19: Red Carpet Experience: Preparing for the Proposal

In today's episode, Nikisha is continuing the Red Carpet Experience on preparing for the proposal.

In this episode, you will learn the following:

• How to create a proposal template.
• How to guide your potential client through the proposal and agreement.
• How to get your potential clients to say yes within 24 hours.

Remember, the proposal call or process is key to getting the sell and is a necessary component in helping you business grow.

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Transcript

19: Red Carpet Experience: Preparing for the Proposal

You're listening to Nikisha King Podcast, leading her way, episode 19. Do you have a dream or a mission or a fire that has ignited inside of you to create an amazing business that can grow and scale, but at the same time, you don't want to sacrifice your life, your family, relationships, or values in building this dream.

If this is you, welcome to the Nikisha King Podcast.

Hello, gorgeous, and welcome to Leading Her Way podcast. I'm your host, Nikisha King, and I am so excited for the red carpet experience. This is such a valuable series that allows you and other service based professionals to gain a different outlook on your lead process, a different outlook on building trust with your potential clients.

Thanks So much trust that when you get on that call, they're ready to hire you because you're doing something different and in sharing this information with you at first, I'm going to challenge your mainframe, your brain, the way you think, and you're going to be like, Oh my God, I couldn't do any of this.

But then there's going to be a moment in time when you're going to go, what if this was possible? And then when you do that, you're going to open up the ability to try it. And you're going to have a lot of points where it might be friction, fear, scared, but something inside of you will keep pushing you.

And then you're going to get it because one day it's just going to click. And then you're going to see the power it has. And it's an amazing, amazing power. So I'm so happy to be offering you this red carpet experience. It's a lot of fun. And it's so many great gold nuggets in it so you can listen to the series and you can take what you need and apply it and make it small and simple.

What I mean by that is take one thing, put it into your amazing abilities and then try it. But don't take a whole episode and try everything at once. Start small. And as you start, you will improve. It's just the way life is. We start on our journey. It's like a snowball effect. You start small and it keeps going and going and it gets bigger and bigger.

So that is what the Red Carpet Experience series is about. Giving you immense value in your lead process to help you make money by booking more clients easily. So in today's Red Carpet Experience, we're talking about preparing for your proposal call. The last podcast was preparing for your consultation.

And if your person went, yes, There's two things you would have done. One, send them a proposal, or two, have a proposal call to review it with them. And actually a third thing, send them a video. Depends on your comfort. I enjoy speaking to people, therefore, I do proposal meetings. Someone else may not enjoy speaking to people, but they might do a video because that keeps it personable and they still can engage.

Someone might just send it to them because they don't want to do any of that. But when you don't create a personal, you become like everyone else who does that, send proposals. So remember, stand out, find ways to be different, and show your value proposition, how you can be of great service. So, getting prepared for your proposal meeting.

For me, I'm going to speak on this because this is what I do. This is what helps me put clients on the call. So I'm going to share this knowledge with you. I usually have, again, a guide that will guide me through my proposal meeting. So it's an agenda. It's a guide. It can be called a script, but there is something that has questions, bullet points, what I'm speaking on.

Proposal meeting is pretty much me going over everything the client or the potential client desired in our consultation call and showing them how that affects their investment in this service. So we have that guide. I also create a template, a proposal template. I have one in my system. It has the base for everything.

I want to speak about that. That is so important. To agreement, the contract, I create a bullet point and I kind of use that to guide what I'm telling them, what I'm showing them. So I go through the agreement and then what's next, what's the little cherry on the cake that I add so that they can book within 24 hours or less.

And the date that I. Give them that they have until they book and what happens if they don't and what happens if they do. I love a seamless process. And that's what I love creating for my potential clients and my clients. So in preparing for your proposal call, let's start with. The template, your proposal template.

So many novice entrepreneurs would tell me, my business is so custom, I don't have the ability to create a template. And they truly, truly believe this is a fact when there are so many other entrepreneurs in their area of expertise who definitely have a proposal template. So therefore, it's not a fact.

It's a thought that you're having, and it's not really true. So if it's not really true, that means there's room for something else. So why are you not open to that something else? Why are you not open to the possibilities? Think about it in a way that's different. What happened if I can't create a proposal template?

Yeah, well, the question you ask next is how? And that's what I'm going to share with you here. The how is think about the foundational pieces you need to create the magic you do. In my example, as a graphic design agency, we usually do invitations. I usually do save the dates and I usually do the events branding.

So I have a base in order for me to do a save the date, it'll be electronic file. So there's a file or paper. So there's one card that I print on and an envelope. That is my base, and I print. If I print, that is my base. My invitation, the base is a five piece suite that has your invitation, your envelope, your RSVP, your RSVP envelope, or a QR code card.

