Great weekend again. Too short, of course, but we packed a lot into two and a half days. First the stepdaughter’s birthday party Friday night, which was a lot of fun. Then we spent Saturday going in different directions as he was tied up with her wedding planning and I was busy trying to sort out a closet in the basement. Sunday we got outside, driving to a local fish hatchery where we saw no fish, but a dog on the property made friends with me while he (husband, not dog – thanks, Allena!) peered through a birding scope. Then off to Molly Maguire’s for Irish music, which was fantastic yesterday.
I watched the Super Bowl, but on Tivo and mostly for ads, which were meh. Too much hype and expectation makes it obvious the advertisers are eventually going to have troubles living up to those expectations.
I’m touching base with a potential client today, who received a proposal of mine a few weeks ago. He wants to talk about specifics and get something in the planning stages. He’d asked for my proposal three weeks ago and I gave him something that got his attention – a formal proposal.
A formal proposal is a great way to increase the level of your business and the impression you leave with clients. It’s not hard – in fact, Word has a template or two to help you. It’s much more serious to hand a client a four-eight page game plan with pricing than to send an email stating “I’ll charge you $XXX an hour for articles, press releases, blog posts…” Here’s why I use a formal proposal:
It shows the scope of the work. It’s great to show your clients exactly what you and that client discussed. It also gives the client time to change and amend before any contracts are signed.
It shows additional work you can provide. No more “You do press releases? I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have hired someone else” conversations. It also gives them some new ideas on how to get their message out. Sometimes clients don’t consider a project because they’re not sure how to go about it.
It makes you look good. If you take it seriously enough to map it out, your clients and prospective clients will notice. When they refer you, you’ll be that “organized” and “professional” writer.
It allows you to compete with the big boys. Imagine your client is deciding between a marketing firm and you. You appeal because your price is probably lower (less overhead), and you’re able to take projects as they come, not requiring huge commitment of time and money. What’s going to help them decide to go with you? That proposal that makes you a serious contender, not “just” a freelancer.
It brings your price up. The more tools you can use to position yourself as a serious business owner, the more value you bring to your business and your career. That translates into a competitive rate.
From my experience, formal proposals don’t work with every client. There are some situations when you can sense that the client is price shopping or not quite serious enough about hiring someone for you to justify putting the extra time into it. But for clients who are ready to buy, it could be one more factor that tips the scales in your favor.
Do you use formal proposals? If so, do you prepare them for every client? What is your typical proposal process like?
Yes, I use a formal proposal. I don't use them for every prospect. They take time to do right so if I think someone is just tire-kicking, I probably wouldn't go the proposal route.
The other thing I like to use them for is to provide options. There's the high-end option with more services (meaning more $$) 🙂 and then a lower-cost option with fewer services.
I don't provide an option on every type of service. Just where it makes sense. For the client where I landed a retainer fee arrangement, the proposal gave them an idea of what I offered and helped them decide where they wanted to spend their budgeted money. We finalized it with a Statement of Work that outlined the services selected.
I haven't (yet) had occasion to do a formal proposal, but I'm going to check out the ones in Word. Who knows when it might be useful? Thanks for the tip.
Good way to use them, Cathy! Love it.
Paula, it comes in useful when they're asking for a price and you want to impress them. It's not for everyone, like I said. If I were bidding on a small job of say 500 words, that would be in email. It wouldn't benefit me to dump an extra hour into putting that together.
Yes, I use formal proposals for some things… makes me look good.
Yes, I use formal proposals for some projects (e.g. if a client is considering to do a web site, newsletter or book for them.)
I LOVE formal proposals. I think they're fun to write, and a chance to show both my range and enthusiasm for a particular project.
I've been hired to write formal proposals for companies — on the basis of my formal proposals TO them!
Anne and Damaria, I think there are projects that just beg for them.
There's a new twist on the proposal, Devon! Nice.
well, I probably shouldn't admit this publicly, but I had a moment of thinking "how's a dog look through a birding scope…" So I think that earns me another cup of coffee?
I have done proposals when they were called for and for companies/websites. But for individuals, nah. I don't take the time. I slap it in an email.
Gosh, everything I do seems to come down to time. My kids are only in school 6 hours a day….
LOL! Allena, I think I'm the one who needs more caffeine. It's my habit to call hubs "he", which created that lovely pronoun gaffe. 🙂