How to Write a Winning Business Proposal and Close More Deals

Name: How to Write a Business Proposal Step-by-Step with FREE Template
Uploaded: 2026-02-12T14:23:51.555471+00:00
Channel: HubSpot Marketing
Description: Summary and key takeaways on How to Write a Winning Business Proposal and Close More Deals, covering Introduction Jamal kicks off the video by highlighting a

HubSpot Marketing

Feb 12, 2026

•

3 min read

YouTube video ID: 2j3cKR28r5Q

Source: YouTube video by HubSpot Marketing — Watch original video

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Introduction

Jamal kicks off the video by highlighting a shocking statistic: 62% of sales professionals spend 40 hours a week on proposals – essentially a full work week. He promises a faster, more efficient way to craft proposals that win clients.

Business Proposal vs. Business Plan

Business Plan: A strategic document used to attract investors, outlining goals and how to achieve them (HubSpot definition).
Business Proposal: A formal pitch to a prospect aimed at securing their business. It must be customized to each client’s unique needs.

Why Use a Template?

A solid template saves time, lets sales teams focus on selling, and ensures consistency across proposals.

Core Sections of a Winning Proposal

1. Executive Summary

One‑page snapshot of the offer.
Write it last, after the full proposal is complete, to ensure it accurately reflects the content.

2. Understanding the Problem

Show you deeply understand the client’s pain points.
Use data, RFP details, or your own analysis (e.g., SEO audits) to back up observations.
Keep the tone customer‑focused and avoid assumptions.

3. The Solution

Describe your process, not just the end result, to avoid giving away work before payment.
State expected KPIs (e.g., reduced hours, higher efficiency) without guaranteeing exact numbers.
Visuals matter – include charts, infographics, or a features‑benefits table to make the solution tangible.

4. About Your Organization

Brief company background, mission/vision, and key team members.
Use case studies with real metrics to demonstrate past success (don’t shy away from numbers here).

5. Pricing (or "Investment")

Rebrand the cost as an investment, venture, or asset.
Offer one primary solution; upsell later if needed.
Provide a clear payment schedule with milestones and a total project timeline to set expectations and create urgency.

6. Call to Action

End with a strong CTA that includes a direct payment link – proven to boost conversion rates.

Additional Tips

Process over ideas: Pitch the method, not the final product, until the deal is sealed.
Avoid hard promises: Phrase results in qualitative terms unless you can guarantee numbers.
Visual storytelling: Humans process graphics faster than text; always supplement explanations with visuals.

Final Thoughts

By following this structured template, sales teams can cut proposal time dramatically, personalize each pitch, and increase close rates. Download the free PDF template linked in the description to start implementing these tactics today.

Action Steps

Download the free business proposal template.
Draft the problem section using client data.
Build a visual solution overview.
Define the investment and payment milestones.
Add a compelling CTA with a payment link.

Remember: when you win, Jamal wins – we’re all in this together.

A well‑structured, client‑focused business proposal—built on a solid template, clear problem definition, a process‑driven solution, and a compelling investment pitch—can slash proposal time and dramatically boost your win rate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is HubSpot Marketing on YouTube?

HubSpot Marketing is a YouTube channel that publishes videos on a range of topics. Browse more summaries from this channel below.

Does this page include the full transcript of the video?

Yes, the full transcript for this video is available on this page. Click 'Show transcript' in the sidebar to read it.

Why Use a Template?

A solid template saves time, lets sales teams focus on selling, and ensures consistency across proposals.

Helpful resources related to this video

If you want to practice or explore the concepts discussed in the video, these commonly used tools may help.

Business Proposal Template Book Recommended

Provides ready‑to‑use templates and step‑by‑step guidance for crafting professional proposals, helping you close deals faster

Amazon →

Hubspot Crm Book

Explains how to implement HubSpot's easy‑adopt CRM, improving client management and proposal tracking

Amazon →

Project Management Planner Notebook

Helps you organize proposal timelines, milestones, and payment schedules in a tangible, printable format

Amazon →

Links may be affiliate links. We only include resources that are genuinely relevant to the topic.

