How to Write a Proposal

What Is a Proposal?

A proposal is a written offer of products or services from a seller to a consumer. A good proposal can not only make a consumer buy a product, but it can also attract new consumers. Therefore, it is essential to know how to write a proposal if you want to grow your business.

Types of Proposals

There are three main categories of business proposals: formally solicited, informally solicited and unsolicited. If you want to know how to write a proposal, you must understand the differences.

Solicited Proposals

Solicited proposals are written response to a request. They are a response to a request for proposal (RPF), request for a quotation (RFQ), or invitation to bid (IFB).

RFPs generally provide directions for the proposal and the customer specifies exactly what he wants to buy. Customers can issue RFPs if their needs are not met by the products you have available or if they are making a large purchase and want to secure several bids for that buy. These proposals can be short or can be thousands of pages long.
A customer issues a RFQ when they want to buy a large amount of a product. Pricing, availability and delivery are all considerations in an RFQ. RFQs are often very long, so a proposal in response to one should be as well. Your RFQ response should include information on cost, handling of customer issues, and quality control.
An IFB is issued when a customer is purchasing a service, such as construction services. Bids must be very detailed and price is often paramount, as the lowest bid that will provide the best quality service usually wins. A proposal for an IFB is lengthy and usually consists of information on the overall cost and precise schedules for completion.

Informally Solicited Proposal

An informally solicited proposal is often sent as the result of a vendor or manager and a customer having a conversation. The customer may be just interested enough in a product to ask for a proposal. Usually, these proposals are more informal than solicited proposals and may just contain basic information summarizing what was discussed in the phone call and what type of products can be offered and at what cost.

Unsolicited Proposals

Another form of proposal is unsolicited proposals. These are essentially marketing brochures. You can use these to introduce the public to a new product or service that you are offering. The proposals are usually designed to generate new customers or to get existing customers to become repeat customers.

How a Proposal Can Benefit You

Proposals provide a means of promoting yourself and your business. Contractors would get nowhere without the proper proposals. Advertising and marketing are the only ways to grow and develop your business. Offering a wide variety of products and services is great, but you need to promote those services to the public. Writing every proposal with care and confidence will promote your company as the company that gets the job done.

How To Write a Proposal

The best way to write a solicited or informally solicited proposal is to ask your customer how they would like the information presented. A good proposal should be about your company, but mainly it should be about your customer. Following a template and going through basic forms won’t necessarily give you the connection you need to your customer. A proposal needs to contain basic information such as:

Why are you doing this project
What will you be doing
How will you be doing it
What does your customer want
How long will it take
How much will it cost

The summary of the proposal will be the customer’s first impression, so write it last. Make sure the summary is carefully worded and specifies exactly what the customer wants. A well documented description of the customer's need is a good thing to add. Following the rules of the appropriate proposal and listening to the customer will help you finish the proposal quickly and efficiently. You also want to proof read and make sure the proposal appears professional.