How Modern Proposals Close More Sales Faster for Landscape Contractors & Pool Builders
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The Content Team,
HALSTEAD.
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If your landscaping or pool building business is using generic text-based estimates while trying to close sales rather than interactive, digital sales proposals with visual appeal, you're leaving money on the table. 58% of customers indicate that emerging technologies influence their expectations of companies, and considering that 67% of customers say how a company uses technology reflects how it operates in general, using an estimate that simply lists pricing won’t cut it anymore—whether it’s digital or not. Consumers expect more, but most green industry companies still rely on outdated methods, leaving an opportunity for innovative companies to stand out from the competition.
Landscapers and pool professionals often believe they need industry-specific all-in-one software for creating sales proposals. While we at HALSTEAD believe that most marketing efforts should utilize industry-specific services, this is one area where it isn’t necessary. All-in-one business management software (such as Aspire, LMN, Arborgold, and Buildertrend) is useful for reporting purposes—knowing the analytics and numbers is essential—but their generic proposals are more suitable as bids or estimates, not for closing sales.
While bids, quotes, and estimates focus solely on pricing, proposals provide highly detailed information in an engaging and aesthetically pleasing format to build credibility during the sales process. With content overload in the digital world, businesses need exceptional sales proposals if they want to close more sales faster.
Why Creating Proposals in All-In-One Software Is Costing Landscapers and Pool Builders Sales
Many people in the industry see the creation of a winning proposal as an agonizing task, especially because the longer it takes to get a sales proposal to a ready-to-buy prospect, the less likely you will close the sale. So how do you create a winning proposal and do it quickly?
Software like Proposify makes it possible to develop branded proposals that implement well into the sales process workflow and positively impact sales—it’s a great sales closing tool to use in addition to all-in-one software. Most of the time, 80% of the information within a sales proposal will stay the same, and only 20% needs to be changed. Proposify makes this quick and easy, resulting in saved time and money.
Proposify has found that the closing rate for proposals that landscapers send through the software is 200% higher than the industry average. This impressive statistic demonstrates that digital proposals are highly effective, and not using them will result in lost sales.
How Proposal Software Technology Improves the Landscape and Pool Sales Process
Technology has changed the customer journey, and thriving landscape and pool businesses have adapted their marketing and sales processes to accommodate. With 92% of consumers saying they’re more likely to trust an environmentally conscious brand, digital proposals are an eco-friendly option that benefits your business in more ways than one—and you’re likely already using them. Now it’s time to make them even better.
Automation Capabilities That Save Time & Money
While the digital proposal makes it easy for a prospect to imagine what it would be like to have that luxurious poolscape with the modern, minimalistic look they love, the automated follow-up sequences keep it top of mind. The result is a close rate that’s 49.6% higher than those without automated reminders.
When your sales team uses proposal software, it automates repetitive tasks to create a more efficient workflow. Successful firms exceed customer expectations with visually pleasing, engaging, and concise digital proposals that draw the prospective customer in, using various software systems integrated into the process.
API Integrations Streamline Your Sales Process
Custom fields and variables auto-populate with accurate details available through API integrations with your customer relationship management system, such as Salesforce or Hubspot. This eliminates the manual work of typing in contact information and streamlines the process. If additional customer information is needed, digital proposal software allows you to share these administrative tasks with the prospect using forms, resulting in a 119.4% higher close rate that is 26% faster.
API integration with Stripe expedites the payment process and closes sales faster. Proposals with interactive pricing, such as a fee table, have 35.8% higher closing rates. Those who secure payment within the proposal have a 36.5% higher closing rate than those who don’t.
Analytics Provide Valuable Insight
Easy access to insightful analytics is invaluable. With Proposify’s deal dashboard, you can see what’s happening throughout the sales pipeline to eliminate anything holding up sales. You’ll be able to view a live activity feed where you can see exactly how long a prospect viewed the proposal, how many times, and what actions they’ve taken—such as if they forwarded it to a business partner. Proposify data shows that there are an average of seven views before closing. You can use this information to follow up at the right time when the average prospect will be ready to close.
