Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot

Every consultant knows that one false step during the sales cycle can mean the difference between winning and losing. And many of those potential pitfalls lurk in the proposal process.

Consultants start giving each other "high fives" when clients ask for proposals. After all, it’s exciting to have a chance to show your stuff and move closer to the client, and the prospect of a new sale is always tantalizing.

But creating a great proposal isn’t easy, and the process will consume your time and energy.

Nigel Edelshain, from Ivy Tech Partners, has been blogging on these topics recently. His posts on handling the RFP process and the proposal process do a good job of summing up the challenges we face in the business development process, and he has some good tactical advice.