Proposals

John L

Dan,
I attended one of your seminars in Chicago last year where you mentioned that some contractors you know are using 30, 40, even 50 proposals.
A couple of Questions.
How successful have they in using these?
Is it possible that you could send me a copy of this type of proposal?

I am trying to differentiate myself in the marketplace so if it is possible to do this I would appreciate your help

Keep up the fantastic work and spirit you spread around wherever you go.

Thanks

John L

Ken_8

We believe

the proposal is as much as 50% of the deciding factors of clients in selecting us over our competitors.

Send me an e-mail. I'll help you out.

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jeff_51

porposals

I have usually given a number of options on my proposals, but it is really worthwhile to sit down with the cust and find out exactly what they need and expect, Meeting their expectations are crucial and some of their expectations are really p[retty wild. It gives you the opportunity to educate the cust. You look really knowledgable and they feel very comfortable with you. If they are looking strictly for price, you know and can fine tune your proposal to them. I have found that to be the most critical thing in selling the job, and you are SELLING THE JOB. one of the things I do not do is size the equipment and give them the heat loss calcs on the proposal. They only get that if I get the job. Too many other guys out there don't know what they are doing, and if I don't get the job, I don't want them using my hard work. The cust get a "properly sized boiler and baseboard or of course furnace and ductwork" I explain that if we get the job, then we provide the proper heat loss calcs to them. If they insist, then we give them only the total btu heat load, but nothing else. Spend time with the cust, they are shelling out thousands of dollars and their inpression of you is critical. My 2 cents anyway

Ted_9

Jeff, I do the same thing. If they want the engineering proof without hiring us first, they pay me for it. Simple.


PATRIOT HEATING & COOLING, INC.

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Boiler Guy

I agree

No sense "giving" the horse away when the real intent is to "sell" it MHO

Weezbo

*~/:)

thats orta makes me feel warm and fuzzy
i have inherited both oversized equipment and who knows whats and have really had the opportunity to dial in to reality over the years,and as you can all tell forthwith, i have an extremely cynical view of things in general.:)
That someone else will see things the same as i do is quite unlikely....so be an individual and let the perspective employement opportunity be an opportunity to open communication with someone such as yourself. each one of us is unique.It is suprising how much work we have all done over a scant 3 or 4 decades..standardizations good in that things are the same,our own distinctiveness though can meld alot of ideas and would say "how are we doing , so far?" next i'd suggest that whatever you turn your body mind and spirit to do,do it to the best of your abilities and then do just a little bit more.so, my best advise is "do what you were going to do ,anyway."and always remember that "He who works his very best,goes down the road with all the rest."

John L

Proposals

In my initial enquiry i wrote "30,40,50 proposals",when in fact What I meant was proposals that consisted of 30,40,50 pages of proposal. And my query was directed toward what details are included in proposals of this size.
Is there any one outthere doing this type of proposal

Thanks to Ken who responded with some great information.
I am deeply grateful for your time and help

Thanks,
John L.

Paul Mitchell_2

??????

Alot of pages..I gues if it is a huge job then ok. But most of my proposals are for residential work. I think our biggest was 10 pages for a very large job. Seems to me that unless these are large jobs...alot of people trying to baffle the customer with bull@#%&. Is anyone want to actually read 50 pages. I try to narrow down what the customer wants and needs. I start out with what I feel is the best system and design and explain why. Unless I have alot to figure out...I sit down, open my briefcase and write out the proposal. We used to go to the office and print a great looking proposal etc. But it is hard to close a job this way and sometimes we would get busy and take too long to get back to a customer....As my father in law told me(he sold alarm systems for a living..commission only) "When a customer calls you for a new boiler they have one question....if you leave without answering it, you just get the customer frustrated."

B. Tice

10-4 Paul,

You better be prepared to make a final presentation on your initial visit for replacement jobs. A large complete job, it's obvious that extended work is needed.

Mark Eatherton1

I agree to a point...

Then I disagree. Wouldn't it be great if we could drag our laptop into the consumers home and whip out a proposal in the hour and a half that were there? Slam dunk closed deal. Wham bam thank you ma'am.

I can think of maybe 2 jobs in the last year where that would have worked. In every other instance it requires a SUBSTANTIAL amount of face time with me and a screen to effectively work up a cost and proposal. Our proposals are lengthy, but complete. If the one question the consumer has is price, they''ll have to read all the way through my proposal to find it because the price is at the very end. I want them to understand what I had to go through to be able to give them a "price". I'll show them my printout of the materials, my system piping schematic, my heat loss calcs etc. Momma didn't raise no fool. I said SHOW them, not provide them with.

I emplore them to have my competition do the same thing...

It's not the proposal that sells the job. It's YOU that sells the consumer on your capability and knowledge to do the work right the first time. The proposal is but one tool required to get that part of your job done. the more professional it looks, the more professional YOU look.

Here's a question for you all. How many people provide "references" with their proposal and ask the consumer to please call them?

Every time one of my potential customer calls a reference, I get the job...

And other than minimal YP advertising, it's all word of mouth...

ME

Mark Eatherton1

F.A.B.G.

Frank Blau taught me this LONG ago. Features, Advantages, Benefits and GRABBERS. To do that, it takes a lot of information. Using a Word processor, the job gets real easy.

It takes me an hour to put the verbal portion of my presentations together, and upwards of 40 hours to do the heat loss and material take off prior to that point. Its all rolled into the overhead.

My former employers proposal were one page long, and he's doing just fine. I guess it all depends on the impression you're trying to convey.

BTW, YOU are the grabber. "And wouldn't it be great stepping out of a radiantly heated shower onto a radiantly heated floor, grabbing a hydronicly warmed towel from your heated towel rack? What GREAT way to start the day!" and typing those words into a proposal just don't cut it. YOU HAVE to be there to exude the enthusiam. And it IS a GOOD thing...

ME

John L

Now we getting to some of the meat in the sandwich.
I agree with Mark that the technology is readily available to create a very clear picture for the customer what exactly sets you apart from the competition, by putting together proposals which will easily identify in the customers mind that you their best choice because of your knowledge, experience, thoroughness and all round capability to perform to expectation.

Are any of you using pictures attached to the proposal?

Slan!

S Davis

Proposal

Our proposals are two pages only with terms on the reverse of page one and lien notice on reverse of page two but we include cut sheets of all equipment and letters of reference dating back 15 years.
We spend alot of time meeting with people before designing their systems(showing them all their options) so we can propose exactly what they want, and then we go through the proposal with them(show them heatloss calcs and design info) and anwser any questions they might have.
We do very little advertising just some yellow pages and word of mouth and we stay as busy as we want too.

S Davis

Apex Radiant Heating