This is the best approach when you are trying to persuade someone that they should select you out of their own self-interest. But when you don't know the customer, you can't take the same approach. If you try, you risk getting it wrong and alienating the customer instead of persuading them.
When you don't know the customer, you have to base your proposal on the value of your offering. You can, and should, still talk about the benefits of your offering. But it has to be in the context of how your other customers benefit from it. You should load the proposal up with as many case studies and examples as you possibly can that demonstrate how others have benefited from your offering. Instead of talking directly to the person reading your proposal, you have to talk in terms of a typical customer. Examples are important to help the reader see how it could apply to them. Even though you can't focus on the goals and mission of this particular customer, you can talk about how your offering has increased the capabilities of your other customers to fulfill their goals and missions. Even if you look up something on the Internet that says what the customer's mission is, you don't know the internal politics of the customer well enough to talk about them. So keep the focus on your offering and its value proposition. << Back Next >> |
