Root Cause: Chances are you didn’t qualify the prospect well enough, AND you made the mistake of using the proposal to close the sale instead of using it ONLY as a way to solidify on paper what you’ve already discussed and agreed to in person.
A lot of people request proposals as a nice way of saying, “I’m not interested.” They feel guilty saying that to your face, so they ask for a proposal instead. Once you’ve submitted it, they tell you the price was too high, they changed their minds, it’s not the right time, or they never return your calls. You should NEVER use a proposal to close a sale (the only exception is when selling to government agencies, which have a slightly different system for choosing vendors). A proposal should simply be a written agreement of the terms, pricing, and procedures you’ve already agreed to in person. It should be a small step towards you starting a project for a client. If you are struggling with this symptom, I suggest you re-listen to and start using the 10 questions I’ve created in the Speed Selling CD and workbook included in the Tool Kit. I can guarantee you will feel uncomfortable asking them at first, but once you overcome your fear, you’ll find it stops the tire kickers from wasting your time.
