Proposal Cover Letter: How to Write to Win

You’ve slaved over your proposal for weeks, uniting win themes, tweaking the design, checking the boxes. All that’s left is the proposal cover letter. What’s the big deal? It’s just a formality. You can copy and paste something from the last proposal, right?

It’s so easy to fall into cover letter traps – using a form letter, not treating it as a core part of your proposal – I know, I’m guilty of it too.

That’s right, I used to have a copy and paste proposal cover letter. No judgment, please.

I thought it made my life easier. One less piece to worry about, so I could put more attention into crafting an amazing business proposal. Having a form letter also meant I didn’t have to start my cover letter until an hour before production.

Oh how I cringe at those past cover letters, and the poor, doomed proposals they topped.

*Sigh.* I’ve seen the light though, and I’m going to share my three favorite tips for writing a killer proposal cover letter. I like to call them “hook”, “highlight”, and “hustle”. These three H’s have elevated my proposal cover letters, taking them from boring formality to client-hooking machines.

Hook

Your cover letter isn’t really about you.

Seriously, it’s not.

Your cover letter is about your client. The faster you can get to their problem, the better chance you give your proposal of being read.

By fast, I mean the first sentence fast.

Take a look at your last five proposal cover letters. How many of them start with something like:

[Company name] is pleased to submit this proposal for…

[Company name] is a full-service, award-winning firm…

For the last 20 years, [Company name] has provided excellent customer service…

[Company name] has exceptional experience in projects similar to…

Oh boy. Sounds a little narcissistic doesn’t it?

Best case scenario: most of your competitors are probably stuck in a similar cover-letter loop. Worst case scenario: you’ve just relegated your proposal to the bottom of the pile.

It’s okay! With a good hook, you’ll never have to worry about hitting the bottom of the stack again.

So how do you write a killer hook?

Go straight for the metaphorical jugular, of course, and find your client’s pressure points.

Think about the biggest challenges of the project. Maybe it needs to be completed in a certain amount of time, or the budget is limited, or the last project they had isn’t quite what they wanted so this one needs to be twice as good.

Figure out the pressure point and then take it one step further. Identify the why behind the pressure point and try to present a solution right there in the first sentence.

Once you’ve made your hook about the client, you can start bragging about yourself a little bit. Keep your introduction light and concise, and let it flow into your highlights.

Highlights

Here we go – your opportunity to finally talk about YOU.

Sort of.

Highlights make up the meat of your proposal cover letter. They respond to the client’s pressure points (identified above) in more detail, supporting the solutions you provide with your past experience.

Your highlights might be additional challenges with teased solutions, or they might be attributes and advantages your firm brings to the table to overcome the initial challenge you’ve identified in your hook.

There are a few rules I follow with my highlights.

First, your primary highlight must expand your hook! If your first point isn’t the most important one, then the hook it expands on probably isn’t the right pressure point. Don’t open with the schedule and jump into the budget, okay?

Second, keep your points concise. Open with the problem, “tease” the solution and why you’re the best choice to provide it, and move on. Don’t give it all away on the first page.

Third, three highlights are sufficient If you don’t have three points, dig deeper and see if you can find another challenge within the project. I can almost guarantee there’s a third. If there isn’t, or there’s one major challenge that you should be focusing all of your attention on, then it’s okay to keep your letter short. The client will appreciate it. If you have more than three highlights, see if any of them overlap and can be grouped together. If not, stick to the three most important points.

Hustle

The problem with most cover letters is that they lack a call to action. There’s no hustle, no passion for closing the deal.

Go back to your last five cover letters again. How did you close? What was the thought you left the client with?

We look forward to working with you on this important project.

We would be honored to work with you.

We appreciate the opportunity to submit our qualifications.

There’s nothing wrong with these closing thoughts, but there’s also no motivation behind them. As a reviewer, all they tell me is that you’ve left the decision in my hands and you’re hoping for the best.

You open with a hook, highlight how perfect your company is for the job, and then… fall flat?

I don’t think so. Let’s add some hustle in here.

Remember your hook? You know the client’s pressure points, you know how to solve them.

Here’s the hustle secret: Close with your first step.

What’s the first big action you’ll take with the client to solve their problem?

Close your proposal cover letter by starting the project. This lets the client know you’re ready to take on their project, and you’ve thought through exactly how to implement the solutions you’ve proposed.

You don’t have to overthink this too much, either. For example, if the project has an accelerated schedule, simply acknowledging that you’ll be ready to go on day one might be enough. Your closing for that challenge might look like:

Thank you for this opportunity. We look forward to meeting with your team on September 1 to kick off the project.

Presumptuous? Maybe. Proactive? Absolutely. Sprinkle in a few details on what you’ll discuss in that meeting to achieve an accelerated schedule, and you’ve caught my interest as the client.