Are proposals going away for professional services firms?

Are proposals going away?

When I was supposed to be writing this yesterday, I was working on two client proposals. I don't mind doing it. It's a straightforward task that requires creativity and thoughtfulness to do well.

But when I got into bed last night and realized I hadn't written anything for today. My first thought was a post I read about how AI is taking over sales positions in professional services firms. There were three distinct sales eras for us.

The first was 10+ years ago. Branding was a differentiator, but our clients didn't understand what branding was in relation to marketing or advertising. Much of the sales process was education.

Around 2019 or so, most of our clients came to us understanding branding, but didn't understand who we were, how we were different, and how we do our work. With our recent efforts to narrow our scope to professional and financial services, and our writing and video content illustrating why our process serves that group, our clients know much more about us than in the past. This is amplified by AI search.

So, I am wondering. If we were to publish pricing and the handful of ways you can work with us, would our clients select the path without going through the pitch and proposal process at all?

And if that happened to us, could that be a future for all professional and financial services firms?

Are you still putting together custom or semi-custom proposals? Let us know — asking for a friend.