Relatively simple point, but bears reinforcing.
What you sell isn’t what the prospect wants. The outcome is what the prospect wants.
And even the companies that sell based on outcome vs. solution end up creating proposals that tactically describe the solution.
A statement of work is NOT the same thing as a proposal.
If you’re prioritizing scope over outcome, if you’re describing your firm’s history and capabilities before getting to the buyer’s perspective, you’re doing it wrong.
Great proposals put the customer’s objectives first. They lead with a reinforcement of the desired outcomes, measures of success, and a vision of what positive results will look like. Then, and only then, do they describe what the prospect is buying to get there.
Statements of work or scope documents without the context or reiteration of value gets forwarded to those who haven’t been part of the conversation, and it looks like a commodity product or service. Can we get it cheaper? Can we get the same result with less work?
If you’re doing it right, the solution is part of the close, not part of the pitch. And that means your pitch is just as strong and value/customer-driven in the proposal as it was in the pitch.