Summarize another video

Full Transcript YouTube

- What's up?
It's Jamal, and welcome
back to the channel.
In this video, I'm gonna show you
how to write a winning business proposal
so that you can get new clients
and close deals with
spending less time doing it.
To follow along in this video,
make sure to click the
link in the description
to download our free
business proposal PDF.
Here's what's crazy.
62% of sales professionals report
spending 40 hours a week on proposals.
When you think about it,
you're like, isn't that
your whole work week?
When do you do sales?
Doesn't make any sense.
There's got to be a better way to do this.
And the absolute first thing
that you need to know about
a business proposal is
that it is not the same
as a business plan.
This comes up over and over again online,
so let me clear it up for you.
HubSpot defines a business
plan as a documented strategy
for a business that highlights its goals
and its plans for achieving them.
It's primarily used
when seeking an investor
to put money into your business.
A business proposal is a
formal document provided
to a prospect with the purpose
of securing their business.
In other words, you
write a business proposal
to get clients.
And because every client's
needs are different,
your business proposal
needs to be customized
to address those needs.
That's why working off a
template can save a lot
of time and energy,
freeing up your sales team
to approach more prospects
every business cycle
and actually do what they need to do,
which is, you know, sell some stuff.
(chuckles) You know what I'm saying?
So let's break down each
section of the template
to make sure you understand what's needed.
Most business proposals start
out with an executive summary.
This is a one-page document
that a prospect can skim over
to get a gist of what
you're proposing and why.
But just because it's the first page,
that doesn't mean it's the
first thing you want to write.
In fact, it can be very difficult
to write a summary of a proposal
before you've written out the whole thing.
I'm sure we all remember in college
trying to write the intro of our essay
right at the beginning,
and then we actually write the paper,
and we're like, "Well,
that intro was useless
'cause that has nothing
to do with ultimately
what I ended up talking about."
So you have to go back.
Don't waste that time up front.
Do it at the end, all right?
Instead, move directly into
part two of a business proposal,
which is understanding the problem.
Your job as a salesperson is
to help your client identify their needs,
and then offer your company as a solution.
Sometimes this is easy,
especially if you've
already met with a client
and discussed their situation.
Maybe the client even sent you an RFP,
which stands for request for proposal,
in which they define the
problem they're trying to solve.
But no matter how much
information you're starting with,
the goal is to demonstrate
your understanding
of the client's pain points.
So make sure your writing
is always customer-focused.
Make the client feel like
you understand them better
than any of the other competitors.
Now, in some cases,
you might not get the opportunity
to discuss a client's problems
before creating your proposal.
Some businesses thrive on
identifying a client's needs
before the client even
knows there's a problem.
This is very common in the SCO game
where optimization providers can run
in-depth analysis of a website
and identify its shortcomings
before approaching the prospect.
You can do this,
but you also want to be
careful you're not making
too many assumptions about
a potential client's needs.
If you have hard data to
back up your findings,
don't be shy about presenting
it to your prospect,
whether they ask for it or not.
Now that you've carefully
defined the client's problem,
the next step naturally
is to propose to solve it.
If you did a good job
in the previous section,
the prospect will be eager
to hear the solution
your company can offer.
Odds are that the solutions you offer
to clients are similar,
which makes this section of
the proposal easier to write.
That said, you still want to make sure
that you're addressing the
client's specific issue.
So be sure to include some
direct references to the client
so the proposal doesn't
look copy and paste.
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- Here are three additional tips
for writing a solution that
will impress prospects.
Focus on the process your company uses
to solve the client's problem.
A lot of teams fall into the trap
of pitching ideas to the
client before the deal is done.
It's like if you're trying
to shoot free throws
with a blindfold on.
It's like, I mean, you could do that,
but also why would you do that? (laughs)
Which is to say that you're
probably gonna be missing,
and even worse, the
client could be turned off
