A proposal is an official offer to deliver for a client. A proposal may be in the form of an email, Figma deck, or long-form document. Whatever the format, all proposals must…

• Re-iterate to the Lead what their problem is, so they know we heard them, and thought through it.
• Establish our credibility and industry experience.
• Communicate our expertise at solving the specific type of problem the Lead is facing.
• Introduce our team, highlighting the specific people likely to work with the Lead.
• Clearly explain our – both the one we are offering now, and future services that typically follow.
• Present clear, fair, and simple Pricing

Choosing a Service

When a new Lead comes to us it may initially not be clear what they need. Within our Sales Process, we try to ascertain what the best fit for them is.

• If the requirements for the project are very vague, the client needs lots of research or we need to do a lot of prototyping: Propose a Diagnostic.
• If the client needs a new website and the requirements are pretty clear: Propose a New Build.
• If the client needs a new team to maintain their site: Propose a Tune-Up which will lead to Core Coverage.

Common Proposal Formats

Email

When we have a good rapport with a Lead and can be informal, there’s nothing wrong with sending a detailed email as the proposal. This is a good fit for when the lead comes to us from a strong referral source, or when the scope is small. This saves us time assembling a more detailed proposal.

Figma Deck

We have a standard proposal format for our decks that you can find in the “Business Development” folder in Figma.

Feel free to experiment with the format and sequence. Try to add a good amount of detail about what we would be doing, but not so much technical nuance that the Lead is overwhelmed.

Proposal Document