The perfect B2B proposal is 8 steps away

Here are the 8 steps of a business proposal

Whether you create your proposal manually or automate the process with RFP software, following these 8 steps will ensure you cover all your bases in your B2B proposal.

Step 1. Title page

This includes necessary information, like your company logo, your company’s name, contact information, a title and your client’s name. It should be organized and have a simple design.

For example, your title page could look something like this:

Step 2. A cover letter

Introducing your business is the first priority after the title page. Your potential customer can’t dive into project specifics without knowing who you are and what you stand for.

Use the proposal cover letter to introduce yourself and your background and highlight why you’re the right choice.

Encourage your recipient to reach out with any questions. Keep it formal but personal and friendly and close your cover letter with a thank you and your signature.

B2B cover letter example

To better understand what a cover letter should look like, here is an example:

Dear David,

Thank you for considering “your_business” for your social media needs. I’m excited to have the opportunity to connect so that my team and I could clearly understand your social marketing plan and expectations.

We specialize in working with automotive companies in the Delaware area and got started when an agent asked us to come up with a social media campaign back in 2002. It was a huge success, and the owner was able to double his sales in two months.

Unlike our competition, we approach social media marketing by looking at your target market, core values, and best practices to craft a compelling message that resonates directly with your audience.

By implementing social media tactics and using procedures based on a study of social media marketing trends and extensive analysis results, we are confident in our ability to achieve great results through your social media.

Our proposal provides the complete social media marketing package to help your business grow and meet its digital world goals.

Let me know if you have further questions. I would be more than happy to discuss them with you. My contact information is below.

Thank you for your time,

Alex
YOUR_BUSINESS
Alex@your_business.com
999-444-7777

Remember that each industry has unique characteristics, so you need to apply the same rules but tweak some of the content to ensure that it fits your specific needs.

Step 3. Provide a table of contents

Including a table of contents can help with your proposal’s overall structure and provide a more concise result. It helps readers understand what to expect and where to find it in the document.

If you send the B2B proposal electronically, you can have a clickable table of contents to make the user experience better. This step applies when you have a proposal on multiple pages. In any other case with smaller proposals, a table of contents is not necessary. 

Step 4. Executive summary

Here is your chance to shine by setting the proposal’s tone and purpose. The executive summary gives the customer key information ⁠— why are you reaching out, and why should the client be interested in reading it? Make it relevant, engaging and highlight the client’s problem you are about to solve.

Let’s see a brief example:

This proposal outlines a detailed plan with the intent of building your social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Our team creates brand awareness through these social media channels, drives more traffic to the website and increases your company’s reach. 

Our team helps automotive businesses come closer to their ideal customers through:

• Creating an engaging content marketing strategy
• Posting industry-related updates
• Social media campaigns and promotions
• Monitoring
• Analytics

Your executive summary shifts depending on the industries and the customer’s needs. You can have a different approach in the tone of your summary based on the recipient. 

Step 5. The proposal

The sales proposal itself is an expanded version of the executive summary. By that, I mean that here you detail the solution you are offering and the outcome you expect from this project. Focus on the benefits to the customer. Remember to address their specific needs and highlight how you solve their problems.

Always provide a timeframe and next steps so the customer knows how to move forward with your business. Follow this structure and reiterate why you are the one for the job.

Step 6. Services and methodology

The proposal section is an overview of the solution your company offered for the potential client. This section gets into the specifics of how you will execute your plan. Take them through the process so they know what they’re signing on for when they hire you.

Describe precisely what the deliverables are and have a timetable that pairs deliverables with their expected date. This can make your proposal more visually appealing.

Example of services and methodology section of a B2B proposal

To better understand this crucial step, here is an example using our social media service scenario:

Creating an engaging content marketing strategy

Beginning with content marketing planning, our team will schedule a dynamic, ongoing social content calendar to achieve your goals.

We will grow a loyal audience with: use of keywords, hashtags, sharing/retweeting relevant news, “liking” posts and contributing content to expand reach within the industry. 

Posting industry-related updates

We will monitor industry trends, share them and engage with your audience by sharing press releases, company news, events and more. To further improve conversions, we will create a newsletter to ensure that we grow a loyal audience base via email.

Social media campaigns and promotions

Social channels connect with your follower base and engage them with promotions so they get excited about current events and the brand itself.

Depending on the campaign, they can last from one day up to six months. Then, our team analyzes the results from each campaign and provides a report of its success. All the campaigns’ data are compared so the most effective promotions, contests or offers can be replicated.

Monitoring

It is essential to maintain marketing activity for maximum growth. We monitor each channel and respond to any comments, questions and posts within two hours. This window of time allows us to confirm that we have accurate information for any question.

Analytics

Our team provides you with daily and weekly analytics, such as follower growth, demographics, reach and more. We combine all these elements with reports summarizing all the results over each quarter. Subsequently, we hold a meeting with you to optimize our approach accordingly.

There are many ways you can craft your proposal. In fact, it may be totally different from this example. Certainly, it will depend on your writing skills and the services you provide. Having this as a framework will ensure that you are on the right track to add any necessary details for you specifically.

Step 7. About us

The about us page is the section in which you can humanize your business. People trust people, and although we covered most of our business capabilities in the cover letter, here we can expand on the team members. 

Add brief bios and photos of the people in your team that will work on this project. Include information about past successes, social proof or even awards. In addition, include testimonials from other clients or even case studies.

Step 8. Pricing

This section is self-explanatory. Create a pricing table with all the products and services you offer and pair them with a price.

If you send your proposal electronically, a great way to take it to the next level is to have an interactive pricing table. This table will calculate the total cost depending on the products or services that a client chooses.