Today we are chatting with Marlon Clemons from A Cut Above.
Marlon is wondering if Mike has any tips to help with how to present a better and more professional bidding proposal to his clients. This is quite a common question among cleaning nation, and we’ve got a lot of knowledge to share, so let’s jump right into it!
It’s important to do the right steps in the right order. Before you even think about giving out a bidding proposal, you should always make sure that the potential client is a good fit. You will want to determine what kind of customer you’re looking for, and then make sure that you only take on clients that fit your criteria. No matter what criteria you have, there should always be pain involved. If your client’s only pain is wanting whoever has the lowest prices, they may not be the best fit.
Resource Alert:
Another item that you should know before you give out your bidding proposal, is the budget. If you aren’t able to get a budget, it means you haven’t gotten pain. It is your job as a consultant to help them identify their pain, and if they don’t have any than it may be time to move on. If the budget is off by a small amount, it’s not the end of the world, but if their budget is nowhere near where you need it to be, it’s a lot easier to have that conversation sooner rather than later.
After that, you’ll want to want to identify where you’ll head next. Up to this point you’ll want to have figured out the prospects pain, made sure that they’re a good fit, and that they can fit your services into their budget. Once you’ve got all that down, make sure that you and the client are clear on what they expect moving forward.
A great tactic to use if the client’s budget is close but not quite where it needs to be to solve all of their pains and problems, is give them two bid proposals. For example, you may have to explain that in order to fix all of their pain, you will need $1300, but for $1000 you can provide x services.
Once you have all the foundation set up, making the actual bid will be a lot easier, and you’ll find yourself closing a lot more bids with the people that fit within your criteria. Once you understand their pain, you’ll want to custom make a unique bid to show that you can solve their problems.
Resource Alert:
And with that, on to the…
Lightning Round:
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received either personally or professionally?
Keep your word, and don’t take on anything too big too early.
What is the biggest mistake you’ve made that we can all learn from?
Giving up too much power joining a franchise, and losing control of my business.
What is the best book you’ve read recently?
The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.