Project proposals are a common method for generating business.  Project proposals are typically prepared for two scenarios – getting a completely new client or doing more involved work for an existing customer.

Preferably you are doing a project proposal after you have done a small project for the company already.  This way you have gone through your proving ground.   Whether you did an IT audit or fixed a PC, you have a foundation there.  The customer knows you, likes you, and trusts you.  

Selling a project proposal from this position is much easier.  This doesn’t mean you can’t sell a project proposal without having done any previous work, it’s just a bit harder. You’ll end up spending much more time in the follow-up stage.

Either way, follow-up is an important aspect of securing work from a project proposal.  At the absolute minimum you should use a four to six week follow up cycle.  In between your follow up calls is when you look to see if anything has changed or if they need some help on something small right now before they move ahead with the project.  

You want to keep staying in front of them.  Even if it’s something that’s just a couple hundred dollars, your name needs to remain in their minds.  What you don’t want is for some other company to come in and take care of a small issue.  

When you have a project proposal under review, you need to be the company of choice for anything IT related.  There’s always a little bit of "being in the right place at the right time" going on.  

Bottom Line on Project Proposals
Urgency is the driver behind any project proposal moving to the sales phase.  If there’s no urgency, then it’s a waiting game and they may not do the project for a long time.  You need to stay in touch with the customer on a regular basis and be prepared to do a couple of small things in the interim to get things going.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Project Proposals. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about Project Proposals, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.