The Business Proposal Template- Design & LayoutUse a business proposal template and save yourself lots of time in making your business proposal look just as professional as it now reads.

As looking at your proposal's design and layout is one of the later stages in writing a business proposal I'm assuming that you've gone through the process of analyzing your client requirements and developing a Winning solution. If not, it'd be well worth the time to review those modules - click here to find modules on all you should do before you begin to write.

Also, I'm assuming you've completed the process of outlining your proposal and writing the body content, right? Again, if not, I recommend you take the time to check out these key modules.

If you've done all that then let's not delay - let's look at anything we can do to make your proposal's design & layout as professional as possible.

Business Proposal Format - a Winning Structure

A successful business proposal template begins with a compelling framework - a structure for your proposal that sells your ideas and solutions.

This section introduces the Winning proposal framework - a structure that will maximize the success of every proposal you write in future.

This logical six-section structure provides a start point for all proposals - one which will not only make all your future proposal writing much quicker, but will also engage your readers right from page one to the end of your proposal.

Proposal Design - Step-by-Step

First impressions undoubtedly last - and you have a fantastic opportunity to make the first impression your readers get of your proposals so impactful that, even as they begin to read, you can have them in a more positive frame of mind than they will bring to reading another proposal with a less attractive, less professional appearance.

So you've done an outstanding job of analyzing your client requirements, developing a great solution, and writing up a really compelling proposal - now let's make it look really sexy.

This module will show talk you through all of the key decisions you must make when deciding upon your business proposal layout or even designing your own professional business proposal templates.

Business Proposal Layout - the Importance of Choosing the Correct Fonts

Regardless of the business proposal template you select the typeface or font you select conveys a very strong message to your reader as to how you regard your content.

The font sends several very subtle messages - e.g. it quietly tells the reader where the content is fun or serious, flippant or formal.

Most of the proposals the majority of us will write are likely to be serious, and are likely to be presented in a somewhat formal manner.

Take no risks in your font selection. For business proposals, even in 'fun industries', always err on the side of being safe and, if you are in doubt about a font, do not use it.

Here's how to choose the right fonts for your Winning proposal.

Creating Your Own Business Proposal Templates

It's well worth putting some time into designing the look & feel of your business proposals. The resulting layout can be saved as a template that you can reuse again and again into the future - making it better and better each time you use it.

Happily Word for Windows make the creation of your own business proposal template child's play - here's a step-by-step guide to creating your own templates.

Coming Soon! Free Business Proposal Templates

Keep an eye on this section - I'll shortly make a free business proposal template or two available for download.

These templates are being professionally designed and will save you hours of effort in choosing fonts and styles.

Return from 'Business Proposal Template' to 'Home Page'

Proposal Design - Step-By-StepProposal design is critical.

First impressions undoubtedly last - and you have a fantastic opportunity to make the first impression your readers get of your proposals so impactful that, even as they begin to read, you can put them in a more positive frame of mind than they will bring to reading another proposal with a less attractive, less professional appearance.

Before You Start - Is the Layout Mandated?

If your business proposal is being written in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) then the layout may be mandated. If the client has requested a particular layout then respect this request - unless you have prior permission to depart from their mandate. To see how to handle this issue check out the module: "What about Client Specified Layouts?".

Which Proposal Elements Need Design?

If the layout is not mandated then you have 'carte blanche' to create a proposal design that makes a business proposal stand out from the crowd. The Winning proposal structure tells you what design elements you are going to have to consider when you begin the work of creating an attractive presentational layout for your proposal. In making a business proposal maximally attractive you'll need to design:

A title page for your proposal Table of contents A title page for each section and for each appendix in your proposal Fonts for all of these title pages Fonts & styles for the different headings within your proposal Fonts for the body text of each section

A style for the headers & footers

Let's take each of these elements and examine the best way to handle them - starting with the first part of your proposal the reader sees: the Title Page.

