Objects to move

• E. This should be short and to the point. Do not include the word ‘proposal’ in the heading and try to present it as a story.
  
  Marketing Proposal for ABC Limited ✘
  New Website Development Proposal for ABC limited ✘
  Increasing Leads Through Social Media Campaigns ✔
• F. Clearly, this is an overview of the whole proposal. It should include a general statement of the client’s need and the solution and how it will benefit the client in a way that promotes the proposer. It should also mention the completion date, a general statement about the extraordinary value of the proposal (without mentioning the actual quotation price itself) and why the proposer is the right person / company for the job. This section is not necessary in a short proposal.
• C. This is a summary of the field in which the client is involved together with some background information on the project in hand. For an in-house proposal, clearly the ‘client’ will be one’s own company, organisation or department. For an academic proposal, the ‘client’ could be the hierarchy within a department, a university or a government committee.
• H. In this section the proposal should detail exactly what the client wants the proposal for. This could be a problem that needs to be solved or it could be asking for ideas to add value to a company or organisation. Essentially this section identifies the aim of the proposal, the needs of the client and the reason the proposal is being requested.
• J. This is arguably the most important part of the proposal as it presents how the client’s problem can be solved or needs satisfied. This should be presented as a practical step-by-step procedure that outlines very clearly what needs to done and how effectively the proposer can do it. This also gives the proposer an opportunity to promote their own expertise and why the client should choose them.
• A. This is a section which is surprisingly often neglected and yet it provides a clear opportunity for the proposer to sell their idea. Whilst the actual proposal itself outlines the steps which need to be taken, this section provides the reasons why they need to be taken, how they can be implemented and perhaps of equal importance, how their success and effectiveness can be measured and followed up, if necessary.
• D. In this part of the proposal, you need to outline the financial implications of the proposal. This will certainly include the proposer’s fees plus all the additional costs including manpower, equipment, research, training and any other overheads which are necessary for the successful completion of the project. The figures should be presented in a positive a way that highlights their competitive value.
• I. Obviously the client will need to know when the project will be completed and how long it will take; in fact most clients will stipulate a deadline or completion date as part of the project brief. Depending upon the complexity of the project, the proposer may also want to include a series of ‘mini-deadlines’ for various parts of the proposal.
• G. This may or may not be included in the proposal as it can be a very complicated legal document or one that is, as a matter of course, presented separately from the actual proposal itself. An alternative to including the whole contract in the proposal, is to provide a summary detailing the key points.
• B. This provides a last opportunity for the proposaer to sell themsleves / their company / organisation / team and clearly, their proposal. This section can also recount examples of previous successful projects, prestgious clients, jobs which have ‘come-in’ under budget and ‘on time’ or before the deadline, testimonials and awards. It is also a good idead to finsh with a ‘Why choose us?’ section in which the proposer can briefly promote themselves one last time.

1. Title page

2. Executive summary

3. Client operation / business

4. Client requirement / need / problem / objective / purpose

5. Proposal / solution / recommendation / action

6. Benefits, rationale and suggested evaluation of proposal / solution / recommendation / action

7. Project costing, fees and resource requirements

8. Timetable / timeline / schedule

9. Contract details

10. Persuasive overview of reputation and track record of proposal provider