Customer Reviews

How To Write A Proposal That's Accepted Every Time

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I was skeptical. How could one book be worth over $100? And how could Alan Weiss tell me how to write proposals to my unique clients? It has been almost one year since I asked those questions...If I knew then what I know now, I would have paid a $1000 for this book! Here are the facts,when I first started using Alan's proposal templates my closing ratio went down from approximately 90% to 75%. BUT my consulting engagment fees went UP OVER 100%. Now, I have learned to avoid clients who don't value my work and my closing ratio has gone back to about 90% at almost double the value to me! But that is not the biggest benefit, through this book I learned how to get paid in advance...before I ever begin the project. Prior to using Alan's models I was never paid in advance, now 40% of my clients are paying me a much higher fee and paying it in advance.

I no longer have this book. I took the pages apart and filed the proposal templates according to my client base and instructed my client services manager to never deviate from these templates.

There are many books that have helped me think more critically, solve problems quicker and speak more effectively...BUT nothing has helped me increase my consulting revenue like this one by Alan Weiss.

I have been a huge fan of Alan's for years. And I didn't buy this book because of its high price for years. Well, then I broke down and bought it. Used in conjunctions with Alan's other strategies, this book landed me a $100,000 deal. When I asked what made the difference, they said, "The proposal." Enough said. Buy it. Use it. Profit from it.

I purchased this book earlier this year. While we don't often submit written proposals, we used the techniques to close over $200,000 in business in the first few months.

Then, mid-year we had four different opportunities to submit written proposals. I used the checklists and templates to craft winning proposals. We actually decided not to do business with one client after working through the proposal. The other three proposals were accepted. The three written proposals were worth $417,000.

I'd say my $149.00 investment had a huge ROI and will continue to do so.

This book is a MUST HAVE for new and seasoned consultants. Alan gives the best information you can find. He gives you practical and applicable information based on his own model of success. Also read The Million Dollar Consultant...unless you're not interested in succeeding as a consultant.

This book contains all you need to know regarding the preparation of a consultancy appraisal. Alan Weiss is truly the expert when it comes to this. I will say this, however. Unless you require the additional "hand holding" contained herein, you can get essentially the same wisdom from his book "Million Dollar Consulting Toolbook". I agree with another reviewer that if you cannot afford spending a hundred bucks or so to help get your business started, you probably are not adequated capitalized. However, there is no sense in spending a hundred more than you have to. If you can afford it, buy this one, if not, get the other one i mentioned.

Thank goodness my company paid for this book. In no way is it worth more than $100. Consideringing that every other page is a notes page, you effectively get a 60-page book. Exclude the related information (ex: sales questions, presentation tips) and maybe 15 pages of this book actually relate to writing a proposal. I have read most of the books out there on developing proposals and any of them are better than this one at helping you develop a proposal. And they cost a tenth as much.

For the first time, and I do not know why, I have found a book that is full of relevant advice, common sense, and just good stuff all round! Since the start of my career as a consultant in 1989, and not finding anything like this, this book is going to revolutionize any consulting practice. A definite "NEED TO" book for ALL consultants who call themselves PROFESSIONAL. Allan, to you, just complements.... Will meet you somewhere along the path...

Why should you pay this much money for less than 200 pages in a paperback book? Well sir, if you have to ask, you're not ready to make the big bucks.

After reading this book and writing a proposal based on the samples, I began making some very large deals. Now, in my business, we don't have lots of regular clients. We generally do one-time projects and, to be sure, they're profitable. So I don't have to write many true proposals. I don't want or need lots of clients. But when I do have to write a proposal, I expect it to be the best I can come up with and offer the client a ton of value for his money --- not to mention a nice profit for me.

Here's what Alan says about the price of the book. "The book you're reading is an example of such value-based pricing. It is among my very best-selling books (I have published 21 as of this revised edition) despite it's higher-than-average price. I have a tough time keeping it in stock.

At various times, people will contact me and assume there's been an error. Typically, someone says, 'There's a typo in your catalog, because your proposal book is listed at $149 when it must really be $14.90.'"

He goes on to explain that one woman told him she never would buy a book that cost nearly a dollar a page. "Do you buy books based on weight and volume?" he asked her. "Or based on value and contribution to your life?"

Well, you get the point. If you buy this book, you're buying based on value. If the price scares you, you do not see the value. And that's really what value pricing is all about.

Since I began using value-based pricing I've never had a bad economic time. Weiss, despite being a Ph.D, is a good writer and his message is worth a ton of money. It is true that many of his books and revisions have many of the same messages in them, some are indeed verbatim from one book to another. But each book has great value on its own merit and information not found in the other books.

Highly recommended.

-- Susanna K. Hutcheson

Worth whatever the current going price is as you read this.

Good for you if you need a blueprint or a template for creating winning proposals for consulting assignments.

I would suggest that you use this along with information freely available from Perry Marshall.

I'm Alan Weiss, the author of this book. Beware: It's being sold for hundreds of dollars here by "resellers" and elsewhere, but is available for the normal retail price of $149 plus shipping from me on my web site, or from the publisher, Kennedy Information in Peterborough, NH. I have no idea why anyone would ask exorbitant prices for a book in print and readily available, nor why anyone would pay those amounts. I have nothing to do with these inflated prices.

Although I tend to find that most of the books in the "Ultimate" series have lot's of repetition, each is specific on its focus. It's difficult to dissociate the topics in his other books completely. For example, I find it quite normal for a discussion on proposals to also include a topic on fees or customer interaction. Alan Weiss has two seperate books on these specific examples. I recommend that you buy the entire series. Sure it's a few hundred bucks and you will find that in total about 50% of the content is repated elsewhere. But that's fine. It will only sink in better and what really counts is that on aggregate you get excellent value for your money.