9h • General Discussion 💬
How long does it take you to create a proposal after a discovery call?
I used to spend 4+ hours per proposal.
Research the industry. Build pricing tables. Write ROI calculations. Format everything.
Then I realized something that changed everything.
The proposals that closed had one thing in common.
They proved I understood the client's business better than they expected.
Not with generic claims.
With specific data.
→ Market size for their industry.
→ Competitor analysis.
→ Benchmarks for their vertical.
→ Custom projections using their actual numbers.
But here's the problem:
This level of research takes forever.
Most consultants skip it.
They use templates. They change the company name. They call it "customized."
And they wonder why 50% of prospects ghost.
The proposals that get signed aren't the prettiest.
They're the ones that show you actually did the homework.
Here's what I discovered works:
Every proposal needs these 5 research components:
1. Market Intelligence
↳ How many companies exist in their target market → Breakdown by geography, size, industry → Total addressable market calculation
2. Competitive Landscape
↳ Who else serves their audience → What positioning angles differentiate you → Where competitors are weak
3. Industry Benchmarks
↳ Typical reply rates for their vertical → Conversion rates by industry → Performance expectations
4. Pain Point Research
↳ What challenges their buyers actually face → How your solution maps to those problems → Why other solutions fall short
5. Custom Projections
↳ Realistic lead volume calculations → ROI math using their deal sizes → Timeline to break even
When your proposal includes all 5:
You stop competing on price.
You start competing on expertise.
Prospects choose the consultant who clearly understands their market.
Even if you're more expensive.
The bottleneck is time.
Doing this research manually takes 3 to 4 hours per proposal.
If you're doing 10 discovery calls per month, that's 30 to 40 hours just writing proposals.
So I automated the entire process.
Now the research happens automatically.
The system pulls live data. Analyzes competitors. Calculates benchmarks. Generates projections.
8 minutes later: Strategic proposal ready to send.
My close rate went from 28% to 67%.
Same service. Same pricing.
Just better proposals.
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How long does it take you to create a proposal after a discovery call?
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