FREE SALES PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

What is a sales proposal?

Also known as project proposals or executive summaries, sales proposals are documents that highlight your services and products to potential customers. The intention behind these documents is to trigger a purchase from these clients. 

Not only do such documents prove your understanding of the client’s needs, but it also proves that your customer service is excellent. his is because a sales proposal is a pitch that utilizes customers’ wants as its foundational feature. 

The best sales proposals immerse your clients and make them believe your product is the right solution to their problems. This will encourage more purchases since they’ll understand the idea you’re presenting. 

What this means is you must present your ideas comprehensively to ensure your potential clients can follow your train of thought. Stating every step is essential for your clients to be able to follow your work. As long as the proposal meets your client’s needs, you have a winner.

How do you write a sales proposal?

Writing the perfect sales proposal is a task that requires you to research your potential clients and build up a sales portfolio that will be foolproof. So, how do you write a good sales proposal? Here are the steps:

1. Delve into the minds of your customers

The first step to a perfect sales proposal is to dive into the minds of your prospective clients to understand what they want or need. You can achieve this by talking with them during your research process. 

This process becomes very easy if you highlight their problems systematically while determining whether they have found the solution or not. If they have, note down their current solution to the problem and identify how to improve it. If they haven’t, your proposal should fill that void. 

2. Research deeply

Researching requires you to go further into accessing the problem and solving it. At this point, you should go beyond the information you got from your client and try to search for more. 

Basically, you are searching for the things they need but did not tell you. (They might not even know they need them.) You can find more information from your potential customers’ online conversations, interviews, and more.

However, that’s not the only way to research; search online for problems a customer similar to the one you’re working with would typically face. The idea is to go above and beyond for your clients.

3. Build up your business’s portfolio

Your business portfolio is the foundation of a successful sales proposal. It includes your About Us page, vision and mission, proposed solutions to issues, pricing, and testimonials, among other things. These pieces of information help to bring the client closer to your brand.

Remember, your client doesn’t inherently trust you! It’s imperative for you to show your client what your brand is all about and why you’re the best fit. 

Your portfolio should constantly be growing with new success stories and testimonials. Any information you can provide to clients to show that you’re a strong, trustworthy brand will go a long way toward success. 

4. Create a draft and edit

Now that you have all of these, you should begin the first draft of your proposal. Your goal is to build on your business portfolio. Take a look at each aspect of your client’s brand: their website, marketing materials, and anything else they make public to their respective audiences. Think of it as an audit for your clients.

That said, only include information that will broaden the picture you are trying to paint. When you finish your first draft, leave it and walk away. Then come back with fresh eyes a day later to edit and refine your proposal. Doing this step will let you catch things you may have otherwise missed.

When you edit, you will identify where youmade mistakes and where you need to improve. So, edit where necessary and finish it up. While editing, ensure you remove complicated statements, have consistent wording, and add graphics where necessary.

Everything you put forward to clients is representative of your brand and yourself. You want to put your best foot forward for continued success. 

What should be included in a sales proposal?

Many times, it’s your sales proposal that determines whether a customer will buy from you or not. If they go through it and connect with what you’ve presented, you can be sure of making a sale. Therefore, you must try to write your best when crafting your sales proposal.

Your sales proposal must contain the following:

An executive summary

This segment must always be at the beginning of your sales proposal, giving the customer an overview of what you have to offer. An executive summary describes the product, its benefits, special terms and conditions that apply to the product, among other things. 

Customers have a short timespan to collect information, so you must make this information as summarized as possible. However, do not give the impression that you are hiding something. 

This is your opportunity to make a strong impression. Remain succinct, but drive home the information you want clients to receive. 

A call-to-action

Customers always need a nudge to get them to act, what’s known as a call-to-action. It provides the necessary push that will encourage customers to purchase the service or product you are offering. To achieve this, you should always make them see why they have to purchase your product immediately. 

Do not assume that your product’s value is enough; praise it and push them to buy it. You can extend warranties, give bonuses and discounts, among other tactics. Anything that makes them want to purchase the product immediately can work.

A next step

This segment directs your customers to the next step you want them to take. After the proposal, you should include a contact detail to enable them to reach you to find out more or make a purchase.

Ensure you’re making it easy for your customer to follow through with you. You’re only as accessible as you make yourself to your clients. 

Get a free sales proposal template (to use today!)

Your sales proposal should be short and easy to understand. It should be a relatable document that can immerse a customer into the ideas you are presenting. In it, your customers should envision what their world will be like if only they use your product or service. 

That’s what a sales proposal seeks to achieve. However, sales proposals are not used to their full potential because many salespeople don’t understand what should be in it and what should stay out. You should always provide necessary details in your sales proposal and avoid those that do not add to the significance of your proposal.

This sales proposal template provides a good starting point. Make it as friendly as possible and outline your proposal in an easy-to-read manner. Doing this guarantees you more sales than you had before.