Proposal Document Template

Every business and service provider understands the importance of a modern proposal template. It is an essential document for every business/service transaction. The availability of lots of modern proposal templates and tools for creating them helps to highlight its importance. A modern proposal is that official document submitted to a potential client by a service provider, detailing the prospects' services. The document will also contain the service provider's background, the scope of the services, and other details regarding the services.

Particularly for freelancers who offer pure services, you can't downplay how much a good proposal can do for your transactions. Regardless of your selling platform, proposals are "deal sealers." With a good written and well-structured proposal, you can greatly impact potential clients, and secure a new client for yourself. Decent proposals also help retain existing clients. You can either decide to write the proposal yourself (tips on how to do that later) or simply edit any of several modern proposal templates available online.

What should a modern proposal template contain?

As a freelancer, you already know how much a modern proposal means to you and your business. The next vital thing to know is the major components of a modern proposal. This will help you in packaging your proposal well; either you are editing an already available modern proposal template or writing yours.

The following elements are crucial in your proposal and should be included without fail.

1. Title page

Your proposal should first and foremost have a neatly designed title page. Your name, business name, name of the potential client, and proposal submission date should be written on the title page.

2. Table of contents

The table of content in your proposal shows your prospects on what to expect in your proposal. It saves them some stress in going through the entire document. However, including this element in your proposal is optional. It is not available on some modern proposal templates online.

3. The issue at hand

This section of the proposal is dedicated to discussing the clients' tasks. You will need to explain to the client that you have a good understanding of the problem at hand and can offer a solution.

4. Approach

Haven stated that you are capable of providing a solution to the task at hand; you will state the methodology you intend to use in this section. In stating your intended approach, ensure your method is comprehensive enough to cater to your prospect's entire need.

5. Qualification

Regardless of how good your method(s) seems, your prospect wants to know what qualifies you for the job. Clearly state the qualification(s) that makes you suitable for the task/service sort.

6. Schedule and cost

Usually, projects come with a stated timeline. This is the period within which the project should be completed. In this section, inform your prospect of how long it will take you to complete the task. Also, the total cost of the project should be included here.

Tips for writing a modern proposal template

As mentioned earlier, you can find a modern proposal template online and edit. You can also decide to write your proposal from scratch. To do that, the following tips are to serve as a guide.

Remember the proposal aims to grab the prospects' attention.

1. Avoid lengthy descriptions

Proposals are not meant to be wordy. Make sure you avoid giving long descriptions of anything. Choose your words carefully, and let them be concise and direct to the point.

2. Have an organized proposal

Your prospect might not have all day to go through your proposal. If it isn't organized, there are chances they won't read it at all. Therefore, keep your whole proposal organized and neat. Use headings and bullet points where needed.

3. Give personal and professional views and ideas

The client will give a run-down of his task or issue and suggest approaches in solving them. You mustn't agree with all his suggestions. Feel free to occasionally and politely disagree with him, and offer your own personal/professional view and ideas.