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- why proposals don't sell (but offers do)
why proposals don't sell (but offers do)
How understanding offer psychology can transform your B2B proposals and significantly increase your close rates—without feeling "salesy"
I had an interesting realization recently about the connection between two worlds.
On one side, we have direct response marketers with their carefully structured offers, timelines, and guarantees (sometimes packaged in those ugly but high-converting sales pages). On the other, we have B2B peeps with our discovery calls, scoping sessions, and detailed proposals.
These approaches seemed fundamentally different to me, until I noticed something:
They're actually solving the same problem through different methods.
The direct response marketer explicitly creates and calls their solution an "offer." The B2B person often doesn't realize they're in the offer biz at all - they think they're just writing proposals.
But here's what fascinated me: When you look at the most successful B2B proposals through the lens of offer creation, you start seeing patterns that might transform how you approach your sales process.
In the direct response world, the term "offer" gets thrown around constantly, but it's rarely clearly defined. In this article, I'll break down what actually makes an offer work, how bizs can apply these principles to their proposals, and give you practical frameworks to create offers that close more deals.
what is an offer (really)?
An offer isn't your product or service. It's not your company credentials or case studies.
An offer is the complete package of transformation you're promising, with specific terms that reduce the buyer's risk and uncertainty.
Here's what makes up a true offer:
The end result you're promising (specific, not vague)
The timeline for achieving this result
The price and payment structure
Guarantees that protect the buyer
The process they'll experience
Think of your offer as the frame around the artwork.
The product is the art, but the frame (your offer) is what makes people stop, look, and ultimately decide to buy.
Not art
Art
Your product is the banana, your offer is the duct tape that makes the product something valuable.
examples of real offers vs. non-offers
Let me show you the difference:
Non-Offer: "We provide comprehensive digital marketing services to help businesses grow their online presence."
Real Offer: "We'll generate 50 qualified B2B leads for your SaaS business within 60 days using our proven LinkedIn outreach system. If we don't deliver, you don't pay. Investment: $5,000."
Non-Offer: "Our consulting services help companies optimize operations."
Real Offer: "We'll reduce your manufacturing costs by at least 12% within 90 days by implementing our 5-step process. The engagement costs $20,000, but we guarantee a minimum 2X ROI or we'll work for free until you reach it."
See the difference? The first examples describe services. The second examples present clear offers with specific outcomes, timelines, and risk-reversal mechanisms.
how generic services transform into specific offers
One mental model that's helped me is visualizing how generic services branch into specific offers:
Generic Service → Market Segments → Unique Situations → Specific Offers
Let me illustrate with an example:
Imagine you run a marketing agency with fairly generic capabilities. Here's how you'd break this down into specific offers:
Generic Service: Digital marketing agency services
Market Segments: Small business, mid-market, enterprise
Within Small Business Segment: Different industries (e-commerce, local service, SaaS)
Within E-commerce: Different situations (new store, plateaued growth, conversion issues)
Specific Offer for New E-commerce Store: "We'll build and launch your Shopify store with complete branding, product pages for up to 25 products, and your first three marketing automations within 21 days for $4,500. If we miss our deadline, each day late is $250 off your invoice."
This is how you transform a generic "we do everything for everyone" service into a specific, irresistible offer. Each offer addresses:
One specific type of client
In one specific situation
Needing one specific transformation
With specific terms and timelines
A true offer isn't trying to be all things to all people—it's laser-focused on delivering a particular outcome for a particular person in a particular situation.
how do you know you've created a real offer?
You know you've created a real offer when:
It speaks to a specific person with a specific problem
It promises a specific outcome in a specific timeframe
It has terms that reduce or eliminate the buyer's risk
The value so obviously exceeds the price that it feels almost unfair (in your favor)
It's difficult for competitors to match or replicate
When your "proposal" meets these criteria, it's no longer just information—it's an irresistible offer.
If you noticed, the recurring keyword here…
SPECIFIC
The perceived value of your offer isn't just about price vs. deliverables. It's more complex and psychological.
