Avoid Using Client Logos in Your Proposals

Proposal writing

Organizations invest millions of dollars building their brands, and like all of us, they want to protect their investment. One way they do this is to make rules about where their logos may or may not be used, how they’re used, etc. For our part, it is important we don’t do anything that, in their eyes, is an inappropriate or unauthorized use of their brand.

This doesn’t apply to me, right?

While most business and sales people would acknowledge the wisdom of that statement, most would also reject this admonition thinking it doesn’t apply to them: “I would never do anything to misuse a potential customer’s brand! I want them as a customer, after all.”  The trouble is it’s these same business people who will copy a customer’s logo onto the title page of their proposal.

The gesture is innocent enough, you just want to show the customer that you’ve taken the time to customize your proposal specifically for them. Including their logo on the cover is nothing more than a sign to demonstrate how attentive you are to them and their needs, right?

In truth, most people wouldn’t think twice about your “gesture,” but to the brand police, you just committed a major violation–one of the most serious of all violations–you used their logo without authorization. It’s an innocent mistake, to be sure, but that won’t make it any better when you spend the rest of your life rotting away in brand jail.

 

The risk/reward ratio

When you copy an organization’s logo into your proposal, you are taking a risk that you might make them angry. Taking risks is nothing new to most salespeople. In fact, it’s part of the job; we’re compensated in part on our ability to take reasonable risks in pursuit of revenue goals.

But the thing about taking risks is we only take them if we think they might result in some larger reward. It’s called the risk/reward ratio. In this case, the risk/reward ratio may be expressed like this: what is the potential reward associated with copying someone’s logo onto your title page compared to the potential risk associated with using their logo without their authorization?

The answer is simple. Because there is no reward or potential benefit for including an organization’s logo on your title page, but there is a bonafide risk that you’ll anger brand management, the best course of action is to avoid using the organization’s logo.

Update…

Since I began warning people in my training classes to avoid using their customers’ logos without permission, two clients told me they had been disqualified from bidding because of it, and five told me they were reprimanded. Sure, that’s a relatively small number, but still. If there’s a chance you’ll be disqualified for using their logo, but you aren’t really getting any benefit for it, why do it?  -Dave

David Seibert is a professional salesperson and consultant for businesses that respond to formal procurements in non-federal markets. Dave publishes a comprehensive curriculum of online, self-paced proposal training classes, delivers onsite and online proposal training programs for dedicated proposal teams, and provides proposal and business development consulting services for businesses that want to improve their win rates. 

Dave is founder and president of The Seibert Group, a proposal consulting and training organization serving businesses that sell to other businesses, A/E/C firms, schools, and to state and local governments. Dave authored the popular proposal book, Proposal Best Practices, is active with the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), and is a member of the APMP Speakers Bureau. You can contact Dave at [email protected].

2 thoughts on “Avoid Using Client Logos in Your Proposals”

  1. Heidi F

    Thank you so much for this article! I’m a marketing person struggling with a technical staff member about this very subject! I needed backup and you provided it. As follow-up, do you have a response to this argument?

    “In terms of general logic, just know that 100 out of 100 other competitor proposals that we prepare for municipal water (engineering) projects will include the client/municipality logo. While I don’t disagree with your comments about the impact to winning…I am always in favor of not giving the client a reason not to select us.”

    I would love to hear your rebuttal and thanks for your help!

    1. David Seibert

      I’m glad you liked the article, Heidi.

      Just because it’s a common practice (everyone else does it) doesn’t mean it’s a best practice. It’s not.

      Most sellers add the buyer’s logo to the proposal in an effort to demonstrate they customized the solution specifically for this buyer. I get that. But the only thing it really demonstrates is you know how to cut and paste their logo, and you’re willing to use their property, their logo, without their permission.

      If you really want to demonstrate that you customized your solution for them, then write an awesome, customer-focused executive introduction that describes your understanding of their project, discusses the challenges unique to this project and how you’re going to solve them, and in general, how you’re going to give them the outcome they want. Because this approach is substantive and meaningful, it will resonate with them far better than simply copying their logo onto your title page. -Dave

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top