FAP Turbo

Make Over 90% Winning Trades Now!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Correct Format Guidelines For Sample Business Proposals

By Cameron McDonald

In the business world, one shot is frequently all you get to make or break a sale. When it comes to sample business proposals, it's important to maintain a professional aesthetic and follow standard formatting rules. If you can make your potential client to take you seriously, then you have gone a long way toward securing a contract. That's no small feat in today's economy.

Formatting your sample business proposal is probably the easiest step that far too many overlook. Guidelines are created for a purpose. Following these tips will improve the readability of your sample business proposal and assist you in communicating your concepts with more clarity, which will convey a comforting and professional image.

More White Space, Easier To Read

Try separating each new idea presented in your proposal with bold headers that will put emphasis on your key points. The margins of your document should always be between .5" and one full inch, but whatever you choose make sure it's uniform from front to back. Use fonts that don't distract your client's attention, and don't try to be cute. Use a 12 point Courier New or Times New Roman. Keeping it simple creates plenty of white space that your clients will be sure to appreciate.

Why do we want white space? It's helpful for two main reasons. Your text won't look as stuffy and difficult if you couch it with white space, for one. The second reason is that your clients need room to make notes or comment on the proposal as they read it. This is critical, because if you know what your client is uneasy about, you can then address it and make a second offer. Consider changing all your proposals, if their points are valid.

Enhance Your Message With The Right Graphics And Colors

The idea behind your proposal is to communicate as effectively and attractively as possible. Pitch your products and services in a way that makes their decision a no brainer and you'll score contracts more often than not. Emphasize your proposal text with attention getting color schemes and relevant graphics such as charts and graphs.

Proposal writing is by definition less than exciting, so do what you can to make your proposal look unique, without becoming flashy, and the results of your efforts will speak for themselves.

Take Care Of Your Front Matter

"Front matter" is anything at the beginning of your sample business proposal that organizes your materials in a professional way. Examples of front matter include tables of contents, lists, and price sheets - pretty much anything that would be helpful to have for customers to cross reference as they read your proposal.

If your document is long enough and you are able, slip it all into a handsome three ring binder and include a few appendices to suggest additional information that might be helpful to the client's final decision.

Conclusion

Sample business proposals are helpful, but at the end of the day your results will be determined by how hard you're willing to work to get the accounts you want.

Make your proposal as professional looking as possible by leaving plenty of white space, inserting appropriate graphics and stand out color schemes. Make your proposal easy to read, and it will be easy to get others to read it. - 23229

About the Author:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home