There isn’t really a “standard” business proposal format because proposals should be tailored to your audience.
For instance, there are different proposal templates for:
- Building a new apartment complex
- Hosting an event
- Developing a new website
- Launching a new advertising campaign
A construction bid proposal would have a breakdown of materials in the Cost section; a proposal for a software adoption initiative would focus on other things like implementation timeline.
If you’re starting from scratch with your business proposal, there’s a straightforward flow you can follow to ensure you include all the key sections. It includes:
- Title / Cover Page
- Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Problem Statement
- About the Team (or yourself)
- Problem Statement
- Solution and Implementation
- Qualifications and Proof of Expertise
- Timeline and Deliverables
- Cost
- Conclusion
We’ll go through each section, offering writing samples so you can see exactly how each part should come together, like this:
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Business proposal format: how to write a business proposal
As I mentioned earlier, there are some must-have sections in any business proposal. Let’s break them down and talk about what details to include, along with some extra touches you can add to really make your proposal stand out.
1) Add a title page
The title page helps readers understand what your business proposal is all about. This usually includes the following details:
- Company logo
- Proposal Title
- Client Name
- Your Company Name
- Proposal Send Date
When creating a proposal title, think of summarizing the goals or objectives of your proposal in just one sentence.
It looks something like:
- Increasing Our Data Security with Regular Cybersecurity Employee Trainings: Plans for 2024
- Comprehensive SEO Plans To Increase Brand Awareness In The Dentistry Space
- Accessibility Research Initiative To Improve Site Engagement For Our Non-Profit
Title pages don’t have to be clever; clarity is actually your friend.
You can always write something simple and straightforward like:
- A Proposal To Start Using Instagram As Our Social Media Channel
- The Importance of CRM Tools: An Adoption Proposal
2) Create an interactive table of contents
If your proposal is more than just a one-pager, include a Table of Contents to help stakeholders quickly find the sections they’re interested in.
With proposal software like Proposally, you can easily create a clickable Table of Contents that lets users jump right to the section they need.
You can also browse our library of Table of Contents options to find the perfect fit for your business proposal. It’s easy to mix and match proposal sections from different templates–the Brand Kit feature instantly applies cohesive fonts, themes, and colors based on your brand settings.
3) Write an executive summary
The Executive Summary is a high-level overview of your proposal.
Your goal for this section is to quickly highlight why the proposal is being sent in the first place. As a summary, it also helps readers understand what to expect in this proposal.
The Executive Summary is typically written by providing:
- A brief overview of what is included in the proposal
“In this proposal, my team and I will be highlighting the operational bottlenecks we found after looking at our employee management system. We will be presenting data from the last 3 months and presenting key areas of improvement that can increase employee efficiency by up to 15%.
- A high-level, but brief intro on the problem and a quick explanation of the solution
“During our discovery phase, we found that 30% of customer support tickets are left unanswered for a minimum of 2 hours. By integrating a push notification and setting up similar behavior-based alerts, we’re looking to improve employee efficiency by up to 15%.”
- A quick statement about why this is important to the reader
“My team and I are writing this proposal because agile customer support is part of our company’s core values. By investing in this initiative, we believe we can improve our customer’s experience and increase our satisfaction ratings.”
4) Include an “About the team”
While this section isn’t always necessary, consider adding this if:
- You’re a freelancer or contractor entering a working relationship for the first time
- You’re an individual contributor from a mid-sized company presenting to VPs or C-level executives
- You secured this prospect through a referral, so they might not know you yet
Focus on relevant accomplishments and previous experiences that will contribute to the success of the project.
This looks something like:
- Years of experience in the field
- Brief summary of your specialization or expertise
- 2-3 names of clients you’ve worked with that are in the same industry as the client
- Job title and role in the project
With our editor, you can easily add photos of your team members. You can even embed an introduction video for your team or organization straight from Youtube.
You can also use icons from the library to highlight different social media platforms or websites, or even add hyperlinks to various sales materials. This way, stakeholders can access extra context without cluttering up the “About Me” section.
5) Define the problem statement or the challenges
Part of the context you’re providing in your proposal is the reason behind it—what’s the ongoing problem?
To help stakeholders get the full picture, consider adding charts, graphs, and bars to summarize key reports and analytics. This visual approach makes complex data easier to digest.
Even more importantly, try to highlight 1-3 specific problem statements.
This narrows the focus and ensures stakeholders concentrate on what matters most. These problem statements should be actionable, measurable, and include details like duration, impact, the core issue, and any potential risks.
