Here is a quick way to see if you’re in with a chance of winning the deal. Examine the current draft of your business proposal with this 8-Step business proposal checklist

Ready to explore the checklist for business proposals one by one?

Let’s go.

1. Perceive yourself as an expert in your field

Well, keep in mind that this is the section where you have to convey the feeling that you are the expert to all who read the proposal. Showcase your company’s experience, skillset, and most importantly your value to the prospective client’s organization, differentiate your process and services from the competition in the industry, include customer testimonials, achievements, or any related awards to win the prospect’s attention right away.

2. Discover your customer’s biggest challenge and address it

The art of proposal writing is understanding the pain points of customers. It can help you not only retain the current customers but also opens the door for new customers. Learn a few key things about the prospective client and his/her business before drafting a proposal, understand the specific challenges the prospective client is currently experiencing, prioritize the prospective client’s needs, start the business proposal template by highlighting the benefits client can get with your services.

3. Uncover your approach to solving their challenge

Now it’s time to fill in the details about your approach. Often proposal writers make the biggest mistake of giving too many details bout the solution. Thumb rule: give details about the approach, not about the solution. Fill in the details about the approach to solving the issue, define what you have planned to meet the objective, give the prospect a rough sketch about the method you will use for the execution (In just 2-3 lines)

Related articles: How to Create a Business Proposal that Wins New Clients . Also check this specific: project proposal checklist

4. Scope of work

I personally think about a statement of work like this:

A kickass version of your business proposal that actually describes the work to be done and the process involved in completing that work. Include the following elements in the scope of work section,

• Introduction- Type of work whether a service or a product?
• Purpose- Why the work being done?
• Scope of work– Steps that need to be taken to complete the work.
• Deliverables and timeline- List of deliverables and timeline for each deliverable.
• Acceptance criteria and signatures- Acceptance criteria are enclosed with terms of service and agreeing upon it before the project avoids a lot of misunderstanding in the future.

5. Stories of your past work

Consciously or subconsciously every buyer is waiting for this section to come. Every successful business proposal tells stories of past work to make clients visualize themselves working with you. Customer references are one of the most important confidence signals you can use in your proposal. Include recommendations from the clients your company helped in the past, highlight the positive customer references that will help prospects understand what they would benefit if they hire you.

6. Project deliverable timeline

Now, this is where you go into detail about the project timeline. It can be tricky to estimate the timeline. Include an estimated timeline to deliver the solution, explain the scope of work the prospect can expect from your company, describe what the company will do and the time frame for delivery or completion of key items.

Read more about the type of graphics you can use in your business proposal

7. Include an investment fees table

You have done your homework and offered an ideal solution to his organization. Here come’s a tricky part i.e “pricing” (an essential element of every business proposal). Include a captivating title for the pricing table, layout the cost with clear and easy-to-understand pricing options for the solution, highlight the popular choices of services at the top, optimize the pricing table as per the prospect’s needs.

8. Seal it with an e-signature

Being successful implies keeping up with the trends. Innovations are meant for making various processes easier, saving time, boosting efficiency. These very same goals any business strives to achieve it to rank high in the business competition.

So to make the best use of digital transformation and maximize the chances of success by including an eSignature in your business proposal

Wrapping up:

This checklist will help you stay focused and build a business proposal that wins new clients. Every time you schedule a sales call run through the list beforehand and make sure you are all prepared.

You know, most of this checklist can be easily ticked once you start using sophisticated proposal software. Learn about what is a proposal software, what benefits it offers, how it can streamline the sales proposal process, how to achieve cost-time efficacy and improved productivity using right set of proposal process and tools.

Good luck!