Sales Proposal
A proposal is not a brochure. It is a business case document written for the economic buyer that connects their specific pain to your specific solution at a commercially justified price. Generic proposals lose to specific ones. Feature-led proposals lose to outcome-led ones.
Proposal Structure
1. Executive Summary (1 page)
Written for the economic buyer who may read nothing else.
- The situation: One paragraph confirming your understanding of their current state and pain, in their language
- The opportunity: What is possible if this problem is solved — in their metrics
- Our recommendation: What you are proposing, in plain language
- The investment: Total cost, key commercial terms, expected return
- The ask: What you need from them and by when
The executive summary must stand alone. If the economic buyer reads only this page, they should understand why they should buy.
2. Understanding of the Situation
Demonstrate that you have listened. Describe:
- Their current state (operational reality, not generic industry description)
- The specific pain points uncovered in discovery
- The cost of the current state (quantified — time, money, risk)
- The compelling event or deadline driving urgency
This section builds credibility. Buyers who feel understood are buyers who trust.
3. Proposed Solution
- What you are proposing and why it specifically addresses their situation
- How it works (brief — this is not a feature spec)
- What is included and what is not
- Implementation timeline and key milestones
- Your team's relevant experience
4. Business Case
Quantify the return in the buyer's terms:
- Savings: Cost reduction or efficiency gains × time
- Revenue impact: Additional revenue enabled by the solution
- Risk reduction: Quantify avoided cost or liability
- Payback period: Months to recover investment
- ROI over 12/24/36 months: Simple and straightforward
Use the buyer's own numbers from discovery wherever possible. Their figures are more persuasive than yours.
5. Commercial Terms
- Pricing: clear, not buried
- Payment terms
- Contract duration and renewal terms
- What happens at renewal (price protection, escalation clause)
- Any discounts offered and their conditions
Never apologise for price. Present it in the context of the return.
6. Next Steps
- Specific: "We'd like to schedule a 45-minute review call by [date]"
- Assign actions to both parties
- Propose a decision timeline that respects their process
Proposal Delivery
Never send a proposal cold. Proposals sent without a live walk-through are brochures. Always:
- Schedule a proposal review call before sending the document
- Walk them through it live — exec summary first, then detail
- Leave time for questions on commercial terms
- Confirm next steps verbally before sending
Proposal review call structure:
- "Before I take you through our proposal, I want to confirm I've captured your situation accurately…"
- Walk exec summary
- "Does this reflect what we discussed?"
- Walk solution and business case
- Walk commercial terms
- "What questions do you have?"
- "Based on what we've covered, what would need to be true for you to move forward?"
RFP Responses
When responding to a formal RFP:
- Answer the question asked — evaluators score against criteria, not creativity
- Differentiate within the constraints — use language that reflects their terminology
- Executive summary still matters — evaluators read summaries; assume the detail gets scored but not read
- Compliance first, differentiation second — missing a required response disqualifies you
Should you respond? Only if you've had pre-RFP engagement. A cold RFP response wins rarely and costs significantly. If you haven't shaped the criteria, you are likely column fodder.