How to write and set out successful business proposals in 2025

Bringing in new customers and clients is important to any business seeking to expand and make bigger profits. Sometimes this comes with the need to put it all down, but you might find yourself asking how to write a business proposal, and when is one appropriate? To help you get ahead in 2025, today we are looking at what a business proposal is, an overview of when you should be writing one, the common mistakes that are made when developing a business proposal, and what the best way to write and layout one is.

What exactly is a business proposal?

At its core, a business proposal is a document that a company delivers to a potential client. It outlines the features and benefits of the product or services they are offering and is designed to convert the lead into a paying customer.

As a formal document, you may see a business proposal more often being used for Business to Business (B2B) sales, but there are some occasions where it is appropriate to use for Business to Customer (B2C) engagements.

Knowing the difference between B2B and B2C leads is essential as how you deal with them is often very different and can determine what you need to be doing at the various stages of your sales funnel.

Generally, when do you need to write a business proposal?

Business proposals are most often generated when you are looking to establish a long-lasting relationship with a client and may be offering goods or services over an extended period.

They need to cover a wide range of points, but in a way that is compelling, straightforward, and efficient.

There are different types of business proposals:

• Unsolicited - where you are making the outreach effort to a potential customer in order to gain their business.
• Solicited - where prospective clients have asked you to provide a proposal in order to assist them in their decision making and to determine if they want to go ahead with your company for their needs.

Both solicited and unsolicited proposals have some similarities in the content and structure, but they do differ with how they are structured, what the key focus of the proposal relates to, and how they are expected to be received.

Whether you are sending out an in-depth business proposal or putting together a proposal email, you need to structure them appropriately and ensure you have covered all your bases.

What are the most common mistakes made when writing a business proposal?

Putting together a business proposal, whether it has been requested or not, is not always easy, and some of the most common mistakes that companies make with the process include:

• Creating a poorly formatted and counter-intuitive layout
• Failing to address customer pain points and needs
• Putting in too much jargon and unexplained elements
• Being too modest or selling the company short
• Being too aggressive and over-hyping what the company is capable of delivering
• Not including client testimonials or evidential support for claims
• Failing to push the benefits and end results of the product or service

Many of these issues can be addressed with time and experience, but when you have a niche market or a reputation to uphold, you cannot be spending time experimenting with outreach that is going to damage your business and put clients off your products.

How to write a business proposal and lay it out in the best way

There is a lot you need to include in a very short space, and you need to ensure your content not only meets your needs, delivers your sales pitch, and accurately represents what your business can do - it needs to meet the needs of your client and be personalised in a way that is appropriate.

In order to write a successful business proposal, you need to ensure you structure your proposal carefully and ensure it covers:

• Who you are and who you are speaking with (title page)
• Why you are getting in touch (executive summary)
• The problem or need you are addressing (client pain points)
• What you propose as a solution (sales pitch)
• Why you are best suited to help (company qualifications)
• What you can do in terms of time and cost (pricing and delivery)
• Summarization of the document and thanks (conclusion)

Each client you send a proposal to is going to have specific needs and wants, and it can be difficult to ensure you cover all of this.

Many parts of the proposal may be the same for every client, such as the overall pricing structure or reason for reaching out.

In order to save time and ensure brand consistency, having a process in place to automate your business proposal creation can allow you to put yours together very quickly and then take the time to hyper-personalise it, and ensure you are making the most of your time, resources, and sales efforts.

Automate your business proposals with TEB

Take the stress and hard work out of your business proposals, with TEB you can ensure that everything you need is ready to go, added as you require, and automated to give your team more time to manage their clients and ensure success in your sales.

When you bring TEB Apps into your business, you can also expect to benefit from:

• Automated quote creation allowing your team to create a quote in just a few clicks with customisable templates available.
• Simple pricing giving you the ability to choose between specification, volumetric and look-up pricing for maximum efficiency.
• Streamlined approvals allowing you to set up a workflow to get your quotes/proposals approved swiftly by management.
• Advanced tracking to stay on top of all your sales and activity to keep your team aligned and on track.

TEB lets you make faster and more effective decisions for your business, keeps you on top of your opportunities, and ensures that your leads are being handled in a way that benefits your bottom line.

Book a demo today and find out just how much TEB can bring to your business in 2025 and beyond.