Write freelance proposals that close

Understanding Value-Based Pricing

Choose a recent project
I want you to dig up a recent project you worked on that you know you could have charged more for.
Identify if you were seen as an investment or an expense
With this project, was the idea that you were a "gun for hire" who was being paid hourly to bang out code or designs, or were you hired to consult your client?

Selling On Value

Determine how you could have better positioned yourself
How could you have better positioned yourself?

What could you have said differently, both in your early meetings and in your ultimate proposal, that could have better aligned you with the business goals of your client?
Determine the proxy pains behind the project
What proxy pains were behind the project?

What business-impacting pains could be revelead by stripping away the project and requirements you were given and through the subsequent discussions you had with your client?
Determine the financial upside of the project
What was the financial upside of this project?

I realize you might not have had the right discussions to discover this, but what upside do you think could have been the result of a successful completion of this project? Could changing the scope of the project further increase that upside?

Writing Proposals That Close (And Make You More Money)

Identify your clients problem
What problem is behind the project request your client brought to you? How is it impacting their business?
Explain the solution
What's the upside to having this problem solved?
Find the objections you can overcome
What objections can you overcome?

Based on everything you know about this client, what concerns will they have and how can you counter them?
Determine your offer price and package
How will you price and package your offer?

List out two or three available options, and highlight the benefits and cost of each. Make it clear also how this product will get the client closer to the solution.

Dan Geller

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