The Proposal Trap That's Killing Your Margins

What we find is that small and mid-sized company owners are writing more proposals than ever but winning fewer deals and making less money on the ones they do win.

The Problem:

They're stuck in a volume game, competing primarily on price. They send out dozens of proposals but hear crickets back. When they do win, it's often because they were the lowest bidder, which destroys their margins and commoditizes their services.

The Traditional Solution (and Why It Fails):

So they try to solve it by making prettier proposals, adding more detail, or cutting prices even further. They invest in proposal software, hire designers, and spend hours crafting the "perfect" presentation, thinking better proposals will win more business.

But here's why it fails: If you're competing on proposals, you're already losing. By the time you're in a proposal battle, the real decision has often been made. You're fighting for scraps while someone else already has the relationship and the trust.

The Outgrow Difference:

Running Outgrow positions you to win before the proposal stage. Instead of competing on price, you compete on relationship and value. You develop the confidence and communication skills to have different conversations—ones where price becomes secondary to the value you deliver.

The result? You write fewer proposals but win more of them. When you do compete, it's on your terms, not theirs. Your margins improve because you're not the cheapest option—you're the most trusted one.

#ProposalStrategy #ValueSelling #MarginImprovement