Easy to Use Templates Save Time
Imagine a consistent and predictable closing process. Instead of stressing over creating a proposal, you can use pre-made templates that make life easier. You can use different templates for various services, projects, and customers, so minimal work is needed each time. Templates are professionally designed and are 100% customizable, allowing you to create impressive branded digital proposals that improve the bottom line.
Online Accessibility Helps You Provide Attentive Service
Accessing your sales proposals on your smartphone while sitting in your truck is convenient and allows you to change a proposal immediately. Whether you need to make changes to fix a typo or are in the negotiation process, convenient accessibility makes being able to make changes quick and easy and results in happy customers.
How to Boost Your Closing Rate with These Winning Digital Proposal Strategies
Your priority is appealing to how your solution can benefit the key decision-maker and solve their problem. How you do that varies, but Proposify’s data indicates several components will boost closing rates.
Content: Professional Photography, Videography, and Writing
There’s no comparison with professionally produced content. Photos of your commercial maintenance account properties that showcase the perfectly manicured and vibrantly green lawn or the plantings full of colorful blooms help the property manager imagine the possibilities and increase landscaping proposal close rates by 72% and the speed by 20%.
Professional videography with client testimonials serves as social proof that helps establish trust. Drone videos that showcase the beautiful outdoor living spaces that your team has created are also effective. 38.4% of winning proposals include a video, increase engagement by 56%, and help close deals 26% faster.
Every written word counts and helps you prove that you understand the prospect’s goals and challenges. Top firms pay attention to the details of their proposal, but breaking down the project into deliverables and timelines helps answer potential questions your prospects may have.
The content needs to be concise, persuasive, and arranged logically. Digital proposals with the highest closing rate have an average of 16 pages and about 10 sections, while those with the lowest closing rate have about 18 pages and 10 sections. There’s a fine line between providing detailed information and content overwhelm, which is why many landscape contractors and pool builders rely on professional content creators for these tasks.
E-Signatures Increase Your Closing Rates
Digital proposals with e-signatures assigned to both signees and prospects increase close rates by 426% compared to documents with no e-signatures. They close 35% faster, and data shows that 30% of Proposify digital proposals are signed by the prospect within 11 minutes of receipt. Negotiation can lead to higher closing rates even if it isn’t signed that quickly.
Willingness to Negotiate
Winning your next landscaping or pool contract could come down to your willingness to negotiate, and making changes to your digital proposal is easy. When a proposal is sent four times, it is 123% more likely to close, so be willing to negotiate the various sections of your proposal, such as project details, timelines, or even pricing, as you see fit.
Must-Have Sales Proposal Sections
Most successful proposals follow a similar format and include at least seven must-have sections.
Cover Page: The cover page should include important information such as your contact information, the prospect's name, and the date. It should be visually pleasing and may include professional photos.
Executive Summary: The executive summary section is a concise summary of the prospect’s problem and a high-level description of the solutions that you are proposing. You can think of this as your “elevator pitch.”
Approach/Solution: In this section, you can go into more detail about your landscape or pool-building business's solutions. Include personalized and prospect-specific information so that it doesn’t seem like a generic proposal you provide to every prospect.
About Us/Our Team: This section allows you to show personality that helps build your professional relationship. It’s a great place to highlight your team’s awards, achievements, and certifications. You can include personal information about the project manager working on the account or project or even information about the company's owner.
Deliverables: The deliverables section is where you will include a timeline of the services that you will provide. Be clear about what your prospect will be getting. Make sure there is no project scope confusion.
Pricing: People appreciate transparency with pricing. You can include interactive pricing features so the prospect can determine what level of services will fit within their budget.
Terms and Conditions/Sign Off: Keep it simple. You will want to include payment terms, proposed completion dates, copyright information, cancellation policy, and other legal information.
Case Studies: Your case studies may feature videos with client testimonials, gorgeous photos of poolscapes and landscapes that you’ve designed and built, and excerpts from online reviews.