Here's the formula I've come to understand from Hormozi’s $100M offers book:
Perceived Value = (Desired Outcome × Likelihood of Achievement) ÷ (Time Delay × Effort & Sacrifice)
Let's break this down:
Desired Outcome: How badly they want what you're promising
Likelihood of Achievement: How certain they feel they'll get it
Time Delay: How long they have to wait for results
Effort & Sacrifice: What they have to give up or do to get it (can be energy, time, and financial)
This means you can dramatically increase your offer's perceived value by:
Increasing the likelihood of achievement through guarantees, social proof, and risk reversal
Decreasing time delay by offering faster results or quick wins
Reducing required effort by making implementation easier or doing more of the work for them
Enhancing the desired outcome by adding bonuses that amplify the main benefit
The best offers manipulate this equation in the buyer's favor, making the value so obvious that saying "no" feels like leaving money on the table.
the B2B sales process as sophisticated offer creation
Think about your typical B2B sales process:
Discovery call (understanding the client's problem)
Scoping (figuring out what they really need)
Proposal (packaging your solution)
I've come to see this process not as separate from offer creation, but as perhaps the most sophisticated form of it. You're taking the time to deeply understand before crafting a highly personalized offer.
There's an interesting difference in approach here:
Direct response marketers typically build their offer first then put it out online for the world to see (while testing and refining it through feedback loops).
B2B bizs build custom offers through the sales process, tailoring each one based on discoveries from prospect interactions. They create many times, each for a specific situation.
Neither approach is inherently better—they're just optimized for different contexts. Direct response works when you have a standardized solution for a common problem. The B2B approach works when solutions need significant customization.
It's worth noting that in B2B proposals, you don't necessarily need to state your offer in the direct-response style of "Get X Result in Y Time for Z Price, Guaranteed." The elements of your offer can be woven throughout different sections of your proposal—timeline in one place, specifics of deliverables in another, guarantees in yet another.
What matters is that all the elements are present somewhere, even if they're not packaged into a single bold statement. It's a stylistic choice that often makes more sense in sophisticated B2B contexts where an overtly "salesy" approach might feel inappropriate.
Where B2B proposals sometimes miss opportunities is when they focus primarily on:
Company credentials and history
Generic service descriptions
Vague outcome possibilities
Standard terms without guarantees
Pricing without clear value justification
The most effective B2B closers I think are those who transform their proposals into compelling offers—they're not just selling their services but delivering certainty of specific outcomes.
deep research: the foundation of irresistible offers
Here's something I've realized: The difference between an average offer and an irresistible one often comes down to the depth of your research.
Surface-level understanding creates surface-level offers. But when you truly dig into someone's situation, you can create an offer that feels like mind-reading.
Great research isn't just about identifying problems—it's about:
Understanding the entire journey that led to these problems
Uncovering what solutions they've tried before and why those failed
Identifying the real consequences of inaction (what happens if they don't solve this)
Discovering their underlying assumptions and beliefs about why the problem exists
Determining what frame of reference would make your solution the obvious answer
This is why discovery and scoping are so crucial. The sales process isn't about persuading or impressing—it's about investigating, understanding, and diagnosing the root causes of their challenges.
When you have enough qualitative data, you can craft an offer so perfectly aligned with their situation that it requires minimal persuasion. The offer itself does the selling.
Remember: Offer > Copy. The best sales copy in the world can't save a mediocre offer, but a truly great offer almost sells itself.
your product is not your offer
Another critical distinction I've come to understand: Your product or service is not your offer.
Your product is merely the mechanism that delivers on the promise of your offer. It's the vehicle, not the destination.
An offer might include:
Your core product/service
Additional products/services that enhance the main solution
Special terms of delivery
Implementation support
Guarantees and risk-reversal mechanisms
Timeline commitments
Sometimes the strongest offers combine multiple products or services into a "stack" that addresses the complete journey from problem to solution.
why some b2b proposals connect better than others
When a proposal doesn't fully resonate, it might be because it reads more like a capabilities brochure than a tailored offer. It's essentially saying:
"Here's what we do. Here's how much it costs. Want to work with us?"
