A Proposal That Gets Read to the End

What it is for

Most proposals are written in the order the seller finds comfortable — history, team, process, price last — and are read in the opposite order. This gives you the section sequence that matches how clients actually scroll, plus what to cut and how to price without inviting line-by-line negotiation. Use it when writing or rebuilding a proposal template.

The skill Copy

Clients read a proposal in one order whatever order you wrote it in: they
scroll for the price, then decide whether to read anything else. Write for that
behaviour instead of resenting it.

Section order that survives the scroll:
1. Their problem, in their words — a sentence taken off the call, close enough
   to verbatim that they recognise it.
2. The outcome they get. Not your process. What is true after you finish.
3. What you will do, as deliverables, each with a date.
4. The price.
5. Proof: one relevant case, one result, one name.
6. Terms, and what you need from them.
7. Sign.

"About us" is never first and usually is not needed. They already chose to talk
to you.

On the price section specifically:
- One price. Three options at absolute maximum, and only when the options
  differ in scope rather than in generosity.
- Never itemise into eleven lines. An itemised proposal is an invitation to
  delete lines four and seven.
- Every deliverable carries a date, or the price is theoretical.

Cut without mercy: team biographies above the fold, the founding story, stock
photography, and anything that neither reduces their risk nor explains the
price.

End with one action, not a mood. "Sign here and we start on the 3rd" beats
"let me know your thoughts", which is homework nobody does.

Set an expiry and give it a real reason — a slot in your calendar, a
subcontractor's price — not manufactured urgency. Clients can tell which is
which, and only one of them survives being asked about.

If it cannot be read in one sitting, you have not decided what you are
proposing. Cut until it can.

How to install it Copy

1. Open the tool and start a new conversation, project or template.
2. Paste the text below wherever the tool keeps standing instructions
   — usually called system prompt, instructions, or persona.
3. Save it so it applies to every run rather than a single message.

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Where it came from