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Proposal Template  
Outline 
Thanks so much for downloading this proposal template. We use this structure for all of our 
client’s campaigns as this has helped us generate sales for all of our clients. This document 
covers: 
 
● Page 1 ​Outline of the proposal  
● Page 2 ​How to meet your Prospect’s ‘Sales Process Needs’ 
● Page 4 ​Proposal template 

Outline of the proposal 

Scannable brilliance  
This is what you’re looking for when you’re sending over the proposal, something that 
someone can immediately ‘get’ the gist of what you’re saying. 
 
First things first 
There are differing schools of thought about how soon to put the price on a proposal. On 
one hand, you don’t want them to see the price and dismiss it solely on that. On the other, 
you don’t want so much in front of of the price that they just scan through it all and miss all 
the good stuff.  
 
Below is the order of what we put to all of our proposals 
 
1. Outline of needs and how we match those needs - ​This is usually a visually 
easy-to-get table with ‘what you want’ on one side and ‘how we do it’ the other. The 
idea is that it’s really quick and easy to immediately see why you’re so amazing 
2. Give 2 time-limited pricing options - ​A quick summary of what we’ll do and then 
the price. The price itself says ‘if you’re happy to go ahead this month, we can do 
£XX price, the normal price is £YY’ 
3. Everything else - ​Then we put in all the other stuff about your business 
 

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Meeting your Prospect’s ‘Sales Process Needs’ 

 
“It’s not the features and benefits, it's the way you sell it” 
 
As you know, selling isn’t just about meeting your client’s material needs and the features & 
benefits of a product. Customers have needs that need to be met from the sales process 
itself. This is the level of information that you need, the way it’s delivered, the sources of 
information and length of time it takes to decide.  
 
Meeting their sales process needs 
Consistently high results in selling anything are about meeting their sales process needs. 
Below are some ways that you address what they need from you
 
1 - You understand their mindset 
Customers view different purchases in different ways. For example; someone may find the 
ordeal of buying a new car quite stressful and expensive and therefore approaches it as a 
necessary evil. Conversely, someone may have literally spent their whole day thinking 
about what toppings and side orders they’re going to have because they’re just so darn 
excited about it! 
 
This is a pretty simplistic example because this book isn’t about understanding your 
customer’s mindset. The point is, pizza is more delicious than cars. 
 
2 - How they want to be talked to about the product/service you’re selling 
The actual sales discussion partly depends on where it fits on the customer’s needs vs 
want scale; 
 
Need your product Want your product 
| | 
 
Needs - ​Examples that fit closer to the need’s end of the scale include necessities like your 
utilities; generally speaking, people don’t want to talk in much depth about their electricity 
bill. As long as the bill isn’t outrageous and the lights turn on each day, that’s usually 
enough for a customer to be satisfied enough to sign up. These conversations can be much 
more matter of fact than sales processes closer to the want’s end 
 

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Wants - ​Examples that fit closer to the want’s end of the scale include things like 
purchasing works of art. For this, a customer would likely want to have a conversation 
that’s much more in depth to gain more context about it’s suitability to them 
 
Again, 2 very simplistic examples. Conversations have much more complexity to them than 
the want’s vs need’s scale. The main point is that customers can have preconceived 
expectations of ​how​ they would be sold to, and this forms part of their decision making 
process 
  
3 - What information they do/don’t want from you  
This also leads on to what kind of information they’re expecting from you as part of the 
sales process. Whilst this also greatly varies from person to person, but you can also see 
particular products and services as more or less ‘technical’ a sale. 
 
Back to the cars vs pizza example. Whilst it does vary from customer to customer, it’s more 
likely that a person might want to know the in’s and out’s of cars specifications when 
compared with the likelihood of customers asking the preparation methods or cooking 
temperature of pizza. The point is, the information they expect and what you deliver can 
impact a customer’s decision 
 
4 - How you present the information 
Which neatly leads us on to ​how ​you present information! Apart from tenders, most 
customers aren’t asking for your life story from a proposal. In fact, overly detailed or poorly 
presented proposals can be a huge turn off when it comes to picking a company.  
 
