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A while back, a potential client provided me with some general details of the writing job he wanted me to do for his company. So he asked me to send him a proposal.
Proposal?! I panicked when I tried to confirm with him what he meant by that, since I had never done one before, at least not as a freelancer.
I really must not have wanted to take this opportunity as I didn’t bother to investigate or follow up with the company after submitting a contract instead of a proposal. Some time passed, I found an article on how to write RFP (Request for Proposal). Doorbell! The light bulb went on. This guy verbally gave me his RFP and wanted a written response.
When a company needs a contractor or outside source to complete a project, they write an RFP. This is a formal document that describes the project, how contracting companies should respond, how proposals will be reviewed, and contact information. Often the company documents shipping guidelines to make it easier for them to compare responses. There are no specific standards or guidelines for creating the RFP, but government agencies often follow strict standards when conducting the proposal process.
The outside companies read the RFP and write a proposal (an offer) explaining how they can best provide and meet those needs. When writing the proposal, the company should closely follow the guidelines set forth in the RFP to avoid being removed from consideration of the potential project.
A typical proposal contains:
- Executive summary – summary of the entire proposal
- Statement of need: why the project is necessary
- Project description: how the project will be implemented and evaluated
- organization information
- The Chronogram of the project
- Budget
- Conclusion
My situation was an informal version of all this. The client gave me a high level overview of what I could do for him. If I had known then what I know now, I would have written a description of the client’s needs and how I would complete the work to meet those needs.
Small businesses would probably make a proposal between the one I received and the complex ones required by the government. Most small businesses will be asked to write a proposal when they approach a client. The client may ask you to submit a proposal describing what you can do for him. In this case, write a proposal that includes the elements of a typical proposal and is short and to the point, especially if the client is not a large company.
There are sample RFPs and responses scattered all over the Web, but which one you can learn from depends on the type of work involved. A proposal can be two pages or the size of a book. Lean on your favorite search engine and find out to create an unbeatable proposal.