Business proposal template that opens with the buyer's real risk.

Scenario: An agency responding to a mid-market company that asked for a scope and price after a discovery call.

The diagnosis: A buyer who asks for pricing straight after discovery is usually trying to justify the spend internally, not compare vendors.

• Executive summary
• Problem statement
• Proposed approach
• Scope and deliverables
• Timeline
• Investment
• Next step

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR [CLIENT COMPANY] Prepared by [Your Company] · [Date] · Valid for [number] days EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [Client Company] needs [outcome] in place by [deadline] because [business driver]. This proposal sets out a [number]-phase engagement to deliver it, the investment required ([total fee]), and the decisions we need from your side to start on [start date]. THE PROBLEM WE HEARD In our conversation on [date], you described [stated request]. The underlying issue is narrower than that: [specific diagnosis, e.g. "your pipeline is not short of leads, it is short of qualified leads reaching sales within 24 hours"]. Solving the stated request without fixing that will move [metric] by very little. PROPOSED APPROACH Phase 1 — [name] ([duration]). [What we do, what you receive, what decision it unlocks.] Phase 2 — [name] ([duration]). [What we do, what you receive, what decision it unlocks.] Phase 3 — [name] ([duration]). [What we do, what you receive, what decision it unlocks.] SCOPE AND DELIVERABLES In scope: [deliverable 1], [deliverable 2], [deliverable 3]. Out of scope: [excluded item 1], [excluded item 2]. These can be added as a change order at [rate]. TIMELINE Kickoff [date] · Phase 1 complete [date] · Phase 2 complete [date] · Final handover [date]. INVESTMENT [Total fee], invoiced [payment schedule, e.g. "40% on signature, 30% at Phase 2, 30% on handover"]. Payment terms [net terms]. ASSUMPTIONS We have assumed [assumption 1] and [assumption 2]. If either changes, we will re-baseline the timeline with you before any additional cost is incurred. NEXT STEP Reply to confirm the scope and I will send the agreement and the kickoff calendar invite for [proposed kickoff date]. [Your Name] [Title] · [Your Company] [Email] · [Phone]

Scenario: A consultancy converting a completed project into an ongoing monthly retainer with a procurement-aware buyer.

The diagnosis: Retainer objections are rarely about price — they are about not being able to prove monthly value to a CFO.

• Purpose
• What changes without this
• Retainer structure
• Service levels
• Reporting and governance
• Commercials
• Next step

RETAINER PROPOSAL — [SERVICE] FOR [CLIENT COMPANY] Prepared by [Your Company] · [Date] PURPOSE To keep [system / program] performing after the [project name] handover, with a named team, agreed response times and monthly evidence of value. WHAT CHANGES WITHOUT THIS The [project name] work delivered [result]. That result decays: [specific decay mechanism, e.g. "content and rankings drift within two quarters without maintenance"]. The cost of rebuilding it later is roughly [estimate], versus [monthly fee] to hold it. RETAINER STRUCTURE Included each month: [hours or capacity], covering [activity 1], [activity 2] and [activity 3]. Named team: [names / roles]. Escalation contact: [name], reachable at [channel]. SERVICE LEVELS Response: [time] for standard requests, [time] for critical incidents. Delivery: [commitment, e.g. "agreed work items shipped within the same month or credited forward"]. REPORTING AND GOVERNANCE A monthly report covering [metric 1], [metric 2] and [metric 3], plus a [duration] review call on the [nth] working day. Quarterly business review with [stakeholder]. COMMERCIALS [Monthly fee], invoiced monthly in advance, [term length] initial term, then rolling with [notice period] notice. Unused capacity rolls forward one month. Rate review annually, capped at [percentage]. NEXT STEP Confirm the start month and I will issue the retainer agreement and the first-month plan. [Your Name] [Title] · [Your Company]

Scenario: A vendor proposing a platform rollout where IT, finance and an end-user team all have to say yes.

The diagnosis: Multi-stakeholder software deals stall on integration and change risk, not on features.

