Proposal: Definition and a detailed guide for beginners
The proposals were born along with the strong development of the field of Marketing. It can be said that Proposals are a form of presenting ideas. A professional Proposal will help businesses get working contracts and build relationships with partners and customers. So what is Proposal? How to write a Proposal?
Below, CleverAds helps you better understand the definition of a Proposal and provides detailed instructions on how to write a Proposal for beginners.
1. What is Proposal?
Proposals are a form of presenting ideas, strategies, budgets, implementation timelines, contract terms, etc. for a project or strategy to potential partners or customers.
The proposals are usually presented via excel, word, and PowerPoint. In addition, the Proposals also showed through a free or paid Proposal template, depending on the customer’s needs. Giving Proposals to customers to convince them, making them accept the deal, and being satisfied with the proposals and strategies offered.
Content in the Proposal must highlight the issues to be presented, be feasible and bring many benefits. When writing a Proposal, you must answer the following questions:
- What – Present the content?
- Why – What are the purpose and ability to perform?
- Who – Who is the executor?
- When – When is the time?
- Where – Where is it done?
- How – How to do it?
Currently, a Proposal is essential to bridge for businesses. It plays the role of helping companies to connect with partners and customers effectively, thereby orienting cooperation to develop long-term relationships between the parties.
2. Structure of a Proposal
A standard Proposal usually has four parts as follows:
Part 1: Introduction
First, the Proposals must have an introduction of basic information related to the content of the Proposals to have the most general overview possible. Contents in the introduction include:
- Project/program name and format (e.g. Seminar, promotion, advertisement)
- Introduce yourself and explain why you are submitting these Proposals.
- Who participates? Who are the main responsible persons?
- To-do items want readers to do
- Program content frame
- Contact Info
Part 2: Putting customers/partners at the heart
This part is an important part which determines the success of the Proposals. In this part, it is necessary to create an attraction for the buyers, making them see that these Proposals can meet their needs. If you do this part well, your chances of getting the customer’s consent will be much higher. This section should include the following:
- What is the reason for implementing the project/program?
- Project time
- Project location
- Timeline of work in the project/program
Part 3: Proposal content – Detailed description of what the project does
For the content, it is necessary to present in detail and science for customers it is easily observe including the following contents:
- Ideas expressed in the project/program
- What benefits and advantages does the project/program bring to partners and customers?
- Costs partners and customers need to pay for this project.
Part 4: Proving the capacity, expertise and experience of the business
The last part of the Proposals also great determines the buyer’s acceptance of cooperation. Writing content for this section needs to be fully and reasonably allocated to change customer psychology:
- About the business
- Departments, teams, outstanding personnel
- Units that have successfully cooperated with businesses
- Awards and achievements of the business
3. Basic proposal template example
With this template, users only need to fill in the information in the form according to the content structure above. A basic template consists of 4 parts such as a divided structure section.
- Overview: Part 1 – Introduction, an overview of the Proposals
- Goals: Part 2 – Put customers as partners, at the centre (what is the purpose of the Proposals, information about time, place)
- Specifications: Part 3 – Content (describes Proposals in detail with specific specifications)
- Milestones: Part 4 – Demonstrating business capabilities, expertise and experience (list business milestones)
Proposals may be represented differently. However, the above layout must be fully adhered to. Each part of the proposal should be written in full and detail but still short and easy to understand.
4. Updated 7 Tips for Writing Professional Proposal
Professional Proposals will present ideas that highlight the unique details about the business compared to competitors in the market. In particular, Proposals create a foundation based on trust and satisfaction in the customer-marketer, agency-client relationship. Here are tips for writing a professional Proposal:
4.1. Take care of the form
Usually, the form easily impresses and creates attraction when the customer first reads the Proposals. Therefore, investing in and taking care of the form is necessary when writing Proposals. You can refer to Proposal design websites to create a beautiful, impressive Proposal version, creating sympathy from customers.
