CONVINCING YOUR Buyer
When writing a proposal, you’re telling a story to convince your buyer that:
You fully understand their problem
You have the best solution for it
You want what’s best for them
When writing persuasively:
Make it personal: Focus on what your buyer needs and wants
Show success: Explain why your solution is more likely to work than others
Be clear: Leave no doubt that your solution is the best choice
Stronger, more influential proposals
Be specific
Even if you’ve solved a similar problem before, you need to show how that success applies to this situation.
Do your research to ensure your solution is a perfect fit
Provide plenty of details. Use real examples and exact statistics to show your solution is the right one.
Make it personal
Find out what worries your buyer and think about the business and personal consequences of doing nothing or making the wrong choice.
The best way to create urgency in a proposal is to show your solution as a way to avoid real, personal pain
Find common values
To build empathy, show your buyer that you care about what matters to them.
People like people who are similar to themselves
Learn about their business, social, and environmental views to highlight your shared values.
Be genuine and reliable
Don’t just tell people what they want to hear. Ensure you can back up your claims and genuinely care about what you say. Strive for a relationship where both sides benefit—a true “win-win” situation. Be decisive to clearly show the best path forward.
Show proof to validate your proposal
Make your claims and back them up with evidence, such as:
Technical details
Test results
Certifications
Compliance with standards
Past performance
Customer testimonials
Awards and recognitions
To convince your buyer, support each claim with proof and explain how it applies to their situation.
Appeal to the emotions of your buyer
People decide based on both emotion and logic. A proven way to persuade is to show how doing nothing or making the wrong choice can harm your buyer.
Share a story about what could cause a disruption to their business to highlight the problem and its possible effects and give your solution. This creates urgency. Use vivid language to make your point.
Turning a ‘no’ into a ‘yes’
Use persuasive writing to remove all obstacles to your buyer saying 'no' by anticipating where your buyer might feel uneasy, skeptical, or fearful.
Consider the questions your buyer will ask, such as:
How will this work for me?
Who will do the work, and why can you do it better than I or your competitors?
What will it cost, and how much will I save now and in the future?
How can I pay for it, and can I actually make money from it?
Why should I do this now instead of later?
Have you done this before for someone like me?
Why shouldn’t I stick with my current provider? How can you do better?
How will you stay on schedule and budget, and handle any unexpected changes?
Structure IS IMPORTANT
Show your document’s structure
Make it easier for buyers to choose your solution by using these five techniques:
Write clear headings: Since buyers often scan your proposals, use headings that clearly describe each section and subsection
Use lists: Numbered and bulleted lists make information easy to read and understand
Transition smoothly: Just as buyers can get lost in paragraphs, they can lose interest between sections. Ensure smooth transitions to keep them engaged
Pre-sell the next section: Use the end of a section to hint at what’s coming next
Use graphics: Visuals help organise content and make it easier to understand. They guide contributors by showing what the content should look like.
Use graphics and multimedia to engage your buyer
Graphics are powerful tools for persuasion. They influence:
Credibility: People associate good design with professionalism
Receptiveness: We grasp main points faster with images than text
Memorability: We remember information better when it’s presented with images
Responsiveness: Images evoke emotions more effectively than words.
To make your proposals more persuasive, use various design strategies like color, informative layouts, graphs, and illustrations. A strong visual strategy supports and enhances your text, keeping your buyer engaged and your message memorable.
Product or service demonstrations provide more convincing proof than words alone. Multimedia presentations, including videos, animations, and simulations, can further increase persuasiveness.
Unless restricted by buyer requirements, enhance your proposals with modern multimedia elements.
Persuasion vs Influence
Write Clearly
Clear writing sets your proposals apart from competitors, making them easy to read and understand. This helps your buyer say “yes” more easily.
Your aim is to have buyers spend less time figuring out your meaning and more time considering your solution.
Storytelling
Using stories in proposals is effective because they outline what one company plans to do for another and what it has done for similar companies.
