When I teach a proposal writing class or deliver a proposal writing seminar, I almost always begin by discussing the common mistakes that people make when they write proposals.  I do this so people can begin to recognize the difference between proposals that are effective and well-structured versus those that aren’t.   

Listed here are the most common mistakes that people make when they write sales proposals.

Excessive Length

Voltaire, the great 17^th century philosopher and writer, believed in the principle of less is more.  He is quoted as saying, “the way to become boring is to say everything.”  He is correct, of course, and he would have made a great sales trainer, too, because one of the biggest challenges that we have as salespeople is knowing when to stop talking.  All too often, we feel that if we don’t say everything, then the one thing we leave out may be the one thing that captures the prospects interest.  Nowhere is this more obvious than in the proposals that we write.

I’ve reviewed many proposals, and most of them reflect this idea of more is better.  Indeed, the vast majority of these proposals are far longer than they need to be; fifty pages, seventy-five pages, I’ve even seen one proposal that was over a hundred pages long. 

There are two problems with long sales proposals.  First, the good points that you should be focusing on get lost in a sea of non-relevant text.  Second, business people are too busy to read long proposals, and if they don’t read your proposal, chances are good they aren’t going to buy what you’re selling, either. 

Excessive length is one of the biggest problems with most proposals.

Seller Focused

Most of the sales proposals that people write today are not sales proposals so much as detailed documentaries about the seller and the seller’s products.  They start off with a section called something like Company History or About Us, then they describe your products and product specifications, the awards you’ve won, the important people who work in your company from the CEO to the janitor—some even include driving directions to your corporate headquarters.  Though this is all very informational, what purpose does it serve within the context of selling your products?  To answer this question, let’s take a moment and consider this proposal from your customer’s perspective. 

Like the customer who goes to the nursery to find a particular kind of plant that will thrive in a particular spot with particular soil conditions, your customer contacted you because she needed help finding a particular product that will solve her particular problem.  Now look at the detailed documentary that you sent to her.  Does that document do anything to help her solve her problem?  Of course not.  How could it?  It’s all about you and your products!  If your proposal is like most proposals, it doesn’t address her problem at all.

You may argue that your proposal is structured this way because your customer wants to know about your product and your company.  They are evaluating you to determine whether they want to do business with you, right?  This is partially correct.  They do want to know about you and your product—but only within the context of whether you can solve their problem.  See the difference?  The focus ought not be on you and your product, the focus ought to be on their problem, and how you intend to use your products to solve it. 

No Structured Argument

Most proposals lack a structured argument.  Indeed, most proposals are written like a river that overflows its banks—they flow every which way with no particular purpose and no clear direction. 

From the customer’s perspective, this kind of proposal is hopelessly confusing.  The customer is trying to find a solution to their problem, and since you are sending them a proposal, they suspect that you have a solution.  The problem is that among all those pages of text, they just can’t find it.  Indeed, among all the product descriptions and corporate histories and biographies, the most important message of all—how you are going to solve their problem—is hidden.

No Differentiation

When a company asks for a sales proposal, they are typically very close to making a decision.  So it is very important at this point in the process to do everything you can to differentiate your solution from all the other solutions that the customer may be considering.  Rather than differentiating, though, most proposals do just the opposite; they firmly position your solution as just one of the pack. 

Consider the title of your proposal.  If ten vendors were trying to sell you something, and you asked each of them for a proposal, the chances are good that at least seven of those vendors would send you a proposal titled: A Proposal for ACME Coffee Cups.  Far from differentiating your solution, titling your proposal this way screams out, “it doesn’t matter which one of us you pick because we’re all the same!”

These aren't the only mistakes to avoid, just the biggest. If you keep them in mind the next time you write a proposal, you're sure to produce a better, more effective proposal.