You just had a great sales call. The client is excited. They're nodding along. They want to work with you.
Then comes the moment that makes most agency owners panic: "Can you send over a proposal?"
Suddenly, you're staring at a blank document, wondering:
- What should I even include?
- How detailed should the pricing be?
- Should I show all my costs or just a total?
- How long should this thing be?
- What's the difference between this and a pitch deck?
Here's the truth: most agency proposals are bloated, confusing, and actively hurt your chances of winning the work.
After nearly two decades of running agencies and selling projects—from my early days at Metalab to consulting with 50+ agencies through Tamaribuchi—I've seen what works and what doesn't when it comes to agency proposals.
What I realized is often the most torturous part of writing proposals is that blank document.
So one day, I sat down and decided to make my dream proposal template: the one I want every agency I work with to use, and the one I wish I saw every time I was on the other side. Originally, it was just for me and my clients. But then I thought, hey, maybe this could help a lot of people out there conquer the blank page.
You can download it here, totally free in the Notion Marketplace:
Download the free Notion template →
In this guide, I’ll show you - step by step, using the Notion template as a guide — how to write a proposal that wins, using a proven template I've refined over hundreds of successful projects.
What Makes a Great Agency Proposal
Let's start by clearing up a common misconception: a great agency proposal isn't the one with the most impressive design or the longest page count.
The best proposals are:
- Personal and thoughtful - They show you actually listened during the sales call
- Clear and direct - No fluff, no corporate jargon
- Just detailed enough - Not so light that you seem inexperienced, not so heavy that nobody reads it
- Focused on their problem, not your process - They care about results, not how many project management tools you use
Here's what I tell the agencies I work with: Your proposal should feel like a continuation of the conversation you just had, not a generic document you pulled from a template library and did a find-and-replace on.
That said, having an agency proposal template as your foundation is absolutely critical. It takes away the dreaded blank page. It ensures you don't forget key components. And it dramatically speeds up your turnaround time (this is the best part).
The Real Purpose of a Proposal
Before we dive into the template, let's be clear about what a proposal actually is:
A proposal is a document that confirms what you've already agreed to in conversation.
It's not a sales pitch. It's not meant to convince them from scratch. By the time you're writing the proposal, they should already want to work with you.
The proposal's job is to:
- Formalize what you discussed
- Make the scope crystal clear
- Give them something to take to their team/boss
- Provide legal protection for both parties
If you're using your proposal to do heavy lifting persuasion, you're too late. That work should have happened in your sales conversations. This is also why I have come to hate RFPs.
So now, let's walk through each section of that Notion template, and how each part does its job to win you work.
Agency Proposal Template Breakdown
Section 1: Cover/Introduction/About
What to include:
- Project name
- Client name
- A simple, personal note
- Index
- About your company
Example of a great simple, personal note:
Hey Sarah—
Thanks for taking the time to chat yesterday. I'm really excited about the opportunity to help [Company] redesign your customer onboarding experience. Based on our conversation, I've put together this proposal outlining how we'll approach the project.
Looking forward to working together.
— Mark
Why this works: It's conversational, not corporate. You're a human being, not "The Team at [Agency Name]."
Remember what I wrote in "You're On Your Own": Don't pretend to be bigger than you are. The strength of being small is that you get direct access to the decision-maker. Use "I" instead of "we" if it's just you. Clients find the directness and simplicity refreshing.
After that, follow up with some bigger-picture information about your company. How big are you? How many clients have you worked with? Who are some of the big names you've helped? When do you do your best work?
It's also important to have an index here. While it's a fair expectation that people will read every word of your proposal, this could be passed around to people who only care about certain parts of it. Help them out by making it scannable and easy to navigate. This is a little but significant luxury, and anyone who has had to flip through a 75-slide pitch deck for the one piece of information they're looking for can attest to that.
Section 2: Problem Statement / Understanding
What to include:
- Summary of what they told you in the sales call
- The pain points they're experiencing
- What's at stake if they don't solve this
- Any inputs you've received regarding the project — briefs, competitive analyses, etc.
