How to Write a Proposal Cover Letter

Do you want to make a good first impression with your business proposals? If that’s the case, you cannot neglect your proposal cover letter. The success of your business proposals relies solely on how much attention you pay to every detail and how much effort you put into drafting it.

One key to drawing the attention of readers is to write a high-quality online proposal cover letter. If you are the one in charge of proposals, then you must learn how to make them as enticing and interesting as possible.

In this article, we will teach you how to create quality proposal cover letters and we will also tell you why using our software can help. So, keep on reading.

What Is a Cover Letter?

As you may know, a business proposal has multiple parts, respectively:

• Title page
• Cover letter
• Executive summary
• The background of the company
• An assessment of the needs
• The goals of the project
• Plan of implementation
• A breakdown of the costs and budget
• Timescales
• Plan of evaluation
• Project sustainability

The cover letter of a business proposal is the part that acts as an introduction. It summarizes the most important details of your business proposal, proving to your clients that you are aware of their issues and that you have the right solution for them. In other words, it will present your client with your business offerings and why they matter.

The cover letter should also be good enough to convince your client to continue reading the proposal document. As you already know, first impressions matter. So, without putting effort and hard work into creating a fantastic cover letter for the business proposal, you are unlikely to persuade the client into reading more.

If you take a look at a proposal introduction letter sample, you will notice that what makes it so great is the attention to the client’s desires. Before writing any proposal application letter, you must listen to the customer and understand their needs.

Writing a cover letter for a proposal doesn’t have to involve complicated language. You can go for simple wording without getting too technical. The goal is to make the client understand what you are trying to communicate.

Why Do You Need a Cover Letter?

Before you check for proposal templates to draft your document, let’s see why you need a cover letter, to begin with.

Just like you, your clients are busy individuals. If you make them read tens of pages generated by an online proposal software, they are likely to run for the hills. They must know what they are getting into, and you should help them understand that the proposal is beneficial to them.

So, whether you use a proposal online software or not, you should always create a cover letter. It is your chance to make a good first impression and convince the reader that not only do you understand their problems, but you also have the right solutions for them. This way, they will keep on reading the full document.

The proposal cover letter allows you to be more personal and empathize with your clients. Meanwhile, business proposals are more factual. What better way to establish an emotional bond with your clients if not by relating to them on a more personal level?

Once you get clients hooked on the cover letter, they will most definitely be ready to proceed with the rest of the business proposal. They will go deeper into the technical specification of the process.

With good proposal letters, you can gain new clients without spending too much money. This can be a great benefit when you are just getting started with your business and don’t have a huge budget to spend on client acquisition.

With your proposal program of choice, you should ensure the cover letter is straight to the point. While you may be tempted to create a long and compelling proposal cover letter on your online proposals software, you will have better chances of success if you keep it short.

Clients are more likely to be attracted to brief proposal cover letters that don’t take too much of their precious time. So, if possible, check out some proposal cover examples before writing yours.

The Connection Between a Cover Letter and a Business Proposal

As already mentioned, cover letters are placed before your business proposal. More specifically, they are the introduction to your business proposal, making them the most relevant part of the document.

You cannot jump straight into a business proposal without introducing its contents first. This is why cover letters are so important – they provide your clients with some details about what is inside the document.

“Cover letter” and “introduction” are used interchangeably sometimes because these two terms refer to the same thing when it comes to business proposals. You might want to check out a sample proposal cover letter to prospect before drafting your very first cover.

Elements of a Business Cover Letter

Before you learn how to make a cover letter for a proposal, you must find out what the document includes. Here are the different elements of a proposal cover letter:

• The cover letter must be very short and concise, without dragging on. Clients will want to get a quick insight into the business proposal, not spend hours reading an introduction.
• The language should be simple, without technical and complicated terminology. The business proposal will take care of the technical side.
• Refrain from bragging about your business and all of its accomplishments. The focus should be on the client.
• Use some of the expressions and words from the communications you have already had with the client.

A great tip would also be to not blame the client for their issues. Your purpose is to present a business proposal that can help find a solution for that problem, not put the blame on the potential client and make them feel bad.

Cover Letter Structure

So, are you ready to find out how to write a cover letter for business proposal?

Before you start drafting your cover letter, you should ask a few questions that will help you during the writing process. For instance, you should find out:

·  What is the source of the funding for the project?

·  What reason does the client have behind this project?

·  What would the client relate to the most?

·  What is the final result that should be achieved?

Send your client a list with all your queries. Once you understand all these problems and find the right answers, you are ready to proceed.

Here is a general structure that most cover letters should follow:

1. The opening sentence
First things first, you should open your proposal cover letter with the right question. You can begin by addressing the client’s problem right away so that you don’t waste any precious time. Then, follow it with the solutions you have for said issue. Another great method would be to get straight to the point. This is guaranteed to keep your clients engaged and make them interested in your offer. These solutions are their ultimate goal so give them what they want.

2. Keeping the right tone
You are the expert, so you should sound like one. Therefore, you cannot afford to use a confused tone when writing the cover letter – you must be 100% sure about every detail you include there and back everything up with arguments.

In this case, it would be extremely helpful to get all the information you need before the drafting process even begins. Otherwise, you risk failing to gain the client’s trust.

Once again, you should focus on the client, not on your business and all you have managed to achieve throughout the years. You will have plenty of time to prove your worth. The client’s purpose is to find something that would solve their issues. They don’t want to spend time reading about a proud business owner who puts themselves on a pedestal.

Don’t make this mistake if you don’t want your potential client to just ignore your proposal cover letter.

3. Closing the proposal cover letter
Once you reach the end of the cover letter, it is time to convince them to keep reading the business proposal. This is the ultimate goal of the document handed to the client, but you must word your invitation the right way.

So, you can direct them to the case study, where they will find all the project’s details and technicalities. If you manage to convince them that you are the solution to all of their problems, you are on your way to success.

The Bottom Line
As you can see, the cover letter acts as the hook of the proposal. So, you must ensure it’s as qualitative as possible. If you need some help in creating your business proposal and cover letter, you can always opt for Proposa to provide you with useful templates and features. Our site speeds up the process of creating these documents, reducing your stress and ensuring you don’t waste time.