Popping the Question
to Your Client
10.21.09

My wife, a wedding photographer (in seven states), regularly tells me, "Every girl dreams of her wedding day." And those tend to be expensive dreams. In 2008, the average amount spent on a wedding in the States was $21,814†—more than the per capita GDP in 141 of the world's 181 countries.†† When searching for that number online, I found resources that could break that figure down to how much was spent on photographers, flowers, jewelry, even the clergy. But nowhere did I find how much was spent on proposals.

Man, I remember all my dorm room discussions about how we wanted to propose—stories we'd heard, tips from guys already engaged, discussions on logistical solutions. (My roommate, Dave, had the best execution on his proposal with fireworks launching over the lake when she said, "Yes!") I'm somewhat surprised there's not a cottage industry similar to a wedding planner to help guys with it.

I shouldn't be.

Over the past five years, proposal work has accounted for about 3.5% of biplane's revenue. Auctioneers often depend on their commission rate and company brochure—or their personal sales pitch—to procure business. Once they get the sale, they'll pay biplane hundreds or thousands to promote the sale—going for all the extras like a proud daddy. So, I'm not complaining, especially since proposals prove more enigmatic to me than do my bread and butter services.

So, since your proposals aren't going to be using biplane billable time, I might as well give you some free advice on how to improve your pitches.

Kill the resumé.
Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Spend your proposal addressing what you are going to do for your seller—especially what you do that nobody else will do. Your company brochure and web site can cover your experience. Only express your credentials in terms of what the seller gains specifically from each one. (Example: "My 14 years with Farm Credit Services introduced me to a lot of the local land investors who buy large-tract properties like your 420 acres.")

Spend space on the uniqueness of their property.
Impress potential sellers with plans tailored to their property. What non-standard efforts will you make because of certain aspects of this particular subject? Tell them. Incorporate images of their property into the graphic theme of the proposal—and don't just grab a page from an appraisal or MLS-style sheet.

Replace words with graphics.
Show your sales results with graphs. Illustrate your marketing efforts with screen captures of web sites you'll use or your email template; show images of sample brochures/postcards or ads. Create a chart showing the demographics of the mailing list you're going to use. Draw a time line of the auction process. Show your experience with a map of your successful sales.

Send a print and an electronic version.
Show them you value their business enough to overnight them a printed, bound, professionally-assembled piece. Impress them with your flexible speed by emailing them a PDF.

Give them line-item veto power.
If you can, provide an itemized marketing budget plan (or several in different cost ranges) that shows ad sizes and frequencies, direct mail size and quantity, web sites used and any listing upgrades planned. You get the idea. This empowers the seller and lets them know you care about their opinions and concerns. It also allows them to determine the aggressiveness of the advertising campaign, in case your marketing efforts come into question when the bidding stops.

In short, build your proposals around the potential seller—not your company.

Taking It Personally

One of the most vivid analogies the New Testament gives us for our relationship with Jesus is marriage. He proposed to us on a cross and now waits, in Hebrew tradition, to retrieve us for the grand wedding. He spent more on his proposal than any aspiring groom ever has. He sacrificed his son on the altar of our sins.

Too many times, I don't absorb or participate in the love affair. I take his offer more as a business proposal—hoping to negotiate some things to my liking, to set the parameters of the agreement, to get some free kickbacks to sweeten the deal. I treat God as a religious genie or a Teamsters negotiator. I cheapen his love—not its value, just what I would pay for it.

The challenge for me, as I seem to feel more and more of his love and pleasure, is to reciprocate that with the sacrifice of a lover.

† "Martket Summary," www.TheWeddingReport.com
†† "List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita," www.wikipedia.com

Photo used by permission through purchase from iStockPhoto.com ©2009

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