February 20, 2025
Last updated on October 1, 2024
In today's marketplace, your proposal can make or break a deal. According to our latest State of Proposals Report analyzing over 1.3 million proposals across 27 industries, companies using Proposify’s proven proposal best practices see close rates of 36%—significantly higher than the industry average of 20%.
Proposify’s Professional Service team performed a proposal makeover for Pace Pricing, a SaaS pricing consultancy. Their original proposal covered all the necessary information, but was little more than several blocks of black text on a white background. We made several changes to end up with a much more colourful, engaging, and effective proposal.
Let's dive into the key best practices that will transform your proposals from basic documents into powerful sales tools, and how we applied them to Pace Pricing's proposal.
Proposal Design Best Practices
A well-crafted proposal can mean the difference between winning a major contract and watching it slip away to a competitor. Our best practices will help you create compelling proposals that resonate with decision-makers and increase your win rate.
Reinforce Your Value Proposition
Your proposal's cover page isn't just about looking professional—it's your first opportunity to communicate value, making it a key part of your proposal structure. “People may have seen your website, but don't assume they have," says Kyle.
Always reinforce why this is valuable as opposed to just putting your logo on it.
We did this for Pace's proposal by adding their value proposition: Price smarter, grow faster.
Show the Prospect You Listened
The executive summary is especially important for demonstrating your understanding of your prospect's needs. Our data shows that when 30% of an executive summary is customized for each prospective client, close rates rise by 50%. "The executive summary is where you want to reinforce that you listened to your prospect during the initial discovery phase," explains Kyle.
This is your way of feeding back to the client what you've heard during discovery.
About Us Vs. Why Us
"An 'About Us' page is usually just information about the company, where it's located and the history, and most people usually don't care about that," Kyle says.
A 'Why Us' is effective because it allows you to put social proof in your proposals.
he adds. A lot of times, this is overlooked in proposals, but it can be a powerful and persuasive addition.
Include Social Proof
Don't just tell prospects you're great—let others do it for you. While many businesses focus on social proof in their marketing materials, they often overlook its power in proposals.
The most compelling proposals weave together client testimonials with concrete results, creating a narrative of success that prospects can envision for themselves. When combined with relevant case study snippets and industry recognition, this social proof creates a powerful argument for your capabilities.
Include Industry Metrics
Pace Pricing is a newer business without extensive case studies, so instead, industry metrics provide powerful validation. We added some compelling statistics—like 98% of SaaS companies that change pricing see positive results, and companies experience an 11% increase in profit for every 1% improvement in pricing—to significantly impact decision-making. These kinds of metrics help contextualize your value proposition within the broader industry landscape.
We also included some on-brand illustrations to make the proposal a little friendlier, and to break up the text.
Highlight Your Experts
For service-based businesses, your team is your product. A well-designed team page should showcase not just professional headshots, but the depth of expertise each team member brings to the table.
"Very important to highlight your team who's going to be working on this account," notes Kyle.
The team page does this nicely with photos, names, titles and then a little description reinforcing that they're the experts.
This personal touch helps prospects connect with your team before the project even begins.
Explain Your Methodology and Process
Building trust requires showing your systematic approach. A well-documented process demonstrates professionalism and reliability. Proposals that clearly outline the company's methodology can see higher engagement rates.
"It isn't just the experts on your team, it's about the methodology or the process that they use time and again to get you results."
emphasizes Kyle. "This helps reinforce trust in your buyer that you're not just leaving it to chance that you're going to get results."
Create Urgency for Buyers
Including a clear timeline or schedule section serves multiple purposes in your proposal. Beyond setting clear expectations for project delivery, it creates a natural urgency for decision-making. We did this by adding a colourful table to illustrate the project's timeline.
The longer it takes you to start, the longer it takes you to see results on the other end.
explains Kyle. "This is a really helpful piece to include in your proposal because it also creates a little bit of sense of urgency for your buyers." By mapping out the journey, you help prospects understand the importance of timely action.
Core Plus More Pricing Strategy
The pricing page consistently ranks as the most-viewed section of any proposal, with our data showing that interactive pricing tables increase close rates by 6%.
A "core plus more" approach has proven particularly effective, starting with a foundational service package and building up through modular add-ons for additional services, giving prospects the flexibility to customize their engagement while maintaining clear value propositions at each tier.
Include a Call to Action
"The Next Steps page is often one of the biggest missed opportunities with proposals in that there isn't a clear call to action," Kyle says.
In marketing, you never want to leave a potential buyer hanging, wondering what to do next. It's the same thing in a proposal.
Don't forget to include the signature buttons right in the template to get your prospect on board more quickly.
Proposal Creation Tips
Create a Page Layout with Variations
Visual design plays a crucial role in proposals. As Kyle explains,
Create a page layout with variations to create visual interest, and use columns, headers, footers, sidebars, icons, illustrations to make your proposal not feel like one big giant contract.
This proposal design approach transforms dense information into an engaging narrative.
Use Colour Contrast
Strategic colour usage goes beyond mere aesthetics. By employing brand-appropriate colour contrast in your proposal template design, you can make your proposal more approachable while guiding the reader's eye through key information.
Create Passive Upsells
The presentation of pricing can make or break your proposal's success.
Create passive upsells. Allow your buyers to pre-select how many of something they want to buy and potentially buy in blocks as opposed to just individual units.
Kyle says. This approach not only simplifies decision-making but also optimizes the proposal for higher average deal values.
Transform Your Proposal Process Today
Your proposal often represents the final touchpoint before a decision is made—it's essential to make it count. We offer several pathways to help you implement these best practices and boost your close rates.
You can book a demo with our proposal experts to see these best practices in action, start your free trial to access our library of proven proposal templates, or learn more about our professional custom proposal design services. The choice is yours, but the time to elevate your proposal game is now.
