Marketing and Sales

How to Win Your Next ‘Cattle Call’ Proposal Bid

Headshot of Jeff Molander
By Jeff Molander

A customer asks you (and your competitors) to quote a project. Or a prospect invites you to discuss a relationship. You’ll write an email, draft a proposal or book a meeting in response.

You quickly research the prospect to understand the current business scenario. They appear ready to change … ditch the status quo.

Next, you’ll pitch. You’ll use Jeff Hoffman’s “why you, why you now” approach to create urgency. You’ll flash the potential buyer a list of benefits, your customer list, maybe a testimonial or two and a bid or cost estimate.

But what if you, instead, politely declined the “cattle call” for proposal bids by asking questions?

Have You Considered This Approach?

By giving prospects what they ask for too soon, we lose the opportunity to present ideas your client may not be considering.

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Headshot of Jeff Molander

Jeff Molander

Jeff Molander is the authority on making social media sell. He co-founded what became the Google Affiliate Network and Performics Inc., where he built the sales team. Today, he is the authority on effective prospecting communications techniques as founder of Communications Edge Inc. (formerly Molander & Associates Inc.) He's been in sales for over 2 decades. He is author of the first social selling book, Off the Hook Marketing: How to Make Social Media Sell for You.Jeff is a sales communications coach and creator of the Spark Selling technique—a means to spark more conversations with customers 'from cold,' speeding them toward qualification.

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