Writing the perfect business proposal letter is simple. Here's the formula.
One thing that has always interested me is how different a proposal can be depending on what they call it. Call it a sales proposal and lots of fancy words need to be in there. If it's a business proposal it needs to be designed by a professional. Call it a business proposal letter and it's a short, 1 page message to your potential client.
It doesn't change the basic situation. Your potential client still needs to:
Know you understand their problem
Trust you to do the job
Be ready to move forward with money and timing
What I like about the concept of a business proposal letter is that it's personal. It's very common to see proposals look like soulless brochures. Keeping it personal is key - by thinking about your proposal as a letter, you'll naturally show understanding.
Where it falls down is trust. A typical business proposal letter doesn't give you space for case studies, testimonials etc. It just seems out of place.
The solution
Start the proposal with a short business letter on the first page - it's the only page that gets read fully according to numbers.
This way you get their attention, get your point across and set everything else up. Most people believe this is the only truly custom part of a proposal. Use this to your advantage.
Throughout the business proposal, keep thinking about their main goal. If it's to bring in more leads, mention that. Instead of saying:
"We will put a call to action on your website"
Say this:
"Getting people to fill out a form is vital to make this project work. We'll use every trick in the book to guide your visitors to your contact form"
More interesting, right?
Make a good impression
You can't make a second first impression. If they open a basic Word doc that looks boring, it won't excite them.
What you're trying to do is get them excited. Create an experience for a future client partner, not just send a document.
Does your new client not deserve an experience? Create something great for them. This doesn't mean spending thousands on designers and writers. With Wonit, you can create beautiful proposals in minutes. Just tell the AI what you need - "create a marketing proposal for a SaaS company, $50K budget, 3-month timeline" - and get a nice, personal proposal with pricing tables, project phases, and professional design in 5 minutes.
Your potential clients will thank you for sending a great business proposal letter and then choose to work with you.
When to send it
Send your proposals at normal work times. If you send an email at 11am when they're at their desk, they'll likely read it. At 2:45am? Not so much.
Use basic common sense. Just because you finished at 3am doesn't mean you need to send it then.
From experience, people think:
Late night emails = unprofessional
Early morning emails = well organized professional
Silly? Yes. But people think it, so go with it.
Don't promise proposals by "end of play friday". If it's Wednesday afternoon, say:
"I'm going to head back to the office and do your proposal right now. We can go through it when it's done"
Keeps it fresh in both your minds. With Wonit, you can actually do this - create the proposal right after the meeting in 5 minutes while everything's still fresh.
When to follow up
Two things are a mystery to 99% of people:
When to follow up
What to say
Some follow up the same day. Others wait a week. Both can be wrong depending on the situation.
If there's a process with decisions on a certain date, following up before that is useless. But waiting 20-30 days means they'll forget the details.
Here's what to do:
Find the date they want the project done
Work backwards to find the "latest" decision date
Now you have a reason for your follow up
What to say in follow ups
Case study - Send a new case study between the proposal and decision.
Business introduction - Find out who they want to meet and make it happen.
Share their content - Share their blog content and let them know.
Free stuff - Solve something for them. Give them a better headline, a quick win, show your value.
Example:
"Hey John, I wrote a new headline for you. Your current one says 'Go Green with LED' but you're missing the money benefit. Try: 'How would you like brand new LED lighting and get paid to have it'. Give it a try for a week."
That's the kind of follow up that gets attention and wins deals.
With Wonit, you get detailed tracking. See exactly who viewed what parts and for how long. Know what they're interested in before you follow up. If they spent 10 minutes on pricing but barely looked at timeline, you know what to talk about.
Conclusion
Writing a business proposal letter is hard, but these ideas make it easier. If it's still scary, Wonit's AI creates personal, professional proposals in minutes through simple conversation. No templates to fight with, no design choices - just tell the AI what you need. Get early access and see how conversation turns into won deals.