Selling is all about design.
The idea of “design” is a popular point of conversation as of late. But selling has really always been about design. If you visit a supermarket and you pay attention to the aisle displays, you’ll notice that the best, most effective ones are those that showcase some design creativity. There may be something woefully boring about yellow-labelled cans of creamed corn, but there’s something eye-catching about them stacked in the form of an over-sized pyramid. That’s design, in a nutshell. It’s also selling.
On the Web, everything is a design. From webpages to business proposals, closing a sale online is an exercise in balancing color, form, and function, just as it is in the supermarket. But selling on the Web adds an additional dimension to the design prospect: information. So, in order for a design to be able to sell on the Web, it has to not only be aesthetically pleasing, but also informative.
1. Minimalist design is better than sensory overload
Having said all that about thinking bigger than “black and white,” it doesn’t mean that your business proposal designs should be too busy. Another idea we can borrow from the world of web design, when creating proposals, is the notion of minimalism. Minimalist designs are everywhere. The key concepts in minimalist designs are:
- Less is more
- Leave out what you don’t need
- If it’s there, it has to be good
- Stick to a limited palette of colors
- Above all else, keep it simple stupid
2. Narrow the field
The organization of information presented in your business proposals can affect your sales, too. As can the number of offers you present within a single proposal.
If you have no choice but to present several price packages in your business proposals, make sure you lay out the prices in a table that is very clear and easy-to-read. And definitely try to avoid creating total confusion with hard-to-understand pricing. The notion of narrowing the field also extends to your overall offer, too.
3. Show some results
No one likes to buy anything sight unseen. That means your business proposals will benefit from including a picture of your goods/services in action, or the results of using them. If you create apps, some screenshots of your apps in action are in order and perhaps a video demo walk-through. If you provide lead generation services, as another example, you might show some incoming lead analysis screen captures. You can always support such images with testimonials and customer success stories.
4. A remedial lesson in how attention leads to action
Anyone who’s ever worked in sales in a small-box retail establishment, like Radio Shack, can tell you about a basic, newbie-level sales concept that some seasoned salespersons tend to forget. It’s called “AIDA,” which stands for:
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
When designing your business proposals, AIDA can assist you in choosing the order in which you present the content of your proposals. You’ll find plenty of info on the sales funnel, the sales process, and sales strategy, but they’re all just different names for the same old thing, and AIDA underpins it all. The introductory page of your proposal is meant to earn the prospect’s Attention. The next section should hold their attention and begin to cultivate it into Interest. The next section transforms interest into Desire, which is used to call the customer to Action – the part where they bite on the sale, or in this case, accept your proposal.
Read more: http://blog.quoteroller.com/2013/11/21/how-to-design-business-proposals/