Guide
Claude proposal template: what to put in a prompt
A prompt to copy into Claude, the six parts that make a draft useful, what to leave out, a weak and a better prompt with a price table, and four job descriptions.
By Vincent Trienpont · Published · Last checked · 8 min read · How we write
A useful Claude proposal template has six parts: the client's problem, the client, the work, roughly how long, who works on it with the extras, and the language. Leave the prices out of the prose: ask Claude for a [PRICE TABLE] placeholder and fill it in from your own rate card. Then ask it to list every number it used that you did not give it. Below: the template to copy, what each part does, a worked example and four job descriptions.
This guide is about the prompt itself. What the finished proposal should contain is in the business proposal method, section by section. Drafting and sending from Claude with your own price list is in the six steps from description to sent in Claude.
The template to copy
Paste this into Claude, fill in the brackets and leave the rest as it is.
Template
Write a client proposal in [English / Dutch / French / German], addressing the reader [informally / formally].
The client: [client name], [what they do, in one line]. Their problem: [the situation, in their words, with any numbers they gave you]. The work: [one kind of work, such as a new website, a monthly SEO plan or a two-day workshop]. Roughly how long: [length or term]. Who works on it: [roles]. What the client can add: [optional extras]. What continues afterwards: [care plan, licences or hosting]. What is not included: [items]. Numbers I am sure of: [rounds of feedback, number of pages, notice period].
Sections: challenge, approach, scope (included and not included), timeline, team, next step. Do not write any prices or amounts. Where the price goes, write [PRICE TABLE]. Do not invent results, client names or case studies. At the end, list every number you used that I did not give you.
The last two lines do the real work. Claude writes convincingly, so a made-up "three rounds of revisions" or "a big lift in bookings" reads like a fact. Asking for the list turns each guess into something you can check.
What each part does in the proposal
| Part | Write it like this | What it becomes |
|---|---|---|
| The client's problem | "Their booking site loses mobile visitors at checkout." | The challenge section, and the reason the approach makes sense. |
| The client | The name and one line on what they do. | The cover and the tone of the whole proposal. |
| The work | One kind of work, named plainly. | The approach and the scope. |
| Roughly how long | "About six weeks", "for twelve months". | The timeline, and for project work a check on your days. |
| People and extras | Roles, optional extras and what continues after launch. | The team section, the options and the running costs. |
| The language | "In Dutch, informal." | Every section, in that language and register. |
Start with the problem. In my proposals the client's problem comes first, not a company presentation. A prompt works the same way: the first thing Claude reads shapes the challenge section. Your notes from the call are the best source, and the discovery call questions mapped to each proposal section give you the words to use.
Give context, not a costume. Anthropic's prompting guide suggests you think of Claude as "a brilliant but new employee who lacks context on your norms and workflows", and to be specific about what you want. A one-line role is fine, but for a proposal the context that does the work is your client, your offer and your limits. A prompt that is mostly placeholders for a role, a company and a price gives you a proposal that could be for anyone.
What to leave out, and what to put in
Leave out:
- Prices and discounts. Claude only knows the rates you paste in, and a price written into a paragraph is easy to miss when your rates change. Keep every amount in one table that you fill in from your rate card.
- Your company history. Pick cases that match this client's problem and add them yourself; don't let Claude describe projects it has never seen.
- Anything you would not share. Client details you are not allowed to pass on stay out of the chat.
Put in: the numbers you are sure of. If your standard is two rounds of feedback, write it. Otherwise Claude fills the gap with a plausible number, and you have to catch it.
A weak prompt and a better one
The studio, the client and the prices are fictional examples: replace them with your own.
Example
Sample: a two-person content studio. Its rate card has product descriptions at €65 each, category texts at €180 each, photo editing at €12 a photo and extra work at €75 an hour.
Weak: "Write a proposal for Fernhill, the usual content package, 2 rounds, around €2,000 with 10% off."
Claude has no idea what "the usual package" contains, so it invents one. The €2,000 and the discount end up in the text, where nobody checks them against the rate card.
