Email is still a handled communication channel for sales, especially for B2B sales and it is still a preferred medium to send your sales proposals. With that in mind, we put together a list of best practices and email template ideas for writing proposal emails.

Table Of Contents
1. Best practices for writing a proposal email
1.1 Cover all the bases
1.2 Highlight your experience and expertise
1.3 Evaluate the cost
1.4 Highlight important points
1.5 Don’t miss any important attachments!
2. Email template ideas for proposal
2.1 Proposal for Engineering / Technical services
2.2 Software solution
2.3 Proposal for partnership
2.4 Infra project proposal email
2.5 Dealership proposal
2.6 Freelance services
2.7 Marketing services
3. Why you should use cold email automation to send bulk proposal emails?
4. FAQs: Sample of business proposal email

Best practices for writing a proposal email

Follow these best practices to write effective proposal emails and increase your success rate.

Cover all the bases

Use your proposal emails to clearly outline the proposed work, terms, and conditions. In addition, cover all the points to not leave any room for future misunderstandings or disputes.

If you are sending a proposal for a complex project, for example – a software/app development project, it is important to cover all of the details in your proposal. The major points from your proposal should also appear in your proposal email.

Highlight your experience and expertise

If you are sending your unsolicited proposals, for example – a proposal for your freelance services, etc, you will be making your first impression with this proposal email.

In that case, you would want to make a strong, positive impression by highlighting your experience and expertise – for example – “8 Years of SEO experience, helped 15 websites to get DA score of 60+”.

You should keep up a professional writing tone while highlighting your experience and expertise. This will also leave a good impression of you on the receiver. However, if you are not from the writing field, then it may be difficult for you to write info in a professional manner. In such kind of scenario, you can make use of a paraphrase tool.  It will quickly turn your given text into a professional one by changing casual words with their appropriate synonyms

Evaluate the cost

For the proposal to be effective, the client should be able to acknowledge and agree to the cost. However, evaluating a cost can be overwhelming. Obviously, you don’t want to underprice your product or services. On the other hand, you don’t want your prospect to feel that the cost mentioned in the proposal is over budget.

Use the information you’ve already gathered to offer a price that benefits both you and the customer. Moreover, you can try to bifurcate the cost with a required and optional fee table. This makes your cost appealing and easy to understand, as it makes the recipient feel that he can benefit by avoiding optional costs.

Highlight important points

The most important parts of your proposal should also appear in your email. Especially, try to focus on the points which can put you ahead of the competition. In addition to that, try to highlight such important points using bold text in your email.

For example – “40% cheaper than other alternatives”.

Often, many of your recipients will only glance over your emails. Make your USPs immediately clear and force them to take notice of your proposal email.

Don’t miss any important attachments!

Also remember to send any other documents with your proposal, which can make your case stronger. For example, you may like to send case studies, past project lists, customer testimonials, etc.

Proposal email template examples

There are different types of proposals. By using a standardized email template to send your proposals for different purposes, you can add a little more automation to your lead management process.

Proposal for Engineering / Technical Services

A proposal for engineering services or any other similar technical services is going to be fairly complex. You will be able to submit a proposal only after having at least a few interactions with a customer and having a detailed understanding of their requirement.

Therefore this proposal and the email you send should try to display, how you have thoroughly studied the customer’s requirements and why you are well qualified to provide the required solution.

Subject: Proposal for {{Project Name}}

Hi {{First Name}}, After receiving your RFP, we have studied your requirements for {{nature of services – e.g. engineering design}} in detail and planned for the best possible solution. I am sending you a detailed proposal attached with this email. But basically, it important points are – {{List of important points in your propsal}} I am also sending you a list of similar projects that we have executed successfully in the last few months. Let me know if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you. Warm regards, {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Proposal.pdf Attachment2 – Project List.pdf

Software solution

Normally you will send a software solution proposal to someone only after you have had a few discussions with them to understand their requirements. So this is not going to be a cold email. The recipient would probably know you to a fair degree when you get to the software proposal stage in your sales cycle.

So in this email, the focus should be on presenting a thorough solution, removing all room for doubt, and setting up complete clarity for future work to be done.

