New Proposal

New Proposal Skill

Guided conversation to gather proposal details, then generate a professional document in your voice.

Phase 1: Discovery Questions

Have a conversation. Ask these questions naturally, not as a form:

Client & Context

• "Who are we talking to?"
• "What does their company do?"
• "Who's the decision maker?"

The Problem

• "What problem are they trying to solve?"
• "Why does this matter to them (revenue, efficiency, user experience)?"
• "What have they tried already?"

Scope & Deliverables

• "What does success look like for them?"
• "Do they have a platform preference (WordPress, custom, etc.)?"
• "What's in scope, and what's explicitly out?"

Timeline & Budget

• "When do they want this done?"
• "Do they have a budget in mind?"
• "Is this a one-time project or ongoing relationship?"

Constraints

• "Are there any technical constraints (legacy systems, integrations)?"
• "Does they have compliance needs (security, accessibility)?"
• "Who do we need to work with on their end?"

Version Control

• "What's the simplest version that solves their core problem?"
• "What's the full buildout (if we had unlimited budget)?"

Phase 2: Price Calibration

Look up comparable projects:

# Check your pricing history
cat ~/business/memory/pricing-history.md

# Check your pricing reference
cat ~/ops/templates/pricing-reference.md

Consider these factors:

1. Complexity factor: Is this familiar territory or new tech?

   • Familiar = base rate
   • New tech/integrations = +20%
   • Highly custom/uncertain = +30%

2. Relationship factor:

   • First-time client = -10% (build goodwill)
   • Existing client = same rate or -5% (loyalty)
   • High-risk client (slow payments, scope creep) = +15%

3. Timeline factor:

   • Standard timeline = base
   • Rushed (1-2 weeks) = +25%
   • Extended (3+ months) = -10% (better margins on longer work)

4. Retainer premium:

   • If ongoing: +15% over project work (stability premium)

5. Milestone payment structure:

   • Smaller upfront = better (cash flow)
   • Larger final milestone = riskier (collection)

Pricing formula:

• Base rate: Your effective hourly rate × estimated hours
• Apply complexity factor (×1.2 for +20%, etc.)
• Apply relationship & timeline factors
• Round to clean number ($8k, $12.5k, $15k)

Phase 3: Generate Proposal

Call the writer agent to draft the proposal in your voice:

Invoke writer agent with:
- Client name
- Scope summary
- Deliverables
- Timeline
- Investment amount
- What we need from them
- Next steps

Agent reads:
- ~/ops/templates/voice-guide.md (your writing voice)
- ~/business/memory/clients.md (client context)
- Generated proposal should match your past writing style

Phase 4: Structure

The proposal should follow this structure (from ~/ops/templates/proposal-structure.md):

# Proposal: [Client Name] — [Project Name]

## Executive Summary
[1-2 paragraphs explaining what you'll do and why it matters]

## Scope of Work

### Phase 1: [Phase Name]
[What gets delivered, timeline, payment trigger]

### Phase 2: [Phase Name]
[What gets delivered, timeline, payment trigger]

### Phase 3: [Phase Name]
[What gets delivered, timeline, payment trigger]

## Investment
- Phase 1: $X
- Phase 2: $X
- Phase 3: $X
- **Total: $XXX**

## Timeline
[Overall timeline, key milestones, when you start, when client needs to be ready]

## What I Need From You
[Client responsibilities, decisions required, timeline for decisions, assets/access needed]

## Success Criteria
[How we'll know this worked]

## Next Steps
[What happens if they say yes, timeline for decision, how to ask questions]

## Assumptions
[What you're assuming about scope, timeline, access, or their environment]

Phase 5: Save & Follow Up

Save the proposal:

mkdir -p ~/business/proposals/{client-name}
# Proposal saved to: ~/business/proposals/{client-name}/proposal-{project-name}-{date}.md

Create a project ops file with status: proposal

# Create ~/ops/projects/{project-name}.md with:
status: proposal
client: {client name}
proposal_sent: {today's date}
proposal_value: ${amount}
decision_deadline: {when do you need an answer}

Phase 6: Voice Matching

The writer agent will:

1. Read ~/ops/templates/voice-guide.md (your documented voice)
2. Read ~/business/memory/clients.md (client context if existing)
3. Generate proposal in your style

Quality checks:

• Does it sound like you?
• Is it clear about what gets delivered?
• Does it have a clear payment structure?
• Is the timeline realistic?

Tone Guidance

Your proposal should feel like:

• Clear (short sentences, no jargon unless they use it)
• Professional but warm (friendly, not corporate)
• Confident (you know what you're doing)
• Collaborative (we're doing this together)
• Outcome-focused (what they get, not what you're doing)

Common Patterns

Fixed Price vs Hourly

• Fixed price: Better for well-scoped projects, easier to close
• Hourly: Better for undefined scope, limits your risk
• Hybrid: Fixed + hourly overage (recommended for uncertain projects)

Milestone Structure

• Standard: 3 equal milestones (33% up front, 33% mid, 34% final)
• Front-loaded: 50% up front, 50% final (reduces your risk)
• Back-loaded: 25% up front, 75% final (higher risk, more trust needed)

Payment Terms

• Due upon delivery: Best case
• Net 30: Industry standard
• Net 45: You need good cash flow management
• Net 60+: Add 5-10% to price (time cost of money)

After They Respond

If they ask for changes:

• Scope reduction: Quote goes down
• Scope addition: Create change order in writing
• Timeline acceleration: Add rush fee (25%)
• Timeline extension: You can reduce slightly (lower urgency)

If they say yes:

• Run /new-contract to formalize the agreement
• Create project repo
• Scaffold project structure

If they ask for lower price:

• Know your number: Don't negotiate below your effective hourly rate
• Value justification: Can you show why this is worth the price? (faster, better quality, unique approach)
• Scope reduction: "If we focus on Phase 1 and Phase 2, we can do it for $X"
• Extended timeline: "If you can wait 8 weeks, we could do this for $X"

Next Skill

When proposal is accepted → /new-contract

Skill flow:

1. /new-proposal – Generate proposal
2. Client says yes
3. /new-contract – Formalize agreement
4. /new-project – Start the work

Reads:

• ~/business/memory/pricing-history.md (past projects for calibration)
• ~/ops/templates/pricing-reference.md (pricing guidelines)
• ~/ops/templates/voice-guide.md (your voice)
• ~/business/memory/clients.md (client context)

Writes:

• ~/business/proposals/{client}/ (proposal document)
• ~/ops/projects/{project}.md (ops file with proposal status)

Calls: writer agent (to draft proposal)