Lessons

Lesson Info

Class Introduction

Ready and welcome! So excited to teach this class for you guys today. So we're gonna be learning as Drew said how to win or how to win clients, not how to win (laughs), how to win clients with binge-worthy proposals which sounds so fun and almost a little weird when you think of the word proposal, right. Because the word proposal, when we think of client proposals, it definitely doesn't feel marriage proposal (laughs). It often feels like this just normal, like this document that's super-boring and we're kind of just like, oh just get the information out so they'll buy from us already, right. So we don't want them to feel that way. I also have a lovely photo of chocolate up here that the room has already told me they're very angry with me, (laughs) that I've put on the screen because it's not a great time to be staring at chocolate after maybe you eat your lunch and then you want some chocolate. So, sorry about that guys. Here's our Table of Contents, just so you guys can see, know wha...

t to expect through this awesome class. So, first thing is how to interview your client. So where this comes into play is oftentimes before we send a proposal, we have some kind of conversation with our clients, right. So that might be a quickie phone conversation. It might be a bigger conversation, where you're sitting in a room with 12 scary people, and having to impress them, and it can be any spectrum in between that. So there is a way, that you can run those meetings or conversations or interviews as I call them, so that you're extracting the really good information, and plugging that into your proposal, and so we'll go into that. Also, my super-sleuth research shortcuts. So depending on what your business is, some of us know our clients really well or an industry really well. Maybe we only work with clients in a certain industry. That's fine, then you may not need to do a whole ton of research. But oftentimes we don't really know the industry, right. We may work all over the spectrum. You my work with people in technology, and then go work with somebody in the medical field, and kind of all over the place. So in that case, it can make it tough when you are trying to pitch a new client for their business, because they wanna know that you understand their unique challenges. So I have some really cool shortcuts, both in understanding their industry and their problems within the industry and also understanding the client's issues or specifically, what the client is about and these are some fun ones, so you'll be excited about that. Then, we're gonna talk about proposal templates. So is it necessary for you all to create a brand new proposal for every single client or are there things that you can use and reuse over and over? Probably already guessed the answer (laughs). Because I wanna make things as easy as possible for you. Though we don't want it to feel like a template, right. You can Google proposal templates and come up with all these lame results and terrible things that no on wants to read. So we're gonna talk about how to do a template in a way that still feels exciting and very personal to each client. Then, problem statements. So if anyone here, anyone watching live, has written a proposal, you've most likely written a problem statement. Even if you don't call it that, you're still writing it. So we're gonna talk about that, what it is, and dig a little deeper into how to write it in an exciting way, so it reads more like a novel or like a movie, as opposed to just like how we would, you know, your problem is blah, blah, blah, and using all this jargon and boring stuff that clients don't wanna read. And in communicating your solution, this part is tricky in proposals, right. Because it often is very boring. Like this is what we're going to do, and you kind of have to just list it out. You have to be very clear and specific, because that's what's gonna make them decide to work with you. But at the same time, it has to stand out from the other people they're taking proposals from. And so how do you do that? Well we're gonna go through that today. Then we're gonna talk about the next step, so how you craft those next steps for the client. This is usually the pricing information, what the next step for them would be, whether that's to, you know, get a contract going, whether it's that you set up an introductory meeting, whatever that is, it's different for all of us, but we'll talk about how to make that a little bit more exciting. Then using client success stories. So in proposals or really in anything in business it is important to show that proof, right, of other clients that you've worked with, but oftentimes we use testimonials in a really funky way. So they come off reading very boring, and it's just like someone that's like, so and so was great and really helped amp our business this, but there's like nothing specific or nothing they can they can grab onto and kind of just looks like anyone could have made up those testimonials. So we'll have a fun way that you can really weave a story around your client's success, and then infuse that into your proposals, as opposed to just being like, "Hey client can you give me a testimonial?", and then they write up something and it's kind of super-lame, 'cause they're like "I don't know what to say, love you, but I'm just not sure. "Like I don't know how to structure this." So there is a way to do that. And then editing your proposal, editing is always important for any piece of writing that you do. Followup techniques. I have some fun ones. I'm really excited about this to share with you guys. It is not sending a followup email or phone call. It's gonna be some other fun things that you haven't done. And then nailing your proposal process. This is really just pulling everything together in the end, everything that you've learned and being able to put together a backend process or system for your business so that every time you do have a new client come in the door, a new lead, that you can just roll through this process in a really easy fashion. Okay, and then our class promise is write a winning proposal that reads like a page-turning novel and close more deals. So I think we all wanna do that. And then you will also get a bonus download, and this is the proposal structure. So like I said, I don't like to use the word template or think of it as templates because that comes off kind of lame. So having a structure though that you can return back to and understand this is what it needs to slot where, is really, really helpful and you're not starting from scratch every single time, and we're gonna do it in a fun way, that reads binge-worthy. Alright, and this class is for you if you have a great meeting with a client. You send the proposal, and then you hear nothing (laughs). And any of you that have sent proposals, you've probably had this happen at least once. If you haven't, then you don't even need this class, 'cause obviously you're rockin' it. But it's really common, right, to send out proposals and you think you have this great meeting and you work really hard to draft up this cool proposal and then you're like, oh my gosh, they don't even give me a no. I mean at this point, you'd rather have a no, than hear crickets, right. You absolutely hate writing proposals. So you just wanna close the deal in the meeting. I think we can probably all get behind this, right. Wouldn't it be great if you have a conversation with somebody and at the end, they're like, "Done, you're hired!" And we never have to draft this big proposal, but unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. It's great when it does. But when there are other decision makers in the mix, or if they need to communicate the information that you communicated to them with other people. So they're taking that conversation that you had by phone, and then you're putting it into the proposal and then they need to communicate that to their team. So that's why they're important and you do need them, and you can't just close it in the meeting all the time. And if writing proposals takes you hours and hours, and then you don't get the client, and it feels like a massive waste of time, I feel you, I have been in this position in the past. I used to like craft custom proposals for each client, and I would just pour over them, and it was like writing a novel for each client, and then I wouldn't hear anything or I would get a no, and I'm just like wow, I feel like my time would've been better spent elsewhere than spending that four hours on a proposal. Right, I could have been going out and trying to get other clients or having meetings with them or networking. So many other things you can do. So you don't wanna get like a time warp, a proposal time warp, no fun. So we'll avoid that. And if you don't know how to followup after sending a proposal, I hear this a lot. This is usually where communication breaks down. It's like the third act of a movie, where everything is like, all is lost! So you've sent the proposal into the world, and then you're like waiting and waiting and waiting, and maybe you send a little email, that's like, hey, did you get, you know, just following up, and it's very timid and then they don't even respond to that email, and then you're just like bah! All is lost, right. So we wanna get over that hump, and also give you just other ways to followup because sending like reforwarding your original proposal and being like, hey FYI, did you read this, is not like not usually the best way to go. So alright, a little bit about me. As you know I'm a business strategist and professional screenwriter, because Drew told you. I have a 15 plus year, this makes me feel really old, (laughs) background in publicity, advertising and marketing, and I've worked with all different types of brands. So I've worked with global brands, all the way down to the solopreneur and everything in between. I've been all over the place and I've seen it all. I currently live in Los Angeles, but I'm originally from Jersey, so you might hear like a Jersey accent slip sometimes when I get really fired up about something, then my Jersey-girl comes out. And I love teaching you how to become a better writer, and I love using the techniques that I've learned as a screenwriter in order to help you spin better narrative for your audiences and get them binging on your proposals.