- Step 1: Research your prospective client’s product and industry
- Step 2: Brainstorm with your internal team
- Step 3: Define deliverables and determine the required resources
- Step 4: Write the project proposal
- Step 5: Add design elements to the project proposal
- Step 6: Present it to your prospective client
- Step 7: Follow Up with The Prospective Client
Don’t forget to document all of your findings in ClickUp’s User Research Plan Template so you can easily reference your analysis in the following steps of your project proposal!
Download the User Research Plan TemplateStep 2: Brainstorm with your internal team
Armed with your research, rally the troops! It’s time to collaborate with your internal team on how you can solve the client’s needs before you put it on paper.
Brainstorm together using the mind mapping methodology— a visual diagram of ideas connected by a central concept. It’s an easy way for your teams to brain-dump ideas and talk through each of their unique perspectives on the project – ultimately coming up with the best ideas.
For example, developing concepts for a marketing campaign requires inputs from multiple teams in your agency. Using ClickUp’s Mind Map will help subject matter experts from across the agency weigh in on the best approach while keeping the client’s goal as the central concept.
Corral all that genius in one room with ClickUp’s template for project mapping! With this resource, you can easily brainstorm and organize ideas visually to identify connections between them quickly.
Download the Project Mapping TemplateStep 3: Define deliverables and determine the required resources
Once your team has identified the best approach to the project, it’s time to outline the specifics of the solution in a project plan. This includes identifying phases of the project, defining deliverables, and filling in the details of each task.
Using a project management tool, work with your team to assign the timeline, project budget, and task owners for each deliverable to determine the project’s overall scope. Here are a few ClickUp project management tools that will help you communicate each of these details:
- Custom Fields:ClickUp’s custom fields enable you to assign unique values to tasks like budgets, task owners, due dates, and so much more.
- Gantt Chart: It’s easy to define timelines when you look at tasks in ClickUp’s Gantt chart view, where you can define dependencies between tasks and layout project deliverables in sequential order.
- Checklists: Sometimes, you just need a simple to-do list to make sure you’ve assigned each piece of the project; that’s where checklists are super handy! Easily tag in task owners, set due dates, and notify the project team of completion with a single click.
Step 4: Write the project proposal
Now that you have all the project’s internal details, it’s time to organize them into a concise, personalized proposal statement. Collaborating on all of the ideas in a project proposal whiteboard makes it easy to define your proposal as you go.
Once you have outlined the key concepts on ClickUp’s Whiteboard, it’s time to tag in your copywriting team to round out those ideas and write a cohesive proposal Doc. The copywriting team should reference the Whiteboard, project map, and research document as they write to make sure it’s as personalized to the client as possible.
The copy needs to be definitive, concise, and measurable as possible. Once the copywriters are done, give your internal project team a chance to review and surface any revisions needed before sending the project proposal on to the next step.
Make sure you clearly define the project budget as well. The last thing a client wants is to see various costs from initial conversations.
Step 5: Add design elements to the project proposal
Now for the fun part! Tag your creative team to translate that project background document into a beautifully designed project proposal (a.k.a. make it pretty!). If you don’t have an internal design team, there are several drag-and-drop design templates from services like Pitch and Canva.
Consider standardizing your proposal in a template regardless of whether you have an internal design team or are using one of these services. Your team can simply adapt ClickUp’s Project Proposal Whiteboard Template for each new client to maintain brand consistency and save time.
Step 6: Present it to your prospective client
The day has finally come—you get to wow your client with your genius. Whether you meet in person or via zoom, send a meeting agenda and a copy of your project proposal via email to your client prior to the proposal presentation.
Providing the proposed project and meeting cadence beforehand will give the client time to consider the proposal, form any questions, and potentially add notes to the meeting agenda.
CLICKUP PRO TIP
Make this step quick, easy, and consistent across teams by developing a standardized email template in ClickUp.
During the meeting, keep detailed meeting notes and assign follow-up tasks immediately so nothing falls through the cracks post-meeting. Easily take notes and assign action items in real-time with the ClickUp Meeting Minutes Template to create the best project proposal.
Download the Meeting Notes TemplateMake sure to keep your proposal presentation to the point and as brief as possible. You don’t want to bore your audience before they get to the end.
At the end of the presentation, reiterate the next steps you’ve outlined in the proposal and note how much lead time your team will need if the client chooses to sign on. After presenting the project proposal, answer as many questions as possible, and follow up via email with any answers you don’t immediately have.
Step 7: Follow Up with The Prospective Client
We’ve all been there. One minute an agency is promising you the world, and the next, they’re ghosting you for the next best client. Don’t let prospects slip through the cracks.
Keep track of every stage of your project proposals so you know who is responsible for reaching out to the prospect, and when your team last contacted them.
Tracking the client lifecycle in real-time is easy in ClickUp with custom fields. You can define the stages of your project proposals through custom fields, assigning roles, setting due dates for routine follow-ups, and tagging team members. You can also send client emails and comments right from the task window, giving you a clear audit trail of each customer communication.
Related Project Proposal Resources:
- Project Proposal Templates
- Professional Services Template
- Creative Project Plan Template
- Creative Agency Proposal Planning Template
- Consulting Project Plan Template
- Grant Proposal Template
- Consulting Templates
- RFQ Templates
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