When creating proposals, there are two different pathways to do so. The first is an RFP Process and the second is a Direct Inquiry. I’ll discuss my experience with each process, but remember that there is no set ‘right way’ to create a proposal. These are just guidelines and suggestions! 

#1 - RFP Process: RFP stands for ‘request for proposal’. This is when an organization has a need, write up a request for proposals, and share that request with the public (or any group of consultants) requesting that they submit a proposal. You as the consultant would write a proposal and submit it to the requestor. 

As a note, in the process, the requestor will outline exactly what services they would want from a consultant, and you would need to write a proposal that satisfies the request. 

#2 - Direct Inquiry: This is if someone reaches out to you directly , inquiring about your services. Let’s say someone contacts you about wanting you to do a professional development presentation at their school, or in their organization. You would first have a consultation with them to gather all pertinent information, and then create a proposal to present to the requestor. 

The proposal should outline the services you plan to present and provide if they agree and sign a contract. The requestor would then review your proposal and then decide whether or not to move forward. 

In this process, you have a little more freedom in your proposal as opposed to the RFP process. Of course, that means that you’ll need to be even more mindful to ensure that your proposal still meets your potential client’s needs. 

Now, I want to expand a little bit more on the Direct Inquiry process and how I handle those kinds of proposals. So, my when I receive a direct inquiry about my services, here is my process: 

1. Email inquiry is received

2. My team sends out a consultation form 

   -This is a great way to gather more information about potential clients without meeting with them right away!

   -Some basic things you’ll want on the form are: Date and time of the project and any time and content requirements.

3. If the project is a good match for me, I will reach out to them to schedule a consultation meeting

   -A 15-30 minute meeting to discuss the project will be perfectly fine!

   -During this meeting, you’ll want to ask more questions and expand on the information they gave you in that consultation form you had them complete. Be sure to ask questions about their needs and big picture expectations. 

4. Create the proposal

   -Use the information you gathered from the consultation meeting to inform your proposal. 

5. Submit the proposal

Lastly, I’m just going to go over the sections that I include in a proposal. This is just a loose guideline of how you can structure your proposal and includes a few recommendations for what you may want to include in your proposal to a potential client. 

• About Me: You’ll want to include an about me, or about the company section and share a little bit about who you are so you can begin building your credibility with your potential client. 

• Goals: You’ll want to include the goals of the project, or the goals of the speaking engagement. (make sure to ask some intentional questions during the consulting call, so you can be crystal clear on the client’s goals and how you can help them achieve those goals).

  • Another way to think of this is what does the client want to be true at the end of working with you? From a teacher’s perspective, think of this as the objectives in your lesson. 

• Project Outline: This is simply an outline of your services. If it’s professional development, you would want to include an outline of the session (length/timeline, objectives, and an agenda). 

  • Do not link PowerPoint slides or handouts, because again, you're sending this proposal to a client who has not signed a contract yet, so you don't want to be sending your intellectual property to someone who is not paying you.

• Service Outline: This is similar to the project outline, but equally important. This is where you lay out all of the services you would offer to the client. If you're doing coaching, this would be an outline of how many coaching sessions, how many hours, the duration, do they have email? Can they email you questions in between coaching services? You’ll want to be as clear as you possibly can for this.

• Investment: You want to include the investment, i.e, the budget. How much will your services cost? Now, in this section specifically, you want to think of your proposal as a precursor to your contract (assuming that your potential client will want to move forward with your proposal). Not only do you need to include the fee and consulting fee, but you’ll also need to add in the payment schedule as well. 

  • You want to include this information because when/if your client wants to move forward with the proposal and you draft up the contract, there are no surprises. None of the information in the contract regarding payment should be new because it was in the proposal they agreed to.

• Next Steps: So if they are excited about the proposal, and they want to move forward with a contract, how can your client do that? The biggest thing I’ve learned for this section is that you need to include a decision date. Meaning, you need to let your client know how long this proposal is valid for., You don’t want someone coming back after three months on a proposal you wrote ages ago saying now they’re ready to work with you. I always include a date that's no more than two weeks out from the initial proposal submission date saying “this proposal is valid until this date, should the partner choose to move forward with this engagement, or this proposal, the next step would be drafting up a contract for the partner to review.”

So that's an overview of how to prepare a proposal, and I hope that this is helpful! Remember, a proposal is the best way to set expectations for the work and services you’ll be providing for your clients. It is also a precursor to your contract, so you want to be crystal clear on each section so that when it comes to the contract, everyone is on the same page. 

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