of customer needs-starts to outweigh price objections or price-only advantages the competition may have.

What is the total package of benefits?

Consider what a salesperson brings to the table. Typically, in the eyes of the customer, it's a product or service. The cost of entry into the sales relationship is that a salesperson must know and be able to explain the features and benefits of the product or service and how they are different from the competitions'. Presumably, a good salesperson should be able to relate these features and benefits directly to customer needs. But, clearly, products and services are not the only things a salesperson brings to the sales table. Because of their company knowledge, industry expertise, and exposure to a range of customers, the salesperson also has ideas and information about payment terms, availability, delivery, installation, support and application concepts, and even credit and billing options.

A salesperson also brings ideas about customization, about how the basic product can be modified or configured for a specific customer use.

Customization may be related to the actual product itself, the financial relationship, or any other aspect of doing business with the vendor company. When the salesperson searches for and finds a need for adapting the product to make it fit more effectively, then he or she can explain how the vendor does that or how he or she can do it for the customer. Once again, the broader capabilities of the vendor company are on the table.

Even intangibles can fill a customer's needs.

Consider a new buyer of complicated products or services. The salesperson's ability to relate past success stories about smoothly run installations and operations may be just what an uncertain customer needs. The salesperson is selling reassurance by citing specific related experiences.

Finally, part of the package is the salesperson.

The old adage about people buying the salesperson is true. Customers see an effective salesperson and sales process that yield the best possible solution as a benefit. Salespeople can provide access to expertise, industry gossip, and networking contacts. The salesperson is the initial interface to the vendor organization; he or she can get things done, especially when other channels don't work.

1. The customer doesn't know you or your product. Just because you submitted a proposal doesn't mean you'll actually be considered as a serious vendor. If you haven't worked with the decision makers and stakeholders to make sure they know you and understand your approach, winning with just a proposal is about as likely as winning the lottery.

2. The proposal doesn't follow the specified format. Sure, the format's arbitrary and maybe even a little silly, but if you don't follow the format that the customer requested, he or she will figure that you can't follow a software specification either. So make sure that you do the extra work to adapt to the most specific requests.

3. The executive summary doesn't address customer needs. Your product might be the greatest thing since gravity was figured out, but if the bigwigs can't figure out – within the first two paragraphs – what's in it for them and their firm, your proposal is going to take a one-way trip to the circular filing cabinet.

4. The proposal is filled with your own engineering or programmers' jargon. Hard to believe, but the lingo that your tech department uses may not mean all that much to the engineers and programmers in the customer's company. If the customer does not have an engineering or programming department then your use of your jargon is going to read like ancient Greek. Lose it...or lose the deal.

5. The boilerplate material contains another customer's name. Short on time? Cut and paste your way to an instant proposal! Ah, the wonders of word processing. Only one thing wrong: That boilerplate might need a bit of editing. Worst case, it might actually have the name of a competitor in it, as when Digital handed a pitch to Coca-Cola that read "Pepsi" as the customer name. Ouch. I used to put customer’s names through my proposal and use search and replace with a new customer. If the system misses one, that is a bad plan. I no longer make that mistake.

6. The writing reads like the directions for putting a doll cradle together at Christmas time. Let's face it: If your product is not some state of the art electronic device that combs your hair, polishes the floor, and goes 1000 miles and hour, it has the chance to be dull. Regardless of what it is, what your product can do for your customer or for their business model, can be quite dramatic. Don't let your proposal get as flat and technical as the latest engineering or programming manual. Write about your product and firm with the kind of passion that will help motivate the customer to buy.

7. The proposal doesn't contain an implementation plan. In the software-sales world that I must always be aware that I cannot “confuse selling with installing." If your proposal doesn't contain some inkling of how the product or service is implemented, installed, pilot tested, and or measured, you’re chances for getting this order is treading on very thin ice. Even a difficult path can be made less ominous when it is obvious that you have lead others down that path.

8. The proposal contains spelling and grammatical errors.. To the customers, your proposal is a signpost for whether your firm is meticulous and capable of creating something bug free. Best make sure the proposal doesn't convince them otherwise. USE SPELL CHECK ON YOUR PROPOSALS

9. The product doesn't address the key decision criteria. Even if your proposal addresses customer needs, it must still satisfy whatever decision-making criteria the buying process includes. For example, if the product MUST be installed, running, or delivered by a certain date then your proposal better state that will take place as scheduled.

10. The proposal doesn't define an agreed-upon ROI. Your product has a real or perceived ROI. You need to spend some time in your fact finding to uncover those areas where your product will give the company or home buyer a better ROI. This applies to housing, insurance, furniture, or any product that gets sold. Often the ROI is perceived. Regardless your proposal has to address the issue and let them know that you understand the business side of this purchase.

The above is loosely adapted from a conversation with Tom Sant, the author of Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win Customers, Clients, and Contracts (Amacom, 1992; second edition 2004). The article was originally written about Software Proposals. I felt that there was a need to get our Sales Pros to think about their proposal. Does the wording need to change to address new enhancements to the product? What has the market done to your industry? If you are still using the same proposal that you used two years ago, it is not working as well. There is a new sheriff in town. That sheriff is spelled Economy and it is looking for new ways to cut costs and get more for the dollar. Mel