If you’ve ever spent an hour cobbling together a proposal, only to send it off and hear crickets, you’re not alone. Most sales teams want to send slick, personalized proposals—without falling into the black hole of endless editing, formatting, and copy-pasting. This guide is for people who want to spend less time fussing with documents and more time actually closing deals.
Let’s walk through how to create fast, tailored sales proposals in Qwilr—and cut out the busywork for good.
Step 1: Set Up Your Qwilr Workspace (Don’t Overthink It)
First, get into your Qwilr account. If you’re new, the onboarding is pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to be a designer. Qwilr works in the browser, so no downloads or fiddling with files.
What matters:
- Brand basics: Upload your logo, pick your colors, and set your default fonts. This means you won’t have to redo branding every single time.
- Team access: If you’re not a solo act, invite your teammates. You can control who can edit, approve, or just view proposals.
Pro tip: Don’t get bogged down with every setting. Get the basics in and move on. You can always tweak later.
Step 2: Build a Reusable Proposal Template
Templates are the backbone here. Instead of starting from scratch each time, you’ll want a solid base you can tweak for each client.
What a Good Template Includes
- Cover page: Name of the proposal, client’s company, your info.
- Introduction or executive summary: Keep it short and in plain English.
- Your solution: What you’re offering, why it matters for this client.
- Pricing: Clear, honest breakdown—no games.
- Timeline & next steps: What happens after they say yes.
- Optional: Case studies, testimonials, or a quick FAQ.
Qwilr’s drag-and-drop editor lets you add and rearrange these blocks, so don’t stress about perfection.
Honest Take
Most “all-in-one” templates try to do too much. Stick to what actually helps your customer decide. If you’re not sure about a section—ditch it.
Step 3: Personalize with Variables and Tokens
Here’s where Qwilr actually saves you time. Instead of hunting through the doc to swap out “Acme Corp” for “Globex Inc.”, use variables (sometimes called tokens or placeholders).
How it works:
- In your template, add variables like
{{client_name}},{{project_name}}, or{{contact_person}}. - When you create a new proposal from the template, Qwilr prompts you to fill these in once.
- Qwilr autofills every instance throughout the doc.
Why bother?
- No more embarrassing “Dear [Client Name]” goofs.
- Makes mass personalization for outbound proposals much faster.
- You can update details in seconds if something changes.
What not to do: Don’t go overboard. If you try to automate every sentence, you’ll end up with robotic proposals. Personalize key spots—leave the rest to your own words.
Step 4: Add Real Personal Touches (Don’t Just Rely on Tokens)
Variables are great, but if you want proposals that actually get read, add a few lines that show you did your homework.
Where to Add the Human Touch
- Opening paragraph: Mention something from your last call or a recent news item about their company.
- Solution section: Tie your offering to a specific pain point you know they have.
- Visuals: Swap in their company’s logo, or a screenshot relevant to their business if you can.
Even 2-3 sentences of real personalization stand out in a sea of generic proposals.
Pro tip: Build “prompt” notes into your template like “[[Add a custom intro here about their Q2 goals]]” so you never forget to do this.
Step 5: Use Qwilr’s Interactive Elements (But Don’t Go Wild)
Qwilr lets you embed videos, interactive pricing tables, accept signatures, and more. This is genuinely useful in moderation.
What Works Well
- Interactive pricing: Clients can pick packages, add-ons, or toggle quantities. Makes it easier for them to say yes (and can boost deal size).
- Embedded videos: A short video intro or demo can help, especially if you’re not meeting face-to-face.
- E-signatures: Let them approve on the spot—no printing, scanning, or “I’ll get to it later.”
What to Ignore
- Overloading with animation, gifs, or endless case study carousels. It comes off as try-hard and distracts from your offer.
- Complex forms. If you want more info, collect it after you have their interest.
Step 6: Preview and Test Before You Send
This is fast, but don’t skip it. Click “Preview” to see what your client will actually get. Double-check:
- All tokens filled in? No “{{contact_person}}” lurking anywhere?
- Mobile view looks good? Many execs read on their phone first.
- Links, videos, and pricing tables all work?
Send a test copy to yourself or a colleague if the deal’s big enough. Small mistakes can make you look sloppy.
Step 7: Send and Track Engagement
Send your proposal directly from Qwilr—either as a unique link or via email. Qwilr will notify you when it gets opened, which is way more useful than guessing if your PDF got lost in spam.
What’s actually helpful:
- View notifications: You’ll know exactly when the client views the proposal.
- Page analytics: See which sections they spend the most time on—clues about what they care about.
- Follow-up timing: Reach out when you know you’re top of mind, not days later.
Don’t obsess: Analytics are useful, but proposals don’t close themselves. Use the info to guide your next call or email, but don’t turn into a stalker.
Step 8: Iterate Based on What Works (And Ditch What Doesn’t)
After a few rounds, you’ll spot patterns:
- Which sections do clients always skip? Cut or condense them.
- Are there common questions or objections? Add a quick FAQ block.
- Getting the same feedback about pricing or clarity? Update your template.
Keep your template lean. Less scrolling means faster decisions. You’re not writing a novel—you’re making it easy to say yes.
A Few Honest Qwilr Pros and Cons
Before you go all-in, a reality check:
What Qwilr does well:
- Fast, good-looking proposals without design headaches
- Easy to update and personalize
- Tracking and e-signature built in
Where it falls short:
- Not as customizable as, say, InDesign or full-on design tools (but honestly, most people don’t need that)
- Formatting can get weird if you paste in lots of complex tables or graphs
- Pricing isn’t cheap for solo operators—better for teams who care about speed and analytics
Keep It Simple—And Keep Tuning
You don’t need a proposal that rivals War and Peace. Use Qwilr to get a solid, sharp-looking proposal out the door fast, personalize the bits that actually matter, and move on to the next deal. The more you use your template, the more you’ll see what works—so keep it simple and tweak as you go. That’s how you win back your time and close deals faster.