The Basics: How To Start With An Effective Structure For Your Proposals

Strategy | Pursuit | Writing

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Confused about the best way to form a proposal, or want to build a template to have handy for proposal responses? I got you covered!

Creating a template to have on hand gives you a starting point for each proposal, and keeps you from totally reinventing the wheel each time. You can also easily customize it depending on the customer and any RFP requirements.

Keep in mind there are a few goals that go along with any proposal. You want to make it customer-focused, easy to follow/understand, and tell a story about the overall ‘win theme.’

The following structure works well for a corporate/commercial proposal. (A variation can also be used for government proposals in accordance with its RFP compliance requirements). Feel free to rename the subheadings to personalize them to either the customer or your company.

Suggested Structure

1. Cover Page

2. Cover Letter

3. Table of Contents

4. Executive Summary

   1. The Problem/Issues Facing (Your Customer)

   2. The Results (Your Customer) Wants/Will Achieve (by choosing you)

      1. Include a brief sentence about your differentiators

5. Our Solution

   1. Our Recommendation/Solution

   2. About Us

      1. Background & Mission Statement

   3. How We’re Different (Differentiators)

6. Investment (Pricing)

7. Success Stories (Testimonials)

8. Summary (Closing)

Pro tips:

• For tips on how to write an Executive Summary, see “A Proposal’s Executive Summary Isn’t What You Think It Is”

• Save this template as a Word document, and make a copy for each new proposal.

• Look to your internal sales & marketing documents or website to create static content such as the “about us” section, which you can reuse.

• Use creativity, colors, photos, graphics, and visuals to make it stand out!

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Tammy Holzer, MA is an APMP Micro-Certified Executive Summary writer, strategic proposal developer, and business development specialist. To find more articles and tools visit www.tammyholzer.com.

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