Suggestions for Using Sample Business Proposals as Templates
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
On the lookout for new clients? In today’s economic climate, there’s no reason to improvise when you must write business proposals. Try picking up a sample business proposal or template, and flesh out your sample until you have an attention getting document that will win over your clients and earn you some business when you most need it.
One of the most overlooked and simple tasks to help your efforts is pre-writing. Being your first draft, there’s no reason to worry about what your customers are going to think — they’re not going to see this draft, so calm down and try to enjoy yourself. By pre-writing you can determine exactly what you’re going to pitch, including your goals and any important qualities you have that make you more qualified than anyone else.
Try organizing your thoughts. Break down any goals you may have into simple steps and take notes on what is needed to make each step safely. Be certain to write each of these steps in such a way as to lead the reader to the inevitable goal you stated during your pre-writing.
Now, write a cover letter to place at the top of your proposal. It should be short, so use only two to three paragraphs and simply state the major points of your proposal, i.e. “Our company will assist your business by delivering x, y, and z services. We serve X number of businesses in the region.” Though there is nothing wrong with elaborating, keep it simple so you don’t overwhelm your actual business proposal.
Next, the hard part: actually write your business proposal. Proposals are usually split into five pieces: the executive summary which states what you do and who you are, a statement of work dictating what services you plan to give your client, a list of steps to achieve your goal, a list of reasons why you are better than the next guy, and last but not least the legalese terms of your contract and payment arrangements.
Keep in mind that this is still just a first draft, so don’t freak out — stay calm and write what you want your client to know. Imagine potential customers sitting across from you right now. What would you say to them that would make them want to invest in your services?
Since this is the first draft, quality is not overly crucial at this stage. Realistically, the only thing you need to worry about here is finishing your proposal and fitting your information into the well defined structure of a proposal. If there’s anything you want to change — spelling, grammar, anything else — it can be done later.
Think about your contract terms and pricing. Look into similar companies to your own and see what they charge. If you have to find out you’re overcharging people, it’s best to do so when you’re in front of a computer screen by yourself rather than when you’re sitting down to discuss business with your client.
Rewriting begins when your first draft is finally complete. Try having a friend give your proposal a once over to see if they can find any obvious typo’s or other mistakes. If you’re still holding on tight to what you needed to fix and doctor up from your first draft, do so at this time.
If you’ve never tried role-playing, now might be a good time to start. Put on your client’s shoes for a few minutes and think about how they might react to your proposal as it’s written now. Can you think of anything they might complain about? Does something in the proposal seem likely to make them hesitant? Come up with tons of reasons they could refuse you, and then think of counterarguments to calm their worries.
Though it’s hard work, writing a business proposal is far from impossible. By taking the time to run through the above steps with your sample business proposal in hand, you’ll save tons of time and deliver a quality piece of work that will satisfy not just clients, but your company also.
When writing your own business proposal, it makes sense to obtain a sample business proposal that will serve as a starting point. Download sample business proposals from a site with real scenarios, so you can be sure you’re getting genuine proposals that have been tested.