Subject: Proposal for {{solution / project name}}

Hi {{First Name}}, After our detailed discussions of the past few days, we have identified following key requirements to be addresses within {{software solution name}} – {{Complete list of requirements / features / functionalities}} Based on that we have identified the following outline for proposed solution – {{List of important points which answer the key requirements}} Please find attached a detailed proposal for the discussed solution, along with all the technical and commercial details. Please let me know in case you have any questions. Warm regards, {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Proposal.pdf

Since this is not your first email to the customer and since they have already requested a proposal from you, the important thing here is to be thorough in your proposal.

Emphasize all the requirements that your solution is going to answer so that the commercial proposal and solution can be justified.

Proposal for partnership

The right partnership proposal email template will help you craft a message that grabs the potential partner’s attention and makes the reader interested in what partnering with your event has to offer. With partnership emails, your first impression is your last. So make sure to make your proposal as creative and personalized as possible.

Subject: Proposal for {{partnership}}

Hi {{First Name}}, We are one of the leading {{your company domain}} that thinks out of the box. We have collaborated with the various renowned {{recipient’s company domain}} platforms/companies and wish to partner with you for our upcoming ventures. Over the years your work has been of immense value and inspiration for us. Our company would like to offer you a partnership proposal. We believe that, with us working together we can pioneer and make a huge impact in {{domain}}. I have attached a proposal pdf for more details. We look forward to your response. Warm regards, {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Partnership Proposal.pdf

Make sure you specify what kind of partnership you’re expecting. Highlight the key points of the partnership. Also, talk about how this partnership will help your potential partner. You can also mention a few of your achievements or previous collaborations to build trust.

Infra project proposal email

For an infrastructure project proposal, you may need to include several other documents along with your proposal in the email. Typically you may send – a project schedule, contractual document, payment schedule, quality plan, etc. in your proposal email for an infra or construction project.

Subject: Proposal for {{Project Name}}

Hi {{First Name}}, After receiving your RFP, we have studied your the scope of work for {{Project Name}} in detail and I am sending you a detailed proposal attached with this email. I am also sending a few other documents for your reference – {{List of important documents attached}} Let me know if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you. Warm regards, {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Proposal.pdf Attachment2 – Project Schedule.pdf Attachment3 – Quality Plan.pdf

If you are looking for email templates for your solar installation business, you will find them here. You can copy and use them in this CRM platform to get new leads for your solar business.

You can also make use of this standard proposal email template to speed up the proposal process for infra projects.

Dealership proposal

When you are sending dealership proposals chances are you will be sending them to more than one prospect. Try to make all the proposal emails as personalized as possible. Talk about the benefits they will receive if they accept your proposal.

Subject: Proposal for {{dealership}}

Hi {{First Name}}, My name is {{your name}} and I am contacting you on behalf of {{your company name}}, a global manufacturer of {{your product}}. We are considering a business expansion to the {{location}} area and are in the process of identifying potential reputed distributors who would help us enter this market by becoming dealers to our products. During our research your name came across as a strong candidate with a good reputation in the market. We are offering high-profit rates, great quality products as well as risk-free dealership terms, which I am sure you will find very interesting. I’ve attached our company’s profile and all the other required documents for more information. In case you need any more details please reach out to me. Looking forward to your response. Warm regards, {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Dealership Proposal.pdf

Freelance services

If you are a freelancer offering services such as – SEO, email marketing, lead generation, app development, web development, etc. you know that the market for such services is already crowded.

So you will need to reach out to many people in order to get a few leads. You can do that with cold email marketing workflows to reach out to a large audience base.

Use the following email template to send a proposal for your freelancing services to your prospective client. Automate your email campaign, so that you can reach out to many people without actually spending your own time.

Subject: {{Lead Company Name}} <> {{Your Company Name}}

Hey {{First Name}}, This is {{Your Name}} from {{Your Company Name}}. We recently helped {{Happy Customer Name}} with their {{Area of your expertise (e.g. SEO)}} and we were able to achieve {{result that you are proud of}} in just {{number of months}} months. When I came across your website, I thought we can definitely help you do the same with potentially even better results. I am sending you a very high level proposal of how we can help you. But I would love to connect on a quick call and share more details. Can we connect sometime this week? Let me know. {{Signature}} Attachment1 – Proposal.pdf Attachment2 – Case Study.pdf

We have kept this proposal email template fairly generic so that you can use it for a number of cases by tweaking it a little bit. The subject line is intentionally kept vague to get more email opens. But you alternatively use the following subject lines –

• Improve your {{your value proposition}} by {{x percent}} %
• Here’s what {{your well known customer}} had to say about {{area of your expertise}}

To get more creative with your subject lines, check out these best practices for cold email subjects.

