There’s not a business on the planet that couldn’t use a new customer. Particularly in the moody economics of this day and age, learn-as-you-go business proposals simply aren’t going to cut it. Forget about improvising and pick up a sample business proposal and use it as a template to create a great business proposal to secure new customers.

One of the most overlooked and simple tasks to help your efforts is pre-writing. Being your first draft, there’s no reason to worry about what your customers are going to think — they’re not going to see this draft, so calm down and try to enjoy yourself. By pre-writing you can determine exactly what you’re going to pitch, including your goals and any important qualities you have that make you more qualified than anyone else.

Consider your business proposal and what you’re offering. Cut your goals into numerous steps, writing down what will be needed to win each step. Organize your steps so that your reader is led to believe that by following your proposal, they will without question be led to success by way of that goal you wrote about in the pre-writing phase.

The next stage is writing your cover letter. Make it short and simple, at maximum only three paragraphs that declare the main thoughts behind your proposal — for instance, you could write “Our company helps X number of businesses in the region. Our company can help you too by doing x, y, and z for you.” Go ahead and elaborate on any successful stories you may have, but don’t drown your proposal in a lengthy cover letter.

Next, the hard part: actually write your business proposal. Proposals are usually split into five pieces: the executive summary which states what you do and who you are, a statement of work dictating what services you plan to give your client, a list of steps to achieve your goal, a list of reasons why you are better than the next guy, and last but not least the legalese terms of your contract and payment arrangements.

Again, this is only the first draft, so take it easy on yourself and write what you would like your client to know. Imagine your target seated at the table with you. What could you tell them that would convince them to hire you?

The quality of your writing doesn’t have to be high — first drafts are rarely error free. Just worry about completing your proposal and squeezing all your information into the rigid structure of the proposal. If you need to change anything, make a note of it but don’t actually follow through yet.

Take a look at the prices you’re offering and the terms of your contract. Try searching the web for businesses that are similar so you can be sure to offer competitive prices. If it turns out you are overcharging, it is far better to discover this now than when you are sitting across from your future client.

With that first draft in the can, it’s time to rewrite your business proposal as is necessary. Try asking a friend to look over your proposal to catch any typo’s you may have passed. If you would like to fix, change, or add, do it now, and then re-read your work.

If you’ve never tried role-playing, now might be a good time to start. Put on your client’s shoes for a few minutes and think about how they might react to your proposal as it’s written now. Can you think of anything they might complain about? Does something in the proposal seem likely to make them hesitant? Come up with tons of reasons they could refuse you, and then think of counterarguments to calm their worries.

Building a business proposal on your own might seem like hard work, and it is — but if you find a sample business proposal to use as a template, the pieces will fall into place faster than you might think. Use the above suggestions and you’ll be able to churn out intriguing business proposals that will lead clients to you over the long haul.

If you are going to write your very own proposal, it’s a good idea to find a sample business proposal that can be used as a starting point. Download sample business proposals from a site with real scenarios, so you are sure to get genuine proposals that have been actually been used.