By contrast, proposals with higher close rates tend to articulate:
"Based on what you've told us, here's exactly what you'll get, when you'll get it, how we'll ensure you get it, and what investment is required."
That subtle shift in framing can make all the difference.
how to transform your proposals into irresistible offers
Here's how to apply direct response principles to your B2B sales process:
Get hyper-specific about outcomes: "We'll increase your qualified pipeline by 35% within 90 days" beats "We help companies grow their pipeline"
Include concrete guarantees: What happens if you don't deliver? The strongest B2B players aren't afraid to put skin in the game.
Address the value equation: Make explicit how your solution affects:
Perceived likelihood of achievement
Time to results
Effort required on their part
Satisfaction level they'll experience
Niche down per proposal: Don't send the same deck to different prospects. Each proposal should feel like it was built for that specific client's situation.
Focus on transformation, not services: Nobody cares about your "comprehensive digital marketing suite"—they care about going from where they are to where they want to be.
the godfather principle
Remember that famous line? "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse."
That's not about forcing someone's hand—it's about making the choice so obviously beneficial that saying no would be irrational.
When your proposal clearly articulates:
Exactly what the client will get
When they'll get it
What happens if they don't
For exactly what investment
...you've crafted an offer, not just a proposal.
the website problem
This realization extends beyond proposals. Your website might also benefit from an offer-centric approach.
B2B websites often feature vague statements like "We help innovative companies transform their potential" while keeping actual offers hidden until after weeks of sales calls.
For established brands, this works perfectly well. For others, this could potentially be limiting your opportunities.
As such, consider creating targeted landing pages with specific offers for specific segments—even if they're not linked from your main site.
Being specific to one person, with one problem, with one clear transformation, doesn't limit your biz—it can dramatically increase the number of new leads, quality of leads, and your overall close rate.
Look, I get why B2B companies want to keep their websites generic. (In fact, I even do this for my own websites though I’d create sub landing pages for offers). It's a strategic choice that makes sense in many contexts, especially if you serve multiple markets or offer highly customized solutions.
That's fine—just understand the tradeoffs.
If you prefer to build your offers on the backend through your sales process, that's a valid approach. But if you're struggling with lead generation from your website or digital marketing efforts, you might need to bring at least part of your offer to the front.
This is where frontend offers come into play. These are essentially smaller pieces of your core offer brought forward with minimal risk or commitment—just enough to get people to engage. They're particularly effective for cold traffic who aren't ready to jump into your full sales process.
Think of it as a "micro-offer" that demonstrates value while reducing the commitment barrier. It could be:
A free assessment that delivers actual value
A low-cost workshop that solves one specific problem
A diagnostic tool that helps them understand their situation better
The strategy of frontend offers is a topic for another essay, but it's worth considering if your current approach isn't generating enough quality conversations.
final thought
The next time you sit down to create a "proposal," stop and reframe:
"I'm creating an offer for this specific client based on the exact problems I've uncovered."
Do this, and watch your close rates transform.
People aren't buying your services. They're buying offers.
And the best offer always wins.
P.S. While I've differentiated between direct response marketing and B2B throughout this article, they're not mutually exclusive categories. Direct response is an approach, while B2B is a market context. This article itself demonstrates how direct response principles can be effectively applied in B2B settings.
A quick caveat: The ideas shared here are based on marketing principles that might not be directly applicable to every context. Don't be an idiot and take this as gospel or a guaranteed formula for success. Instead, understand the core concepts, then apply them to the nuances of your specific situation, industry, and biz. Most of these ideas aren't originally mine—I've learned them from experts much smarter than me, then validated them through real-world implementation and testing. Your results may vary, but the principles are sound.
If you want to read further into offer creation, a good comprehensive intro would of course be Alex Hormorzi’s “$100M Offers”.