Also, check out these cold emailing best practices and a few more email templates for B2B cold emails.

Marketing services

Email remains the number one channel for business communication. 

But emailing potential clients in an unsolicited manner to generate business for yourself is a big ask and difficult to do well. 

Hence, your marketing proposal should attract the attention of the specific person you’re reaching out to and create interest in collaborating with you. This could be you buying their service,  vice-versa, or just exchanging some professional advice.

Here is a sample of a business proposal email, you can use.

Subject: Proposal for {{e.g upscaling your business}}

Hey {{First Name}}, Hope all is well! I’m {{Your Name}} from {{Company Name}}, and I believe we can help take your business to the next level. Our team of experts specializes in {{Services}} and is passionate about helping businesses like yours grow. With our custom solutions, we can help you {{Achieve Business Goals}}. Let’s talk about how we can work together. I’d love to schedule a call with you to discuss our proposal and answer any questions. Simply reply with a convenient time and date. Looking forward to the opportunity to help you succeed, Let me know. Regards, {{Your Name}} {{Company Name}} {{Contact information}}

Insurance company

Insurance agents should focus on establishing meaningful connections with potential leads and clients rather than directly selling their services in sales emails. Building stronger relationships is the key to success in insurance email campaigns. Due to some agents’ sneaky practices, the insurance industry has suffered from a tarnished reputation.

As a reputable company, it is essential to proactively reach out to gain public trust. While an insurance sales email template can be helpful, its effectiveness lies in customizing it appropriately for each recipient.

Subject:Your Custom Insurance Proposal

Hey #Name#, Hope all is well! Your Custom Insurance Proposal We have carefully selected insurance plans that align perfectly with your requirements. Coverage Options: Health, home, auto, or life insurance. Flexible Premiums: Fit your budget comfortably. Benefits: #Briefly mention key benefits#. Customizable Packages: Tailored to your needs. Simple Process: Quick and easy application. Complimentary Consultation: Free guidance throughout. Got questions or ready to proceed? Let me know! Regards, #Signature#

Why you should use cold email automation to send bulk proposal emails?

Spam filters have become smarter. They can detect patterns of automated bulk emails. When you send hundreds of proposal emails with bulk emailing software, there is a good chance those emails will land in the ‘SPAM’ or ‘Promotions’ folders. SafeMailer’s ‘Cold Email Automation’ app is a smart solution that mimics the email-sending pattern of a human.

Cold email automation workflows send your proposal emails in a staggered manner instead of sending all of them at once. This ‘human-like’ email-sending behavior helps you avoid spam filters.

SafeMailer can boost the email deliverability and opening rate for your proposal emails by  300-600% ! This free cold email marketing software is ideal when you spend tens to hundreds of proposal emails in a day. It will help you build up and maintain a healthy sender reputation so that your emails are well-received by your customers.

FAQs: Sample of business proposal email

Q: How should I format my proposal email?
A: Your proposal email should be formatted professionally, using clear and easy-to-read fonts, and including any relevant attachments such as a proposal document or presentation.

Q: How much detail should I include in the email?
A: Your email should provide enough detail to give the recipient a clear idea of your proposal, but it should not be overly long or detailed. Include the key points and benefits of your proposal, and save the more detailed information for a proposal document or presentation.

Q: How should I address the recipient?
A: Always address the recipient by name and use a professional tone in your email. If you are not sure how to address them, use their formal title and last name, such as “Dear Ms. Smith.”

Q: Should I follow up after sending the proposal email?
A: It is a good idea to follow up after sending a proposal email, either by email or phone, to ensure that the recipient received your proposal and to answer any questions they may have.

Q: How can I make my proposal stand out?
A: To make your proposal stand out, focus on the benefits and unique value proposition of your proposal, and tailor your proposal to the specific needs and interests of the recipient. You can also include any relevant testimonials or case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of your proposal.