Tactical articles about proposals: writing, follow-up, templates, tracking, legal aspects. Practical and data-based. Short, tactical articles about pitching...
On the Proposal Expert blog you find short, tactical articles about writing, sending and following up on proposals. Think of concrete topics such as the best day to send a proposal, how to keep a pricing table readable and which follow-ups work and which do not. Each article takes a few minutes to read, names the source wherever we use numbers and ends with a step you can take today.
The blog is the practical counterpart of the Academy. The Academy holds longer, research-driven articles on the foundations of persuasive proposals, such as psychology, structure and pricing strategy. The blog turns those insights into tactics for daily practice. We publish new articles in small series around a theme and update existing articles as soon as numbers or features change. If you prefer to read the theory first, start in the Academy and come back here for the application.
Most proposals are not read at all, or opened and quickly scanned. These 7 principles from behavioural economics and communication theory help you write proposals that actually convert.
Proposal sent and then silence? These 5 follow-up emails, each with a subject line and body text, are based on tracking data and work better than "Just checking in...".
Templates save time but can feel generic. Writing from scratch feels personal but takes hours. An honest comparison on seven points, a worked cost example and the situations where starting from scratch is the right call.
Is a digital signature on a proposal legally valid? What is the difference between a simple, advanced and qualified signature, what does article 25 say and what belongs in an audit trail? The eIDAS rules explained for the Netherlands and the EU.
Seeing when your client opens your proposal, which sections they read and for how long. What exactly gets tracked, how an engagement score from 0 to 100 works, when to follow up and a worked example.
An AI proposal generator turns a short brief into a full first draft. This guide explains how the brief-to-draft flow works, how to review each section, how to catch hallucinations, and what to ask about data handling and credits before you commit.
"Integrates with your CRM" can mean a logo on a page or a live two-way sync. This guide explains which fields should flow from the deal into the proposal, what should be written back, and how to compare tools on that basis.
Quote software prices a deal. Proposal software argues for it. Many teams buy one when they need the other. This guide draws the line, covers CPQ, optional line items, e-signature and tracking, and ends with a use-case comparison.
A client accepts your proposal with an electronic signature. Does that hold up? This guide explains the three eIDAS signature levels, what an audit trail must contain, when a qualified signature is needed, and how the UK and US compare.
You do not compare proposal software on the length of the feature list but on six criteria: AI, electronic signature, tracking, CRM integration, price and the VAT rules you work with. This is how to weigh PandaDoc, Proposify, Qwilr, Better Proposals, DealHub and Proposal Expert honestly.
A CRM integration means more than an export button. What is synchronised, how writeback of status and amount works, and how you create a proposal from a deal in HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive or Monday in two clicks.
You do not make an AI proposal at the push of a button, but with a good brief and a sharp review afterwards. This is how it goes from brief to draft, section by section, and what you always check before you send.
A Word template is free and familiar, proposal software costs money and asks you to switch. When is Word enough, when does software pay for itself, and how do you compare the two fairly on seven points.
As a freelancer you do not need approval flows or SSO, but you do need a clean layout, an electronic signature, correct VAT and a way to follow up. This is what counts, what you can skip and what the free plan gives you.
The blog is short and tactical: each article covers one concrete topic and gives an approach you can apply right away. The Academy is foundational and research-driven: longer articles that explain why certain techniques work, with references to studies. Use the Academy to understand and the blog to act. Both are free to read, with no account needed.
We publish new articles in series around a theme, for example follow-up or pricing structure, rather than on a fixed day. We also update existing articles when a number changes or a feature in the platform works differently. If you do not want to miss anything, check this page regularly or start in the Academy, where the foundational articles stay current for longer.
Wherever we mention percentages or benchmarks, the source is listed: a study from the Academy, an external report or our own experience, which we label as such. If you spot a claim without a source or a number that looks wrong, let us know via the contact page. We check it, update the article and note the change on the article.