Sales Proposal

In this situation, your title is Sales Associate. You will be preparing a sample of a proposasl in memo format to Garrett Schrute. Mr. Schrute is Vice President of Sales and would like to have a structured proposal template of what to cover in a sales proposal to a dental practice so that others can make similar sales calls in the future. An example of a memo format to follow can be found in Figure 10.9 on page 344.

Important: Note that you are essentially writing for two different readers. The content of the proposal should be written with a dental client -- such as Dr. Smiles -- in mind because the goal is to convince the client to sign up for JHT products. Yet you are presenting this memo to Mr. Schrute as a model of the kind of sales proposal his team should be delivering when they meet with clients. The resulting document, then, should be a proposal, but it will be constructed in a memo format.

To help address the two different audiences and keep them separate, be sure to add a short paragraph before the Introduction. It doesn't have to have its own heading; it just sets up the proposal content as a model that the sales team can use when meeting with dental clients. This would be similar to a "purpose" section of a standard internal report, but this is the only section that is addressed to Mr. Shrute.
Below is some additional information that may be helpful as you structure the elements of your proposal.

Products

JHT offers a variety of value priced part supplies, toys, and novelties. Specifically, for dental practices, we offer novelty dental items, novelty toys and prizes, balloons, and dental take-home bags which include all of the appropriate supplies (i.e. toothbrushes, dental floss, etc.). In addition, JHT offers a signature item in this market segment: sand timers. Many dentists agree that proper brushing should take at least two minutes, so JHT offers a line of fun-colored two-minute sand timers within their dental line. These can be ordered from the Resale Division as is, or they can be personalized through the Imprint Division. These items would look something like this:

Examples of Sand Timers

Pricing

You will not be able to provide specific pricing in your proposal, as each situation will vary. However, the following ranges are provided for you to work with:

• Dental take-home bags: $0.14-$0.22 each
• Toothbrushes: $0.35-$0.42 each
• Floss: $0.33-$0.39 each
• Tooth keepers: $0.05-$0.22 each
• Toothbrush holders: $0.79-$0.87 each
• Novelty toys: $0.29-$0.49 each
• Small plush toy: $0.69-$0.87 each
• Sand timers: $0.46-$0.87 each

As mentioned above, each situation will be different based on volume and other discounts. You may want to develop a suggested package based on the prices above and offer that to the dental clients in this market. You could also assume that personalization (adding the dental office information such as company name, location, and/or logo) will add approximately 18 percent to the cost.

Services

Although the company's primary deliverable is a product, the service before, during, and after the sale is critical. Care must be taken to understand the customer's needs and provide appropriate services related to these products. Your role as a supplier is basically to provide a benefit to the customer and to take care of this aspect of the business for him so that he and his staff can focus on what is most important to them: providing dental care for their patients. This may include sharing survey data with them to help them understand which items/prizes are the "most wanted" among patients and/or their parents. (Hint: You may want to incorporate the Lesson 12 Exercise into your proposal.) This can contribute to positive word-of-mouth advertising. It may also include fabulous delivery services, quality customization, good prices/value, and individualized attention from a customer service representative.

Writing Plan for Informal Proposals

You will want to include the following elements in your proposal. Use of these headings is recommended to enhance readability.

Introduction

Begin by briefly explaining the reason for the proposal and catch the audience's attention with some of the following techniques:

• Hint at the outstanding results that your company can accomplish, if hired.

• Offer cost breaks and/or quick turnaround. (Keep it brief here; you will want to provide more details in the Budget section later.)

• Mention some special feature that only your company has, such as particularly fabulous service and/or a special product offering.

• Offer a solution to potential business problems.

Explanation

• Background and details about your business (as previously indicated in the JHT Company Profile)

• Demonstrate your professional expertise

• Demonstrate that you understand their business and their industry by sharing the data table previously developed in Lesson 12 Exercise

Proposal

• What do you have to offer this business? What benefit(s) are you providing?

• How would you manage the account? What procedure would be followed? (This relates to how often you would interact with the account, how you would offer them services, what your staff members would do for them, how long deliveries would take, how deliveries would be made, what else can you do for them, etc.) Note: Because you will want to include here who is managing the account and any other special credentials your staff will have to help you do this, you do not have to have a separate section for staffing as you would in a more traditional proposal.

• Be careful not to tell so much that they can live without you. (Don't give away the farm!)

• Include timetable (i.e. how soon could you be delivering product or when could you get together to help them make decisions on appropriate product), methods of management and quality control, etc.

Budget

• Use information from Pricing section, above, to come up with proposed costing, keeping in mind that, as indicated above, each situation will vary. However, give Mr. Shrute and his sales team a scenario to build off of. This could include any of the tactics specified below.

• List charges, perhaps mentioning competitive pricing or costs for a specific package.

• This may be a package cost or a volume discount. You may also want to differentiate between products available from the Resale Division versus the Imprint Division.

• Comparing to competitors is an option; however, be careful how you position this due to legalities. (For example, you may want to refer to "Competitor A" or say that you've researched the competition and your prices are, on average, X percent below.)

• Caution: You can't raise costs if the job proves to be more than you bargained for. So be careful when offering a solid price because, once it is in writing, it can be considered a contract.

Conclusion

• End with closing thoughts, reselling the idea of hiring your company.

• What special benefits can you offer? Why should they hire you? How are you uniquely positioned to meet their needs?

Research/Data

• Additional secondary research should not be necessary, as most of the information is provided for you within the sections above.

• Feel free, however, to add details and hypotheticals that you feel would be appropriate. Note that it must be within the context provided and must not conflict with any of the "givens" in the company profile nor previous scenarios.

Software & Formatting

• Completed in Microsoft Word
• Minimum: 2 pages; maximum: 4 pages
• Appropriate, professional-looking font of size 10-12 (do not mix fonts)
• No more than 1" margins

Remember to address your memo to Garrett Schrute, Vice President of Sales.