The Title Page

Your title page should communicate a few basic facts:

The Client Name (Logo optional) The Proposal Title Name of your company or your name Date Corporate Address Information Contact name & details

Figure 1: Title Page

Figure 1 above is the cover page from the template developed to illustrate this chapter. You can see the effect that good proposal design can have on the visual impact of your proposals. Note the use of the graphic to make the design a little more impactful.

When you set out to design a good title page you obviously have to look at the layout of the various elements you will display on the page (title, sub-title, address information etc) but you will also at this early stage have to consider what typeface to use. Your decision on typefaces is an important step in your proposal design, and it will have an impact on all aspects of your proposal - not just the readability.

Your selected fonts will also dramatically impact the 'look & feel' of your business proposals - the first and last impressions they make and their readability. There's a separate module on selecting the right typefaces / fonts coming soon: ignore this critical element at your peril!

Headings

In the modules on outlining and writing you learned how to outline the messages in the various sections of your proposal so that the reader was drawn through your 'story' - from idea to idea. They would start reading at the uppermost level of the title of your section, and be drawn deeper into your discussion of the section, idea by idea, level by level.

The physical layout of your proposal will need to reflect the relationships between the various ideas in your proposal's sections. To establish those relationships visually your proposal design should use a series of headings that have a visually hierarchical relationship that reflects the hierarchical relationships of your ideas - going from major ideas down to minor detail.

Figure 2: Heading Designs

Figure 2 shows you how the various headings in your proposal layout should be related. When the reader sees any one of the headings above it should be very easy to establish the relationship between the information it presents and the information presented under all other headings.

Once you have selected your fonts and designed your heading levels, formatting the rest of your proposal becomes very easy indeed.

Table of ContentsAll proposals should have a table of contents to help orient readers on where to find key information.

Figure 3: Basic Table of Contents

Figure 3 above show a simple Table of Contents for a smaller proposal - and it includes the very minimum information you include in your table.

The minimum level of detail for the Table of Contents in any proposal is top level section title headings - and you should expand your Table of Contents to include as many levels of sub-headings as you feel is necessary to make your proposal easy for the reader to navigate.

Figure 4 shows an example of the same Table of Contents fleshed out one further level of headings for Section 2.

You should build in as many levels of headings as you feel are necessary to make the proposal easy to navigate.

Figure 4: More Detailed Table of Contents

Title Page for Each Section

Including a title page for each section gives your proposal design a much more organized and professional appearance.

Figure 5: Section Title Page

Figure 5 is the Section Title Page from the template developed to illustrate this chapter. Keep the section titles as clear and legible as this example. On a point of design: notice how the simple blue line used in the section heading ties into the blue proposal title you saw earlier, and in with the blue motif used in the content pages (you'll see that later).

Proposal Content Pages

Earlier in this module you saw how to select different format styles for the various elements of your proposal - it is in the content pages of your proposal that the wisdom (or folly) of your selections will become apparent.

Figure 6: Content Page

In Figure 6 you can see how contrasting the Sans Serif fonts of the headings with the Serif font used for the body text results in a very legible document.

Body Text for proposals should typically be 10-12pt in size - I favor 12pt for clarity and legibility.

Note how the different heading styles make the relationships between the various sections on the page very clear indeed. The additional use of the indent on the second level headings enhances this effect.

Finally, note how a very simple motif (the small blue square) gives the document a professional finish and a certain flair. These are elements that a designer will naturally bring to the table when making a business proposal stand out - another argument for the modest investment required to have a professional produce a unique template for you (if you're interested in contacting the designer who create this template please Contact Me (and I'll send you her details).

Paragraphs and Alignment

In figure 6 note the use of 'justified' alignment - i.e. the left and right margins are even and not uneven or 'ragged'. This simple formatting choice makes for an overall impression of a very neat and tidy presentation of your content.

