A business proposal is key to closing more lucrative deals and winning clients. It’s a document that outlines your products, value proposition, and qualifications, and encourages a company to work exclusively with you.
But few people know how to write a business proposal when they start a business. Business proposals can also be time consuming to write, because each one requires a level of customization.
Ahead, you’ll get a step-by-step tutorial on how to write a business proposal for your brand, with tips and examples along the way. Use the following guide as a template to tweak for each potential customer you submit proposals for in the future.
What is a business proposal?
A business proposal is a document sent to prospective clients in the hopes of working with them on a specific project or in partnership. The contents of a business proposal can be something small in scope, like an SEO strategy document, or something large, like a proposal to run a company’s marketing efforts for them.
Business proposals can range in the topics they cover, depending on the nature of the involved businesses and your proposed solution.
At the most basic level, business proposals are about addressing the needs of prospective clients and showing them why your company is the best to fill those needs. For businesses focused on business-to-business (B2B) services especially, knowing how to write an effective business proposal is crucial to growth.
What are the types of business proposals?
There are different types of business proposals, depending on the service and the nature of the project being proposed, but they typically fall into three distinct categories:
Formally solicited proposals
Formally solicited business proposals are used when a client you’re hoping to work with formally asks for a proposal, usually through a publicly posted request.
Your business, in response to this request, would write a proposed solution based on the specific needs and requirements of the potential client or customer.
Informally solicited business proposals
Informally solicited business proposals typically are written following conversations between a prospective client and a vendor. Usually in this case, the customer is not asking for competing proposals, and there tends to be few formal requirements.
Unsolicited business proposals
These proposals usually are more generic in nature, acting as a sort of marketing brochure. Unsolicited proposals typically are used at trade shows or other public venues, where a business is shopping around for prospective clients.
While they can generate business to some extent, unsolicited business proposals can sometimes be seen as spammy or, worse, unprofessional.
Not all proposals fit neatly into these three categories. There are proposals that might start off as formally solicited but then be adapted into unsolicited proposals. But having a high-level understanding of each of the three common types will help you adjust where needed.
How to write a business proposal in 9 steps
- Create your title page
- Compile a table of contents
- Write a cover letter
- Write an executive summary
- Outline your customers’ problem and your company’s solution
- Create a pricing table
- Share more information about your company
- Summarize your qualifications
- Lay out the terms of the agreement
Business proposals can vary in how they’re formatted, but there are a few elements they all should contain. You can always compare your proposals with a free business proposal template to ensure you’re on track.
1. Create your title page
The title page acts as your proposal’s “cover,” so its aesthetics are especially important. Your title page should convey a couple of pieces of basic information about your business and the proposal, such as the title of the proposal, your business’s name and contact information, and the date you’re submitting the proposal (or the date the proposal is crafted, in the case of unsolicited proposals).
Your title page should be professional, but still should seek to grab the reader’s attention and draw them in. It sets the tone of your proposal, so, like any advertisement, it should convey your brand’s aesthetics and character. It’s usually a good idea to include your company logo somewhere too.
Avoid complicated graphics that may distract from the central message of the proposal. Here’s an example of what a well-designed business proposal might look like:
The cover of your business proposal is the first thing your client will see, so it’s important to convey your brand in a way that’s succinct, yet specific. Think of it like any visual content: Viewers will only glance at it for a brief moment, so it must convey a lot of information, very quickly.
2. Compile a table of contents
A table of contents makes it easier to navigate a document, so it should come near the beginning, after either the title page or the cover letter.
Your contents page should list the sections of your proposal chronologically. Avoid getting too granular with sub-sections, as this can come off as noisy and overwhelming.
A good strategy is for the items on your list to reflect specific pain points or questions the reader may have.
3. Write a cover letter
Not to be confused with your title page, your cover letter serves as an introduction to you and your business. Some proposals might even include the cover letter before the table of contents as a way of setting up the entire proposal.
Your cover letter should be short and no more than one page. In a few paragraphs, briefly describe your company’s background, mission statement, and unique selling proposition.
Your cover letter should be friendly and polite—don’t forget your pleases and thank yous. Include your contact information and encourage your readers to reach out to you with any questions.
Unlike a résumé cover letter, visual graphics are encouraged, especially if they illustrate an important aspect of your brand’s accomplishments or mission.
4. Write an executive summary
The executive summary may be the most important part of your proposal. It provides details about why you’re sending the proposal and why you’re the client’s best option for solving their problem or filling their needs.
Your executive summary acts similarly to a value proposition that shows the ways your company is unique and how your prospective client will benefit from working with you.
Executive summaries summarize, but they still should be specific. Identify the client’s exact issues, explain what your company does, and outline your proposed solutions to the client’s problems. There’s no need to cover logistics or strategies here—that will be covered later in the proposal.