Here’s a quick example:
“Over the past six months, there has been a 30% increase in customer support tickets. Despite scaling our support team, we have been unable to keep up with this growing volume, resulting in a backlog of unanswered tickets.”
6) Present your solution
The solution section is all about explaining how your solution or initiative directly addresses their pain points.
Using the same problem statement above, the solution section usually sounds something like:
“My team is proposing the adoption of a new software that streamlines ticket management, ensuring prompt resolution and customer satisfaction. With automated workflows and intelligent routing, it’s easier for team members to handle the surge in support tickets, eliminating backlogs and enhancing responsiveness.
Even better, include timetables to give everyone a clear view of the project timeline. This is especially useful when the project has multiple dependencies, as it helps clarify what needs to happen at each stage to keep things moving forward.
7) Build some proof – say why you’re qualified
You just told them how you plan to address their key problems–the qualifications section communicates why you’re qualified enough to do that.
You can build social proof by:
- Sharing case studies or testimonials that demonstrate how your solution has solved similar challenges for other clients.
- Highlighting any relevant certifications that demonstrate your team’s expertise and commitment to quality. If you’re pitching a software development project, mention certifications like AWS Certified Developer or Microsoft Certified Azure Developer.
- Including industry benchmarks, market trends, or survey results that demonstrate the effectiveness of your solutions.
8) Take them through the timeline and deliverables
The timeline and deliverable section helps your reader visualize the scope and progression of the project.
One of the best ways to present this information is by using visual tools like flowcharts and timelines. These visuals make it easier for your client to grasp the key milestones and deadlines at a glance.
In Proposally’s editor, the Table element is a great way to organize and present important details. You can easily customize the table to include key points like project phases, deliverable dates, and assigned responsibilities.
Include details like:
- Project start date
- Projected deadline
- The different stages or phases of the project
- The duration of each phase or milestone
- Prerequisites that impact the timeline (I.E.: Phase 2 cannot begin until Phase 1 research is complete.)
When itemizing deliverables, make sure to include:
- Individual deliverables
- Quantity of materials
- A brief description of the deliverable
- Projected deadline
9) Add your pricing options, and why it’s worth the cost
Most business proposals include a pricing table and then jump straight to the next steps, without really diving into the pricing details.
We recommend addressing pricing more thoroughly because it’s a common area where people have concerns or objections. To ease those concerns, you can highlight the value you bring by:
You can focus on your value-add by:
- Reiterating the problem statement and framing the upfront cost as savings in the long-term
- Mentioning the inclusions in your packages that are normally not included with other vendors
- Highlighting that the service is greatly personalized and tailored to the reader’s needs
- Focusing on the quality of your product or service
- Mentioning that the price is justified by the tangible ROI the readers can expect to achieve, whether through increased efficiency, cost savings, or revenue growth
To improve your chances of closing the deal on the spot, try including the payment process right in the proposal—this works especially well for service-based businesses. You can add a button that links directly to a checkout page or online invoice, or even throw in an eSignature option to make it easy for clients to sign and pay right away.
Bonus: Proposally’s analytics lets you track links, so if prospects are clicking your payment button but not converting, you’ll gain valuable insights into your deal pipeline.
10) Summarize the key takeaways and add action items
On the final page of your proposal, it’s a smart move to provide a clear summary of the key points to reinforce the value of your solution. This should include:
- Problem statement: A concise restatement of the issue your proposal addresses.
- Proposed solution and team: An overview of your solution and the team responsible for its execution.
- Budget and timeline: A clear breakdown of the costs involved and a timeline for implementation.
After that, include some actionable next steps for your client.
If you have a detailed onboarding or sales process, or if there are multiple action items they need to complete, using the interactive Checklist element can be incredibly helpful.
It not only helps your client see what they need to do, like signing contracts or submitting necessary documents, but it also lets you track their progress through the sales pipeline.
This way, both you and your client stay organized—whether it’s moving from contract approval to payment or scheduling onboarding—and ensures that nothing slips through the cracks.
What are other things to include in a business proposal?
Earlier in the article I mentioned that business proposals sometimes have specific inclusions depending on the use case. Consider adding the following, if it makes sense:
- Terms and Conditions: Covers details like payment terms, delivery schedules, and termination clauses. This section ensures mutual understanding and protects both parties’ interests throughout the engagement. Ideal for business proposals where liability on the vendor or provider might be higher.
- Risk assessment: Identifies potential risks associated with the project, such as technical challenges, resource constraints, or market fluctuations. This is typically included in proposals that either have high upfront costs or variable deliverables like construction projects or financial initiatives.
