Something that genuinely helped me land my first clients when nobody knew who I was-your materials carry so much weight when you're an unknown. The proposal you send becomes your entire first impression, and I used to spend an hour on each one. Completely unsustainable while doing outreach. So now I structure my proposals in a tool like Runable, keep the core content in Notion, then film a personalised Loom walkthrough for every single one. People started assuming we were a much bigger operation, which is exactly what you need early on. Polished materials get you through the door, the actual service keeps them there.
But I saw someone else raise a fair point-a personal touchpoint before the proposal can be even more powerful. When we had zero brand recognition, I'd send a quick personalised video introducing myself and specifically explaining why I thought I could help their business. Not a pitch deck, just me talking to camera for 60 seconds mentioning something I'd noticed about their company. Then if they replied, I'd send over the proper materials.
The video meant they'd already seen my face and heard the value prop in plain English before looking at any document. It warmed them up enough that the proposal became a formality rather than a first impression. Response rates were way higher than cold proposals ever got me.
Still, once you're in conversation, sloppy formatting or generic templates kill deals fast when you're unproven. So both matter-just depends how you sequence them.
How do you currently get proposals in front of people? Are they expecting them, or are you sending cold?
