Factors That’ll Help You Select a Suitable Business Proposal Template

Personalizing your business proposal is an excellent way to show your prospective client that you understand them. The more you tailor your proposal, the more it will be powerful and compelling.

That’s why it is advisable to use the RIGHT business proposal template to create a sales document. More than money, the right business proposal template will not only help you hit the right targets it will also help you save a lot of time and most importantly it will help you win more new clients.

In this article, we are going to look at all the things that you need to tick off before you create or select a suitable business proposal template and enjoy its benefits.

Let’s go!!!

1. Compatibility– look and feel that matches your offerings

You can’t just pull up the real estate proposal template and use the same for a business deal. The look and feel of the business proposal template differ depending on the type of industry. Not all the templates follow the standardized structure, wedding planning is very different from construction, web design is different from cleaning services

The first thing your client is going to see is the cover image, and what if the cover image itself is misleading? He won’t even spend time looking at the rest of the proposal. It doesn’t matter how interactive your sales proposal is because no one will review it if you go wrong with the template selection.

2. The perfect couple- Color and your brand/offerings

The goal of any business proposal is to sell something and if you want to sell something the first task you need to accomplish is to grab the attention. And of course, color plays an important role in capturing attention and setting up a path for the readers’ eye to follow. You don’t want to be the one who missed a major deal because you sent a high-energy red, orange, and yellow color proposal to a conservative client. Or a grey color proposal to a hippy, funky startup, do you?

Related article: Do Not Make These 5 Mistakes When Developing a Business Proposal

3. Lookin good huh- Visually appealing design

You may have the best content but if you fail to present it well, you won’t be able to catch your potential client’s attention. Keep one thing in mind that you have to make your business proposal dynamic and memorable (here’s a quick checklist to create such a proposal). A well-designed business proposal will not only sell your business but also help you close more deals. Sure, the business proposal template must follow a document-type design format but that doesn’t mean you can not dress up your proposals.

Learn more about how to dress up your proposals.

Factors that influence user experience

• Visuals: As per the saying ” show, don’t tell”. To enhance your text incorporate visuals like charts, graphs, infographics, screenshots, photos in your business proposal.
• Font: Make sure your business proposal does not have those funky or non-standard fonts. What if your client won’t be able to read the proposal because he doesn’t have that font?
• Layouts: The layout of your proposal should represent a relationship between various ideas. Through headings, reflect a hierarchical relationship between your ideas – like from major ideas to minor ones.
• Table of Contents: It is often neglected but it’s still an important part of the design. An ideal business proposal template always comes with a table of content.

4. Familiarity- Clear and concise structure

Creating a business proposal is challenging and is exactly similar to building a house. The house structure varies according to the location, architecture, owner’s requirements, the same way business proposals vary based on the industry type, company size, and many other factors. Some important factors are always essential in both cases.

The common elements that define the structure of a business proposal

• Problem awareness: Show that you have done the research and you know the problem and the results the potential client wants.
• About your company: Who are you, what qualities do you have why should a potential client prefer you over the competitors?
• Pricing and the process: Clear picture about how will you solve their problems and how much will it cost?

5. Instant connection– Language and tone

Business proposals must have the right tone to ensure it is effective. If the tone makes the content unclear, confusing, or even worst – offensive, the reader will not be able to soak up or react properly to the proposal. The overall tone in a written document affects the reader just as the same way the tone of voice affects a face-to-face conversation.

The factors that help the business proposal template achieve the right tone

• Confidence: Companies closes deals with people who are confident about their business. Make sure the template reflects that confidence.
• Sincerity: Sincerity can be proven by the evidence of past success. Numbers play a major role in maintaining the tone of sincerity.
• Positivity: Positive tone is more appealing. Make sure your template has phrases used positively.

Now, get started with your work.

Good luck!