First-Draft Proposals in 10 Minutes
A first-draft proposal from a ten-minute intake form.
The problem
Proposals are one of the biggest time sinks in a professional services business. The structure, format, and general approach are the same every time, yet each one still takes two to four hours to produce.
That's not a writing problem. It's a process problem.
The old way
- Discovery call with the prospect
- Notes reviewed and organized: 20 to 30 minutes
- Proposal document opened: usually last month's version used as a rough template
- Scope section rewritten for this client: 45 to 60 minutes
- Approach and methodology section rewritten: 30 to 45 minutes
- Fees and timeline filled in
- Executive summary written last: 20 to 30 minutes
- Proofread and sent
Total: 2.5 to 4 hours per proposal. More for complex projects.
The new way
- Discovery call with the prospect: same as before
- 10-minute intake form completed right after the call, while it's fresh: client situation, stated problem, underlying problem, proposed scope, approach, fees, timeline, and any key context
- Form submitted to an AI prompt built around the firm's proposal structure and tone
- Full first-draft proposal produced in under two minutes
- Reviewed, edited for tone and accuracy: 20 to 30 minutes
- Sent
Total: 35 to 45 minutes per proposal.
What makes the intake form work
The form is the key, not the AI. A vague form produces a vague proposal. The questions have to be specific enough that answering them produces most of what the proposal needs to say.
The questions that matter most:
- What does the client think the problem is?
- What do you think the actual problem is?
- What does success look like in 90 days?
- What is the specific scope of this project?
- What's explicitly out of scope?
- What will make this project hard?
- What's the fee and how is it structured?
Answer those honestly and the proposal almost writes itself.
The prompt
Built once, reused for every proposal. It knows the firm's structure (executive summary, situation, approach, scope, team, investment, next steps), the tone, and the standard language around terms and process. The intake form feeds it. The output is a formatted first draft.
Building the prompt takes three to four hours the first time. After that, two minutes per proposal.
What it didn't change
The judgment call on scope, the relationship work before the proposal goes out, and the final review before sending. Those stay human. The blank page and the structural assembly go away.
A free call to see if we can help.
No pitch deck. Bring the part of your week you'd most like to get back.