Why this matters: This is your "What I Heard" moment in written form.
In my book, I talk about the power of the "What I Heard" email—a simple follow-up after sales calls where you list out everything you heard in 5-10 bullets. The same principle applies here.
Example of a great what we've heard round-up:
What We've Heard
Based on our conversation, here's what we understand:
- Your current onboarding flow has a 60% drop-off rate
- New users are confused about where to start
- Customer support is overwhelmed with basic "how-to" questions
- You need this solved before your Series A raise in Q3
- Previous attempts with freelancers didn't deliver results you could use
Pro tip: Include one personal detail they mentioned. "You mentioned your team has been working nights trying to manually guide users through the process." Anything to show that they had your complete attention during your sales calls.
This is also where you'll want to compile everything you've received from them that informs how you're thinking about the project. It's all part of showing them how thorough you are, and how thoughtful your approach is and will be.
Section 3: Our Plan
Now that you've established who you are and what you've talked about so far, don't waste any time getting to the brass tacks.
What to include:
- A bold headline that captures your intent for the project
- The goals for the project (this should be a direct reflection of what they've told you)
- The key objectives you have to help them achieve their goals — which leads into your services
Keep it high-level. Don't get into the weeds of every single meeting and deliverable. Give them confidence you have a plan, but don't overwhelm them.
I like to have one Key Objective that relates directly to a Goal. This 1:1 mapping helps the client see how directly each goal is being addressed. The goals are what they want; the key objectives are how you'll achieve them together.
Example:
Our Plan
We'll redesign your brand and website to help you modernize your product, grow revenue, and attract upmarket customers.
Goals
- Attract new customers in the financial services vertical.
- Move your brand upmarket.
- Achieve $10m in revenue within 2 years.
Key Objectives
- Establish a new brand that brings you boldly into the future, and attracts new customers.
- Express your new brand through a website designed specifically to achieve your conversation targets.
- Launch an in-depth launch campaign for your new brand and website that re-shapes customer perception.
Notice: No excessive detail. Keep it simple. Add specifics when you can, but don't feel like you need to drown them in ideas right now.
Section 4: Project Details
What to include:
- High-level, phased timeline
- Key milestones
- What you need from them
Keep this simple. Now, not everyone agrees with me here, but in my opinion, the vision Gantt-style timeline is always the best client-facing project overview. Why? It gives clients a clear high-level overview of the project from beginning to end, which is what they are most often interested in seeing. The details of what happens on each week of a project might seem important, but they really aren't.
What's most important is when it starts, and when we are done, and all the big steps in between.
In the template, there's a card you can open for each phase in the timeline (Discovery, Brand Design, etc). This is where you can pop in the drawn-out details of each phase — the deliverables, the requirements from the client side, etc.
Trust me on this one. A simple, scannable timeline is key.
Section 5: Phase Details & Pricing
This is where most agencies mess up. So let's talk about how to structure your agency proposal pricing section.
Break down each phase from your timeline, and add as much detail as you see fit. As always, keep it simple. Call out the process and milestones, as well as any relevant deliverables.
But since this section is about money, I've gotta be straight up.
Here's my strong opinion from 20 years of doing this:
Use fixed-cost pricing. Always.
I dedicated an entire chapter in "You're On Your Own" to this because it's so important. Services businesses should use fixed cost pricing over time and materials, no matter what.
Why fixed cost wins:
- Clients love budget certainty
- You can maximize your margins when you're efficient
- Protects you from scope creep
What NOT to do:
❌ Show your hourly rate
❌ List how many hours each phase will take
❌ Create an à la carte menu of options
What TO do:
✅ Give one flat number for the whole project
✅ Tie it to deliverables, not hours
✅ Include a brief note about what's included/excluded
✅ Make payment terms clear
✅ Clearly call out scope exclusions
But all that said, a reality: no matter which pricing method you use, clients are going to find a way to pick apart your costs. So what I like to do is show them that I have nothing to hide by listing the phases and their itemized costs separately, as you'll see in the template. this is a slight step back from true fixed-cost pricing, but I think it's worthwhile.
