I am about to write a proposal to potential clients. Honestly, it is pretty painfully to write up a proposal for every client because they have different needs. It takes a lot of my time.
My friend suggested that I should write evaluations instead of proposals. A project evaluation as I heard explains how we do it and eliminate the guess work that can turn document into living development process.
If you think evaluation is a way to go to deal with new clients, but question is, should I charge for it or do it for free?
I am looking forward to hear your opinion on this.
This is an interesting article on that topic that I’ve had in my Pocket for a bit. Also, while generally in favor of evaluations, it has an interesting bit about when the author feels they’re not appropriate:
When a project is familiar, and doesn’t require an evaluation (or fits within the scope of an existing type of evaluation), we give an informal, direct estimate along with a scope of the work. Small to mid-sized Web design projects typically fall into this category. While the content and design are new, the process isn’t. The key here is the experience and confidence in your abilities (and the abilities of your team) that the work will get done within budget to the expected delight of all parties involved.
Apologies if this comes across as opinionated, because it probably is, although no offense is intended.
If I were running a sale organization, I would outright forbid the team to write proposals of respond to RFPs. Why? Doing so is simply an exercise to reduce the value of what you are offering to the lowest price.
If you deliver value which differentiates you from your competition, then the price is the price.
I do like your idea of writing an evaluation or an initial assessment/project and of course, would agree that it should be paid. If you have understood your client’s needs, then this should lead to subsequent and higher value business and will differentiate you from those who simply seek to compete on price.