• Executive summary
• Current state and risk
• Solution overview
• Implementation plan
• Integration and security
• Commercial summary
• Next step

IMPLEMENTATION PROPOSAL — [PRODUCT] FOR [CLIENT COMPANY] Prepared by [Your Company] · [Date] · Reference [number] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY [Client Company] plans to replace [current system] before [deadline]. This proposal covers licensing, implementation and enablement for [number] users, at [total first-year cost], with go-live on [date]. CURRENT STATE AND RISK Today [describe current process] which causes [quantified pain, e.g. "roughly [hours] of manual reconciliation per month"]. The real risk in a replacement is not the software — it is [specific risk, e.g. "migrating [number] years of records without breaking month-end reporting"]. The plan below is built around retiring that risk first. SOLUTION OVERVIEW [Product] delivers [capability 1], [capability 2] and [capability 3]. Mapped to your stated requirements: [requirement] met by [feature]; [requirement] met by [feature]; [requirement] met by [feature]. Where we do not meet a requirement natively, we have said so: [gap] would be handled by [workaround]. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Week [n]: discovery and data audit. Owner [name]. Week [n]: environment setup and integration build. Owner [name]. Week [n]: migration dry run with [team]. Owner [name]. Week [n]: user training ([number] sessions) and go-live. Owner [name]. Week [n]: hypercare, [duration]. INTEGRATION AND SECURITY Integrations: [system 1] via [method], [system 2] via [method]. Data residency [region]. Access control [model]. Compliance documentation available: [list what you actually hold]. COMMERCIAL SUMMARY Licensing: [amount] per [period] for [number] users. Implementation: [one-off amount]. Support tier: [tier] at [amount]. Total year one: [amount]. Total year two onward: [amount]. NEXT STEP A [duration] technical session with [IT stakeholder] to confirm the integration approach, then we can issue the order form for signature by [date]. [Your Name] [Title] · [Your Company]

Scenario: An enterprise bidder answering a formal solicitation with mandatory sections and evaluation criteria.

The diagnosis: An evaluator scores compliance first and persuasion second — an unanswered requirement loses the bid before the writing matters.

• Cover letter
• Understanding of requirement
• Technical approach
• Compliance matrix
• Past performance
• Key personnel
• Price and assumptions

RESPONSE TO [SOLICITATION NUMBER] — [SOLICITATION TITLE] Submitted by [Your Company] · [Date] · Point of contact [name, email, phone] 1. COVER LETTER [Your Company] is pleased to submit this response to [solicitation number]. We confirm compliance with all mandatory requirements listed in Section [n] and accept the terms in Section [n], with the exceptions noted in Section 7. 2. UNDERSTANDING OF THE REQUIREMENT [Issuing organisation] is procuring [scope] in order to [stated objective]. The operative risk in this program is [specific risk drawn from the solicitation, e.g. "continuity of service during transition from the incumbent"]. Our approach is sequenced to retire that risk in the first [period]. 3. TECHNICAL APPROACH 3.1 [Workstream name]. Method: [approach]. Deliverable: [artifact]. Acceptance: [criterion]. 3.2 [Workstream name]. Method: [approach]. Deliverable: [artifact]. Acceptance: [criterion]. 3.3 Transition plan. [Steps, dates, rollback position.] 3.4 Quality management. [Standard or process you actually operate, plus how it is evidenced.] 4. COMPLIANCE MATRIX Requirement [ref] — Compliant — Evidence in Section [n], page [n]. Requirement [ref] — Compliant — Evidence in Section [n], page [n]. Requirement [ref] — Partially compliant — [explanation and mitigation]. 5. PAST PERFORMANCE Contract [name], [client], [value], [dates]. Scope: [summary]. Outcome: [verifiable result]. Reference: [name, title, contact with permission]. (Only include engagements you can evidence and reference.) 6. KEY PERSONNEL [Name] — [role] — [allocation %] — [relevant qualification]. [Name] — [role] — [allocation %] — [relevant qualification]. 7. PRICE AND ASSUMPTIONS Total price: [amount], broken down in the attached pricing schedule [reference]. Assumptions: [assumption 1], [assumption 2]. Exceptions to terms: [clause reference and proposed alternative], or "None". 8. AUTHORISED SIGNATURE [Name], [title], [date].