What is a Bid Proposal?
Bid proposals are used by companies or individual contractors to land new projects with a potential client. Through a bid proposal, a company or a contractor can showcase its products and services, costs, and the timelines they can provide a prospective client to finish a certain project.
To put things clearer, imagine a prospective client company has a project that needs to be finished. But the client doesn't have the time, resources, or necessary skills to complete the job. During such situations, they will employ contractors or hire another company on a contract basis to do the job. The client company will invite bids from different contractors and will assess each contractor’s offerings and the budget they are proposing to finish the project.
This is where as a contractor you can stand out from the competition. All you have to do is submit an interesting and thoughtfully written bid proposal. A bid proposal helps you to create a strong positive impression on your client’s mind and can convince them to choose you to do their project. Through the proposal, you can persuade your client that you are the right fit for the job.
Paid or free Bid Proposal: Who are the most common users?
Every company, irrespective of the industry, strives to expand its business. And to grow, it is necessary to look out for opportunities in your service area. You can work on instrumental projects only when you showcase your capability and efficiency to handle such jobs. For that, you need to create impressive bid proposals showcasing your company and business.
There is no strict policy as to who can create bids. Any company falling under any industry type can create proposals if they want to get projects in their field.
But the most common users are:
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Marketing and advertising agencies - design pitch proposals to get full-time or part-time jobs like social media promotions, producing ads, designing other media marketing campaigns, etc.
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Construction companies - write construction bid proposal documents to submit to builders, realtors, or architects to get contract works.
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Manufacturing companies - for instance, a button factory can give proposals to a large-scale cloth manufacturer to provide their products for a lucrative price.
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App or software developers - Large enterprises often employ third-party IT companies to devise various apps and software. Such companies can draft professional proposals to submit to such enterprises.
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Freelancers
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Startups and solopreneurs, and more
Why do you need to use a Bid Proposal Template?
Bid proposals are a common strategy used by small, medium, and multinational organizations to land new contracts. An effective bid proposal goes beyond being a simple business plan. It provides information on a certain project your company wants to work on.
The issue is that many contractors struggle to put together an all-inclusive bid proposal. They risk their chances of winning a project by including inaccurate information in these documents. But a bid proposal template offers contractors all the necessary tools and resources to produce a great proposal.
Let’s see other benefits of using a proposal template:
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Bid proposal templates can be customized to suit your business needs.
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The same template allows you to generate single and bulk proposal documents faster.
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It ensures consistency in your messaging.
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It guarantees your company’s bid proposal is complete and error-free.
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It helps you to structure your bid proposal in a better way.
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It comes with pre-formatted placeholders/sections so you don't forget to include important information such as:
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You and your prospective client’s contact information
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Address and phone number details
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Project scope, completion date, and timeline
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Estimated costs, payment schedule, and other key deliverables
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Additional service and support provided by the business
Key elements that paid or free Bid Proposal Template should include
Executive summary
Provide an overview of the project, its opportunity, and why your company or business wants to be involved with the project. Create a positive impression of your expertise in front of your potential clients through this section. Here’s what an executive summary typically includes:
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The kind of products, services, and support you provide
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Years of experience you have in the industry
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The type of projects you have handled before
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The upcoming project name (job name), its details, and other deliverables
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Why do you want to liaise with the client or contractor to finish it?
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Overview of past projects handled by your company
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Cost to complete the project
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Estimate date to finish, etc.
About us
Given that you went through the trouble of writing out a thorough bid proposal, there is a good possibility that the project is rather large and would call for close collaboration between you and the client over a lengthy period of time. Therefore, it's crucial to let the client know who you are. But don't just provide some backstory that is strictly technical and boring. Instead, show some personality because that sparks potential clients’ interest in you and your company.
This segment is like a striking resume of your company.
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Give an introduction about your organization
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The number of clients with whom you have entered into a contract or associated previously.
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Categories of projects you have handled for them
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Include your company’s ‘Mission’ and ‘Vision’ statements too.
Our team
Herein provide the details of your skilled resources such as:
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How many employees will be involved?
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The team’s achievements
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Introduce your leadership team (CEO, Director, Project Manager of your company). Elaborate on their qualifications and how they will lead the team to project completion.
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Add their impressive bios
Tip: A reliable leadership team and their resources increase credibility before a potential client.
Project overview
In this section, go into further depth regarding the project. This will demonstrate to clients that you are aware of the project requirements.
1. Problem
Before committing to any work, as a contractor, you need to understand the client's project thoroughly. Only then you will be able to see the problem or blocker faced by the client. Through this segment, you can show your client that you completely understand what problem they are facing. Give them a sound solution that persuades them to hire you for the project.
2. Project Objectives
This is where you bring the potential client on the same page regarding the project. The project's specifics should be described in depth here, not just the tasks you will take up, but also a clear image of what you hope to accomplish through the project.
Make the client want to collaborate with you and be a part of the greater vision by utilizing your bid proposal.