Six principles for effective storytelling:
Build emotion and connection: Show you understand their situation and key concerns
Keep their attention: Provide the right amount of detail—not too much, not too little
Make it easy to understand and memorable: Ensure your story is clear and sticks with the buyer
Believe in what you’re selling: Show passion and positivity
Show a clear journey: Outline the steps to achieve the buyer's goals
Highlight your unique value: Explain why you are the best choice to guide them, setting you apart from competitors.
Involve the buyer by telling their story and incorporating yours.
Structure your story
Before: Describe the challenges your buyer faces
Turning point: Explain what your buyer needs to do to overcome these challenges, using your product’s features and benefits
After: Show what life will be like once the challenges are overcome, highlighting the value your product brings.
Benefits of storytelling
Quick connection: Stories help buyers relate to your product faster
Smooth flow: Stories create a seamless flow in your proposal, linking different parts together
Build trust: Stories make it easier for buyer to trust your products because you can confidently highlight their strengths.
Using an active voice
Buyers want results, so your proposal should clearly show how you are going to deliver. To keep roles and actions clear, use active voice.
Tools like Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign have readability statistics that can show the percentage of passive sentences and help convert them to active ones.
Write as you would talk
Using conversational English makes your proposal more accessible.
Use simple words: Avoid technical jargon unless writing for experts. Simple language is clearer for everyone
Use personal pronouns: Address your buyer directly to create a personal connection and avoid passive voice
Use contractions: Words like “they’ll,” “they’re,” and “let’s” create a friendly, informal tone
Use varied punctuation: Colons and dashes can emphasise important points. Use dashes for a more informal tone.
Write concisely
Respect your buyers time by being brief and to the point.
Buyers often scan and skim to focus on the most important messages.
Follow these eight tips for concise writing:
State your main idea first and ensure everything else supports it
Keep paragraphs short
Link sentences to create unified paragraphs
Use only necessary words
Avoid long strings of nouns and too many acronyms in one sentence or paragraph
Use clear images and precise measurements
Be consistent with technical terms
Stay positive
Avoid redundancy (e.g., “8am in the morning”).
Plan to revise
Allow time for revisions: This helps reduce costs, test your ideas, and ensure ethical writing
Take breaks between writing and editing: Stepping away from the document helps you spot errors and validate ideas more easily
Peer review: Have colleagues edit your work to improve content, style, and grammar
Functional reviews: Ensure your proposal is accurate, persuasive, and appropriate
Style Sheets
Create a standard style sheet to ensure terms are used consistently. Include guidelines for:
Punctuation
Capitalisation (eg. MB vs. mb)
Industry acronyms/jargon (eg. KPI - Key Performance Indicator)
Using plain language
Use plain language so that buyers can understand it quickly and easily.
Avoid using proposals as technical references
All buyers, including technical experts, value clear writing. Proposals are reviewed by diverse teams, so clarity is crucial.
Clear writing isn’t “dumbed down”: It specifies roles, explains how technology works in a workplace, and defines terms outside the buyer’s expertise
Clear writing clarifies ideas: It removes jargon, shortcuts, and dense acronyms, making ideas understandable and assessable for everyone.
In Summary
When crafting a proposal, the key is to tell a compelling story that demonstrates your understanding of the buyer's problem, presents your solution as the best fit, and shows genuine care for their well-being.
To persuade effectively, personalise your approach, highlight past successes, and be crystal clear in your communication. Providing specific details, conducting thorough research, and appealing to common values can strengthen your proposals and build trust with your buyer.
Moreover, backing up your claims with solid evidence, appealing to emotions, and addressing potential objections can help turn a 'no' into a 'yes'. Structuring your document effectively with clear headings, smooth transitions, and engaging graphics is crucial for capturing and maintaining your buyer's attention. Utilising multimedia elements and storytelling techniques can further enhance the persuasiveness of your proposals, while writing in a clear, concise, and active voice ensures your message is easily understood and well-received.
By focusing on building connections, showcasing unique value, and using plain language, you can create persuasive proposals that resonate with your buyer and lead to successful outcomes.