Matthew Grant over at Purchase Realm here on the KMM network had some good comments regarding my post questioning the need for proposals in today's selling world. 
Are proposals needed sometimes? Absolutely. Matthew correctly points out common scenarios where a sales professional must submit a proposal.
So, when should you submit a proposal, and when should you question the need for a proposal and go straight to asking for the sale?...
- Trying to sell a $2m software package to a large regional telecommunications company? Submit a proposal.
- Trying to sell a $250 software solution to Eddie's Cellphones & Pagers? Skip the proposal.
- Trying to sell six $200,000 dumptrucks to a large contruction firm? Submit a proposal.
- Trying to sell six $200 per person conference seminar training packages to a local real estate office? Skip the proposal.
Here's my point: Sales professionals need to recognize when they're being pushed away by hearing their prospect say, "Send me a proposal." If you're hearing that a lot from your customers, what they might be saying is "I'm not connecting with you...but I'm too nice of a guy to tell you to your face that there's no way on God's green earth that I'll buy anything from you in the near future."
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