Prompt: Write a Client Proposal
A prompt for a short business proposal with exactly four headed sections and one clear call to action, not a vague sales pitch.
The prompt
You are a small-business owner writing a proposal for a prospective client.
Objective: Write a proposal for {{PROJECT OR SERVICE}} for {{CLIENT NAME}}.
Context: The outcome the client cares about most is {{KEY OUTCOME}}. The budget or fee is {{PRICE OR BUDGET}}. The timeline is {{TIMELINE}}.
Constraints:
- Use exactly four sections, headed exactly "Overview", "Approach", "Timeline" and "Investment"
- Keep the whole proposal between 150 and 220 words
- End with exactly one call-to-action sentence, and do not repeat it elsewhere
- Do not invent client details, deadlines or figures beyond what is given above
Output format: Return the four headed sections in order, followed by the single call-to-action sentence on its own line.
Before finishing, check there are exactly four sections with those exact headings, the total word count is between 150 and 220, and only one call-to-action sentence appears.
Example
Input
PROJECT OR SERVICE: a subscription flower delivery service CLIENT NAME: Riverside Bloom Florists KEY OUTCOME: new recurring customers without adding permanent staff PRICE OR BUDGET: a fixed fee of £4,500 TIMELINE: six weeks, starting as soon as confirmed
Output
Overview Riverside Bloom Florists wants to launch a subscription flower delivery service that brings in new recurring customers without adding permanent staff. This proposal sets out how we would design, build and launch that service within six weeks. Approach We start with a short discovery phase to map delivery zones, supplier lead times and subscription options, then build a simple online sign-up flow for recurring orders. The service is designed so your current team can fulfil subscriptions alongside day-to-day work. Weekly check-ins keep progress visible throughout, and a soft launch to a small group of existing customers lets us fix any delivery issues before the service is announced more widely. Timeline Discovery runs in week one. Build and integration take weeks two to four. The soft launch happens in week five, with the full public launch in week six.
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Investment The total project fee is a fixed £4,500, covering discovery, build, testing and the soft launch. Any ongoing support after week six sits outside this fee and can be discussed separately. Reply to confirm, and the six-week project can begin straight away.
Why it works
- Fixing the section headings and order stops the draft wandering into a generic sales pitch and keeps every proposal scannable in the same shape.
- A strict word range forces a concise pitch instead of padding, which matches how busy clients actually read proposals.
- Limiting the draft to one call to action, stated once, avoids the diluted 'call us or email us or book a call' ending that confuses readers.
Why the basic version fails
“Write me a proposal for this client” tends to produce a rambling sales pitch that repeats the same benefit three times, buries the price somewhere in the middle, and ends with two or three different next steps that leave the reader unsure what to actually do.
What this prompt fixes
Fixing four named sections in a set order gives every proposal the same scannable shape, so a client reading several proposals from different suppliers can compare them quickly. The word range keeps the whole document concise rather than padded with generic claims. Restricting the ending to one call-to-action sentence removes the confusion of competing next steps.
Tips per model
- ChatGPT sometimes adds a fifth “Why choose us” section out of habit — check only the four named headings appear before sending.
- Claude tends to respect the word range closely; if a draft runs short, ask it to add one concrete detail to the Approach section rather than padding the Overview.
- Give the real fee and timeline, not a placeholder — a proposal with a vague budget reads as unfinished and clients will ask for the number anyway.