January 24, 2025
Last updated on October 1, 2024
Creating a landscaping proposal that wins contracts isn't just about listing services and prices. Whether you're bidding on commercial landscaping projects or residential landscape design work, your proposal needs to stand out from the competition.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk through everything you need to know about writing professional landscaping proposals that convert.
Why Landscaping Proposals Matter More Than You Think
You might be wondering: Why not just send a quick landscaping quote or a napkin sketch? Here's the thing – landscape design and maintenance is a massive investment for your clients. They want to know exactly where their budget is going and who they're entrusting with this expensive service.
As Kyle Racki, CEO of Proposify, explains
The value of the proposal is two things. It's a chance to show your past work – landscaping is a very visual medium, it's beautiful. So your chance to show your work in a visual format can go a long way towards winning the deal. But it's also a chance to reinforce your positioning.
Think of your commercial landscaping proposal as more than just a price quote – it's your opportunity to tell your story, showcase your expertise, and demonstrate why you're the perfect partner for your client's vision.
Want to see what winning landscape contracts looks like in action? Check out our guide on winning your next landscaping contract.
Positioning Your Landscaping Business for Success
Before we dive into landscape proposal templates and structure, let's talk about positioning. This isn't just a value statement for your website – it's your strategy for standing out in the competitive landscaping industry and attracting ideal customers.
Specialize in a Niche
One of the most effective ways to stand out when writing landscaping proposals is to develop expertise in specific property types. For instance, healthcare facilities require unique considerations – from creating healing gardens that promote patient recovery to ensuring maintenance schedules don't interfere with hospital operations.
Commercial landscaping for corporate campuses presents different opportunities, where your focus might be on creating impressive entrance landscapes and collaborative outdoor spaces that boost employee satisfaction.
Feature Sustainable Landscaping
In today's environmentally conscious market, sustainable landscape design has moved from a nice-to-have to a must-have service. This goes far beyond simply using eco-friendly products.
Consider highlighting your sustainable landscaping services in your proposal, including water conservation through smart irrigation systems and drought-resistant plantings, rainwater harvesting and organic treatments.
Kyle says,
These can all appeal to businesses that care a lot about the environment and want to hire someone who specializes in it.
Offer Custom Landscape Design Solutions
You might offer really personalized landscaping design and maintenance based on the unique needs of the property. This can set you apart from competitors who are offering more generic packages.
Offer Varied Pricing Options
Clear package tiers help clients understand their options while demonstrating the value of your services. Present your offerings in a structured format. For example, start with an Essential package that covers fundamental landscaping needs, progressing to a Premium tier with added design elements, and culminating in a Luxury package featuring comprehensive services.
For each tier, outline specific deliverables, timeline estimates, and transparent pricing. Remember to emphasize that while packages provide a framework, you're happy to customize solutions to meet unique client requirements and budgets. 
Also, use interactive pricing tables to allow customers to customize their own deals. Our research shows that proposals with interactive pricing tables have 6% higher close rates.
Lead with Technology
The commercial landscaping industry is experiencing a technological revolution so positioning yourself at the forefront can give your landscape maintenance proposals a significant advantage.
Smart irrigation systems that adjust watering schedules based on weather conditions and soil moisture levels aren't just cool tech, they're tools that can save your clients money while protecting their landscape investment.
Kyle says,
Maybe you're using drones and AI for landscape assessment. There might be some really cool technology that you're using to deliver a result and that can make you stand out from competitors
Five Essential Elements of a Winning Landscape Proposal
Our research analyzing over 1.2 million proposals reveals what makes a successful landscaping proposal. Let's explore how to make each section work harder for you:
1. Professional Cover Page
Your landscape proposal cover page is like a firm handshake – it sets the tone for everything that follows. Our data shows that 85% of winning landscaping bids include images, with an average of 12 images per proposal. But it's not just about quantity – it's about quality and relevance.
Kyle says,
You can also include the prospect’s logo on the cover page. People love to see themselves in the work you're going to do for them, so make it more personalized.
2. Thorough Executive Summary
The executive summary is where you prove you've been listening and truly understand what keeps your prospects up at night. Kyle suggests,
If possible, include a video of you walking through the proposal. A lot of times, you can't get in front of everyone who's going to make the buying decision. With a video, your prospect can see and hear you, and you can clarify certain things so there's no confusion.
This can be a more helpful way to win the deal versus solely relying on text and images. Also, if you've taken high-end video footage of your work, it can really complement the images you're showing, and is a more engaging way to present.
Only about 20% of companies include video in their proposals, so it's another opportunity to help you really stand out to your prospects.
Kyle adds,
Whatever you do, be sure you include a lot of social proof throughout your proposal. This can be logos, case studies, testimonials or quotes from customers.
3. Detailed Services Plan
This is where you get to showcase your landscaping expertise and attention to detail. Your scope of work should be comprehensive yet clear, technical yet accessible.
It must include the deliverables, and you may want to include a site map showing what part of the prospect's property you're going to include in the work.
4. Value-Based Pricing
According to our proposal analytics, this section typically gets the most attention from potential clients. It's the most important part of the proposal because it's the thing your client most wants to know—how much is this going to cost me? Your landscaping prices need to be clear, justified, and structured in a way that demonstrates value rather than just listing costs.
Kyle says,
One of the biggest mistakes we see is companies use their internal operational calculation of costs to present to the buyer. Really, your internal method of pricing should stay internal. It's not how buyers perceive the value of what they're getting.
Whether you price your services by the hour, flat rate, square footage or on an ongoing basis, you must ensure your pricing aligns with your prospect's expectations, and that it's easy for them to understand.
5. Clear Next Steps
To end the proposal, there should be some sort of action the prospect needs to take to move things forward, whether it's providing a signature or sending a confirmation email.
Kyle says,
Make sure you include e-signature capability and maybe even a contract in the proposal so the prospect can just sign, pay you, and you can get to work.
Speed is Paramount
The pricing and content alone aren't enough to close a deal. It's also about how quickly you send the document to your buyer. You have to capture a prospect while they're hot, when they're interested and want your services. If the estimation period takes too long, you run the risk of the deal going cold, or the prospect moving on with a competitor.
Kyle explains,
Speed is one of the best ways to close a deal, even if all else is the same. Even if you're not the least expensive offering, if you get your proposal in first, you're the one who made it super easy for them because you got the proposal into their hands.
Increasing your sales velocity this way requires a standardized process, ideally a template that has all of your products, services, team bios and work examples all in one place so you can easily remove what's not needed, and get it out the door more quickly.
Ready to Create Your Professional Landscaping Proposal?
Transform your landscaping business with our professionally designed template. Whether you need a commercial or a residential landscape design proposal template, we've got you covered.
You can download our free landscaping proposal template as a Word document or PDF. To use it in Proposify, we invite you to start a free trial. Or, you can request a demo, and we'll walk you through the template and our landscape proposal software.
Learn how Proposify gives you end-to-end visibility into and control of your proposal process to help you close deals more quickly and efficiently.