3. Methods and Strategies
Here you have to define the methodologies adopted to get the job done on time.
4. Timeline
Give details about the schedule to complete the entire project. Classify the project into different phases, and describe the corresponding deliverables for it.
5. Estimated Budget or Pricing Information
Herein the contractor has to give the cost estimates or the approximate total budget required for the successful completion of the project. You can provide the pricing information as per the phases you have divided the project into.
6. Expenses
In this part, mention to the prospective client any other expenses you will incur while implementing the project. For example, the expenses can be travel costs, equipment charges, rental fees, and other miscellaneous costs.
Past projects
Highlight 2-3 of your most successful projects. Give the project’s name, its purpose, and a brief outline of your company’s role in its completion.
Client testimonials
The clients with whom you have worked in the past are the best advocates for your company. In this section, you can provide testimonials from a few clients who can tell the positive impact their business had when they partnered with you. This is one of the best ways where you can stand out from competitive bids from other contractors.
Terms and conditions
Herein mention:
Acceptance and signatures
This is the last part of the proposal. When the involved parties (the contractor and the client hiring the contract company) agree with the terms and conditions, they mutually enter into a contract and sign the bid proposal.
Revv’s Bid Proposal Template to draft winning bids
If you want to pique the interest of your prospective client, your bid proposal should be appealing and should highlight you as a successful project implementer. A carefully crafted bid proposal is essential for that. The contractor can explain why they are the apt fit for the project and why the client should work with them. The proposal also helps the client in their decision-making process. With Revv's configurable bid proposal template, you can produce compelling bid proposals more quickly and efficiently.
Design eye-catchy proposals of your choice by downloading Revv’s bid proposal template offered on this page.
Customizable templates
Revv provides you with a fully customizable template. With it, you can design:
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Construction bid - Construction bid is a proposal used by a construction company wherein estimates are given for the construction of a building, park, office space, shops, etc.
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Freelance writing bid - Advertising or marketing agencies may produce these bids to hire freelance writers for writing content for them on a contract basis.
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Manufacturing bid/contract - Organizations who are involved in the manufacturing of goods and services such as clothes, food items, household items, etc. generally use it to subcontract their work in some cases.
The above-mentioned are some of the industry-specific examples. Be it any industry, the template provided by Revv is professional, customizable, and legally vetted. You can personalize your proposals further with the help of the feature-rich document editor. It allows you to add/edit texts, images, and tables, and integrate your Google Sheets and payment systems.
Real-time activity tracking
The whole bidding process is tough. To get one project, sometimes a contractor has to send various kinds of bid proposals to different clients. But, when you are handling a plethora of proposals, it becomes really difficult to keep track and follow up with respective clients about the project. But from Revv’s Activity tracking feature, you can easily track real-time happenings in all your bid proposal documents. You will know whether a client has opened the proposal document, how many times it has been opened, etc.
Ensures safe and secure eSignatures
A bid proposal document only becomes a legally binding contract when they are approved and eSigned by all the parties involved in the bidding process. With Revv’s eSignature feature you no longer have to depend on other wet-ink signatures or other third-party eSignature software. Once a proposal is ready, all you have to do is add eSignature tags to the document and add the needed signers to it. Recipients can sign the document with just a few clicks. Revv eSignatures are safe and compliant that follow all local and global laws such as ESIGN Act, UETA, and eIDAS, among others.
Access proposal templates anytime
You can access your bid proposal documents anytime, anywhere, and from any device as the Revv platform is a completely cloud-based system.
Instant notification system
Revv sends auto-generated email notifications to both sender and recipients. Recipients get notified about the action they need to take on the bid proposal.
Generates Evidence Summary Certificate for all signed proposals
Revv generates an electronic copy of audit trails in the form of an Evidence Summary for all eSigned documents. Evidence Summary is a digital certificate that records each action taken during the signing process. It acts as legal proof in the event of a dispute in the future. A user can download the certificate for free.
Create remarkable bid proposal documents and attract the best bidders with Revv. To know more, Sign up today!
Frequently asked questions
How do you draft a bid proposal?
To draft a bid proposal, include the following elements - Summary, About us, Our team, Project overview, Past projects, Client testimonials, Terms & conditions, Acceptance, and Signatures.
What is a bid format?
The framework of a bid proposal is known as a bid format. It basically includes the obligations of the contractor, scope of work, budget, and payment schedule. In the case of creative work, it might also include the transfer of rights, marketing materials from a contractor, and several other terms and conditions.
What is the difference between a bid and a proposal?
A bid involves in-depth understanding of a project's expenses and schedule because it is more specific than an estimate or a quote. A proposal is used when a company needs to form a partnership with another company since it is more detailed than a bid.
What makes a good bid proposal?
To prepare a good bid proposal, include the following sections - Summary, About us, Our team, Project overview, Past projects, Client testimonials, Terms & conditions, Acceptance, and Signatures.
