🧲 Tired of writing (useless) proposals?

When you send a proposal, you shouldn’t hope for the best.

You shouldn’t rely on hope at all.

Writing a proposal is worth your time, ONLY IF you’ve already closed the client. It should be just a reminder of what you’ve already agreed upon.

So stop sending proposals to anybody who asks what you can do for them. Start closing the right leads by negotiating with confidence.

How to negotiate with confidence (even if you’re 100% introvert)

Mostly, shut up and listen.

When selling something, you want to know the client and their needs. You can’t discover anything of value if you do 80% of the talk.

This doesn’t mean you should be passive. Instead:

• Lead with questions

• Be upfront with prices

• Have a stand-up and leave position

Lead with questions

Ask about:

1. Their current situation

2. The problems they’re facing

3. The outcomes they desire

And think ahead. 

What new problems might arise after solving the current one? By helping with those issues, you could expand the scope of your collaboration.

Advanced tip: If you keep asking questions, you can bore the client or appear to be fishing in the dark. Instead, sometimes guide your leads by saying, ‘Tell me more about XYZ.’

Be upfront with prices (or show your value)

Your prices shouldn’t be a mystery to reveal at the end. A business negotiation is not a thriller movie.

You should share the price of your service as soon as possible. It sets expectations and shows swag.

There’s no point in keeping it secret. You risk spending time talking with someone who can’t afford your service (or, even worse, is looking for the cheapest option).

Now, there may be situations in which:

• You can’t assess the correct price on the spot

• You can’t guarantee a specific outcome

If that’s the case, find a way to show value upfront.

That’s how I became the co-founder of Hypefury.

TLDR → I wanted to partner with Samy on Hypefury. Instead of promising the moon and placing all the risk on him, I agreed to a two-month internship.

This way, it was all upside for him. Once I fully understood the challenge ahead and proved I could deliver results, discussing the nitty-gritty details of our partnership was a no-brainer for both of us.

Have a stand-up-and-leave position

In any personal relationship, you need one. And business, at its core, is always personal.

Define your stand-up and leave position before you start negotiating, and be ready to respect it.

Remember 👇

The goal is to find people YOU want to work with

If you try to work with just anyone, you’ll:

• Look desperate like a digital beggar

• Have less time to deliver memorable outcomes

• Always be hunting for new (low-value) leads

Instead, focus on collaborations with clients with whom you can have a win-win relationship, long-term if possible.

That’s it for now, everyone! We’ll meet again next week to discuss some more of this!

Feel free to reply to this email. It goes directly to me.

Cheers,

Yannick

PS If you want to know more about how to negotiate a deal, check this 👇