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sean-zeigler
Community Member

What are people's thoughs on whether to share key process info to clients when writing your proposal

Hey Everyone, in my testing of proposal writing I have come across a few folks on the interwebs giving advice to share documents outlining the process you will use to get the work completed. I am skeptical of sharing a full document but I have toyed with a "brief" style doc for some proposals. It seems very hit or miss for my market but I wonder if any of you have done similar and just been blown away with results. It seems like something you share in the interview process as annecdotal info but not in a proposal. Hive mind what say you?

 

SZ

6 REPLIES 6
prestonhunter
Community Member

I think it depends on the job niche.


When I send proposals, I don't mind telling potential clients EXACTLY what I plan to do on their project. The reason they posted the job is that they don't know how to do this work, or they don't have time to do it and they want to hire somebody to do it.

 

I don't think it is wise to spend a lot of time on proposals, or to provide a lot of detail. Is it theoretically possible that a client might take my proposal and send it to other freelancers?

 

I don't know. Maybe. But the number of people who do what I do, at the level I do it at, is very limited. I don't have time to do all of the work available in my job niche. Usually I keep my profile blocked. When I am not available (which is usually), I hope that clients can find somebody reliable to help them.

 

So this is not something I think about or worry about.

 

I realize things might be different for other job niches.

Yeah Preston I would think what you do this info needs to be front and center. I think it is helpful to know how you are going to do the work and to be able to communicate it clearly for sure. I currently just offer an abreviated  version of process that hits the main points I think clients care about. Yes I will give you options for your logo, yes I want you to have feedback, etc.

 

Sean, I don't know if I understand your question correctly, but, to add some perspective:

 

I send  a cover letter that is my standard boilerplate, which I spend less than 5 minutes tailoring to the specific job request. Since most of the jobs are not actually specific, this is usually pretty minimal. For me, the cover letter serves as an introduction to start a conversation. And this approach has been successful for me to get interviews and clients. 

 

After my phone call with the client, which typically lasts around an hour, in which they ask questions, and I vet their organization and project, and determine what all needs to be done, I have a standard scope of work document that I then edit with their specific project details, deliverables, and payment. I then send that proposed scope of work to them, they either request modifications or accept, and then they create a contract and send it to me. 

 

I think my clients like having this scope of work document because they know exactly each piece I'm working on  and what to expect. I also lay out their responsibilities to review in each deliverable and what information they will need to provide, so it really lays the project out for them. The SOW doesn't reveal any special, proprietary information, so if they were to use it with someone else, that's fine, but I've never had that happen once I get to the point of creating a SOW.  

 

For me, cover letters are to let them know I'm interested and would like to know more about their project. It seems to work for me. It might not work for others. 

Preston,

 

Re: " But the number of people who do what I do, at the level I do it at, is very limited." Undoubtedly true. In my situation, the number of people who think they do what I do, at the level I do it, is unlimited.

 

I've spent hours with a prospective client diagnosing the real issues and formulating a plan to fix it. The client calls me the next day to say that he found a "management consultant" in Papua New Guinea who says he'll do all of that for half my rate. The real pain comes in the third phone call, when the prospective client chews me out because his New Guinea consultant didn't understand the nature of the real issue and what drivers and levers to use to manipulate it. So, I lied to him.

 

That's two out of three clients. The other one of three actually confesses failure, and the client begs me for help. I usually agree to do the work for the initial quote; there are exceptions where the client is nowhere near the end of his pain.

florydev
Community Member

Really calling them proposals is just for the sake of what else would you call them because, for me, they are typically smaller than the introduction of what I would call a proposal.  

 

For my kind of work, and dovetailing with what Preston said about clients not knowing what they want, I use the first couple of lines of what I write as a hook.  The purpose is to get the client off the review page where they see 45 different versions of Hey, my name is Bob and I do this and have for 45 centuries.  

 

I don't use anything canned myself but just write something off the cuff but the gist almost always is:

  • I understand your problem (probably better than you do)
  • I understand how to solve your problem (definitely better than you do)
  • If you engage with me I will solve your problem with the minimal amount of friction for you.

This usually does include kind of a broad overview of my process.  I think that one of the things you should develop for yourself is an idea of what your process is and be able to explain why it works.  The whole purpose of this though is to emphasize the three bullet points.

 

What I don't do is bother telling anyone how awesome I am.  If they want to see that then they will go look at my profile.

 

Mark how do you approach writing the I understand your problem piece of what you do?

 

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