“The more you are willing to accept responsibility for your actions, the more credibility you will have.” Brian Koslow

There will always be competition, you will hence need to establish credibility in your proposal to the client, which will highlight your strenghts as well as, why they should choose your firm. This is a challenge,  because as young startups there is usually not too much experience or a big client list to vouch for you. If there is a prior client you should definitely add their testimonials or appraisals of your service in your proposal. If you have worked previously in that particular industry, that work must be highlighted.

In your proposals, build on your team as much as possible. Include all possible and valid information about your team, in particular their specific domain knowledge, to provide the client with enough data to swing the contract. In this section you should add any industry advisors who may be your mentors or your corporate investors, with their permission. This will add credibility and establish a comfort level in clients.

Just remember this entire proposal is geared to answering the question, “why should I choose you?”. This is a section where copy pasting your profile is not recommended, rather, you should be building on it to help establish a level of trust and credibility in areas specific to your clients needs and requirements. This is where you should direct the clients focus to concentrate on your company and help set it apart from the pack. This section is way too valuable to rely on copy pasting .

Customer lists and references are built gradually, they do however have to start, somewhere. If you are still looking for that elusive first contract make sure your pitches are aligned, focused, competitive and credible to make the selling process easier. Just keep plugging in there with your head held high, I have no doubt  you will succeed with that particular valuable proposition.