Writing bids & proposals

by David Wright (dwright@artmaze.com) - Artmaze (http://www.artmaze.com)

I noticed that I started writing about contacts and contracted work before first discussing the most important earlier stage, that of writing a bid or proposal to get the contract in the first place! This step is perhaps more important than a good contract, since the proposals are the means of communicating what you (or your company) are offering to do, how you are going to manage the project, schedule the work, and how much you need to charge!

Let’s start with definitions: a proposal is an offer awaiting acceptance; a contract is an offer that has been accepted and that fact acknowledged in return by the person making the offer. A proposal is a starting point, and can have a basis of fewer details than a contract usually needs; but a contract spells out the details and anything not in the contract, or presumable under law, is not necessarily part of the job.

Proposals & Bids: are they any different?

Both address this same issue: communicating to the client what work is needed and for how much, possibly under several alternatives, and in many ways and formats. To start with, a client that telephones you to request a quote for a job is one thing; a request for public bid is very different. A bid is similar to an auction, but where you get only one bid, and which is delivered in secret. The lowest bid usually wins and is enforceable, although most government contracts have a leeway of up to 15% based on the bidder’s record and experience. For both, there are normally no rules on structure, but some bids, especially government-related bids, require a standardized format that has been set by the client.

A proposal can be as simple or complex as you desire, and can become the actual work contract. My personal recommendation is to separate one from the other; a proposal can be a friendly letter that communicates your understanding of the work (the actual tasks involved), the requirements of the client, a simple schedule of work, list of deliverables, and an estimate of costs and charges. Simple ones are better for simple jobs; long and detailed proposals are really only suitable for complex and expensive jobs. The contract is better written when you understand each other.

The option of writing your proposal as a finished contract has both advantages and disadvantages. The major benefit is that you are writing something that only needs a signature to have a contract; a one-step process. You are giving your client a detail understanding of the task, how much, and all the legal jargon included. The negative side to this is that some legal jargon frequently sounds unfriendly, it also adds more information that perhaps in not needed yet, and the structure needed perhaps is not recommended for dealing with some clients. Clearly, if this is a client for whom you have done work already, then you may feel confident enough to eliminate a phase and move straight to the contract.

A bid, which is also a proposal, has to be more detailed and more similar to the structure of a contract. A bid can be won, but the details changed by agreement and a final contract then written. Although the client almost always imposes the format, bids do not generally carry more information than does a quick job quote or proposal for the same kind of work.

What is included in a proposal?

Proposals, bids, and quotes, are not usually so formally constructed as contracts, but I will suggest what I think you should cover for the each of the more common cases.
A simple rendering for a home: Suppose you got a call from a small developer that needs a rendering done for a single home. You must have to have a clear understanding of what is needed. Have you seen the blueprints? If not, it is wiser to give a range of prices based on previous work, but never promise a fixed figure. Here you need to start with your letterhead, and write a basic paragraph of your understanding of the task, included all known information. For instance, when are these renderings needed, what style, is there any perspective matching to be done and so on, are you covering just the house or the whole plot?

• Introduction, who you are and your achievements, experience and so on (3 to 4    lines),
• Description of the tasks involved: a simple paragraph that covers the task.
• Description of what is needed from the client, and when.
• Basic information on the cost, without including a huge list of tasks, perhaps just o    3 to 4 categories (modeling, texturing, rendering, printing).
• Payment structure and timing; if the amount is small, ask for 100%.
• Available schedule for commencing this job.
• Contact information.
• Samples of up to three home renderings that you have done.

An office building, many stills and a single 60’ animation: Obviously this involves more work than the previous example, and because of this, the proposal has to have more information.

• Introduction, who you are and your achievements, experience and so on (4 to 5    lines).
• Simple description of the tasks involved in one paragraph.
• Description of the tasks involved as bullets, with a brief explanation of each.
• Weekly Schedules: What you plan to do from week 1 to week 6 (for example) and    include what is needed from your client, and when.
• Information on the expected cost, again, not including a huge list of tasks, perhaps    just 6 to 8 categories (cleaning CAD data, modeling, texturing, rendering, printing,    animation, editing).
• Payment schedules,
• Available schedule for commencing this job.
• Contact information.
• Sample works in printed form and on video.

A mall project that involves 5 minutes of animation, stills, printing, editing and possibly more: Yes, we all wish we had several of these per month. This one will pay well, so take the time and effort to work hard on the bid. Notice that I mentioned bid; most of the time this type of work is similar to a public bid and many of the well-known houses (your competitors) will be participating. Worse, you may have been asked only as a check on the usual supplier.

• Introduction, who you are and your achievements, awards and experience and so    on (4 to 5 lines).
• Explain briefly the reasons on why you are a fit for this project, and mention some    of your best work, with client references.
• An overview of the tasks involved, in one paragraph.
• Description of the tasks involved in bullets with a brief explanation of each.
• Weekly Schedules: What you plan to do from week 1 to week 8 (for example) and    include what is needed from the client, and when.
• Information on the cost, by cost category, (cleaning CAD data, modeling,    texturing, rendering, printing, animation, editing, voice-over, photography, html    coding, director coding, supervision).
• Payment schedules.
• Available schedule for commencing this job.
• Contact information.
• 2 or 3 really good references.
• Sample work in printed form, brochures, and on video. Generally speaking, all that    helps convince them why you (or your company) are a perfect match for the work.

Just as I said at the beginning, the proposal is more important that the actual contract, because without a good proposal you won’t have necessarily get a contract. Most of the time, your proposal and your images are the essentials for winning, and are the first communication between you and your new client, and where you show and illustrate how professional you are. The above is not to be treated as a formula; you can change the order to fit your own logic; but it covers what I have to say about proposals. I truly hope it helps you out.

David Wright is a long-time 3D user and CG artist and has succeeded in the A/E/C (Architectural / Engineering / CAD) market with “Artmaze”, becoming a leading provider of integrated 3D animated visuals and multimedia services. Comments or suggestions about this article are welcome; David can be reached via email at dwright@artmaze.com