I had this problem with a proposal I did. I managed to use a higher price than I was really comfortable with based on the value. As I waited for the prospect to respond, all I could think of was that I messed it up with the price.
When I talked with the prospect later (they chose another path) their feedback was: price was not an issue. They hadn't blinked. Why am I hung up on pricing too high?
Its tricky to write proposals at the right level of detail. As an engineer first, I feel obligated to put lots of stuff in proposals. Also, clients seem to appreciate it. It makes them feel like they're getting a whole story.
On the other hand, the part about making it a conversation is winning advice. I've definitely gone off and written proposals and come back and found that they were off the mark and didn't address the clients real need.
Getting a strong understanding of the problem and the clients vision of the solution can help with telling the story. Good stuff.
I use mimiran for proposals and it helps me to avoid spending so much time on the needless boilerplate. I can focus on solving a customer's problem. Its nice that it gives you a bit of a kick about pricing. I wonder if it could help you establish pricing for a proposal with a wizard to help you determine the VALUE to the customer?
Too bad customers don't even know what they want half the time. I think you have to build a vision for them that they can buy into. Which only really works for higher end jobs.
I like the ideas behind this blog series. I need to revisit continually as I put together proposals. Thanks!
This! The hard part is figuring out how to spend enough time with the customer to give them a meaningful deliverable that is not hard for them to understand!
I like your points. Clock watching, limited upside and inviting commoditization all seem like pretty obvious limitations.
I would love to see a way to put a more meaningful, customized idea in front of a customer ...
Annoying that UrbanAirship cancelled SimpleGeo. Good for you for providing an alternative. I hope the migration path is simple. Do you have any details?
This sample is definitely worth clicking through to see the mechanics of the proposal.
I think the intersection of pricing and proposals is pretty compelling. A lot of the background advice is interesting, but so hard to convey through reading.
But being able to craft proposals, and then have a system help manage the workflow around their progress sounds worth a try. I wonder how it would integrate with businesses where they may be using multiple vendors and have competing proposals.
When I talked with the prospect later (they chose another path) their feedback was: price was not an issue. They hadn't blinked. Why am I hung up on pricing too high?
Anyone else?