The winning quote
Your written offer to the (potential) customer should be more than just a list of product items with technical features and a price at the bottom. It is another crucial step in your sales process.
In capital equipment sales, you are often only one of several suppliers. Your contact will have looked at various solutions and will decide in the end. You are often not present and cannot directly influence the decision with your arguments. The customer only has your proposal and the memory of your product demonstration. But the details of the latter are fading by the day. Your proposal now sits alongside those of your competitors and must make the difference.
That is why you should not only offer your products but sell them in writing! When writing your offer, imagine that you are addressing the recipient directly. To do this, use a cover letter that you place in front of the list of products. Important: Integrate this cover letter into the offer itself, and do not use the email body. This is often not printed out and unavailable at the crucial moment.
If you have done an excellent needs analysis and subsequent product presentation, you know the customer’s needs. Emphasize your solutions and the resulting benefits in the cover letter. Please don’t leave it to the customer to remember the benefits you may have presented weeks ago. If pictures/photos were taken during the product demonstration, you can include them here. This creates a high recognition value for your products.
In your quote, break down exactly what is included in the price and what is not. Keep it clear and avoid misleading wording or technical terms that your customer may not be familiar with. If your customer does not understand parts of your offer, you have a problem. If you offer optional items, explain exactly why these products are optional and what additional benefits the prospect will receive by purchasing them.
If you offer free extras or a special discount, mention it explicitly in the letter to clarify. The customer should reward this accordingly and not take it for granted.
The following is a possible sequence for structuring your offer:
- If a product demonstration took place, refer to it.
- What is being sold? A short description of the product.
- Briefly state the benefits in terms of the customer’s most essential needs. Feel free to include photos at this point or refer to the product demonstration.
- Include any freebies or discounts.
- Detailed list of items
- The price
Example of an offer
Dear Mr. Miller,
I appreciate your interest in a microscope for grain boundary and microstructure investigations. I showed you our materials microscope during our product demonstration on September 3rd. You were particularly interested in reducing surface reflections, which we achieved by using polarization. We also took a close look at software-assisted grain boundary determination. With the planimetric grain boundary module, we were able to meet your requirements 100%. Below, you can see one of the images from the product demonstration with all the information after the semi-automatic analysis:
< insert image >.
We can promise you delivery before the end of this calendar year. As agreed, we will give you a 5% discount on the software module if you order before October 15th.
The customized material microscope consists of the components listed below.
We look forward to your order and can assure you of a professional execution. You can also send your order directly to xyz@muster.de.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards
Martin Rings