They're one or the other. And then I have a detail card. This is how you get to the website. This is the detail card. So, that is my 5 piece suite. Sometimes people are having an event in two different locations. Ceremony at a church, wedding reception at a venue, a catering hall, or an estate. When that comes into play, we add a reception card, but that's an add on.

That's not in my base. Get it? Same thing for the base for the day of stationary. menu, table number, escort card, place card, all of those things that you're required and need, that becomes the base. That is how I build my base. So if you're an event planner, you have design planning management or design production management.

There's things you have to do. You have to get a whole bunch of creative partners together, right? You have to design the look of this event based on your client's personality, right? However, that may fluctuate every client. But your base is the fact that you are designing, you are planning and producing, you are going to be there the day of the event, manage everything.

Your base may start at 35K for that time. And yes, I work with planners who have a base or their minimum is 35K. Some of them charge 35K for design and then 18% on production. So everything they're managing in regards to the creative partners, they're paying 80, 18% on that job. Yes. All possible if you're not doing that and you're a planner and you're hearing these numbers from me, all possibilities for you.

You just have to make the choice. To see the possibility, then your mind works to putting it in play. You don't think it's that simple, but if you speak to me long enough, I can help you. That's why I'm a certified coach. I love this game. This game is one of the best games to play business. It's fun. It's amazing.

You can see things just unfold when you decide to see them. Right now I have my base proposal. What I usually do is whatever the client told me in our consultation, I update or add. So I keep my base, but I have add on options. So if they want to do embossing, that's an add on option. If they would like a custom illustration, that's an add on option in my CMS client management system.

I use, I have the ability to go, we're going to add some things on, I put it in and it has the price. Then it, when my client sees this, their client is an add button right next to it, they can press it and it adds it to the proposal and shows them the new number. How amazing is that? No, I do not send a PDF.

No, if we have to make changes, I don't have to like take another day to add something, take it out. My clients have the power to do that. I give them the power to make decisions. I'm not here to make it for them. Just like I'm not here to make decisions for you. I empower them by giving them all of the information.

In their proposal, the add ons, and they go, you know what, this, this works. We can afford this. Add, add, and add. And when I do that, they book and I'm paid more than my minimum. This is why my clients on average spend around 15K, because they tend to have it and they tend to desire a full service experience.

So now that I have that proposal and I add on the features they like. Okay. We review that. I inform them of the add ons. I show them how it works on the proposal call. So I show them how to add it and I show them how to remove it. And they're like, Oh, okay, perfect. Then I take them to the agreement and go, okay, in the agreement, we are going to work on these 10 points and, or something, whatever.

I kind of run through with them and I go, okay. One, in the agreement, I, uh, I tell them how we're serving them. So what, what are we doing, right? Printing, production, management. I tell them if they want any additional services while we're working together, that is an open option. They are welcome to say, Nikisha, we thought about this and we want to kind of add it back because maybe they didn't accept it in the proposal.

I go, no problem. I send them a new, like a new invoice or booked, um, a sales order and they just pay it and that's it. Keep it simple. Thank Just because they're not sure in the beginning of the proposal doesn't mean that they don't have a chance to change their mind. They do, and I'm happy to.

Communication, I tell them how we're communicating, email, our project management, whichever works best, I tell them our hours. A lot of people complain about, Oh my god, they keep texting me at midnight and this and that. If you create that for them and you told them in your agreement that's okay, great, that works.

Well, for me, I work Monday through Thursday and I work from 10 to 6, so I'm limited on mine. And I tell them that. And Fridays I'm not in, but my assistant is in and she helps. But I, I'm not in on Friday because I'm working on things for myself to get better at serving my clients. I tell them about confidentiality and exclusivity.

Yes. When they hire us, we're the only one. They're not having a second party doing what we do. I tell them their responsibility, how to respond, how to show up, how, how many days without, you know, they just can't go silent if they do, that's going to put their project at risk. So I do inform them of that. I informed them about changes.

Quantity changes, you can change anything if you go, but I told my minimum, even if you get one is still 8, 995 so they know that we also have that minimum and it's always in place. So I usually explain that because when you read it in agreement, you might get confused. People think when they decrease quantity in the printing world, that means the price go down.

I tell them usually the price goes up. It's just easier for us to print more than less. So I'm very clear on that. I tell them my design terms, revisions does not mean changing a design. It means updating the wording, changing, uh, maybe a color of the wording. So I clearly express that on the agreement and our printing terms, delivery, payments, how it works, the payment schedule.

That is what I do on this meeting. This is why it's so good because when you give people information, you make it clear They get confident in their choice. I promise you no one else does what I do. And if they do, maybe 10 to 20 percent of people do that, but they always think everyone should rate the agreement on their own.

