Your sales proposals should show a future in which your product or service solves your prospective customers’ problems.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to fall into the trap of making your sales proposal too long, vague or generic. These mistakes can overshadow even the most perfect solution.
Understanding what it takes to write an effective proposal can make winning new business faster and easier.
This guide will walk you through the steps to writing impactful sales proposals. We’ll also share tips and a sales proposal template for drafting a professional, convincing document every time.
What is a sales proposal?
A sales proposal is a document you use to pitch your services or products to potential customers. You might also hear sales proposals called business proposals, project proposals or executive summaries.
Sales proposals are useful for sales reps, consultants, agencies and anyone looking to promote their offerings to a target market.
A good sales proposal will help you to:
Show you understand your prospect’s needs. It proves that you’ve researched their needs based on your previous conversations or their request for proposal (RFP).
Convince your prospect you offer the best solution. A great proposal narrative links the challenges your prospect faces with the benefits of your offer. As a result, your prospect can imagine a future where your product or service solves their pain points.
Inspire your prospect to take action. It gives your buyer all the information they need to make a decision. This includes clarity around budget, deliverables and next steps (e.g., a specific call to action, or CTA) to start the process.
Ultimately, a winning sales proposal conveys the value of working with you. It’s authentic, clear and tailored to your prospect’s needs and expectations.
How to create a proposal: 6 simple tips
Your proposal should reflect your professionalism. You want prospective customers to know you’ve got the experience and the know-how to help them, so use these tips to produce a professional document.
1. Analyze your prospects
Your sales proposal will be a guessing game if you don’t deeply understand your target customers’ needs. Conduct in-depth research to tailor your sales proposals to each potential client.
Research their:
Objectives. What problems and challenges do they want to solve?
Budget. Is there any room for negotiation or is it a fixed amount?
Stakeholders and decision-makers. Who do you have to tailor your message to and how should you deliver it?
Urgency. Is this a burning issue or something they’re taking slowly?
As you gather answers, note the words and phrases your potential customers use to describe their situation. Include these in your proposal to make buyers feel heard.
2. Analyze your top customers
Looking at your history with your best customers can give you insights into how to approach new clients.
Your top customers are those who have:
Been with you the longest
Spent the most money with you
Made the most repeat purchases
Referred the most business to you
Look into these customers’ journeys with your company to see what worked.
Review customer service logs, emails and sales call notes in your CRM for information on their objectives, budget, urgency and pain points. What concerns did they have? What moved them to the next stage of your sales process?
Also, look at the proposals you wrote for these top clients. While you shouldn’t use the same proposal word for word, a template based on them can provide a strong starting point.
3. Include your unique selling proposition
A unique selling proposition (USP) makes your business stand out. It’s a statement that differentiates your products and brand from the competition by speaking directly to the problems you solve.
It’s not just a tagline on your website. It’s the backbone of all your communications, including branding, marketing, PR, customer service and sales conversations.
For example, say you’re a real estate agent preparing a property proposal. You want to communicate:
Your advantage over other agents
A process or experience unique to you
Credibility based on results you’ve achieved
Instead of a vague statement of your qualifications, you’d write something that shows your strengths, such as:
I help more first-time home buyers than any other real estate agent in [city/country]. More than [X%] of our clients are first-time buyers.
I use my bespoke [X-step] system to sell your house at full market value in [time period].
Use a strong USP to establish credibility and give future customers confidence in your solution.
Note: Your selling proposition may be unique to your brand but looking at successful companies’ USPs can provide helpful inspiration. Consider the tools your business swears by or the products you use at home and see how they pitch their solutions.
4. Use business writing best practices
Websites, social media ads, billboards and other forms of marketing all rely on clear, powerful writing. Writing needs to inform the reader and inspire action.
The same is true when it comes to writing proposals. To make your proposal easy to navigate, follow these five writing best practices:
Break up text with headings, bullet points and short paragraphs
Use storytelling principles in your sales pitch so each part leads naturally to the next
Only make it as long as it needs to be (avoid unnecessary words and filler text)
Use active voice to make your copy more engaging and immediate (e.g., “see the results” instead of “the results can be seen here”)
Use high-quality graphics if they can add value to your key messages
AI writing tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid can help you keep messaging clear. More on these soon.
5. Use a customizable sales proposal template
Instead of working from scratch every time you pitch to a potential customer, build or download a template you can customize for each new prospect.
For sales proposals, a template will help your sales team save time in the pitching process and ensure they remember key elements.
6. Make it easy to move the deal forward
Once prospects know what you’re offering, they need to know what steps to take next.
Simplify the process and include as few steps as possible to avoid stalling the client at this crucial stage.
For instance, if clients need to sign a contract, consider an automated selection that lets them e-sign instantly. Pipedrive’s Smart Docs has e-signatures built-in to simplify this process.
What is a request for proposal (RFP)?
Often, when you write a business sales proposal, it’s a response to a request for proposal (RFP sales).
An RFP is a written document a company creates when looking for a service provider to work with. It’s a description of a problem or project and an invitation to submit a proposal for your solution.
A helpful RFP will outline the details of the problem or project, such as:
Background
Scope and goals
Timeline for proposal submission and review
Proposal evaluation criteria
Budget
Timeline for deliverables
On top of project specifics, a detailed RFP will also briefly cover the company’s background, including their main offerings and target market.
Think of a request for proposal as a map. It shows you how to approach the prospect and ensures you provide only the information they need.
On the surface, it may seem limiting because you’ll want to share everything about your product, but it’s important to include only the most necessary information.
