Proposal template
Your agent fills the structure from your brief. Share one link your client comments on inline — no emailed PDFs, no 'which version did you change?'
Most proposals fail before the client even reads them. They arrive as a PDF attachment, the client has to download it, email back a question, wait for a reply, and by that point the conversation has lost momentum. Draft it with your agent, share the Drafty link, and the client's reaction lands on the exact line they're questioning — without an email chain.
The thing most people get wrong
Write the problem section before anything else, and confirm it with the client before you draft the solution. The most common reason a proposal gets "can you revise this?" is that the client didn't agree with your framing of the problem. Get one line of written acknowledgement on the problem — then the rest of the proposal is just how you'll solve the thing they've already confirmed.
Generate it with your agent
Paste this into Claude, Cursor, or any agent:
See it on a real one
What goes in a proposal
Six sections. Most proposals that lose deals aren't too short — they're too solution-heavy without enough problem confirmation.
- Problem — the client's situation, in their words. The test: if you showed it to the client without your name on it, would they nod? If they'd correct a single sentence, fix that before you send anything else.
- Proposed approach — how you'll solve it. Not a full spec — enough to demonstrate you've thought it through and to surface the assumptions worth discussing.
- Deliverables — the tangible outputs with a clear definition of done. "Redesigned onboarding flow" is not a deliverable. "Three revised onboarding screens, one mobile and one desktop prototype, and an annotated handoff doc for engineering" is.
- Timeline — key milestones, not a day-by-day plan. Three to five rows: kickoff, first review, delivery. Dates should be realistic — the most common revision request is "can you move this up?" because the maker sandbagged, or "we need more time" because they didn't.
- Investment — the price, what's included, and what's explicitly out of scope. The out-of-scope list closes the "can we also add…" conversation before it starts.
- Next steps — one action: "sign here" or "reply to confirm you want to proceed." A proposal without a clear next step tends to sit.
FAQ
How long should a proposal be? As long as the decision requires. A single-deliverable freelance engagement: one to two pages. A multi-month agency retainer: three to five. Enterprise RFP responses run longer, but that's a different artifact. If the proposal is longer than five pages for a single-project engagement, it usually means the scope isn't clear enough yet — or you're trying to pre-answer objections that should be a conversation.
What's the difference between a proposal and a quote? A proposal makes the case for an approach and a price — it's persuasion before commitment. A quote just states the price for a scope the client already defined. If you're not sure which to send, send a proposal. A quote without context is easy to shop on price alone. Once the proposal is accepted, a Statement of Work formalizes the same terms for signature.
What goes in the executive summary of a proposal? A one-paragraph version of the whole thing: the problem you're solving, your approach, the investment, and the timeline. Decision-makers often read only this. If the executive summary doesn't contain enough to say yes, rewrite it — don't assume they'll read on.
Can I use an AI agent to write a proposal? Yes, and it's the fastest way to get a solid draft in front of a client quickly. The prompt above handles the structure. The parts an agent can't supply are the specific client pain (get that from a discovery call) and the real deliverable definitions (get those from your process). The agent drafts; you put the evidence in.
How do I collect feedback on a proposal without a back-and-forth email chain? Share a link rather than a file. When feedback lands as inline comments on the exact line, it's faster to address than a vague "can you revise section 3?" in an email. The Drafty link means your client can comment without creating an account, and when you push a revision, the URL stays the same — they're already reading the updated version.
What's the most common reason a proposal gets rejected? The problem framing is off. If the client reads the problem section and thinks "that's not quite our situation," they lose confidence in everything that follows — including the solution and the price. Agree on the problem in writing before you send a full proposal.