Personally, I have found a tool called PandaDoc, which has shortened my sales process quite considerably by automating the creation of my sales proposal without losing that personal touch.
Joining us today is Mikita Mikado, co-founder and CEO of PandaDoc and he shares with us 3 easy ways to make your sales proposals more engaging.
PandaDoc is a tool that automates the process of sales proposal helping sales professionals and business owners save time as well as track client engagement with your proposals and allow the client to sign through electronic signatures to make it easy for them to say yes. And it perfectly integrates into whatever CRM you’re using. Currently, PandaDoc is serving over 5,000 happy customers (including me!).
Here are the highlights of my conversation with Mikita:
3 Ways to Make Your Sales Proposal More Engaging:
- Add a cover letter and Table of Contents
The first page within a proposal gets most of the time spent by prospects. What you want to do here is either engage with a buyer here or provide a quick and easy navigation through the proposal.
Benefits of adding a short cover letter:
- Makes the proposal a lot more personal and customized
- Summarizes the story in a few sentences
Why table of contents?
- Makes it very easy to navigate through your document
- PandaDoc features a clickable Table of Contents that allows you to click on each item so you can go straight to it.
If you have two or more people that need to sign off on the proposal, they can just click and they’ll be moved along to just the parts where they need to sign.
- Embed videos in your proposal.
Studies suggest that more people prefer video content over text. With people prone to information overload, consuming video content has now become easier than written content. Additionally, PandaDoc saw that a lot more time (in fact 30% more time) is spent on proposals that contain videos.
Benefits of embedding videos in your proposal:
- Videos are easier and quicker.
- More personal and it sets you apart from the others.
- Social proof is a must. Seeing a live human being makes it more professional and more truthful.
Parts of the proposal where you can use video:
- Client testimonials
- Case studies
- Cover letter
- Product pitch
- Team introduction
- Put a defense section in the proposal.
In many cases, you’re going to go against something or someone. Put a defense section in the body of your proposal to compare your offerings to those of your competitors.
More great tips to rock your proposal:
Put all the legal lease and terms in a separate section of your proposal and make it exportable to Word, as this is what most lawyers use. Send your proposal electronically but if lawyers get involved, you can always export everything into Word. Upload the final version into a PandaDoc so you can collaborate with the customer on the actual terms.
Following up is huge. The moment the prospect opens a proposal, you get an email notification. Wait 20 minutes then give them a call so they can remember what you’re proposing and the price. It’s the best time for you to grasp their emotions.
Mikita’s Major Takeaway:
Never stop experimenting and keep on innovating. Being different and standing from the crowd is the only way to build a large and sustainable business to be successful.
Episode Resources:
Connect with Mikita through email at mikita@pandadoc.com.
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