Your executive summary should be finely tuned to the client’s needs. Even if you’re passing the proposal document on to many potential clients, it should read as though it was written for one client specifically. If different potential customers have different problems, you’ll want to make adjustments to your summary for each of them.
Be mindful of your tone here as well. A company that rents out party buses for college students will expect a very different tone than a company offering financial advice to seniors.
Your summary should give the reader a clear idea of how your company can help them, and invite them to continue reading for more details. The summary should be specific enough to act as a standalone document but brief enough that it will inspire additional questions.
Your executive summary should be about two to four pages, but try to keep it short if your overall proposal isn’t very long. Remember that the details will come later.
5. Outline your customers’ problem and your company’s solution
When writing your proposal pages, it helps to consider what questions your client will have and provide them with detailed answers.
In this section, you’ll go into more detail about the solutions you offered in your executive summary. Your summary explained what you can do and why you’re the ideal client to do it. In the proposal pages, you’ll cover how you plan on doing it and when it can be done (a time frame).
Many writers of business proposals think of their proposal pages in terms of problems and solutions. With each proposal, start by outlining the potential issues the client might face. In doing this, you show your potential clients that you have a deep understanding of their needs.
Problem and solution pages require a lot of research. You want to show potential clients you’ve done your homework: You understand the client’s needs and know exactly what they want to do.
How you choose to break down the client’s problems and solutions is up to you. Some proposal document writers will list a number of problem statements alongside detailed deliverables. Other proposals might focus on one or two larger problems and provide a list of solutions to them.
Timetables are also important here. Potential clients will want to know how quickly you’ll be able to enact your solution and when they can expect to see results. Timetables answer these questions and, as a bonus, they’re also a handy visual tool that break up text.
Your own proposal needs to break down problems and solutions in a way that’s appealing to your prospective client and makes sense for your industry, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this section.
That said, it’s a good idea to break up your proposal content into sections that identify each problem and propose a solution. Here are some key points to address for each section:
- The problem. Use data to back up your claims, and be specific about where your client may be falling short of their goals.
- Implementation. Explain in detail what changes you plan on making, how long it will take to make these changes, and the purpose of making these changes.
- Goals. Explain how you will evaluate the success of your solution and when your client can expect to see results from the changes you’ve implemented.
- Benefits. Draw upon the assessment of the problem and explain the nature of the impact these changes will make.
Your proposal pages should cover all of the details of the plans you will implement. It’s best to break down the text into bite-sized chunks so it’s easier to read. Decorative graphics should be avoided here, but visual tools like charts and graphs are great for illustrating your points.
6. Create a pricing table
A pricing table should follow your problem and solution pages. It includes all of your products and services, paired with their pricing information.
How you structure your pricing strategy is largely dependent on the type of service you’re offering. But it’s usually a good idea to provide prospective clients with options. A single flat fee makes your proposal a yes or no question, which is easy to reject.
Adding pricing options provides clients with a more negotiable starting point, opening up the conversation about their particular needs, rather than acting as an end point.
Your pricing structure should be formatted in a table that’s easy to read. Offer recurring payment options, both monthly and yearly. Give discounted rates for long-term commitments, and offer add-ons and upgrades. Transparency is crucial in this section. Make sure it’s easy for your clients to understand what they’re paying for and what options they have for customizing your service. Nobody likes hidden fees or fine-print stipulations. Include all the details of your pricing options in a way that’s clear and concise.
Depending on the type of business you’re in, you may not want to include your pricing upfront before serious discussions have been had, but it’s important to get into the habit of effectively communicating your pricing regardless.
PROPOSAL TIP: Some proposal software tools offer responsive pricing tables that allow your clients to adjust their plan to fit their needs and automatically recalculates their total.
Learn more: Psychological Pricing: What Your Prices Really Say to Customers
7. Share more information about your company
Like an About Us page on your website, your business proposal should share the story of your business, with you, the founder, as that story’s main character. A good About Us page should be brief, but still contain all the elements of a compelling narrative:
- Setting. Set the scene: Introduce the story’s protagonist(s), yourself, and your co-founders, and describe how you came together to form your business.
- Conflict. What problem inspired you to start your business? Describe the issue your business identified and set out to solve.
- Plot. How did you and your team set out to find the solution to your problem? What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
- Resolution. What was your solution? How has it changed your industry? What milestones have you hit and how did your business set out to solve the problem?
- Characters. Introduce the rest of your team. Offer brief bios of your team members and introduce your clients to the people they’ll be working with on your project.
- Denouement. What comes next? Describe what you see in your company’s future. Talk about how you intend to continue pursuing your goals. Make sure to set yourself up for a good sequel.
8. Summarize your qualifications
In your cover letter, you touched on what makes your company uniquely qualified to solve your customers’ problems. In the qualifications summary, you’ll go into detail about why your business is best qualified to help potential customers achieve their goals.
