We needed to establish a foundational framework for drafting a proposal that includes all necessary components to ensure the project's success. To achieve this, we meticulously analyzed various proposals from a wide range of agencies, identifying these essential sections in order of appearance.
Overview
The overview is a brief introduction to the proposal, providing a high-level summary of the project information and the agency's approach to solving the client's problem. It should be concise and clear, enought information to get the client interested in reading the rest of the proposal.
Why us
This section is where you can showcase your agency's expertise and experience. It's an opportunity to highlight your unique selling points and explain why you are the best fit for the project. You can include you values and mission, your team, your previous work and your process.
Case studies
Showing previous work can help the client understand the result they can expect. If you have done similar work to what the potential client wants to make a reality, this section will be very useful to convince them. If you don't have similar work, however, it's better not to include case studies to make your proposal seem less valid.
You can read more about this in another article of ours: Case studies: when to include them in your proposals and when not to
Deliverables
The section of Deliverables will explain to the potential client what they will receive at the conclusion of the project. This will help them understand if the work they have in mind is in line with your offer.
This section can be very useful to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations, and if you will spend time to understand exactly what the client wants, you will be able to write a very effective Deliverables section and the client will be much more likely to accept your proposal.
Pricing
No more description is needed for this section. Ensure that the pricing structure is clear and easy to understand.
By being transparent about your pricing, you can build trust with the client and avoid any misunderstandings. Include if the total price is comprehensive of taxes and be clear about the payment terms.
Timeline
This is one of the most common sections in the quotes of large projects, but it is also one of the most important. In this section, you will explain to the client how long it will take to complete the project, and how the work will be structured.
It is better if you include detailed information for each phase of the project, so that the client understands that you already have experience in similar projects and that you know exactly what to do. If you don't feel confident that you can meet the deadlines, it's better to explain to the client that the various phases of the project may require time not foreseen for the needs of the project that will arise without being able to predict them.
Summary
The summary is a geneal brief of the proposal, and it's generally placed as one of the last sections of the proposal.
It's important to remind the potential client about the essential information of the proposal, particularly after reading all the proposal (that can be very descriptive and long).
The summary generally includes the Client's name, the project's name, the total price, the timeline and the services.
Next step
The next step section is where you can explain to the potential client how they can start the project with you.
Even if this section is shorter and less descriptive than the others, it's very important to include it in your proposal.
By being clear about how the client can start the project with you, you can avoid misunderstandings and make the client feel more comfortable whenever the moment to start the project will come.
You can include how the client will need to inform you about their decision, how they can pay the deposit, and how they can sign the contract (if you have one).
Questions and answers
The questions and answers section is not so common in proposals, but it can be very useful to include it to make the client feel more comfortable about their doubts.
You can include the most common questions that the potential client may have, and answer them. Be empathetic and try to understand the client's doubts. Sometimes when the client is reaching out to you, they may even tell you some.
You can include exactly this structure in your proposal to ensure that you have all the necessary sections to make the client feel comfortable and to avoid misunderstandings.
We have setted up this exact strucuture in our proposal software, You can try it here.