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Writing a project proposal involves taking everything you have learned about the client’s project and proving that you are the best person for the job. In this video we will take a high level view at what a proposal is about and what sections we need to focus on.
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[Pasan Premaratne] In the previous videos we went over the types of questions you can ask your client
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at the start of a potential project.
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With all that information in hand we can go about creating a project proposal.
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Now let's assume we have gone over the list of questions, understood the needs of our client and the project,
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and we've come up with a great solution.
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We also figured out how much time it would take take us to implement the solution, and thereby what we'd like to charge for it.
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All of this stuff is very important information and needs to be conveyed to the client in a succinct manner.
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The most common way of doing this is to write up a project proposal and pitch it to the client.
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The proposal, along with another crucial document we'll cover later, sets the groundwork for the entire project.
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This is where you let the client know exactly what to expect, when to expect it, and what it will cost them.
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Proposals come in many shapes and sizes. Some freelancers prefer short proposals that get right to the point.
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Others like to be more descriptive.
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While some of the sections in the proposal are absolutely essential, others you can do without.
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We'll go over most of the common sections covered, but spend most of our time on the needed ones.
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Let's take a quick high-level look at what a proposal looks like.
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First up you have the cover page. After that you have an optional non-disclosure statement.
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Then you have the company statement followed by client information and client goals.
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Now that stuff is optional.
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Then we have the proposed solution, project specifics, project phases, and quote.
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These are absolutely essential.
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There are certainly other sections that you can add—things like special considerations—
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that lists all of the specifics of the project outside of the norm.
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Of this list, though, it is absolutely essential to spend your time with the last 4 items—
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the proposed solution, project specifics, project phases, and quote.
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The other items make for a great and complete proposal, but they're not as essential as the last 4 items.
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Nonetheless, we'll go over it all.
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Let's start with the cover page. This is a really simple page that introduces the proposal and outlines what is contained inside.
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It gives the client the same high-level view of the proposal that we just went over.
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Mention who you are, your contact information, and what the document is.
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The cover letter mostly serves to introduce and give a bit of professional look to your proposal.
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It is a great idea to include a non-disclosure agreement along with your proposal.
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If you have a great relationship with the client your working with, this might not be necessary.
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But lots of clients can unknowingly share your designs with other designers pitching for the project
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or show your proposed solution to the designer who gets chosen in the end.
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You also don't want them sharing information such as your pricing structure or rate.
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Your competitors can use this information against you.
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The non-disclosure agreement can be a complicated, long legal document that your lawyer puts together, but it doesn't have to be.
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If you want to keep the proposal nice and simple, it can simply be a paragraph stating that everything within the document
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should not be shared with anyone without prior written authorization.
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That being said, the more you can do to protect your sensitive information, the better.
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Most freelancers include a section where they talk about themselves in the proposal.
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This company section is a chance for you to separate yourself from the competitor.
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Differentiate yourself, highlighting your unique skills over everyone else.
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This isn't necessary, but if you're pitching a project with multiple freelancers competing,
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it can be a good idea to showcase your uniqueness.
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Also if there are many stakeholders involved with the project, if you expect the document to be passed around,
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then this is a chance to introduce yourself or your company and your skills set and highlight why you are good for this project.
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Okay, so everything we've discussed in the proposal has been about ourselves.
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This is stuff that the client won't really be bothered about, though.
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They want to know how you can help them, so keep that previous section kind of short.
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The next section should talk about the client.
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This is your chance to show that you really listened and are taking all their needs into account when working on this project.
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Start with the client's information.
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Show that you have done your research by including a very short blurb of the company and their goals
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and a brief description of the project they want you to undertake.
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Client goals—now this is where the client is probably going to start reading because this information that is relevant to them.
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If you followed along, you have a list of questions that the client answered prior to writing this proposal.
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Show the client that you understood what they were saying by listing out their goals for the project.
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List all the objectives that you discussed. And if possible, relate these project goals to their business objectives.
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Now those sections all serve an important purpose, but they're not 100% necessary.
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If you're strapped for time, you can skip them.
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Next we'll tackle the absolute necessary sections of our proposal.
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