The best qualifications summaries rely on social proof to make their case. Include case studies of previous clients, customer testimonials, praise on social media, endorsements from trusted experts in your field, and anything else that might showcase the value you provide your clients.
For example, Omsom, a shop that sells delicious Asian sauce starters that help people make speedy restaurant-quality dinners, includes endorsements from Vice, CNN, and Vogue on its homepage.
9. Lay out the terms of the agreement
At the end of your marketing proposal, outline the terms and conditions of your proposal for the client. Some proposals can be legally binding, so work with a legal expert to craft this section.
Not all business proposals include a contract, so if your proposal is meant to draw your client into further negotiations, you might just include a simple call to action that provides instructions on following up with you for further negotiation.
If you do include a legally binding contract, make sure to provide clients with a space for signing the agreement, or indicating their preferred method of moving forward.
How to follow up on your business proposal
Waiting to hear back from clients during the sales process can be a little nerve-wracking, but it’s important to remain patient. Give potential decision-makers some time—remember that they still need to tend to the day-to-day functions of their business.
If you haven’t heard back and want to give them a little nudge, here are some tips for following up on your proposal:
Give them time
Wait at least a week before sending a follow-up. If they’ve confirmed receipt of your proposal, give them a week from the date of confirmation. Keep in mind that they may want to discuss your proposal with their team before reaching back out to you.
Grab their attention with a good subject line
As with other types of email marketing, a compelling subject line will increase the likelihood of them opening your email.
Be brief
No need to go into finer details here—let your proposal do the talking. Use your follow-up to emphasize you’re available for any questions, and make it easy for them to reach back out to you.
Avoid high-pressure, salesy language
Your goal here is securing a partner, not a customer. Hacky advertising cliches like, “Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity!” will come off as alienating to potential clients.
Be friendly, approachable, and authentic
Your follow-up is an opportunity to preview what it will be like working with you. Be polite, but casual—as though you’re reaching out to your favorite work colleague.
Know when to quit
It’s easy to overlook one or two emails, but much harder to overlook three or four. If your client hasn’t responded to three follow-ups, it’s time to move on.
Where to find business proposal templates
If you’re just starting a business and have never written a business proposal before, it’s a good idea to take a look at a few of them to get an idea of how they’re composed for different types of businesses.
Here are some good places to find business proposal examples and templates to help you:
1. PandaDoc
PandaDoc boasts a wide library of more than 167 free business proposal templates. Other features include interactive quote pages, contract templates, and e-signature capabilities.
2. Canva
Canva offers a wide variety of free business proposal examples. It allows you to filter them by style and theme, making it easy to find a template that matches your branding.
3. Proposify
Proposify offers lots of templates for business proposals and business contracts that include features like electronic signatures, interactive client previews, language translation, and data metrics that help you track open rates—which is especially useful if you’re sending your proposal to multiple clients.
4. Jotform
Jotform includes a wide collection of free and paid PDF templates for proposals in all kinds of industries, for all kinds of projects. Templates are converted into PDFs for easy printing, and even include a feature that allows your clients to sign your agreement digitally.
5. Better Proposals
Better Proposals offers free resources for business owners looking to learn more about how to write proposals. Along with business proposal templates, it also has templates for quotes, contracts, and online brochures.
Grow your small business with the right proposal
Working with clients is an incredible opportunity to grow your business. Building strong, working relationships in your industry will also open up new avenues for growth and increase your reputation among your peers.
A lot of work goes into creating a business proposal, but learning how to compose an effective business proposal will set you up for years of success. No matter what industry you’re in, there will likely come a time when you’ll need to write a business proposal.
The more satisfied customers you have, the easier it will be to attract new clients. Each new opportunity at a partnership is a stepping stone toward continued success.
How to write a business proposal FAQ
How long should a business proposal be?
A business proposal, ideally, should be less than 10 pages, but its length is largely dependent on the type of proposal you’re writing and how far your services stretch. Things like your cover letter, summary, and pricing page should be kept short—no more than two pages for each. The majority of your proposal should be your proposal pages, which go into detail about each aspect of your proposal.
What are the different parts of a business proposal?
A basic business proposal consists of a title page, tables of contents, cover letter, executive summary, proposal pages, pricing page, additional info about your business, and the agreement you’re proposing.
What is the basic format for a proposal?
A basic business proposal includes all of the elements listed above. Different industries may include unique features (for example, an app developer may include interactive elements to illustrate how their product works), but these aspects are considered standard features to business proposals.
How do you write a business proposal?
Start by choosing a template and considering what makes your business different from the competition, and why you’re in the best position to assist potential clients with their needs. Be specific about what you can help your potential clients with, and make it easy for them to find out how to get in contact with you if they have questions.