Margins

Vast tracts of text can be intimidating to a reader and so you will find that most well-designed templates will include a lot of 'white space' - afforded by the margins of the document on the left/right and top/bottom. White space makes a document appear more inviting and easier to read.

In general your proposal design should include margins that are no less than 0.5 inch / 1.25cm - and a little more can dramatically improve the attractiveness of your document.

If you are printing on a single side of the page only (recommended) then it is a good idea to allow a little extra space in the left margin to allow for the space your binding will take from your pages.

Headers & Footers

There are two other elements obvious on the content page in Figure 6: the headers and footers - those two lines at the top and bottom of the page which effectively frame the page.

The footer is the ideal place to put the page numbers that make navigation a lot easier, and along with the header is great for making a proposal feel more 'published'- allowing you to add information like the proposal title and the name of the proposing organization (as in Figure 6).

Make Sure Your Content Page Styles Work

The content pages are where your readers will spend most of their time when reviewing your proposals. So, when you have settled on a set of styles for the various elements of these key pages be sure that the overall effect is one that encourages you to read the proposal.

I would strongly recommend that you have some colleagues (or even existing clients) review your proposal design - providing feedback on any aspect of it that they find less than clear or friendly (again, having a designer produce a template for you makes much of this process very easy indeed).

Creating Your Own Templates

When you go through the work of selecting appropriate fonts, headings and a good look and feel it makes a lot of sense to save that proposal design work in the form of a template that you can use and reuse in the future. There are a few ways that you can go about creating your own proposal templates - all of which are discussed in the module entitled 'Creating Your Own Business Proposal Templates'.

Good Proposal Design is Essential

There is an old saying: "clothes maketh the man". How your business proposals look and feel, how easy they are to read, and the extent to which they look like some effort was invested in turning out a quality product all give you an additional edge over your competitors.

Do not cheat yourself out of more proposal successes than you deserve by skimping on the time, effort or money necessary to produce a proposal design that clothes all of your Winning proposals in the finest proposal design and layout you possibly can.

Return from 'Proposal Design' to 'Design & Layout'

Business Proposal Layout - Choosing the Right FontsAs important as any element in your business proposal layout is the selection of the right fonts for your business proposals.

Typefaces & Typography

Although the two words 'typeface' and 'font' do not mean precisely the same thing you will frequently see the terms used interchangeably. For our purposes, when talking business proposal layout, any time I use the word 'typeface' or 'font' I will be referring to the choice of typeface.

As there are literally tens of thousands of typefaces already in existence you do not have to become a typography expert to create readable proposals. However, you do need to understand one or two key principles in order to be able to make the best decisions when it comes to selecting the fonts you will use in your proposal.

Typefaces & First Impressions

The typeface you select conveys a very strong message to your reader as to how you regard your content and really forms the foundation of a successful business proposal layout. When it comes to proposal evaluation your readers will 'read' the subliminal messages that your fonts send about your attitude to the content just as surely as they'll read what you actually write.

Look at the typefaces below - in this example all are used to present the same message, but the typeface ensures that there is some considerable variation in the way that message is conveyed:

Figure 1: The Impact of Font Selection

The first two typefaces presented above (Times New Roman and Arial) are very widely available, tend to be standard inclusions in pretty much every word processing program, and are classic business typefaces.

The last three suggest varying degrees of informality, and even fun, and would be appropriate in many social or personal situations - but almost never in proposals (unless, that is, fun and informality is a key part of your message).

As the majority that most of us will write in proposals is likely to be serious, and is likely to be presented in a somewhat formal manner - then the fonts you select for your business proposal layout are critical and your choices will either support an appropriately serious tone or defy it.

Take no risks in your font selection. Always err on the side of being conservative and, if you are in doubt about a font, do not use it.

If you are without any other options the two classics above are always perfectly acceptable and will convey the sort of impression you are striving for.

Serif & Sans Serif Typefaces

All typefaces can be split into two main classes - 'Serif' and 'San Serif'.