Your bid proposal (the document you write in response) should address how your product or solution will meet all the needs outlined in the RFP. Include relevant information to your proposal, such as:
The key features of your offering
Your approach and methodology
Key people and their background and expertise
Relevant success stories from past customers
Your prospect will use a request for proposal to compare vendors (i.e., every company competing to win their business) objectively. So, how do you start writing a great sales proposal?
How to write your sales proposal in 5 steps
If you’re still wondering how to create an effective business proposal, follow these five steps.
Step 1: Understand what your prospect is looking for
What does your prospect want to achieve? What problem are you solving? Make sure you’re crystal clear on the need by studying the RFP and asking direct questions during your lead qualification conversations
Consider all the pain points your prospect is experiencing and any steps they’ve taken to address them. Answer any other helpful questions. For instance:
Was there a sense of urgency in your prospect’s RFP sales or their conversations with you?
Who is the decision-maker? Is there more than one? What are their roles?
How will solving this problem impact your prospect? (e.g., it’ll increase their revenue or reduce risk)
Have they specified the type of solution they’re looking for? (e.g., software, consulting or outsourcing)
Step 2: Dive into deeper research
The first step was all about clarifying information from your prospect.
The second step is about gathering details you find on your own. Aim to add more context to their story, which you can use to send more targeted messages.
Find details like:
Recent news about their company (especially on funding rounds or significant hires)
Content they’re sharing on social media
Conversations they’re having on social media
Interviews they’ve given
Conferences and trade shows they attend
Online groups (e.g., Facebook groups, Slack communities, LinkedIn groups and X chats) they’re active in
While you probably won’t use these insights directly in your proposal, they can make your writing more specific. They’ll help you understand more about why the client is looking for a new solution and let you emphasize things that matter to the prospect.
Step 3: Outline your sales proposal
No matter how specific your prospect’s needs are, your proposal will include most or all of these standard building blocks:
Title, front page and cover letter
Your company name
About us (company background)
Challenges and goals/outcomes
Proposed solutions
Pricing
Timeline with key dates
Case studies
Client testimonials
Terms
Next steps (solution selection, space for signature and date)
Start with an outline so you’ll know where to begin filling in relevant research and information about your solution.
Step 4: Draft your sales proposal
Turn the bullet points from your outline into the subheaders for your proposal. Draft the text for each subheader, drawing from your research and the RFP.
The goal is to make your proposal clear and succinct. For most scenarios, two to three pages are enough. However, include any information you think will help you make your case.
Step 5: Edit and proofread
Let your first sales proposal draft breathe for a couple of hours or a day if time allows. Returning to it with fresh eyes may help you notice things you’ve forgotten to include or opportunities for more clarity.
Use these editing guidelines to revise your sales proposal and tailor it to your prospective clients:
Order your pricing from high to low
Replace or eliminate jargon or complex statements
Shorten sentences when possible
Note where visuals could add value
Use a consistent tone of voice throughout (don’t go from formal to casual)
Confirm that the order of sections makes sense and flows naturally
Finally, ensure your sales proposal is professional, easy to read and error-free:
Run it through a tool like Hemingway Editor to fix instances of passive voice and hard-to-read sentences
Run it through a checker like Grammarly for grammar mistakes and typos
Ask a colleague to read your proposal to help spot any errors or inconsistencies
Aim to make it easy for prospective clients to see how and why your solution is the best. These steps will help you produce a clean draft that clearly communicates your solution.
You want your proposal to be professional and present your company in a way that inspires confidence.
Sales proposal template
Each proposal should be unique to the prospective client and the solution you’re offering, but that doesn’t mean you must start from scratch every time. A template with the key building blocks can give you an excellent foundation to work from.
Get a free download of Pipedrive’s sales proposal template with example content.
Download your guide to perfecting your sales proposals
Depending on your market, you may need to include industry-specific information in your proposal. Our template includes sample add-ons that let you use it as a real estate or consulting proposal template.
What happens after you send your proposal?
After you send your sales proposal, one of these three things will happen:
Your prospect accepts the proposal and becomes a customer
Your prospect rejects the proposal
You don’t hear back at all from your prospect
Here’s what you need to do in each scenario, whether you’re pitching to a startup, small business or large enterprise.
The prospect accepts your proposal
If the client accepts, congratulations!
Honor your proposal’s details (timelines and key dates, such as onboarding start dates). Let your new customer know your next step and tell them exactly what you need from them to move forward.
The prospect rejects your proposal
If the client doesn’t accept your proposal, analyze their response. If it’s appropriate, ask why they declined or consider these options:
Are they looking for something that would require a compromise?
Did your proposal exceed their budget?
Are they looking for a different format?
Do they need more time to decide?
If the objections are negotiable, arrange a sales call or follow up over email to discuss terms that will work for both you and your prospect.
If you’ve had a definitive “no” and don’t receive a clear reason, review your sales process and the final proposal or scope of work (SOW) you shared and look for improvement opportunities.
The prospective client ghosts you
You’ve sent what you thought was a slam-dunk sales proposal but you’re not hearing back.
There’s a chance your prospect is out of the office or dealing with other priorities.
The key in this scenario is to follow up persistently. If you’re convinced they’re a great fit and you haven’t been told “no”, use our list of follow-up email templates to keep the conversation moving. Follow up frequently in the first few weeks and then check in at least once a quarter.
If you still don’t hear back, add this potential customer to your cold leads list. Be ready to offer your solution again if they should continue to have the same challenges or find they need your unique offerings after all.
Final thoughts
Creating a winning sales proposal comes down to listening closely to potential customers. Once you’ve gathered enough information, use your proposal to paint a picture of how and why your product is the best solution to their problem.
If your sales proposal ticks every box in this guide, you’ll improve your chances of winning your prospect over. Use our free template for sales proposals to streamline the process and close deals.