4.2. Short and easy to understand
Research shows that a typical Proposal is between 2,000 and 3,500 words (4-7 pages) long. Technically, there is no limit on short or long content. However, professional proposals use simple, concise, easy-to-understand sentences and words so that the ideas and opinions need to be conveyed clearly.
Professional Proposals must be able to answer the following fundamental questions:
- What benefits does the proposed project bring to the customer?
- What is the structure presented to the marketing proposals?
- What should unnecessary content be omitted from Proposals?
- How to link the content in Proposal logic and meaning?
4.3. Focus on the customer
Customers are always at the heart of all business activities. A successful business strategy meets customer insights. Therefore, writing a proposal with centre content must aim to satisfy the need of the customer.
4.4. Build the best plan possible
It is advisable to create a detailed proposal for items, including activities, events that will take place, implementation work, personnel in charge, and even exact financial figures.
Then, you need to respond to questions like:
- What should be said in Proposals?
- What should be left out?
- How to combine and articulate ideas together in the most meaningful way?
Writers can refer to templates for proposals to determine the information needed to build a perfect marketing plan.
4.5. Get to know your opponent
The first thing when planning and writing a proposal is to find out about the competition and point out the highlights compared to the competition. It can help improve the ability to convince customers.
4.6. Deadline
Setting deadlines for a Proposal is essential to getting it done on time. Divide tasks to be reasonable within a certain period with each work activity. Creating a deadline also makes building a plan more precise, detailed, and easy for customers to observe and evaluate.
4.7. Budget
With different budgets, the programs’ size and the project’s scope will also be different. Therefore, building a project sample proposal must be feasible and stick to the given budget.
5. What are mistakes to avoid when writing Proposals?
- Losing interest, not making an impression on customers: The proposals need to be more concise and go to the point, causing customers to lose time when reading. That leads to a loss of interest, and they choose to ignore your Proposals and find another Proposal. A Proposal that makes an impression on customers must be concise and help them understand the proposal’s details. What is more important is meeting customer insights.
- Focus too much on the expertise and experience of the company or individual: Write a Proposal but write too much about the company, such as skills, awards and achievements. It will make customers bored and uncomfortable and think that the content in the proposal needs more authenticity. With professional competence and experience, this is recommended to introduce the business and propose to market the products or services that the company provides.
- Does not highlight the problem in the proposal, and the structure is not clear: Even if there is much information and clear, relevant issues that want to be expressed in the proposal but are not worded and presented properly will also not attract and convince customers.
6. A detailed guide to designing a Proposal on Canva
Using available Proposal templates will save a lot of design time and effort. In addition, websites or Proposal design software are also available with necessary features such as Tracking, electronic signatures, etc. Here is an example of Proposal design steps on the Canva website:
Step 1: Open Canva
Type in the domain name and search Canva.com. This will immediately find the Canva design website with many good features.
Step 2: Find a suitable Proposal template
In Canva’s search bar, search for Proposal; Canva will provide a variety of Proposal templates. A marketing Proposal, Design Proposal, or Art Gallery Proposal are easy to find. Add search keywords to match the theme, colour, style and mood to choose the most suitable Proposal template. Then click on the selected template to start designing.
Step 3: Explore features
Canvas library features millions of images, illustrations, icons, charts, and various design details. Drag and drop design elements onto the page and rearrange them to create the desired effect.
Step 4: Customize more details
Take Proposal design personalization even further by mixing and matching different elements. Upload animations, images, and aspects of your business’s branding. Choose unique colours, background images, and font styles.
Step 5: Download and share
Save your Proposal design as JPG, PNG, or PDF. Download it as a file or share it via email with a few easy clicks.
7. Conclusion
Above is the basic definition of What a proposal is and a complete guide on how to write a Proposal for beginners. CleverAds hopes this sharing can help you understand and grasp how to write a Proposal. A professional Proposal is also showing professionalism for individuals and organizations. So when writing a proposal, the essential thing to ensure is correct, sufficient and standard writing. Good luck!