Serif typefaces tend to have small 'feet' at the base of letters like 'T' and 'l', and to have 'curly parts' at the top and bottom of other characters like the 'y' and 'j' (look at the Times New Roman sample above).

Sans Serif typefaces have no such ornamentation - look at the 'Arial' sample above.

When to use Serif vs. Sans Serif

For printed documents like proposals readers find Serif fonts easier to read - the additional features on each character make them a little easier to recognise and read. So, Serif fonts are recommended for the body text of your written documents.

Sans Serif typefaces make excellently clear and legible headings and are strongly recommended any time you want to make any element of your proposal stand out from the body text - title pages, headings, captions, headers and footers, etc. Their differing lines will stand out from your Serif body text.

If you spend much time on the internet you will likely observe that much of the body text in web-based documents is presented in San Serif fonts. This practise has emerged because the resolution on many screens is much lower than in print - so the additional ornamentation on Serif fonts can often be 'fuzzy', and can therefore sometimes interfere with legibility.

However you present your documents online do not be tempted to abandon Serif typefaces in your business proposal layout - they will always enhance readability and convey a slightly more formal air.

Figure 2: Cover Page - Serif / San Serif Combination

In the cover page presented in Figure 1 the title and sub-title are in a 'Calibri' (Sans Serif) and the address information is in 'Constantia' (Serif). The overall effect is one of formal and serious clarity, quality and legibility.

Mixing Typefaces & Colour

Your requirements for most proposals will be perfectly well met by a combination of a single Sans Serif font for titles etc and a Serif font for body text. Unless there is a compelling reason to do so you should avoid introducing any more typefaces into your proposal and, in any situation, 3-4 is the absolute maximum you should mix in any document. Any more and your proposal could begin to look more like a ransom note!

Colour can be extremely useful in establishing relationships between headings and in introducing a more attractive and 'designed' feel to your proposal. However, the advice for use of colour in your business proposal layout is similar to that for mixing fonts: use these combinations carefully - do not confuse your reader with too many colours in headings.

In Figure 2 the use of blue for the main title and grey for the sub-title serves well in drawing the reader's eye through the elements on the page in the order you would want them to read them.

Introducing even one more colour into such a proposal could make the overall effect garish and confusing. Use coloured headings sensibly.

The choice of fonts should be made early in the business proposal layout process - and should be made with care. Get it right and you set your business proposals up for success.

Return from 'Business Proposal Layout - Fonts' to learn more about proposal 'Layout & Design'

FREE Business Proposal Course

Want to learn how to write Winning Business Proposals quickly and easily? Click here to follow the FREE 12 step course.

reating Your Own Business Proposal TemplatesBusiness proposal templates are really pretty straightforward to construct.

Before we look at that in detail let me ask: have you come to this page without reading the module on proposal design?

If so, then I'd strongly suggest you review that module of the FREE Business Proposal Course - this page refers to some concepts and points raised in that module, and the ideas discussed here will make more sense having covered that module.

Once you have settled upon suitable styles for each of the key design elements in your business proposal (see the module on proposal design) you are in a position to create your own proposal template should you wish to do so.

If you do decide to create your own proposal template then there are three options at your disposal:

1. From a Blank DocumentThis is the most time consuming approach - you start with a totally new document and begin, one-by-one, to create and save all of the style elements for your business proposals.

2. From an Existing DocumentIf you have business proposals with styles that you have found effective then you can create a proposal template from that document with a few simple clicks of your mouse.

3. From an Existing TemplateMost word-processing programs come with a business template selection for different purposes - but most do not include a specific business proposal template.

If you have a business template that simply needs a little update and adjustment to turn it into a proposal template then this is a very straightforward process

For example, you could take the copy of the template used to illustrate my Business Proposal Course, which I will shortly provide free of charge for in the free business proposals section of this site, and adapt that to your particular requirement.