Email is still the best medium for business correspondence. It’s easy to access, can be automated, and is scalable, making it an essential tool for any business.
Emails are a direct way of growing clientele, as they can be used to follow up on important documents, communicate with clients, and send business proposals.
But writing a business proposal email is easier said than done. There’s a lot on the line. You don’t want to burn a big opportunity with a subpar proposal. We’re here to help you out.
The Anatomy of an Irresistible Proposal Email?
It’s important not to think of a business proposal email as a cold email. They’re not the same thing. Cold emails are meant as an introduction—a way of getting to know a prospect.
Sending a business proposal email out of nowhere is like waking up to a random person asking you to marry them. That just sounds unrealistic. So, what makes an irresistible proposal?
Short and Sweet Email Copy
Prospects are likely to receive hundreds of proposals every month. If you’re emailing decision-makers they probably won’t have the time to read through everything. The most concise and to-the-point proposal often wins.
A Genuine Interest in the Business
Authenticity is a scarce commodity in email marketing. Having a genuine interest in what a business does helps you stand out from the fluff. Learn about your prospects, interact with their content on social media, and find opportunities to provide value.
Always Providing Value
Providing value is a great way to build trust. Your unique selling propositions must be personalized and tailored to a prospect’s needs and points. Don’t go for the hard sell. Focus on sharing tips, insights, or tools that can help grow their business. This shows you’re an expert.
Show You’re an Expert, Don’t Tell
Saying you’re the best in your industry is one thing, having the track record to back it up is another. Don’t just say you’re an expert. Back it up with data, testimonials, or case studies. But, show it in a way that focuses on the benefits prospects get.
Benefits Over Features
If your business proposal focuses on the benefits, it transforms your value proposition into a goal-oriented one. Let’s say you’re selling a lead generation service.
Instead of saying “We can help you find leads in {{city}},” say “Get more local clients and grow your business with qualified leads in {{city}}.”
How to Structure a Business Proposal Email
Business proposal emails lean more toward the formal side of things. But it doesn’t mean that your email has to be robotic. You’ll have some leeway for personalization in your copy. What’s important is you follow the fundamental structure of a business proposal email.
Overview: Subject Lines and Introduction
Reflect what you’re trying to accomplish in your business proposal in your subject lines. You can use subject lines like, “Business Proposal for {{company}}.” That’s a bit too generic.
How about a subject line like, “{{your service}} + {{prospect’s goals}},” or “{{pain points}} + {{your service}}.” From the jump, you’re describing a challenge and a way to overcome it.
The introduction should follow suit. Learn your prospects' goals and offer personalized solutions tailored to their specific needs. This shows you understand their problems from the start.
Scope: Main Email Body and Unique Value Propositions
You can’t generalize all businesses, even if they’re in the same industry or demographic. That’s why you do discovery calls first before sending over a business proposal email.
The main body of your proposal should describe the problems you’ve found during these calls and how you’re going to solve them. As mentioned, focus on the benefits, not the features.
Be as brief and concise as possible. If they say that their issue is a major lack of warm traffic, the main body value proposition could be:
“We’ll focus on Local SEO to generate awareness and create weekly articles for your blogs that redirect to your landing page where leads can see your product/service in action.”
The Investment: Pricing
Your products or services act as an investment to prospects. Be strategic with your pricing. You can even create pricing tiers. Having different pricing options also acts as different proposals.
A quick psychology trick is to place the core of your service in tier 2 or the middle ground. It’s why most SaaS services have three-tiered pricing.
Tier one would be the cheapest option but lacks core features. Tier 3 could be custom pricing based on your prospects’ unique needs.
But why place the core of your service in tier 2? Tier 3 solves their issue but at an extra cost. Tier 1 is a good start, but it can’t solve the issue.
Wrap-up: Closing Lines and CTAs
Closing lines and your call-to-action shouldn’t be an afterthought, especially when it comes to a business proposal. Have your closing line emphasize your intent and support the CTA.
Let’s say you’re CTA is a call to finalize the proposal or have last-minute negotiations. It could be a link to a calendar or asking prospects to reply when they’re free.
For this, you can use a closing line like, “I’d love to hear your thoughts on the proposal.” This lets your prospect take an active role and encourages a reply—all without being bossy.
Business Proposal Email Template
Writing a business proposal email from scratch can be daunting. To help you get started, here are three business proposal email templates that cover a variety of business needs.
Cold Business Proposal Email
Sending a cold business proposal that’s generic will land you in spam. But proposals that are to-the-point, hyper-personalized, and provide value pique interest. Here’s an example template:
Subject line: {{solution}} for {{prospect’s company}}
Hey, {{first name}},
I’m {{your name}}, {{position}} with {{your company}}, where we’re all about {{unique selling position}}.
In working with {{competitors}}, we’ve found that challenges like {{pain point}} are a real challenge when it comes to achieving {{goal}}. I’m guessing you also have the same issues.
With our approach, we’ve helped eliminate {{pain point}}, leading to benefits like {{benefit 1}}, {{benefit 2}}, and {{benefit 3}}. I believe we could help {{prospect’s company}} see these same advantages. Are you open to chatting about your current processes? It would let us build a tailored solution just for your team.
Thanks in advance,
{{your name}}
We mentioned earlier that a business email proposal should include pricing. In most cases, it does. However, this is a cold business proposal that’s meant to be an introduction. The goal here is to get a reply or a discovery call to further align value propositions to prospect needs.
Warm Business Proposal
The best business proposals are sent when you already know your prospect in-depth and vice-versa. That happens later in the sales cadence. But, that means higher chances of your proposal getting accepted. Try out this template:
Subject line: {{first name}}, ready to get {{benefit}} for {{prospect’s company}}?
Hey, {{first name}},
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us over the week. We already loved what you were doing before but getting to know how everything works makes us appreciate your craft even more.
That said, we’d like to formally present our proposal. We included the in-depth breakdown here. But to summarize, our pricing tiers include:
{{Pricing tier 1}}: {{quick summary of scope of service 1}}
{{Pricing tier 2}}: {{quick summary of scope of service 2}}
{{Pricing tier 3}}: {{quick summary of scope of service 3}}
I’d love to know what you think. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me here or through my number {{your number}}.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
{{your name}}
Customized Solutions Proposal Template
Most prospects know exactly what they need and are looking for tailored solutions to their problems. This type of email takes more time to craft since your value propositions have to be customized. But the extra effort also means more chances of proposals being accepted.
Subject line: We found the perfect solution to {{pain point}}
Hey, {{first name}},
I hope you’re doing well! I’m reaching out because we’ve put together a tailored solution after taking a close look at {{prospect’s company}}’s needs.
In the proposal attached, you’ll see the features, benefits, and pricing we think will work well for you. I’d love to set up a time to go over it together and explore how it could help move you closer to {{goals}}.
If you have any questions or want to talk things over, just let me know! Looking forward to the possibility of working together.
Best regards,
{{your name}}
Key Takeaways
Sending a business proposal email is one of the most important steps toward converting a lead to a customer. To recap, ensure that your proposal email is:
- Concise: Don’t beat around the bush and remove the fluff
- Shows a genuine interest: Showing interest means you truly understand the prospect
- Always provides value: Leave tips, insights, or solutions prospects can do themselves
- Highlights your expertise: Show expertise through testimonials, case studies, or reviews
- Focuses on the benefits: Emphasize what’s in it for your prospects if they accept
Writing business proposal emails takes time, effort, and consideration. Instantly automates the process by leveraging lead data and AI built for cold email marketing to craft hyper-personalized business proposal emails at scale. Try Instantly for free today!
