As an auctioneer I’ve written tons of proposals for clients. From estate executors to bank officers, nearly everyone you come in contact to do business with, will require a written proposal of some type.
This is true not only for auctioneers, but estate liquidators, clean-out specialists and just about every other professional that is in a field which requires you submit a bid.
Usually it goes like this:
A) The client contacs you
B) You review the job
C) You submit the proposal
D) The client gets back to you to acccept or deny it (or doesn’t get back at all). In some cases they may ask you to ammend your proposal.
What if there were a way to get clients to accept a significantly higher % of your proposals? Would you want in? Of course you would, you’d be crazy not to.
Well, there is.
I call it a shared written proposal. Most likely, if you've been in your profession for a while, you have a contract, or an agreement already typed out. I have a standard auction agreement which I use, and then fill in the details as I ask them of the client.
Since most basic contracts are templates anyway, why not make it a point to place importance on your clients imput and say: "Gee, I’d like to write this propposal WITH you, instead of for you.”
As you’re coming to the details such as time, date, commission % etc, ask them what is best, if you can work with that, put it in the contract, and point out that this is THEIR idea, and a good one.
Even better, hand them the pen and ask them to fill in the details.
When you get to the end, give them a copy and again, point out that this proposal is a compilation of what they think is best for them, as well as your requirements. Now, when it comes time crunch time, you are much more likely to get a yes.
And that is the shared proposal. It’s a great way to write an agreement. In the business world, it’s not often that your clients will come across this kind of respect afforded to them. If this doesn’t seal the deal, maybe it’s best you didn’t take on that particular job.
Good Luck!
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