proposal-writing

When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the 🧢 emoji.

Proposal Writing

Proposal writing is the discipline of persuading a decision-maker to choose you over every alternative - including doing nothing. The best proposals are not documents about you; they are documents about the buyer's problem, written to make the path from "we have a problem" to "they understand us and can solve it" as short as possible. This skill covers RFP responses, Statements of Work (SOWs), pricing strategy, win themes, and executive summaries - giving an agent the judgment to draft, review, and sharpen any business proposal.

When to use this skill

Trigger this skill when the user:

• Asks to write or improve a business proposal
• Needs to respond to an RFP (Request for Proposal) or RFQ (Request for Quote)
• Wants to draft or review a Statement of Work (SOW)
• Is developing a pricing strategy or a pricing section for a proposal
• Needs to identify or articulate win themes
• Wants help writing or critiquing an executive summary
• Asks how to structure a technical approach section
• Needs to build a compliance matrix against RFP requirements

Do NOT trigger this skill for:

• Internal project planning documents (use project-management skills instead)
• Academic grant proposals (different structure, evaluation criteria, and audience norms)

Key principles

1. Lead with their problem, not your solution - The first thing the evaluator

reads must prove you understand their situation. Before a single word about your capabilities, reflect their pain, their constraints, and their desired outcome back to them. A proposal that opens with "We are a leading provider of..." loses immediately.

1. The executive summary is the whole proposal in miniature - Many decision-makers

read only the executive summary. It must contain: the problem, your solution, the key differentiators, quantified value, and the call to action. Nothing else belongs in the executive summary. Treat it as a standalone document that can win the deal alone.

1. Quantify everything - Claims without numbers are noise. "We reduce costs" is

forgettable. "Clients average 23% reduction in operational costs within 90 days" is memorable and verifiable. Every benefit claim needs a number, a timeframe, or a named reference. If you don't have the number yet, find it before submitting.

1. Tailor, don't template - Evaluators can smell a recycled proposal. Use the

buyer's exact language from their RFP. Mirror their terminology, their priority order, their section structure. Customize every named example, case study, and metric to their industry. A proposal that reads like it was written for someone else is a proposal that loses.

1. Price to value, not cost - Pricing anchored to your internal cost signals

commodity thinking. Price instead to the value the buyer receives - the problem solved, the risk removed, the revenue gained. Present pricing in a way that makes the investment obvious relative to the return, not relative to your delivery cost.

Core concepts

Proposal structure

A winning proposal follows a buyer-centric arc:

1. Cover letter - One page. Personal, direct, references a specific insight

about the buyer. Signed by a named executive.

1. Executive summary - 1-2 pages. Problem, solution, value, differentiators,

call to action. Never a table of contents or a company history.

1. Understanding of requirements - Demonstrate you have read and internalized

the RFP. Restate the buyer's goals in your own words, adding nuance they may not have articulated.

1. Technical / solution approach - How you will solve the problem. Organized by

the buyer's priorities, not your delivery methodology.

1. Management approach - Team, governance, escalation, communication cadence.
2. Past performance / case studies - Proof that you have done this before for

comparable clients. Each case study should mirror the buyer's situation.

1. Pricing - Transparent, tied to deliverables, easy to evaluate.
2. Appendices - Resumes, certifications, compliance matrices, supplementary data.

Win themes

Win themes are the 3-5 central messages that differentiate your proposal from every competitor. They are not generic strengths ("we are experienced"). They are specific, verifiable, and tuned to this buyer's stated and unstated priorities.

A good win theme follows this formula:

[Your discriminator] + [because] + [buyer benefit] + [proof]

Example: "Our pre-built integration layer cuts the buyer's go-live risk because all data migrations complete in under 72 hours - demonstrated in all 14 of our last implementations."

Every section of the proposal should reinforce at least one win theme. Win themes should appear in the executive summary, in section headers (as "ghosting"), and in the conclusion.

Compliance matrix

For formal RFPs, a compliance matrix maps every stated requirement to the section of your proposal that addresses it. It serves two purposes: it proves you read the entire RFP, and it makes the evaluator's scoring job easier. Use "Compliant," "Partially Compliant," or "Exception" for each row. Never leave a row blank.

Format:

| RFP Section | Requirement | Compliance | Proposal Location | |---|---|---|---| | 3.1.2 | System uptime >= 99.9% | Compliant | Section 4, p. 12 | | 3.2.1 | SOC 2 Type II certification | Compliant | Appendix C |

Pricing models

| Model | Best for | Risk to seller | Risk to buyer | |---|---|---|---| | Fixed price | Well-scoped, low-change projects | Scope creep | Low | | Time and materials | Exploratory, R&D, unclear scope | Overrun budget | High | | Not-to-exceed (NTE) | T&M with a budget ceiling | Scope creep above ceiling | Medium | | Retainer | Ongoing advisory or support | Underutilization | Overpaying | | Value-based / outcome | SaaS, results-tied engagements | Delivering without payment | Low | | Milestone-based | Long multi-phase projects | Cash flow gaps | Delivery risk |

Common tasks

Write an executive summary

Use this template structure (expand each section to 2-4 sentences):

[PROBLEM STATEMENT]
[Buyer name] faces [specific challenge] which is causing [quantified impact].
Without action, [consequence].

[PROPOSED SOLUTION]
[Your company] proposes [solution name], a [brief description] that [primary outcome].

[KEY DIFFERENTIATORS - 2-3 bullets]
- [Win theme 1 with proof]
- [Win theme 2 with proof]
- [Win theme 3 with proof]

[VALUE / ROI]
Based on [reference or assumption], [buyer name] can expect [specific measurable outcome]
within [timeframe], representing [ROI or value statement].

[CALL TO ACTION]
We are prepared to begin [next step] on [date]. [Named contact] is available at
[contact] to discuss any questions before [decision date].

Rules:

• Maximum 1 page for deals under $500K; 2 pages for larger engagements
• Never start with a sentence about your company's history or size
• Every claim must be backed by a number or a named customer
• End with a specific next step and a date

Respond to an RFP systematically

Follow this workflow:

1. Shred the RFP - Read it end-to-end. Highlight every explicit requirement,

every evaluation criterion, and every implicit signal about what the buyer values.

1. Build the compliance matrix - List every requirement before writing a word.
2. Identify win themes - Based on evaluation criteria and your differentiators,

choose 3-5 win themes. Write them in one sentence each.

1. Create the outline - Mirror the RFP's structure exactly unless instructions

say otherwise.

1. Write section by section - Draft technical approach first (most complex),

then past performance, then management, then executive summary last.

1. Ghost win themes - Review each section. Every section header and opening

sentence should reinforce a win theme.

1. *