How To Write An Authentic Business Proposal – Detailed Guide

This article will give you proper guidelines how to write an authentic business proposal.

Writing a business proposal is quite different from writing a business plan. So a business proposal aims at selling your products and helps you seek new customers for your business. It involves writing your working experiences, background status, and details of the products such as cost price or pricing options as ell as providing solutions to your clients need. Your clients should be persuaded by your proposal which implies detailed information in other to buy your goods or services. It can be written casually or officially but note that a proposal can either make you win or lose a prospective client therefore it should be authentic so as not to mare your reputation.

At this point we’ll be leading you on how to write a comprehensive business proposal that will convince your client about your products and what really are you able to present as this will enhance your business. Before then you’ll, need to have an understanding of what a business proposal is, the types of business proposals and thereafter how do you start writing which implies what to write in your proposal and then your ideas.

What Is A Business Proposal

 A business proposal is a written document sent to a prospective client in order to obtain a specific job or a document designed to persuade a client to buy your product or services. Business proposals can be short or long to communicate the necessary information.

Types Of Business Proposals

In this context, we will explain to you the types of business proposals. To proceed, there are three types of business proposals which are as follows;

1. Formally solicited business proposal;

This type of proposal is written when there is an official request for a business proposal.

When writing a formally solicited business proposal, you should know all the requirements and have more information about a prospective buyer. Simply write the business proposal for your buyer to evaluate so you can begin the sales process.

2. Informally solicited business proposal;

This type of proposal is written when there isn’t an official request for a proposal.  In this case, a prospective buyer is interested in your services and asks for a proposal so they can evaluate it.

An informally solicited proposal requires a lot more of research from your end. This type of proposal  uses informal conversations whereas they are not based on official requests that are more detailed.

3. Unsolicited business proposal;

This type of business proposal often takes a generic, one-size-fits-all approach to business proposals. Unsolicited business proposal lack any understanding of the buyer or their requirements. It more like being neutral.

But with additional market research, personalization and identifying customer pain points, you can propose a customized solution based on your buyer’s needs.

What should you include in your business proposal?

When writing a business proposal, there are necessary things you need to include which of course should reflect at;

• Who you are and what your company does.
• The problem your buyer or client is facing.
• Offering possible solutions to solve the problem.
• How effective will your company implement the solution.
• An estimate of resources required to implement the solution

With these, your business proposal will appear authentic and interesting for your client to place an urgent call for your goods or services.

 Having had all of the above next is how you put them in their right place of other on template format. This is where we’ll take you to the next phase.

How To Write A Business Proposal

Before you start creating your business proposal template, it’s crucial you understand the company. If they’ve sent you an RFP, make sure you read it carefully, so you understand the problem they’re trying to solve and their objectives. Haven done that, it’s then time to write your business proposal.

The steps to take are as follows in their correct order:

• YOUR TITLE: the title of your proposal is very important because they convey basic information about yourself. Your title is your “hit name” So, what should you include to your title? To make a good title, you include your name alongside your company’s name, your prospect client’s business name and the date you are submitting the proposal.
• TABLE OF CONTENTS: some clients may not have the time to go through all your proposal but a good table of contents makes your proposal already understanding. Therefore with clickable table of contents that’s if you’re sending your proposal electronically to your client, it will help them easily navigate through different sections of your proposal.
• AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The executive summary aims at why you’re sending the proposal that involves introducing the proposal and why you are best for your prospective client (overview of your goals and showcasing your overall vision) thereby stating detailed answers to these questions. The prospect should have a clear idea of how you can help them, even if they don’t read the entire proposal.
• THE PROBLEM STATEMENT:  This aims at solving a client’s problem. Therefore your aim is to clearly outline the problem statement by telling the prospect you have done your home work which gives you an opportunity to point out a problem they never knew they had.

Doing this develops a sense of urgency in your prospect and calls for you without retardation.

• YOUR PROPOSED SOLUTION: This is where you offer up a possible strategy for solving the problem. Write every possible solution in ditails leaving none behind. State how you will deliver the solution, the methods you will use to beat the probelm, and a timeframe of when they can expect your solution. Make sure you propose solutions that will meet up to the client’s needs.
• YOUR QUALIFICATIONS: Your qualifications matters alot in your proposal because when you write to your clients, they don’t know you. So to proove your quality, convince them that you can fix their problem by stating what your company does best and how qualified is your team. Here you build a good level of trust to your client by attaching your work experience showcasing how you’ve solved similar problems for other clients.
• YOUR TIMELINE: The timeline is estimation and its goal is to clarify any questions your potential client might have about how you will deliver. Therefore you have to provide a timeline of how and when you will deliver.
• PRICING AND BILLING OPTIONS: Here you can outline your fees, payment schedule, payment terms, as well as legal aspects involved in this deal.

Make sure you don’t scare your client with a high price nor undervalue yourself. Therefore you need to provide the client with options to price.

 Breaking up your pricing in stages as well is another great way to make sure your potential client knows what he’s paying for.

• TERMS AND CONDITIONS: After providing your information, briefly summarize your proposal. Make sure that the terms and conditions of your proposal is clear to both you and your client thereby  including what you expect from your prospective client in return. Add the overall project timeline, as well as payment methods, payment schedule, qualifications and why you’d serve as the best choice. To prompt further conversation, confirm your availability. The goal is to have the client ready to work with you. Provide your contact information as well to allow them to follow up easily if need arises.

Note that this step is very important as it outlines all the legal aspects of the deal.

• THE AGREEMENT: This is the final step of your proposal. Create a section at the end of your proposal for you and the client to sign. In this case I’ll advice that you get a lawyer to seal the deal and make it official.

Another possible question is how long should your business proposal be? The answer is, it depends on the scope of your work and the complexity of your project.

Now you’ve got the steps but that’s not the end because You will need a business proposal idea.

This leads us to;

Business Proposal Ideas

Here are a few tips to help you out with business proposal ideas;

• Outline the major segments of your business proposal.
• Include a quantitative data.
• Add a social proof for credibility.
• Incorporate video into your proposal if you are using online proposal.
• Use a call-to-action.
•  Include additional information about your business.
• Your goal should be to create a sense of urgency.
•  Keep it simple. Be straight forward and avoid being too fancy
• Make the decision for them to eliminate friction and objection.
• Stay true to your brand.
• Make sure your proposal is professional and free from grammatical errors.

With these points, I assure you a good and authentic business proposal.

Conclusion

An Idea on how your business proposal will look like is very important. So, to write or design a business proposal that will captivate your client’s attention, you need to identify their problems and then provide them with the right solution to alleviate those frustrations. From the title, table of contents and executive summary which speaks more about yourself, should be authentic because the way you address yourself speaks more or less about you. Then you state the problems and possible solution with a timeline. Thereafter, you outline your pricing list, terms and conditions and finally your agreement with both parties. That is how you write a perfect business proposal.