A Customer-oriented Manager for B2B Services

9Taking Care of One Commercial Action

9.1. Commercial proposal

Whether it is a highly formalized consultation, such as a call for tenders, especially a public call for tenders, or a more informal consultation, a written document is often requested. If this written proposal is retained by the prospect, the service provider will then have the opportunity in many cases to present it orally.

9.1.1. Documents and materials

Many documents and written materials are attached to a commercial proposal. They are to be understood as tangible elements that will help the customer to understand the offer and to materialize it. They are, therefore, opportunities for the service provider to enhance its offer.

9.1.1.1. Tangible elements of the service

Documents and materials are not limited to the written report sent on the day of submission of the offer. There are also e-mails, letters, brochures and videos sent before or after the submission of the offer. These different documents and materials are not always sent by the same person, the same team, or often by the same department. It is important to ensure that there is a certain consistency between these various elements. Consistency in content, of course, and also in form. This coherence will give a more solid and constructed image of the service and the provider. These different elements embody, in a way, for customers the service they cannot see. The perception that clients will have of these documents, the impression that they will ...