Whether you run a social laughter club, or offer Laughter Yoga in a commercial sense, at some stage you will be asked to submit a proposal. This could be to extend the tenure of a venue for your existing club, asking a council to consider allowing you use of a room to start a new one, or to come and do some laughter work in an organization. It’s very important to know what it is you’re trying to achieve before you begin. A proposal is a document to “sell” your idea to get others to “buy” into it.
For the purpose of this blog I’m going to focus on a commercial proposal. The first thing to consider is “why” you’ve been asked to submit one. It could be because a) you haven’t been clear about what it is you’re offering so they want to see it in writing. b) they want to compare your offer to others. c) they want to use it as evidence to show others that they have done the work of sourcing suppliers. Or more commonly d) to send to someone else for approval.
With the latter it’s important that you concentrate on the selling points. Remember that you have to answer “why you, with this, for them, now”. You should write it as if the reader is hearing about you for the very first time.
And finally don’t ever offer to send them a proposal. They will ask you for one if it’s required.
Here are some tips on how to write a GRRREAT proposal.
- Have a template. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Have a template where you merely have to change or insert a few words and figures. If you find this challenging or time consuming, then have several templates and select the one that suits the situation the best. You should spend no more than 5 minutes in writing and sending a proposal.
- Make it look professional. Cost is linked to quality. If you want to charge more then make it look as though you’re worth it. Because you can use this document many times over consider getting a designer to set one up for you.
- Be brief. Three pages at the most. The first is a cover page that merely says that this is a proposal from me to you. The second is what it is that you’re proposing and the price. And the last one is your KILLER BIO. (NB A KILLER BIO is what is created as a part of the 2 day business training)
- Timeline it. Make sure that you write just below the cost that “This proposal is valid until (INSERT DATE HERE)”. This allows you to review the cost (upwards) if they get back to you after that date as well as create a sense of urgency.
- Personalize it. On the front cover page write their company name along with the name and position of the representative who has requested it. Use their logo also. They will love the fact that you’ve gone to the trouble of knowing more about them.
If you have any further questions regarding writing proposals then please feel free to email me at[email protected] at anytime. Any recommendations for future topics are also appreciated.
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