And that's fine if you think that way, but understand. If you are expecting that and you notice your conversion rates are not high, I think if you add this on, you'll see how this can change everything. This is what I added on and it has been a game changer for me. I've never had the experience where people were like, Okay, okay, Nikisha, how much, where's the, how do I pay you?

And I'm like, Oh my God, you're amazing. So, that is usually the experience I have. Now, here's another trick I'm going to teach you. In my proposal, another trick from my sales group, I learned about a signing gift. What is a signing gift? Some people call it a signing bonus. If you work in corporate America, you know what that is or work in corporate America.

When you were up for a job opportunity and they wanted you to sign, they'll give you a bonus, a certain amount of money for you to come on. And that usually happens with higher management, C suite levels, and it's a signing bonus. So here I do a signing gift. I'm a graphic designer, so in my invitations, thank you cards are my signing gift.

What I do is I definitely list it. I list it for the price that it's worth and the value. I don't just tell people I'm giving them, it's in the proposal. And then what happens, I then have a credit. I don't discount. I don't say coupon. I don't say. Any of those words, I don't like those words, just like budget.

I don't use that. I use investment. So what I usually do is have a credit and it's called a signing gift. And it says, as a client of ours, we would love to gift you a gift, like a signing gift. And it will be a credit towards your thank you cards. And it gives the negative balance of how much the value is for the thank you card.

So it zeroes out and it's a 24 hour opportunity. That means if they book within 24 hours and yes, people can make decisions that quick. I promise you when someone says no to you, they made a decision in a minute. They can say they can make the same yes in a minute. So that 24 hour opportunity, that signing gift.

is removed after 24 hours. So if we have a call at 4 p. m. and we end at 4. 30, 4. 30 the next day, that sign in GIF is removed. It's gone. And it doesn't come back. I'm good with that. No, thank you. It's not available anymore. My system removes it. I'm not able to add it back on. This is a total game changer.

game changer. You don't have to believe it, but you only can try it and see what happens. I tried it and it works really well and people who pass on it, it's completely okay. They still sign up. They still say, yes, they just don't get that. And it's fine for them because they don't need it. And that is okay with me, but the people who get the value of that, they love it for you.

We can find ways to give a signing gift because everyone planners usually feel like, well, what can I give? Can I book something for them? It doesn't feel like a signing gift. This is why in the consultation, it's important to have people talk more than you because you're going to hear it. They're going to be looking for something that they're not getting from others.

That is your opportunity. If that item is a low cost item, if it's just something of a service, you can create it as a signing gift so they can snatch that up and pay you over 35k. Right? Like it's so small in comparison. Thank you cards are for that or that for us. It's a low cost. So we are happy to give that as a signing gift.

So, that's something I wanted to share with you. Now we have the template for the proposal. We review the proposal with them. We add the add ons. We add our sign in gift. We then show them our agreement. We pull out all the important points that we want them to be mindful of. Then we show them the payment schedule.

And now, your client can either say yes on the call with you, pay the retainer to hire you if it's 50%, if it's a cash value, whatever your retainer is. It's non refundable. This is what helps you start your day or start the project. And then that's an opportunity that they said yes, or they're saying we need to think about it here.

What are you going to do? You're going to set a term. You have one term, your 24 hour gift. Now on the proposal, I set a three day time limit. So they have three days to decide. Yes, they can decide that quick. You can make it three, you can make it five days, or you can make it seven. I ask you not to leave it open.

Please put an expiration date on it. When you leave things open, you're teaching your potential client how you work. Then when it comes time for you getting answers and responses, they're going to treat it the same way. If you don't put a due date, a request of time to get it done, oh, you're experienced with this potential client, aka becomes your client, you're going to be on the Facebook group going, let me vent.

You're going to be on Instagram venting. You're going to be telling the experience about this and that. If you love that experience, then have it, have at it. But if you truly, like, I don't want to deal with any more clients like that, put an expiration date on your proposal, 3, up to you. I do 3. After I'll call, I send them, they have it already, and they know that, but I just send an overall review of our call.

Telling them these are the bullet points and that is it. They have this Monday, so it expires on this day. And what I do is I remind them of the 24 hour signing gift. The next morning, I remind them their signing gift is expiring today, so they get that email. Then the next day, their proposal will expire the day next day.

And the morning of when the proposal expires, I send them a reminder. All of those reminders, if they don't book, they don't, they don't want to book. They don't want to make a decision. They don't want to work with us. And it's okay. It is truly okay. I love when people are sure they don't want to work with us because they won't take that energy from us.

