How to use Better Proposals: a step-by-step guide

To use Better Proposals, set up your brand, add a ready-made template from the marketplace or import your own, edit its sections, add a pricing table and a signature block, and send it to your client as a link. The steps below follow Better Proposals' own help documentation, so you can go from a new account to your first sent proposal.

Better Proposals is proposal software for creating, sending, tracking and signing proposals, quotes and contracts. For features, plans and what users say about it, read our Better Proposals review.

How do you get started with Better Proposals?

Better Proposals offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. There is no free plan, so you pick a paid plan when the trial ends.

How do you set up your branding?

Do this first, so every proposal looks right from the start. Go to Settings, then Setup, then Branding. There you can set:

• Name and language: the company name clients see, and the language for fixed text such as the signature block
• Sidebar: a brand colour (as a six-character HEX code) and your logo. The help centre recommends a transparent PNG at least 400 pixels wide.
• Email appearance: a logo for white backgrounds and default messages for sending and signing
• Fonts: a preset font pairing or your own settings
• Finance: currency and tax settings, which you can override on individual proposals
• Thank you and payment messages: what clients see after they sign or pay
• Custom URL: on Premium and Enterprise, so proposals are sent from your own domain
• PDF setup: whether clients can download a PDF, and how it looks

You can create more than one brand if you sell under different names.

How do you choose a proposal template?

You have three options.

1. Use a marketplace template. Click Templates, then Go to the marketplace. Browse by industry, open a template and click Get This Template. It appears in your template list, where you click Edit to customise it.
2. Import a Word document. Click Templates, then Create Template and Import Word doc. The importer guides you through splitting the content into sections and blocks and choosing a colour theme. Tables are not imported, so add your prices in a pricing table afterwards.
3. Start from scratch. Click Create template, name it, choose the brand and document type, and add your own sections.

You can also turn any document you have sent into a template with Save as Template under Options.

How do you edit sections and content?

A proposal is made of sections, shown in the left sidebar, and blocks inside each section.

• Add a section: click the + below your sections and choose a blank section or one from your library
• Rename or delete a section: hover over it and click the settings cog
• Reorder sections: drag them by the three-line handle
• Add content: use Add to this page or the + between blocks to insert text, images, videos from YouTube, Vimeo or Wistia, a pricing table or a signature block

A typical sales proposal includes an introduction or executive summary, the client's problem, your proposed solution, timeline, pricing and terms. Keep the summary short and focused on the client's goal.

How do you design the cover?

Covers are managed under Templates, then Covers. A cover has a logo, headline, sub-header, background and button. You can use a colour, an image or a video as the background. For images, the help centre suggests at least 1600 by 1100 pixels and advises against images with text or client logos on them. Putting the client's company name in the headline is a simple way to personalise it.

How do you reuse content with the Content Library?

The Content Library saves time when you send similar proposals. You can save three kinds of content:

• Blocks, such as text, videos and full-width images: hover and click the disk icon
• Sections: open the section's settings cog and choose to save it to the Content Library
• Pricing tables: click the disk icon at the top right of the table

To reuse them, click +, open the Content Library tab and search for the item. This works well for standard terms and conditions, case studies and common pricing.

How do you add a pricing table?

Click + at the bottom of any block and choose Pricing Block. Then:

• Add line items from your product list, or create a new item if it is not in the list
• Add section titles to group items
• Drag items to reorder them

Totals update automatically, including tax if you set it up in your brand settings.

To let clients choose, open an item's settings and switch on Make this a choice. Clients can pick one choice per table, which suits good-better-best packages. Turn on Force a choice if the client must pick before signing. For add-ons, tick Make this optional so clients can add the item to their total.

How do you take payments in a proposal?

Connect a payment provider under Settings, then Integrations. Better Proposals supports Stripe, GoCardless and PayPal. When you create a document, switch on the payment option and choose what to charge. With Stripe, the options are:

• A fixed amount
• A percentage of the one-off total
• The one-off total plus the first month
• The first month only

The client is asked to pay as soon as they sign. With Stripe, you can then start a subscription for ongoing fees.

How do you add a digital signature?

Click + and choose Acceptance to add the signature block. You only need one per proposal. The client's name is filled in automatically when they open it.

On Premium and Enterprise, several people can sign. On the sending page you choose which recipients must sign and can set a signing order. On Starter, only one recipient can sign.

How do you send your first proposal?

Click New Document, choose the contact and template, check the currency, tax, payment and expiry settings, pick a cover and make final edits. Then click Next and fill in the recipients, subject and message on the sending page.

Send a test to yourself or a colleague first. According to the help centre, a test sent to yourself still counts against your monthly sending allowance, but resending a document is free. Starter includes 10 sends a month, Premium 50 and Enterprise is unlimited.

For more tools that help you write and close deals, browse our sales engagement tools.