Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts

Redefining the Customer’s Need

Sometimes the client tells you his or her need explicitly, either by explaining it in conversation during your sales process or by defining it in the statement of work of the RFP the client issues. The trouble is, sometimes the client is wrong.

For example, suppose the manager of a telemarketing operation contacts you because she’s unhappy with the sales volume her group is producing. “We need a course on closing techniques,” she tells you. “Can you do that for us?”

Well, you can do it, but after observing the company’s salespeople in action, you realize that what they really need is a course on telephone courtesy. These people are so aggressive that they cross the line into rudeness. The question is, what do you ...