And we can invest that energy into someone else who's truly looking forward to working with us. So, that's what happens in the next step and that's pretty much it. This is how I prepare for my proposal call and I complete my proposal call. It is one of the things, and it's 30 minutes, so with you it sounds a little bit longer but it's 30 minutes.

The proposal template, I create that. It's done. I create that before the call, right? And I have my guide. So it just guides me through my call, my script. Then I run through the proposal with them, my base, the add ons, show them how to add it on. I then show them their agreement and I bullet point the areas that's important.

Then I pretty much allow them to book. 24 hours by giving a signing gift. They can book right on the call with me if they want and pay the retainer, or they have three days to make a decision and book. And if they choose not to book, I don't say get out of here. I just say, thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for allowing me to be able to serve you in the time that we've met. And if you would like to continue or possibly Come back or inquire later. You're more than welcome to. However, this proposal might not be available or our, that date won't be available on our calendar because once proposal expires, the ability for them to have that event date is also terminated.

And that, that date's no longer open. So if someone else comes in, I'm not able to accommodate them any longer and it's okay. But I let them know that just in case they do come back. This is it. This is what my proposal call look like. It's for me a simple, but I've been practicing it for a year or two. So it's simple.

You hearing it might be like, Oh my God, this is a lot. And if you feel that way, come on, talk to me. Just start small and simple. Talk to me on Instagram, DM me, anything you want. I'm building a community called NK Focus Formula and this is where I'm going to show up live and workshop this. This is where I'm going to be able to coach people.

This is where I'm going to be able to give more value to so many more people. And I love the fact that this is an opportunity for you. To actually grow in your business and make more money by me just sharing how I've taken 14 years and turned it into these mini courses. We are here to help you. And it's not easy, but usually it's not easy because you're thinking it's not easy, but my coaching allows you to open up your mind for possibilities, see things differently and have the ability to start something small and simple and it evolves into something you desire.

And I always go, why not? That's what I ask myself when I'm working on projects, and I feel maybe like, oh my goodness. My mini course is a mini course, and I make it mini because it's biteable. It's like you can actually consume it and not feel overwhelmed by it. But I do this because I know how that overwhelming feeling is.

Am I capable? Can I do this? Will I get it right? Is it going to be perfect? Oh my God. I get it. But you don't have to get an A plus the first time you try. B minus works really well. And then you get better and you work your way to the A And here's the thing, the A plus doesn't really matter. It's the journey from the B minus to the A plus that makes the experience amazing.

Because once you achieve it, you're going to be like, Oh, okay, what's next? You're doing that because you've achieved it, the A and that usually doesn't matter. The feelings, the way you overcame the journey is what really matters. It's the journey. It's never the outcome. And I had to learn that. And when I learned that, my world was totally changed.

But it's a process. Everything I do is a process. This podcast is a process. When I started, I, I, I made decisions and I was like, no, I don't like this. And I changed it because I can. And now when I listen to my own podcast, I'm like, this is so good. Like I enjoy it. I truly do enjoy my podcast. And I like that because then when I enjoy it, I know you're enjoying it.

So once again, thank you for joining me on today's episode of the red carpet experience, preparing for a proposal call. Thank you for allowing me to speak to you and thank you for your time. I appreciate it. And here's a couple things I'm going to ask. One, definitely hit the follow button. The more people I get following me, the more I can keep doing and giving.

And I don't do it any ads, any commercials. I do it truly just to be here with you and help you. And I don't want to add anything to it. I just love being here. So hit that follow button. Second. If you're listening to this at the moment it's published, join me for the Bookmore Wedding Summit. If you're a wedding professional or a service based professional, you will definitely gain so much knowledge from all of the presenters in this summit.

Definitely sign up for a free ticket. The link is in the show notes and join us. And this definitely will help you get access to the Red Carpet Experience mini course. Thank you so much for your time and have an amazing day. Hold on. Before you go, I have a free gift for you. Join me from August 21st to the 25th for the book More Wedding Summit.

It's tailored for wedding professionals, but all service professionals will benefit from this free conference. It's a five day online conference. You don't have to leave your office, and I'm doing a. Presentation on getting unstuck in the sales process. You will also have access to our private Facebook group where you and I get to speak and you can ask me all your questions.

Stop overthinking it and register now for this free conference on August 21st. Put it on your calendar. The links in the show notes, and I'm excited to meet you there.

Thanks for spending time with me today. And if you received an aha moment in today's episode, hit the follow button and share a review. But more importantly, if you have a friend who will truly benefit from today's episode, click the three dots and share this link. The attacks. You never know how this small action can help someone tremendously.

See you next Tuesday and have an amazing day.19: Red Carpet Experience: Preparing for the Proposal