Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Made in the UK for HR consultants worldwide. You're listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hello, James here and welcome to this week's podcast episode. In this week's main event, I'm going to talk you through the 10 reasons why your proposals are getting ghosted and how you can avoid proposal purgatory in the future. And in today's thought of the week, I going to share a really cool way I've been keeping my growing team up to date and connected, even when we're in the opposite corners of the world. So let's jump straight.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: In this week's main event, I know.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: How annoying it is when you spend loads of time putting together what you think is a great proposal, only for it to be completely ghosted. You spent a few hours speaking to the client and listening to all of their problems. You spent a lot of time and energy creating a proposal. You've sent it off and then there's radio silence. No response and no feedback. Just the sinking feeling that you've done something wrong or you've just completely wasted your time. And I'm sure that sounds familiar to you. And many independent HR consultants I know find themselves stuck in what I call proposal purgatory. That's where you invest time and effort into creating a proposal, only for the prospect to disappear without a trace. So that's why in today's main event, we're going to break down why this happens and more importantly, how to stop it from happening again. Let's start by looking at the 10 reasons as to why your proposals are getting ghosted. Reason 1. The client wasn't an educated prospect. If they don't fully understand HR or the impact of your work, they won't see the value in your proposal. And that's not their fault. That's on you. You have to educate them, not just on what you do, but why it matters. If they don't understand how your services connect to their business goals, they won't move forward. Reason two, you didn't go deep enough in the discovery process. So if you don't fully understand their business, their challenges, their goals or their budget, your proposal is based on guesswork. And guesswork doesn't convert. Your proposal needs to feel like a customized solution, not a generic sales pitch. And that only happens when you've done the deep work upfront. Reason three, you didn't talk about price early enough. If the first time they're seeing the numbers is in your proposal, that's a problem. A lot of clients ghost because of sticker shock. They weren't expecting the price and instead of negotiating, they just disappear. That's why it's so important to talk about budget before you ever send a proposal. If you know they can't afford it, you can adjust or walk away before wasting your time.
Your proposal was too generic or irrelevant. So? So if your proposal is too broad, too vague, or doesn't clearly connect with the client's actual problems, they won't see themselves in it. And if they don't see themselves in it, they won't move forward. Your proposal should be specific, tailored to their business, their challenges and their goals. And if it feels copied and pasted, then it's just going to get ignored. Reason 5. You didn't package up your services properly. And this one is a really big one. If you're only offering a huge chunk of bespoke hours at director level, you're making it really hard for your client to say yes and understand the value of those hours that they're meant to buy. Instead, what you need to do is break down your services. And you can do this by using the HR Service Pyramid. Package each level of the HR service pyramid up using the right pricing model and then value stack each of those services and packages on top of each other. This way the client can easily see what they're getting, they can understand the value and it's easier for them to see how each level builds on the other and they'll feel more confident about making a decision. Reason 6. You only gave them one option. So clients don't like all or nothing decisions. If you're only giving them one proposal and saying take it or leave it, they're more likely to leave it. And this is based on the sales psychology of Hobson's Choice+1. Instead, you should always give three options. This is why three tiered pricing structures exist. So a tiered structure that lets them choose what works best for them. You should not only three tier your individual packages, but you should also three tier your starting options at the same time. Reason 7. The proposal felt overwhelming. If there's too much detail, too much jargon, clients can easily feel overwhelmed. When they feel overwhelmed, they delay decisions or worse, avoid them altogether. Your proposal should be clear and to the point, designed in a nice way so that it is easy to read, easy to understand, and most importantly, easy to say yes to. Reason A. You just emailed it over without a walkthrough. So this is one of the big things that I see most HR consultants do. They just package up this proposal, email it across, and then Maybe in a week they'll follow up. So this is kind of the worst thing that you can do. Instead, you should always book a call and walk your prospect through your proposal. That way you can explain your thinking, you can answer any questions, and you can handle any objections in real time. Also, it becomes a collaborative exercise as well. And that's really what proposals should be about. Reason 9 There was no urgency or clear next steps. So if your proposal doesn't have a clear deadline, a next step, or a reason to act now, it's too easy for them to push it down their to do list. And once that happens, it's kind of out of sight and out of mind. So every proposal should have a follow up date and a reason to act now, whether that's limited availability, a time sensitive bonus, or something else that creates urgency. And finally, reason 10, it has nothing to do with you whatsoever. So sometimes ghosting isn't about your proposal at all. The client might just not be ready, internal priorities might have shifted, key decision makers might be dragging their feet, or they simply might not be making any decisions right now. But that doesn't mean the deal is lost, it just means your follow up strategy needs to be strong. Because ghosting doesn't always mean no, it just means not yet. So now We've covered the 10 reasons as to why your proposals are getting ghosted, let's talk about what you can do differently to stop this from happening and start turning more proposals into paid work. The key takeaway here is that your proposals shouldn't just be documents, they should be a record of a larger conversation that you've been having together. For many HR consultants that means putting a bit more work into your discovery and due diligence before creating the proposal. And it means spending more time with the business owner, educating them on the world of HR are and guiding them through the proposal that you've created. So there's three things that I've created for you that will help. The first is now my registered framework which is very exciting called the HR Service Pyramid. This can be used to help you package up your services but also educate business owners on the different levels of the HR service pyramid. The second are templated admin and advisory three tier subscription based packages. So these will help you position your services to business owners in the best way. And then finally I've created a templated promotional deck you can use to guide business owners through a discovery call to educate them, explain the different levels of service you provide and pitch your services in the right way and order all of these resources and loads more to help you avoid Proposal Purgatory are included within my flagship video program, how to Package up and Sell HR to Make More Money. To learn more about this video program, please Visit my website, thehrmarketingguide.com and of course I'm always here to help. Just get in touch and let's jump on a call.
[00:07:43] Speaker A: James Thought of the Week My team.
[00:07:47] Speaker B: Has grown quite a bit recently and I've realized how hard it is to keep everyone up to speed with what I'm doing, what other people are working on, and how everyone's hard work is contributing to the bigger picture. Especially as we're all working remotely and there were lots of communication gaps forming, people were getting stressed out and little mistakes started to happen. I was so busy doing stuff I just assumed that everyone else knew what I was up to and what was happening, but this definitely wasn't the case. And it kind of hit me in the face that on top of everything else that I had to do, I also had to do a much better job at communicating the business vision to my team as well as everything else that was going on across the business in order to achieve it. So I decided to create a HQ Announcements project in our project management software Basecamp. And now every time someone does something that takes us one step closer to our goal, whether it's operational marketing, sales or product development related, I just take a couple of minutes to post an update. Nothing long, nothing fancy, just a quick message about what's been achieved, what's happening next, and shout out everyone's hard work that's made it happen. And honestly, it's made such a difference. Everyone knows what's going on. We're celebrating the small wins, we're celebrating our people and their contributions. It's giving everyone a nice positive boost every day and we all feel more connected towards our shared goals. Now to you, this is textbook HR stuff. I know that you probably tell your clients to do these type of comms all the time, but when speaking to HR consultants who often work with remote associates and employees, they aren't doing this type of thing for themselves. So that's why I'd like today's Thought of the Week to be a loving reminder to you. On top of being an awesome HR consultant and consultancy owner, you also have to communicate everything that's going on and happening to your team. It doesn't have to be complicated, just a quick update every time the business takes one step closer towards its goal. And I think this is a fabulous way to keep yourself and your team in the loop and motivated long term. Give it a try and let me know how you get on.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: You've been listening to the HR Marketing Guys podcast, helping you to get new clients and create a life you love.