This is a little controversial, but I have found success when doing this with clients, even though it is a little bit anti-fixed cost. I think it's a win in the name of clarity, and still allows you to defend your overall project cost. Think of this as fixed costs for each phase — not you creating an a la carte menu for your client.
Fixed cost is king, don't get me wrong. But by avoiding showing how you got to the number, you are planting some minor doubts in the clients head.
After your break out the phase details and costs, wrap it all up with a nice summary, like so...
Summary example:
Summary + Terms
To wrap up all the information above, we anticipate a 10-week project and a budget of $32,000.
This includes:
- User research and analysis (up to 15 interviews)
- Interactive prototypes
- Final production-ready designs
- Component library
- Design system documentation
- Two rounds of revisions per phase
Not included:
- Development/engineering
- Additional user research beyond 15 interviews
- Ongoing design support (available via separate retainer)
Payment terms:
- 50% due upon signing
- 25% due at Phase 2 completion
- 25% due upon final delivery
Section 6: Meet the Team/Case Studies
What to include:
- A quick card introducing them to your key team members
- 2-4 relevant examples of similar work
- Results (numbers if you have them)
- Client testimonials
These cards are one of my favourite parts of the template.
First, break out the members of your senior delivery team. No need to call out the whole team, but you'll want the executive sponsors of the project — the people who will be involved from a high strategic level.
And then, the case studies.
A good set of case studies can carry you through a sales process more than almost anything you say along the way.
If a client can see one of your case studies and say "Wow! I wish they could do for us what they did for this company!", you're in amazing shape.
If you don't have a case study published on your website, you can create a mini case study right here in this card. Add some nice screenshots, and make sure you get a pitch-perfect testimonial from the client.
Important: Only include case studies that are actually relevant to their project. Don't just dump your whole portfolio here. The closer your case studies can be to that "just do that for us!" moment, the better, so make them relevant to what the client is looking for, either in terms of services or vertical.
Section 7: Closing Thoughts
What to include:
- How to accept/approve the proposal
- Contract/agreement process
- When you can start
- Primary point of contact
This is easy: make it dead simple for them to say yes.
Example:
Let's Get Started
If this looks good, here's what happens next:
- Reply to this email with approval
- I'll send over our standard service agreement
- Once signed and deposit is received, we'll kick off Week 1
Target start date: March 15, 2025
Questions? Just reply to this email or call me at [number]. I'm here.
Notice the tone: casual, direct, human. This is the exact opposite of "Please review and we look forward to your consideration."
Nobody talks like that. Don't write like that. Write like you.
Agency Proposal Best Practices (From 20 Years of Trial and Error)
1. Speed Matters More Than Perfection
From "You're On Your Own":
"Your ability to move fast as a small enterprise is SO underrated. If you sense urgency from the client, a simple email proposal that clearly outlines the terms and suggests an immediate start can be incredibly effective."
I cannot stress this enough: Send the proposal the same day as your call whenever possible.
Not next week. Not "when you have time." Today.
I've sent proposals an hour after a call. The response is always appreciation and often an immediate yes.
Why? Because momentum is perishable. Their excitement is perishable. Their budget availability might be perishable.
Strike while the iron is hot.
2. Don't Overcomplicate It
The corporate world has conditioned us to think business documents need to be formal, lengthy, and filled with jargon.
They don't.
Some of my most successful proposals have been just like this Notion template. No fancy branding. No elaborate design. Takes 2 minutes to read. Just clear, thoughtful writing.
Save the elaborate design for when you're competing in a formal RFP against big agencies. For everything else, clarity beats design.
3. Write Like a Human Being
Stop writing like a robot trying to sound professional.
❌ "We are pleased to present this proposal for your consideration..."
✅ "Thanks for chatting yesterday. Here's what we're thinking..."
