Three Steps to Create a Job Proposal That Gets You Hired

How to turn a job request into the perfect proposal, and not get ghosted

You’ve had this happen too many times. A client asks for help with a job, you put together a proposal, and then...nothing. Maybe the client found someone else, or they decided not to move forward. Perhaps the budget went away. It could be a combination of these things. Often a client ghosts you when there’s too big a gap between your proposal and their needs. The client finds a different or cheaper way to solve their problem. You don’t get a chance to change their mind. You just don’t get the job. There are three things you can do in preparing your job proposal to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Focus on the value of the deliverable

Most clients begin the hunt for a contractor by thinking about the skills they need and the work process. You should start by working backwards from what the client is trying to achieve so you know what outcome to address in your proposal. You might get a request like “I need a web designer to build a landing page for our new launch.” That’s a great description of the job, but it doesn’t cover the specific requirements. Without any background information, you’re at a big disadvantage. You’ll need answers to key questions, like, for this example, “Who are you targeting with the landing page, and what does a conversion look like?” Further, you might want to ask “Do you have any target numbers and…