Why? Because it makes it really hard for them to get the information that they need. 
Generally speaking, customers need to answer questions which are things like;  
 
● Can I trust this company to turn up every day and do a good job? 
● Am I confident that they will keep the standard that I want them to without any of 
my involvement? 
● If something does go wrong, how quick and easy will they make solving the 
problem? 
● Do they fit within our budget? If not, does the above value they bring outweigh the 
cost when compared to other quotes I got? 
 
Fact is, most customers will simply glance at the proposal that took you hours to create. As 
such, your proposal needs to tell them all the general important headline info from a glance 

   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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[Prospect] Proposal  
 

[Welcoming message] 
Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to provide a quote for [services] . This 
proposal covers: 
 
● Your needs & how we will match them 
● Our solution & price  
● [Testimonials and previous results] 
● [Details about our company] 
● [FAQ] 

[Who this proposal is for] 

[As a precursor to your proposal and showing your previous results, talk about your current 
client base and give 1 or 2 sentences on what you’re really good at doing] 
 
● Give max 3 bullet points on results you’ve gotten  
● Make each bullet point 10 words max 
● Start with the end result first e.g. ‘We grow businesses by XYZ/ We reduce costs 
through ABC’  

   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Your needs & how we will meet them 

Your needs  How [Your company] meets this 

Need  How we meet this 

Based on the conversations  Give a concise explanation about how you address this 
you’ve had with the  problem. Don’t focus on what you’ll do, but focus on what 
prospect, Identify key  the outcome will be for them e.g. “we will reduce your 
needs and problems that  costs through ABC’ 
you’ll address 

Need  How we meet this 

Based on the conversations  Give a concise explanation about how you address this 
you’ve had with the  problem. Don’t focus on what you’ll do, but focus on what 
prospect, Identify key  the outcome will be for them e.g. “we will grow your 
needs and problems that  business through XYZ’ 
you’ll address   

Need  How we meet this 

Based on the conversations  Give a concise explanation about how you address this 
you’ve had with the  problem. Don’t focus on what you’ll do, but focus on what 
prospect, Identify key  the outcome will be for them e.g. “we will improve your 
needs and problems that  productivity through 123’ 
you’ll address 

   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Our solution & price 

Item  Details 

Item   
Name  Description  
 

Item   
Name  Description  
 

Item   
Name  Description  
 

Price   
Description  £ (list any discounts given or time limited offers) 
   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Our previous results 

Give relevant testimonials, statistics or examples of how you’ve done an amazing job for 
clients. It doesn’t have to be 3, but more than 1 is good. Examples of what you can give 
include; 
 
● Statistics on previous results e.g. £ saved or £ made for clients or % 
reduced/increased  
● Testimonials 
● Case studies 
● Competitor comparison 
● Awards (if relevant) 
 
[Key example 1] 
 
[Key example 2] 
 
[Key example 3] 
 

   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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About [Company] 
[3 sentences max about your company's mission. Don’t give your life story here, but talk 
about the impact you have for your clients] 
 
[Key Benefit 1] 
The main benefit of companies using you over someone else. 3 sentences max 
 
[Key Benefit 2] 
The 2nd main benefit of companies using you over someone else. 3 sentences max 
 
[Key Benefit 3] 
The 3rd main benefit of companies using you over someone else. 3 sentences max 
 

[How we work] 
 
Give insight into how you work and what you do to produce such amazing results 

   

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018 

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Frequently asked questions 

 
Question/concern 1 
 
Here’s an answer, make the response chatty and reassuring in tone 
 
Question/concern 2 
 
Make it sound like you’re giving them a big hug with how caring you are 
 
Question/concern 3 
 
You’ve thought of everything! Aren’t you lovely? 
 

Got a question? 
 
I hope this proposal template is useful! Let us know if you have any questions 
owen.wood@parkrowmarketing.co.uk  

© Park Row Marketing ltd 2018