Better: "Write a client proposal in English. The client: Fernhill Outdoor, an outdoor gear shop. Their problem: a new hiking range and no product pages. The work: 20 product descriptions and 4 category texts. Roughly how long: three weeks. Photo editing as an option; extra work at our hourly rate. Numbers I am sure of: 2 rounds of feedback. No prices in the text: write [PRICE TABLE]. List every number you used that I did not give you."
The price table the studio filled in (excluding VAT):
| Line | Quantity | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Product description at €65 | 20 | €1,300 |
| Category text at €180 | 4 | €720 |
| Total one-off | €2,020 |
Photo editing goes below the table as an option at €12 a photo, and extra work at €75 an hour, billed as used. Neither is in the total. Suppose Claude's list of numbers comes back with one item, "5 working days per round": the studio replaces it with its own turnaround before sending.
The better prompt is longer only by the facts Claude needed. It names a real problem and real quantities, and it keeps the money in one place you control.
Four job descriptions to copy
These replace the "work" lines of the template. Fill in the brackets with your own roles and products.
Template
A fixed-price website The work: a new website with online booking, as a fixed price. Roughly how long: about 6 weeks. Who works on it: [designer], [developer]. What the client can add: [copywriting]. What continues afterwards: [care plan], per month.
A monthly retainer with a plan choice The work: monthly SEO. Roughly how long: 12 months. Offer two plans side by side: [plan A] and [plan B], with what each includes. What the client can add: [technical audit], one-off.
A workshop priced per participant The work: a 2-day workshop on writing proposals. Who works on it: [trainer]. About 10 participants, priced per person. What the client can add: [follow-up coaching session].
Content work with an extra-work rate The work: 20 product descriptions and 4 category texts. What the client can add: [photo editing]. Extra requests: at [hourly rate], only after the client agrees.
If you use a tool that already holds your price list, such as Propozit in Claude, the same lines work as the whole description: write your product and role names as they appear in your price list, and the prices come from there instead of from a table you fill in.
Before you send
- Every number on Claude's list is either true for this client or gone.
- The price table matches your current rate card, and one-off and monthly amounts are shown apart.
- The scope says what is not included. Read it against how to write a scope of work clients understand.
- The VAT rate is the right one for this client.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, ask a lawyer or accountant.
Which parts of a proposal to give an AI at all, and which to keep, is in writing proposals with AI: what to hand over and what to keep.
How Propozit helps
Propozit drafts from the same kind of description, with your own price list instead of a placeholder. In the app, select New proposal: it opens on Describe it, with the box What is this proposal for? and the button Draft the proposal. From Claude, with Propozit added from Claude's connector directory, you type the description in the chat and get a link to the draft; drafting needs the Also draft and send proposals access you choose when you connect.
The AI picks products from your price list and quantities; every price comes from your price list, and it never sets a price, a day rate or a discount. The draft opens in the steps with a Drafted with AI summary: Chosen shows what it picked, Not found lists what you asked for that no product matches, and Check these lists every money amount in the text it wrote and every other number, written in digits, that is not in your description, prices, cases or template texts. A number written as a word is not listed, so read for those yourself. How it works is in describe a proposal and get a draft.
Your client then ticks options and picks plans with live totals that show one-off and monthly amounts apart. The Free plan has 3 AI drafts a day. Your data is stored in the EU, in Frankfurt; the AI features run on Anthropic in the US, as Propozit's privacy notice explains.
Propozit is in early access and free to start.
Related
- How to write and send a proposal with Claude Claude writes the words well; the prices and the sending need your price list. Six steps from description to sent, prompts to copy and a sample draft.
- Writing proposals with AI: what to hand over, what to keep AI writes the words and can pick lines from your price list; the prices, the promises and the scope stay yours. A part-by-part table, a worked retainer example and a checklist.
- Discovery call questions to ask before a proposal The questions to ask on a discovery call, grouped by the proposal section they fill, with a call script and sample notes turned into a proposal.
Proposals your clients actually say yes to
Propozit is free to start, with no card needed. Create your account today and see the plans on the pricing page.