if you get the solution wrong.
Or even worse than that,
the client could like your solution,
then execute it themselves
or with another vendor.
By focusing on the process,
you give the client a detailed explanation
of how you will solve their problem
without actually doing the
work before the check clears.
Another important tip when
crafting a solution is
to explicitly spell out the
results a client can expect
if they work with you.
You want to define clear
KPIs that should improve
after your solution is implemented.
But you don't ever want to make promises
in terms of hard numbers.
So if your solution
will improve efficiency,
you can say something like,
"We streamline the process,
resulting in fewer hours
spent on the task."
You don't want to say,
"Decrease time spent by 30%,"
unless you're actually
guaranteeing that result.
And the final tip I have
for you is don't say it,
show it with graphics.
Humans can comprehend
something much more easily
if they visualize it.
So take time to create charts,
infographics, or any other visual asset
to help illustrate your solution.
Check out this example
taken from a proposal
by a web development agency.
To be honest with you,
don't even understand the difference
between traditional web design
and growth-driven design.
But I know that the growth-driven
line looks better to me.
If there is nothing to illustrate,
you could at least include a
features and benefits table.
You'll find this included in
the business proposal template
that you can download in
the video description below.
Now, so far, your business
proposal has focused
on the client.
But now it's time to
show them what you got
by giving some background
info on your organization.
There are a lot of ways you can go about
trying to impress your prospect,
but here are a few general items
to include in this section.
Give some background information
on the organization as a whole
and include the mission
and vision of your company,
if it's impactful.
You can also provide some info
about your executive team,
as well as any individuals
who will be working
directly with the client.
And use case studies as a way
to illustrate the work you do.
Remember when I said you
shouldn't include actual numbers
when talking about results for the client?
Well, case studies are all about numbers.
So don't be shy about
including some positive metrics
that you've had with previous clients.
So go ahead, flex a little bit, like this.
(Jamal grunts)
There you have it.
Once you have the clients
thinking you're amazing,
it's the perfect time to
hit them with your pricing.
A lot of organizations find
pricing to be the hardest part,
particularly if the
service you offer varies,
depending on the client.
Ask for too much, and you
might blow up the deal.
Ask for too little,
and you can end up losing
money in the long run.
You might even have to
go back to your client
and ask for more money,
which is an awful position to be in.
I could do a whole video on pricing.
And if you'd like to see that actually,
let me know in the comments.
The one thing I want to tell you
about pricing is you should
never call it pricing,
or costs, or fees.
Instead, try calling it
investment, or venture, or asset.
Another tip, there can be the tendency
to offer an array of solutions,
or even small, medium,
large set of solutions
with lots of upsells.
But research shows that
offering a single solution
secures more deals.
And you could always upsell the client
on additional services
as the work goes along.
You also want to be sure
to set a payment schedule
with clear milestones and dates.
Otherwise, you can end up
waiting forever to get paid
if the work slows due to
roadblocks on the client's end.
Also, since we're speaking of schedules,
be sure to include a
total project timeline
in your business proposal.
This sets expectations for the client,
while also adding a sense of urgency
for them to sign the deal.
And finally, you want to
end every business proposal
with a call to action
that lets the client sign off on the deal
so you can get started working.
Even better, give them a
direct link to make a payment.
This is proven to increase
sales in many industries.
And there you have it.
Those are the tips on how
to write a business proposal
and how to secure client deals.
If you have any questions,
be sure to leave them
in the comments below.
And while you're down there,
be sure to like the video,
hit the subscribe button,
and ding that notification
bell so you never miss a video.
And if you haven't already,
make sure you download the
free business proposal template
so you can start closing more deals.
Because if you win, I win.
We're in this together.
We're a community, all right?
And thanks for watching.
I'll see you next time.
This is very common in
the SCO game where S...
Where S...
I win.
(chuckles) Whoops.
What are my hands doing?