Develop a proposal template

Develop a Proposal Template

A proposal template is an incredibly powerful document. Most service businesses and complex or expensive product sales offer a proposal or quote to prospective customers.

DECISIONMAKERS

First, list all of the decisionmakers who will likely review your proposals or quotes, then note any specific needs they might have. Be sure to incorporate this information into the content below.

Decisionmaker or What does this person need from How can you make sure this need is influencer the proposal? fulfilled?

CONTENT

The template should contain the standard copy that should be consistent throughout all your proposals.

As you write, make sure to indicate where the “customized” content should be inserted. You could use brackets [like this] and explain what should be written inside the brackets.

Introduction: Explain the purpose of the proposal in three paragraphs or less.

Conclude the intro with a summary of your value proposition and what you bring to the table.

Product/Services to be provided: Start with a summary list, then provide details below.

Benefits: Explain why your solution is the best solution to meet the client’s needs.

Implementation Process & Timeline: If relevant, describe. Start off with a list of key dates.

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Roles and responsibilities: Describe what each party will provide.

Compensation and Terms: List and describe. Include any key decision dates as well.

Summary: Thank the prospect and once again summarize your value proposition and why your solution will best meet their needs.

When you’ve written the template, review and edit it carefully:

TIP Make sure the copy is focused on your prospect’s problem and how you are going to solve it.

Speak to how you’ll help the client – not on how great you are. Many companies use proposals that are too self-­‐focused – yes, you should tell your prospect why you’re the best choice, but a prospect wants to know what you’ll do for them, not spend time reading about how great you are.

Focus on strong, specific differentiators, not weak ones. For example, don’t say “we’ll implement your program faster than our competitors.” Say “we’ll implement your program in 30 days or less – that’s a month faster than our closest competitor.”

Make sure you’ve incorporated the needs of your various decisionmakers and influencers.

Use strong headlines and subheadings to group similar information and make the document easy to navigate.

Use short sentences and bullets so that readers can scan the information when needed.

Start each new section with a summary. Executives want your conclusions .

Provide detail afterward.

Always use short sentences and the active tense.

STATUS

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

Done

Needs work

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TIP

STATUS

Use as few words as possible.

Done

Needs work

FORMAT

Here are several options to consider:

FORMAT OPTION

Standard office document PDF format

Custom format

EXPLANATION Print on letterhead or high-­‐quality business paper; use no graphics or just logos.

If you’re delivering the proposal via email and hard copy, you should convert it to PDF to prevent tampering and preserve the formatting.

You can find PDF conversion software online – there are free and fee versions available.

If your proposal is the result of many months of discussion and negotiation with a high price tag, you may want to create a more elaborate proposal with graphics, higher quality paper, professional binding and a cover.

DESIGN

Unless you’re using the custom format above, your design doesn’t need to be elaborate. Here are a few tips:

DESIGN TIP

NOTES

Your cover page can have photos or graphics similar to the cover slide on your PowerPoint presentation or from other sales materials

Make sure the cover contains the title of the document, the date, the contact information and your logo

Include a table of contents if the document is more than a few pages

Make sure all pages are numbered

Use your company font

Use bold headlines and subheadings

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Don’t cram -­‐-­‐ use lots of white space

Consider putting your brand positioning statement in

the footer of the document

Review the design to make sure it’s consistent with

your brand positioning and value proposition

If you’re using a designer to create your template, provide a creative brief. [Copywriting & Graphic Design and Vendor Selection can help]

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