Score your proposal before you send it

The 4 numbers that tell you why they'll say no

You wrote the proposal. You read it 4 times. It looks fine to you, and that is the catch: you can't read it the way the buyer reads it.

So paste it into ChatGPT and ask for 4 scores, 1 to 10. Each one is a question the buyer is asking in their head while they read. A 10 is good on every line.

• Want: how much do they want this result?A 10 means you promised the thing they told you keeps them up at night, in the words they used. A 4 means you promised something you'd like to deliver, and they never asked for it.
• Belief: how likely do they think it'll work for them?A name they recognize, a number, a clear method, a guarantee: each of those pushes this up. "Trust me" pushes it down.
• Speed: how soon do they get a first win?A 10 means something lands in their hands this week. A 3 means the first thing they'll see is a report in 6 weeks.
• Effort: how little do they have to do?A 10 means they sign and you take it from there. A 2 means your proposal ends with 4 homework tasks for them.

The 4 scores are Alex Hormozi's value equation, the one he uses to build offers. Same 4 questions, pointed at the one proposal sitting in your drafts.

The scoring prompt

Fill in the 3 brackets. The second one matters most: what this person told you they wanted, in their words. The scores are only as sharp as what ChatGPT knows about the person reading.

I'm about to send this proposal and I want to know why they might say no before they do.

What I sell: [one line, e.g. monthly bookkeeping for trades businesses]
Who this proposal is for: [who they are and what they told me they wanted, in their words]
The proposal: [paste the whole thing, price included]

Score it on 4 things, 1 to 10, with a one-line reason for each score. 10 is good on every line.
1. Want: how much does this person want the result I'm promising?
2. Belief: how likely will they think it is that this works for them?
3. Speed: how soon do they get a first win? 10 means this week, 1 means months.
4. Effort: how little do they have to do? 10 means they sign and I take it from there.
Score like a buyer who has 2 other proposals on the desk. Be blunt.

Then tell me the single biggest objection this person will have before signing. One sentence, in their words.

Then rewrite the proposal in 3 short parts, in this order: what they need (in their words), my approach and the outcomes they get, the call to action. Keep my price and my scope exactly as they are.

Then take the lowest score, find the part of the proposal that caused it, and rewrite only that part 3 different ways so I can pick one. Leave everything else alone.

What the scores look like on a real-shaped proposal

Maria does bookkeeping for trades businesses. She's proposing to Dan, who owns a small landscaping company. On the call Dan told her 2 things: he dreads tax season, and he wants to know by October whether he can afford a second crew. This is what she was about to send.

• Option 1, shortest"Your whole setup is one reply and one 2-minute bank link. I do the rest, including pulling the history."
• Option 2, counts the tasks"You do 3 things, total: sign, click the bank link, and answer 5 questions on a 10-minute call. Then you're done."
• Option 3, leads with the first win"Nothing lands on your desk. We connect your accounts together on a short call, I pull the 12 months myself, and the first report is in your inbox in 7 days."

Maria picks one, swaps it in for the old "to get started" paragraph, and sends. Belief is still a 5. She leaves it alone for now.

Fix only the lowest score, then send

You'll want to fix all 4. Don't. A proposal rewritten 4 ways reads like a different offer, it takes 3 more days, and most of the time it never gets sent. One fix moves the number that was going to cost you the job.

• Want is lowest: put their words at the topOpen with the result they said they wanted, in the sentence they used on the call. Your list of services moves down.
• Belief is lowest: add proof or a guaranteeOne client name they'd recognize, one number, or a plain guarantee ("if the first report isn't useful, the first month is free").
• Speed is lowest: lead with the first win and its dateSay what lands in their hands in week 1. If nothing does, make something. A quick audit, a first draft, a clean-up.
• Effort is lowest: lead with how little they doCount their tasks out loud, and cut every one you can do yourself. "Reply yes" is a task. A 45-minute questionnaire is 5 tasks.

3 things ChatGPT does, and what to say back

• Every score is an 8 or a 9It's being polite. Reply: "Score it again as a buyer who's about to say no. What would make them say it?"
• It changed your price or added servicesReply: "The price and scope are fixed. Rewrite the words, keep the offer." Your offer is your call, the prompt only fixes how it's said.
• The objection is generic ("too expensive")Reply: "Which sentence in the proposal makes them think that?" A real objection points at a line you can change.

4 steps and you're done