You’ve been executing sales proposals for years. Presentation after presentation, client after client. Some stick and some don’t. You’ve gotten so used to the motions that it feels monotonous, and your heart isn’t in it anymore. You’re taking transactional action but you’re not feeling the transformational purpose. If this sounds like you and you (and your clients) have become detached from the way forward and the purpose of what you’re doing, then you need to implement the Transformational Selling™ Proposal Framework. Not only will it engage your clients to new heights, making them feel seen and heard, but it will re-spark that passion inside of you too. Follow these six steps to feel more confident, have a more engaged audience, and create more sales.
Transforming your sales proposals to generate more revenue has never been easier! Download the plug-and-play Transformational Selling™ Proposal Framework kit to access a fillable workbook, infographic, and PowerPoint templates.
1. Intention
Before you execute your next sales proposal, set an intention. Your intention should be crystal clear, defining your personal investment in the deal and what’s at stake for you if your client does or doesn’t decide to move forward.
The outcome of the intention you set relies heavily on your type of sales mindset:
- Fear-based mindset: being worried about the outcome, what your client thinks of you and your offer, and if you said all the right things in your presentation.
- Love-based mindset: feeling generous and grateful for the opportunity to share the offer with your client and trusting that they’ll make the right decision for themselves.
When presenting from a place of fear, you can lose sight of your intention and start communicating in a way that doesn’t resonate with your client. To avoid this, answer these questions before every presentation:
- Why is this proposal important to me?
- What will the result be if I get a yes or no?
- What outcome do I want to create for my clients?
- Who do I get to become from presenting this proposal?
- Who will my client become from my offer?
2. Empathy
Step two of the Transformational Selling™ Proposal Framework is empathy. You practice empathy by thoroughly understanding the needs, feelings, frustrations, and aspirations of your clients.
Even if you take the time to understand your client before presenting, a mistake you may find yourself making (and what’s preventing your proposals from sticking) is misidentifying your right target audience member.
For example, your presentation may be geared toward the managers in the room, which is great, but they aren’t the people who will be making the purchasing decisions. You can still incorporate content that caters to them, but you should speak to the executive leaders too, as they will be the ones who make the decision of moving forward with your offer or not.
You need to define your primary audience members and your secondary audience members and focus your content on both. Mapping out the psychographics, demographics, feelings, and goals of each will help you design a stickier proposal.
3. Impact
Another common mistake that may prevent clients from closing the deal is not identifying the impact. Using the Transformational Selling™ Proposal Framework can help you adjust your content to become less service-centric and more customer-centric, helping you paint the story of what your client’s transformational journey will look like if they work with you. Remember, they aren’t really buying your product or service, they’re buying what it will do for them and how it will change their life.
To incorporate the impact more effectively into your proposal, answer these three questions:
- Who will the client get to be as a result of working with me?
- What will the client be able to do?
- What will the client have?
Let’s take the Transformational Selling™ System as an example, a program that helps sales and finance professionals take their communication and sales tactics from transactional to transformational.
1. Who will the client get to be as a result of working with me?
A more confident worker in their field who has a strong sense of market presence and communication style.
2. What will the client be able to do?
The client will be able to recognize their impact and get more excited about their offer, fostering more engagement among their customers and building credibility and loyalty.
3. What will the client have?
Deeper customer relationships and a more loyal customer base.
4. Plan
Now that you’ve shown the client the value of the impact you can have on their life, you need to show them how you’re going to do it. It’s as simple as laying out the step-by-step timeline in a chart, graphic, or even a bullet list. Don’t tell your client you can help them reach their goal without showing them how. Being transparent and showing your client the way forward builds their credibility and trust in you, making them more eager to say, “Yes.”
5. Investment
There are three elements to talking about the investment with your client.
- Price
- The return on investment
- Credibility
For the price, outline what you expect the client to pay for your solution. For the return on investment, use data from past experiences to show your client the value they will receive from working with you, whether it’s increased revenue statistics or increased employee confidence and productivity data points. Ultimately, define what success will look like, both qualitatively and quantitatively. For credibility, share details about yourself that resonate with the client and will enhance their trust in you and your offer, such as testimonials.
6. Vision
The last step is showing your client the ultimate vision of what their life could look like. Essentially, reiterate what you’ve already said, but do it with a different twist. Revisit their transformational journey and answer these three questions:
- What’s the future/outcome I’m inviting my client to?
- What action am I inviting them to take next?
- What is the timeline?
By ending the presentation with a timeline of action items, you’re ensuring the process doesn’t stall, preventing “No” or “Not right now.”
Are You Ready to Transform Your Sales Proposals?
With these six steps, you’ll be executing sticker sales proposals and hearing more yeses in no time. To practice this process and get expert feedback from Finka Jerkovic herself, download the framework kit where you can create your own mock Transformational Selling™ Proposal.
Have you checked out my new book yet?
Transformational Selling: 8 Habits to deepen client relationships + grow your business with your integrity intact!
This book offers you eight habits that will help you:
- Unlock the power of Your Brilliant Difference
• Stop letting fear get in the way of your business development activities
• Feel authentic and aligned to your values every time you sell
• Create invitations and ask for the business with confidence and integrity
• Establish a people + purpose = profit mindset
• Build a financially sustainable business you and your clients will love
You can get your copy here.
If you’re ordering more than one copy, be sure to take advantage of these special book bonuses. Learn more about them here.
I can’t wait to hear from you and the stories you’ll share because you’ve chosen to become a Transformational Seller!
