7-Second Thoughts May 9, 2024

Please be kind – not nice

In a proposal, clarity and firm boundaries are an act of kindness.

A reader of the daily wrote in to talk about some interesting feedback she got from one of her proposals

Her client absolutely loved the work she did for him

She stages houses for real estate listings

He wrote her a very nice referral

And gushed about her to his real estate agent 

The very agent that referred her

But after it was all said and done

The client offered what he thought was helpful feedback:

You know, you might want to rethink your proposal. It was very firm. You listed a lot of rules and stipulations. And to be honest, I was a little nervous about meeting you. I actually thought you might be kind of mean. But of course when I met you, you were the nicest person I’ve ever met!

So naturally, the stager wondered:

Should I make my proposal a little nicer?

My response:

You got the sale.

A killer review

And nothing but nice things were said back to the agent that referred you. 

Here’s the thing:

The only way her client could have given her feedback in the first place – negative or otherwise – was if he had read it. 

Objective #1 is for your proposal to simply be read

The vast majority or proposals are not

Objective #2 is that it must be clear enough for your prospect to decide if they would like to buy from you

Objective #3 is for them to reply

My 2 cents:

Don’t change one word

Please.

I’m here,

Kevin

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