Hot take: that advice to start every proposal with a 'problem statement' is overrated

A guy on LinkedIn named Marcus kept saying you gotta lead with the client's pain point or they won't even read the rest. I tried it for two months and my response rate actually dropped by 30%. Found out my clients just want to see the price and timeline upfront, not a paragraph about how they're struggling. Has anyone else ignored the standard advice and gotten better results?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_torres703d ago

That Marcus guy sounds like he means well but sometimes these LinkedIn gurus just repeat stuff that works for their industry. My buddy runs a landscaping company and he stopped doing the whole problem statement thing too, just sends a price list and photos of his work and his clients love it. People are different you know, some want to read the emotional stuff but others just want to skip to the bottom line. In my experience the standard advice works for about half the people and the other half need to do the opposite.

anthony_jackson313d ago

So are we saying the whole "know your audience" thing is actually more important than any sales formula? Feels like most people already know their own problems, they just want to know if you're the right fix at the right price.

danielowens3d ago

Your 30% drop is pretty telling. I've been working with a local bakery chain for the last year and we tested this exact thing. Turns out their clients are mostly small business owners who have been burned by overpromising vendors before. When we ditched the problem statement and just put a simple "here's what we can do and here's what it costs" format, their close rate went up by like 15%. The thing nobody talks about is that a lot of clients actually feel insulted when you tell them what their problem is. They already know what's wrong with their business, they just need to know if you can fix it at a price that makes sense. So maybe the real issue isn't whether to include a problem statement but more about whether your clients see you as a partner who respects their intelligence or another salesperson assuming they're clueless.