A proposal gets opened and read when it starts with the client’s own situation, states a clear scope and price early, and is short enough to finish in one sitting. Send it as a link rather than an attachment, agree the next step before you send it, and follow up on the day you said you would.
Agencies often write proposals about themselves: our process, our team, our awards. Clients read them to answer a different set of questions. Do you understand my business? What exactly will I get? What will it cost? What happens next? Write to those four questions and the document improves quickly.
Do the research before you write
The strongest proposals show that the writer already looked. Before drafting, spend an hour on the prospect’s market:
- Their website, their social accounts and their reviews.
- Three or four direct competitors and how they present themselves.
- Their prices against the competition, where those are public.
- Anything that looks broken or missing: a site that does not load on a phone, an unclaimed business listing, a booking flow that dead-ends.
Some agencies turn this into a standalone discovery report delivered before any quote. It is a researched look at the prospect’s market and position, with the questions you need answered. It earns trust because it is useful even if they never hire you. Whether you call it a discovery report or just the opening chapter of a proposal, include what you found, plainly stated.
Structure that gets read
Keep the order short and predictable:
- Their situation. Two or three paragraphs in the client’s terms: what they are trying to do and what is in the way.
- What you recommend. The approach in plain language, without jargon.
- Scope. What is included and, just as important, what is not.
- Timeline and milestones. Phases with dates and what the client receives at each.
- Investment. The fee, how it is billed and when.
- Assumptions and terms. What you are assuming about access, approvals and turnaround.
- Next step. One clear action: accept, or book a call.
Put a summary of the first five items on the first page. Many readers, including the person who signs, will read only that.
Write the scope as a statement of work
A statement of work lists deliverables, responsibilities and conditions precisely enough that two people would agree on whether a piece of work is in or out. For each phase write the deliverables as nouns (“a 12 page website, three rounds of revisions”) rather than activities (“website design support”).
List exclusions explicitly. The disputes that sour agency relationships are almost never about what was promised. They are about what each side assumed was included.
Be direct about money
Hiding the price until page nine does not help. Put the investment where the reader expects it and show how it breaks down. Where scope is uncertain, give a range and say what would narrow it. A range that you firm up after answering a few questions is honest and gets a faster reply than a vague “contact us for pricing”.
Tie payments to milestones where you can. A client who pays on delivery of a named phase has a clear picture of what they are paying for, and you avoid a large invoice with nothing visible behind it.
Invite questions inside the document
Clients have questions and many will not email them. Make asking easy. Some teams add a short list of questions at the end that they need answered before quoting, such as budget, deadlines or who else is involved. These are requests for information, often shortened to RFIs, and they work best when the client can answer on the page rather than in a long email chain.
Answer promptly and keep the answers attached to the document, so the next reader sees them too.
Send it as a link, and watch it
A PDF in an email vanishes. You never learn whether it was opened, forwarded or ignored. A link to a live document lets you see the first open and each return visit, which is proposal open tracking. Use it as a prompt for a human conversation, not as proof of interest. The first open is a good moment to send a short note. Repeated opens from a client who has not replied is a good moment to call.
If the document is private, protect it with a PIN or similar so that a forwarded link does not expose pricing to a stranger.
Make acceptance easy and exact
Ask for a clear yes. A typed name and email, recorded against the exact version the client read, is simple and leaves a record. If you revise the proposal after sending it, keep the earlier version so you can show what changed. Version history matters the day someone says “that is not what I agreed to”.
Where software helps
Kervol’s Proposals module covers these steps as built features: proposals with line items and payment milestones, first-open alerts and open counts, PIN-protected client documents, researched Foundry Discovery reports with client questions on the page, typed acceptance recorded against the exact version, and version comparison with rollback. E-signature is planned. Having MUSE draft a Discovery from research is early and has not yet run on a live account, so a person writes or checks every report today.
Checklist before you send
- The first page names the client’s situation, not yours.
- Scope states what is included and what is not.
- Price, billing and payment timing are visible without hunting.
- Milestones say what the client receives and when.
- Assumptions are written down.
- There is one clear next step.
- The document is a private link, not an attachment.
- A call or reply date is already agreed.
- You have a note in your diary to follow up on the day you said you would.
Updated 21 October 2026