If your sales proposals look like everyone else’s, you’re leaving money on the table. This guide is for anyone who’s tired of boring templates and wants to make their proposals in Clientpoint actually feel like your brand—not a generic Word doc with a logo slapped on it. Whether you’re a marketer, sales ops, or a founder who wants things to “just look right,” I’ll walk you through what’s worth customizing in Clientpoint, what’s not, and how to keep things simple enough that you don’t regret it later.
Why Bother Customizing Proposal Templates?
Short answer: because details matter. When you send a proposal, it’s not just the numbers and scope that get noticed. The visual style, tone, and even the layout scream (or mumble) who you are as a company. If your proposal looks like a bland template, it says, “We didn’t care enough to make this ours.” Customizing your template in Clientpoint helps fix that.
But don’t go overboard: nobody ever won a deal with a ten-page brand guidelines section or by using six different fonts. The goal is consistency, clarity, and a sprinkle of personality.
Step 1: Audit Your Current Brand Assets
Before you open up Clientpoint, get your ducks in a row. You’ll need:
- Logo (high-res, transparent background if possible)
- Brand colors (HEX or RGB codes, not just “dark blue”)
- Fonts (actual files or web font names, not just “something modern”)
- Boilerplate copy (about us, mission, legal, etc.)
- Images or graphics you actually want to use (not stock photos you hate)
Pro tip: If you don’t have a formal brand guide, just pick what you use on your website and keep it consistent. Don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good enough.”
Step 2: Understand Clientpoint’s Template System
Clientpoint lets you create and edit proposal templates, but with some limits:
- Templates are modular: You build proposals using reusable “sections” (like cover pages, pricing tables, contracts).
- Branding lives at the section and template level: You can set default styles, but some customization happens per-section.
- What you can change: Logos, colors, fonts (sometimes), layout, images, and text.
- What you can’t: Deeply custom layouts like a graphic designer would do in InDesign. There are guardrails, for better or worse.
If you’re expecting total design freedom, you’ll be annoyed. If you just want things to look sharp and on-brand, you’ll be fine.
Step 3: Clone an Existing Template (Don’t Start From Scratch)
Unless you’re a masochist, don’t build a proposal template from a blank slate. In Clientpoint, it’s usually faster to clone the default template or your most-used one and tweak it.
How to clone:
- Go to the “Templates” section.
- Find a proposal template that’s closest to what you want.
- Click “Clone” or “Duplicate” (wording may vary).
- Give it a name like “Brand 2024 Template” so your team knows what it is.
Now you’ve got a safe place to experiment without breaking what’s already working.
Step 4: Brand the Header and Footer
This is where first impressions are made. In your cloned template:
- Upload your logo to the header (make sure it’s not pixelated or stretched).
- Set header and footer background colors to your brand colors.
- Add your company contact info in the footer—keep it simple.
What works: Clean, uncluttered headers and footers with plenty of white space. What doesn’t: Trying to cram every certification badge or tagline you’ve ever used into one line.
Ignore: Overly complex header graphics. They rarely display well on every device.
Step 5: Set Up Your Brand Fonts and Colors
Clientpoint lets you set default text styles, but every section might have its own settings. Do this once, then spot-check each section:
- Choose your fonts: If your brand font isn’t supported, pick the closest one available. Most clients won’t notice the difference.
- Set heading and body text sizes. Make headings big enough to scan, but don’t go overboard.
- Apply your brand colors to buttons, section dividers, and links.
Pro tip: Don’t use too many colors. One primary, one accent, and a neutral (black/gray) is plenty.
Step 6: Update Section Content and Layouts
This is the meat of your proposal. Go through each section:
- Cover page: Use a strong, simple image (ideally your own, not stock). Add a short, sharp proposal title.
- Introduction/About Us: Swap generic copy for your own voice. Be specific, not fluffy.
- Pricing tables: Make sure they’re clear, readable, and match your brand colors.
- Case studies/testimonials: Use real client logos (with permission) and direct quotes.
- Legal/terms: Paste in your standard boilerplate, but keep formatting readable—nobody wants to squint through legalese.
What works: Short, focused sections. White space. Real examples. What doesn’t: Walls of text, tiny fonts, or overstuffed layouts.
Step 7: Add Reusable Content Blocks
If you often reuse sections (like bios, case studies, or product sheets), save them as “content blocks” or “sections” in Clientpoint. This way, you can drag and drop them into future proposals without reinventing the wheel.
- Create a few core blocks: Team bios, service descriptions, standard pricing.
- Keep them updated: Schedule a quarterly check to make sure nothing’s out of date.
Ignore: Saving every single section as a block. Focus on what you actually reuse.
Step 8: Test Your Template (Don’t Skip This)
Preview your proposal template on different devices and browsers. Don’t trust that it “should look fine”:
- Send a test proposal to yourself and a colleague.
- Check for weird spacing, broken images, or font issues.
- Download as PDF (if that’s how clients receive it) to make sure nothing gets mangled.
Pro tip: Fix the small stuff now. Once your team starts using the template, nobody will bother to tweak it later.
Step 9: Lock Down the Template (But Stay Flexible)
If you want proposals to stay on-brand, restrict who can edit the master template. Clientpoint lets you control user permissions. Give editing rights only to people who actually care about branding (or at least won’t break things).
But—don’t lock it down so tightly that nobody can adapt to a client’s needs. The best templates are 90% locked, 10% flexible.
Step 10: Train Your Team (Keep It Short)
Share a quick internal doc or video showing:
- How to use the template
- Which sections to customize per client
- What not to mess with (fonts, colors, logo placement)
Skip the hour-long training. Most folks just need a simple checklist.
What’s Worth Doing (and What’s Not)
Worth it: - Matching your brand colors, logo, and voice - Making sure the proposal is readable and looks good on any device - Saving reusable blocks for consistency
Not worth it: - Pixel-perfect layouts (you’ll fight the editor and lose) - Overly detailed brand guidelines sections - Adding every possible case study or testimonial (choice overload is real)
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Overdesigning: If you’re spending more time tweaking layouts than writing good proposals, you’re missing the point.
- Ignoring mobile: Some clients will read your proposal on their phone. If it looks awful, that’s on you.
- Letting templates get stale: Review them every few months—outdated info is worse than no info.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
You don’t need a design degree to make your proposals look sharp in Clientpoint. Start with the basics: your logo, colors, fonts, and a few clear sections. Get feedback from your team. Update as you go. The real win isn’t having the world’s prettiest proposal—it’s sending one that looks like you and helps close deals.
Less tweaking, more selling. That’s the goal.