- Appendix: When applicable, the appendix holds supplementary information, such as detailed project plans, resumes of key team members, sample work, or additional market research.
- Additional services: Includes a list of optional or add-on services that complement the core offering, such as ongoing support, training programs, or maintenance packages. This is a great way to possibly increase the scope of work and get more out of your business proposal.
Proposally: Create, send, and track the perfect business proposal in 3 steps
Proposally is an end-to-end proposal software designed to help any business create, send, and track proposals.
Our expansive library includes 1,000+ industry and use case-specific templates that you can use to jumpstart your proposal design process.
You’ll also get access to interactive features like eSignatures and individual form fields. Use these tools to capture leads, gather client feedback, and close deals faster—all within the proposal.
Step 1: Design from scratch or launch a template
We recommend choosing a template or using the search feature right in the editor to find what you need.
With free, unlimited access to thousands of layouts for different sections, you can easily mix and match sections from various templates to create a proposal that’s perfectly tailored to your needs. No design work needed.
Quick tips:
Use the search bar to find:
- Industry-specific templates such as “Marketing proposal”, “IT proposal”, “Finance proposal”
- Specific sections (case study, table of contents, pricing table)
- Specific use cases (construction bid, budget proposal, event proposal, marketing research, grant)
Step 2: Add interactive elements
Under the Elements tab in the editor, you can embed videos, gifs, and images to bring your proposal to life. You can add other interactive elements like quizzes, labels, and even forms to gather information within your proposal.
For visual data, head to the Charts tab where you’ll find options for tables and graphs. Simply select a design, import your CSV or XLSX files, and Proposally’s editor will automatically generate the chart with labels based on your data.
Step 3: Customize the template with the Brand Kit and custom variables
Our content comes pre-loaded with industry-specific copy that’s designed to convert. You can easily customize it using custom variables that automatically fill in placeholders like your company name, client name, and other key details.
The Brand Kit feature takes your proposal to the next level by instantly applying your brand’s font color and style across the entire document. This cohesive look saves you time; you won’t need to make manual adjustments when choosing templates.
Book a demo today and get 30-day free access to our proposal software. No credit card required.
5 business proposal sample templates and formats
To give you a better idea of what to focus on depending on the type of proposal you’re sending, let’s go through six different proposals for different jobs-to-be-done:
Proposing a new budget
For budget proposals, the two key things you want to focus on would be the rationale or context behind the project proposal, and a budget time table that clearly outlines how the money is going to be used.
I like using a visual time table similar to the template above to make it easy for stakeholders to see the big picture.
Launching a new product
Product launch proposals can be short and simple, especially if your team already has some context around the launch. You want to provide an executive summary, which can be a simple 1-2 paragraph call back to previous initiatives, meetings, or company reports.
The real meat of your product launch should be about the value it brings to the company. You basically want to answer how the product launch is going to affect your team’s KPIs. Is it going to revitalize a user base? Are you looking to bring in new revenue by adopting underserved markets?
Proposing an investment opportunity
For investment proposals, you want to capitalize on the investment opportunity it presents to your reader. Why is now a good time to make the investment? What are the benefits and costs of passing over this investment? How urgent is this investment?
Let’s say you’re a finance advisor managing multiple client portfolios. You can highlight your previous indicators of success to basically tell new prospects, “I’m a great partner, and I’ll be taking care of your investments.”
Pitching a new project
Project proposals are pretty straightforward. The key focus should be on the details around the proposed solution – what is this going to entail? What action items are going to be involved in order to complete the project? How long is the implementation phase, and who is going to be involved in different phases of the project?
When pitching a new project or service to a new client, adding a case study to build credibility is also a great move.
Securing business funding
Investment proposals should be focused on de-risking the proposal and building trust with investors. A comprehensive financial forecasting section can help readers visualize how the funds are going to be allocated, and what the return on investment is going to be.
The specifics of your financial data will depend on your company’s stage. For example, an investor would be interested in knowing a startup’s burn rate and break-even analysis, whereas a growth stage investor would be more focused on seeing proof of traction and market validation before signing the deal.
Create industry-approved business proposals in minutes
Proposally makes it easier for anyone to create, customize, send, and track proposals.
Each proposal is designed with industry-specific standards and best practices in mind, and all you need to do is customize it with your own pricing structure or process flow.
Unlike most proposal software, we know exactly how important it is to present data with your proposals. Our editor lets you add data visualization tools such as charts, graphs, and tables. You can then send and track your proposal’s opens, views, and shares of your existing proposals.
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