From the first ask to the finished proposal

A letter for a client you know, or a submission for a project you want to win. Both run through one system, in your firm’s format.

Relationship proposals, from request to send

The client knows your firm. Their request becomes a clear scope, a considered fee and a letter in your voice.

Start with the client’s request.
Bring in the email, request or a past proposal. Start the letter in your firm’s format, with the project and the client’s needs in view.
Shape the scope. Work through the fee.
Build from your scope library and refine the work for this project. Plan the hours at your rates and review the margin before you settle on the fee.
Review it together.
Edit the proposal with your team. Refine the wording, resolve changes and make sure the document reflects what you intend to deliver.
Produce the document. Keep the context.
Generate the proposal as a polished PDF. Keep the proposal and its status in the same workspace, so your team can see where the work stands.

Example · Harbor Workshop Renewal, a relationship proposal. More on fee proposals and letters.

Your templates, your scope language, your people and your rates. That is why the finished document reads like your firm wrote it.

More contributors. More requirements. Keep the ask, the assignments and the response together as the submission comes together.

Begin with the RFP.
Bring the solicitation into the workflow. Its requirements, requested sections and page limits give the response its structure.
Choose the team. Assign the work.
Give each section an owner. Select the people and past projects that show why your firm is suited to this pursuit.
Write against the ask.
Start from your best past answers, then make the case for this project. Each owner develops their section while the document takes shape.
Check the response before it goes out.
Review the document against the RFP and your firm’s rules. Resolve what is flagged, review the finished pages and prepare the set for submission.