57 Format and Packaging

A professional-looking document is a basic requirement. If a proposal looks unprofessional, it may be dismissed immediately. There should be no spelling or grammar mistakes, and the information should be clear, correct, and properly cited when needed. Any information that supports your credibility, such as contact details, should be easy to find and clearly connected to the proposal’s purpose.

If your proposal is printed, use company letterhead if possible. If it is submitted electronically, make sure the formatting remains consistent. Some file types, like Word documents, may appear differently on other screens or devices. This can cause information to move around or become hard to read. To prevent this, consider using a PDF (portable document format), which keeps the layout exactly as you intended.

Effective proposals are often short and to the point—sometimes only one page long. Business leader Adnan Khashoggi once said, “The one-page proposal has been one of the keys to my business success, and it can be invaluable to you too. Few decision-makers can ever afford to read more than one page when deciding whether they are interested in a deal. This is even more true for people of a different culture or language” (Riley, 2002). Keeping your proposal brief and focused helps your audience understand it easily and avoids confusion.

There are two common ways to format and package a proposal. Depending on your situation, you may choose either option, but remember to use a memo format for internal proposals and a business-letter format for proposals sent outside your organization.

Cover Letter with Attached Proposal

In this format, you write a short cover letter or memo introducing your proposal and summarizing its contents. The proposal itself follows. Even though the main proposal will repeat some of the same points, this is helpful if the memo or letter is lost or skipped over.

Consolidated Business Letter or Memo Proposal

The entire proposal is written as part of a formal letter or memo in this format. You can still use headings and formatting like in a report. This format is shown on the left side of Figure 13.1.

Attribution

References

References are at the end of this chapter.