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How to build a proposal machine

This Claude workflow pumps out winning proposals in minutes

August 26, 2025

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Difficulty: Medium | Impact: Improved close rate | Read Time: 1 min

Before:

You spend hours crafting proposals from scratch.

Copy-pasting from old documents. Digging through old meeting notes. Rushing every section to hit the deadline.

You get something out the door, but you know it's not your best effort.

After:

You've set up Claude to build tailored proposals in minutes.

Every pain point addressed. Industry-specific insights woven throughout. Professional polish that shows you're hungry for their business.

For the prospect, your proposals build confidence and trust. It feels like you truly understand their world.

The Workflow:

One time setup (15 Minutes):

  1. Create a Claude Project for your Proposals. If you sell multiple products / solutions, you may want to create a specific project for each.

  1. Upload your 'knowledge base':

  • Your top 3-5 winning proposals (or favourite examples)

  • Case studies and ROI examples

  • Competitor battle cards

  • Standard pricing sheets

  • Any other relevant documents

  1. Set Project Instructions: Use the detailed project instructions prompt from this Google Doc - it's too comprehensive to include here but essential for best results.

For each new proposal:

  1. Start a new conversation with this prospect context prompt (note: make sure you turn on 'extended thinking'):

#Task
Create a comprehensive, persuasive B2B sales proposal for [COMPANY] that follows our established structure while incorporating relevant proof points from our successful past proposals and case studies. The proposal must be tailored to the specific client's industry, challenges, and needs.

#Audience The proposal will be read by the following decision makers:
- [NAMES & ROLES]

#Competitors
Competitors in this deal are:
- [NAMES]
- Do nothing option

#Context
Context for the proposal attached:
- Prospect briefing document / ITT
- Call notes
- Pricing sheets
- Presentations
- [EXPAND OR DELETE LIST AS NEEDED]

  1. Polish and personalize each section in turn to produce the final document.

Pro Tip: Use a meeting note taker! Transcripts become perfect proposal inputs - capturing pain points, objections and considerations in the prospects own language. We use Granola.ai, it works beautifully without AI bots joining meetings.

Why it works:

Prospects need proof you understand their challenges, clarity on solutions, and confidence you'll deliver.

Claude nails all three. It weaves their actual pain points throughout every section and delivers consistent quality, at speed, to show professionalism.

Tools Used:

What sales challenge should we tackle next? Comment below and let us know.

Darryl and the Leveraged Team