5-Steps To Help You Close More Proposals
By Glenn Fallavollita, President of Drip Marketing, Inc.

• Word Count: 373
• Time To Read: 1.5 Minutes @ 250 Words Per Minute

Fact: 66% to 90% of all salespeople stop following-up on a proposal after one or two attempts at moving the sales process forward. That said, it would be in your best interest if a sales leader/owner trained their sales team on the value of following-up, especially given the staggering statistics below.

How Many Contacts Does It Take To Close A Sale?

• 2% are made on the 1st contact.
• 3% are made on the 2nd contact.
• 5% are made on the 3rd contact.
• 10% are made on the 4th contact.
• 80% are made on the 5th to 12th contact.

Try This 5-Step Proposal Closing Process:

If you are in sales (or a sales leader), you might find the process outlined below of value:

1. After a salesperson creates a proposal, it is sent to a second person for final proofing.
2. All proposals are logged into a tracking report (created in Excel for each salesperson).
3. After a proposal is sent to a prospect, a copy is sent to the sales leader for an executive follow-up call. This call has two objectives. First, it is to thank the person for the opportunity to earn their business. Second, it is to do a trial close, i.e., “When did you want to do X, Y, or Z with us?”
4. Set up a sequence of phone calls to follow up on a proposal.
5. Develop an educational series of e-mail follow-up campaigns (see sample below).

Send This Within 24-Hours Of Delivering A Proposal.

Dear (first name),

Thank you for the opportunity to earn your business this week. By the way, I attached a few items you might find of interest:

• An article/whitepaper on X, Y, and Z.
• Some recent client testimonials about our X, Y, and Z.

Again, thank you for giving us a chance to earn your business!

Warmest Regards,

(Your name, title, etc.)

Summary: During your next one-on-one meeting with your salespeople, ask him or her to give you their proposal pipeline report. Now, ask them these two questions:

1. When will each person make a final buying decision?
2. What is your follow-up plan for every prospect that hasn’t been closed?

After listening to their answers, this e-mail will make complete sense to you.