❌ "Our team of experienced professionals will leverage best-in-class methodologies..."
✅ "Here's how we'll approach this..."
❌ "Per our previous discussion regarding the aforementioned project scope..."
✅ "Based on what you told me about..."
Your writing should sound like you. Not like a consulting firm from 1987.
4. Address Objections Proactively
Think about what might make them hesitate and address it in the proposal.
Concerned about timeline? Explain why your timeline is realistic and what could accelerate it.
Worried about your agency size? Explain the advantages of working with a small, nimble team.
Budget anxiety? Break down payment terms to make it more manageable.
5. Make It Easy to Say Yes
Every proposal should end with a clear, simple next step.
Not: "We look forward to your feedback at your earliest convenience."
Instead: "If this looks good, just reply 'approved' and I'll send the contract over today."
Remove friction. Make it brain-dead simple to move forward.
6. Follow Up (And Don’t Worry About Being Annoying)
After sending your agency proposal:
Day 1: Send the proposal
Day 2: Quick check-in: "Did you get a chance to review?"
Day 4: Follow up with value: "I was thinking more about [their problem] and had another idea..."
Day 7: "Still interested in moving forward? Happy to adjust anything in the proposal."
If you don't hear back after a week, they're either:
- Not actually serious
- Waiting on internal approvals (ask about this)
- Working with someone else (accept and move on)
Don't chase people who ghost you. Your time is valuable.
Common Agency Proposal Mistakes to Avoid
❌ Mistake #1: Making It About You Instead of Them
Bad: "We are an award-winning agency with 15 years of experience and expertise in..."
Good: "You mentioned your team has been struggling with... Here's how we'll solve that..."
The proposal should be 80% about them and their problem, 20% about you and your credentials.
❌ Mistake #2: Showing Your Math
Don't break down:
- Your hourly rate
- How many hours each task will take
- Individual team member costs
- Your profit margin
Roll it all into one fixed cost. Period.
❌ Mistake #3: Leaving Room for Ambiguity
Bad: "We'll conduct user research as needed"
Good: "We'll conduct up to 15 user interviews"
Bad: "Multiple rounds of revisions"
Good: "Two rounds of revisions per phase; additional revisions billed at $X per round"
Bad: "Timeline: approximately 6-8 weeks"
Good: "Timeline: 7 weeks starting March 15"
Ambiguity leads to scope creep and mismatched expectations.
❌ Mistake #4: Using a Generic Template Without Customization
If your proposal reads like it could be sent to anyone, you've failed.
Every proposal should include:
- Specific details from your conversation
- Their actual problem in their words
- Relevant case studies (not your whole portfolio)
- Personalized recommendations
The template is your structure. The customization is what wins the work.
❌ Mistake #5: Over-Designing the Document
You're selling your expertise, not your proposal design skills.
Even if you're a design agency pitching design work, a simple, clean Notion doc is plenty.
Focus your energy on the words and the relationship.
What to Do When They Don't Accept Your Proposal
Not every proposal will win. That's business.
But you can learn from every loss.
Ask for feedback: "I appreciate you considering us. If you don't mind me asking, what was the deciding factor in going with someone else?"
Common reasons proposals lose:
- Price (you were too expensive)
- Timeline (they needed it faster)
- Fit (they went with a specialist or someone they knew)
- Timing (budget got pulled, project delayed)
If it's price: Resist the urge to immediately discount. If they come back asking for a lower price, you can:
- Reduce scope to match their budget
- Offer a payment plan
- Stand firm (sometimes they respect this and find the budget)
If it's timeline: Could you accelerate? Could they be flexible?
If it's fit: Accept it and move on. Not every project is meant for you.
If it's timing: Stay in touch. Many "not nows" become "yes" later.
Now You're Ready
Ready to start winning more projects?
Here's that proposal template one more time:
Download the free Notion template here →
The template is completely free and ready to use. Just duplicate it to your workspace and start customizing.
Best of luck!
