Consulting · 8 slides
A consulting proposal is the document a firm sends a prospective client to win an engagement: it shows that you understood the problem, how you will solve it, when, by whom and for what fee. This template has eight slides that lead from the client's outcome to a start date. It is written for a client who will forward the deck to colleagues, so every slide has to work without you in the room.
For consultants, advisory boutiques, freelancers and agencies who pitch a project to a client and want a proposal the client can pass on internally.
8 slides
What each slide has to achieve and what to put on it. Scroll through, or open the deck and present it.
The first slide names the client, the outcome and the size of the engagement at a glance. Starting with the client's result instead of your firm's name tells the reader the proposal is about them.
Proves you listened. The client should nod at every line, and any line they would correct is a question to settle before you quote.
One chart built from the client's own numbers shows where the value is before you propose how to capture it. It turns the proposal from a promise into a diagnosis.
Makes the work concrete and gives the client control at each step. A phase that ends in a decision point lets the client stop or adjust, which makes the first yes easier.
Shows when things happen and when the client's time is needed. Dates turn a proposal into a plan, and a client who sees their own deadline on the chart knows you have read their calendar.
Fixed fees per phase let the client buy one step at a time and still see the whole price. The total has to add up exactly, and the slide has to say what is not included.
Shows who does the work and why the client can trust them. Clients buy the people who sit in their meetings, so the team on this slide has to be the team on site.
Ends with dates and tasks, so a yes has an obvious first action.
Brief
Copy the brief or open it straight in the editor. Replace the highlighted parts with your own facts, or attach your files and the numbers come from them.
Create an 8-slide consulting proposal for [client name], a [mid-sized toolmaker]. Our firm: [firm name]. The client's goal: [free up €4m of liquidity in 12 months]. Slide 1: title with the client's outcome and the scope. Slide 2: our understanding of their situation in four points, using these facts: [revenue up 31% in two years, 118 days of inventory against 75 at peers, customers paying after 54 days], plus a box on what success looks like. Slide 3: a bar chart of where the cash is tied up, using [finished goods 3.9, work in progress 2.7, raw materials 1.8, receivables 2.8, in €m], with the gap to the benchmark in the takeaway. Slide 4: the approach in [three] phases with a decision point after each. Slide 5: a timeline from the [17 November] start with the milestones [steering committee, bank presentation]. Slide 6: fixed fees per phase [€28k, €34k, €34k] with the total and what is not included. Slide 7: the team, three people with role and relevant experience. Slide 8: next steps with dates and the contact person. Use action titles and a sober consulting style. Use only the figures I give; mark anything missing as a placeholder.
Open with the result the client wants, in their numbers: “Free up €4m of liquidity in 12 months” beats “Our firm and our approach”. Credentials and history can sit on the last page or in an appendix.
The understanding slide proves you listened. Use the client's words from the briefing call and at least one number they gave you. Read the understanding slide aloud to the client and let them strike what is wrong, then quote.
Fixed fees per phase let the client commit to the first phase and decide on the rest with results in hand. That lowers the risk of saying yes, and a smaller first fee often needs fewer approvals on the client side.
A single chart of the client's own numbers against a benchmark shows that the work has already begun. Label the source and the date, and say how the benchmark was built; the client's finance team will ask.
Put the people who will sit in the client's meetings on the team slide, with how often they are on site. If a senior partner sells and a junior team delivers, say so; the client will notice by the second week anyway.
The decision is rarely made by the person you met. Make sure the title, the understanding slide and the investment slide make sense to a CFO who was not in the room, and keep method detail in an appendix.
FAQ
A good proposal covers the client's situation in their own terms, the proposed approach, the timeline, the fees, the team and the next steps. The most useful additions are one piece of evidence from the client's own data and a clear statement of what is not included. Keep method detail and references in an appendix so the main story stays short.
Eight to twelve slides are enough for most engagements, with references, detailed work plans and terms in an appendix. A proposal for a small project can be shorter. If the client has to forward it, shorter is better, because the person who decides may read only the first three slides.
Many firms quote a fixed fee per phase, because the client sees the whole price and can decide step by step. State the duration and the deliverables next to each fee, make the total equal the sum, and list what is excluded, such as travel or the client's own staff time. If the scope is genuinely uncertain, price the first phase firmly and the later phases as estimates.
Both work, and the choice follows the client. Slides suit proposals that are presented in a meeting, and a Word document suits proposals that procurement reads and files. The AI builds either: slide formats export as an editable PowerPoint file, and A4 portrait documents export as Word.
AI can draft the structure and the wording, but it does not know your client or your rates. The AI takes your notes, a briefing document or a spreadsheet as source material, plans the pages with you and builds an editable proposal. You supply the facts and the fees; the AI labels its assumptions, and you stay in charge of every figure, so check the numbers before the proposal goes out.
No. Aldermoor Advisory, Brenner Werkzeugbau and all figures are fictional. The key sums add up, so the deck works as a model: the three phase fees of €28k, €34k and €34k come to €96k, and the four balance sheet items come to €11.2m.
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