Playbook · Proposals

Proposal Automation
System.

Most consultants spend 3–6 hours per proposal. Here's the complete system that cuts that to under 45 minutes — Fathom transcription, Claude drafting, PandaDoc delivery, and a Make follow-up sequence that runs automatically. Every step mapped, every tool specified, every prompt included.

Build time: 3–4 hours · Time saved per proposal: 2–4 hours

The complete workflow

Five stages. Two human. Three automated.

The discovery call itself and the proposal review are human. Everything around them runs automatically once the system is built.

Stage 1 · AUTO

Booking trigger

Prospect books discovery call via Calendly. Make creates HubSpot contact + deal at "Discovery Call Booked" stage. Pre-call questionnaire sends automatically via ActiveCampaign. You receive a prep brief with their answers and a pre-filled Claude research prompt.

Tools: Calendly + Make + HubSpot + ActiveCampaign

Stage 2 · HUMAN

Discovery call

Have the conversation. Fathom records and transcribes in the background — no note-taking required. Focus entirely on listening, asking the right diagnostic questions, and understanding the client's real problem. Fathom's AI summary is ready within 2 minutes of the call ending.

Tool: Fathom (free) · Your only task: ask good questions

Stage 3 · HUMAN

Extract + prompt + edit

From the Fathom summary, extract the six discovery fields (situation, cost, outcome, constraints, decision process, client language). Paste into the Claude proposal prompt below. Claude drafts all eight proposal sections. You edit for accuracy and voice — typically 15–20 minutes. This is the highest-judgment part; keep it human.

Tools: Fathom summary + Claude Pro · Time: 20–30 min

Stage 4 · AUTO

Delivery + tracking

Paste the edited proposal into your PandaDoc template. Send with e-sign enabled. PandaDoc notifies you when the client opens it (with time-per-section data). When signed, PandaDoc webhook triggers Make → HubSpot deal moves to "Closed Won" → onboarding sequence fires automatically.

Tools: PandaDoc + Make + HubSpot · Time: 10 min

Stage 5 · AUTO

Follow-up sequence

Make monitors PandaDoc open status. If unopened at 72 hours, ActiveCampaign sends follow-up email 1 (light check-in). If still no response at day 7, follow-up 2 (value-add). Day 14: final close or graceful exit. If proposal is opened (PandaDoc event fires), Make tags the contact in HubSpot and skips the "unopened" follow-up.

Tools: Make + PandaDoc webhook + ActiveCampaign · Runs automatically

The Claude prompt

Copy this. Fill in the six fields. Get a first draft in 90 seconds.

CLAUDE PROPOSAL PROMPT — COPY AND FILL IN

You are a senior consultant drafting a client proposal.
Write a complete, professional proposal in my voice —
direct, specific, focused on outcomes not activities.

DISCOVERY CALL INPUTS:

Current situation:
[Paste Fathom summary field — be specific, use their words]

Cost of the problem:
[Revenue lost, time wasted, or opportunity missed — with numbers]

Desired outcome:
[Specific measurable goal they named — "close rate from 15% to 28%"]

Constraints and context:
[Budget range, timeline, team, existing tools, previous attempts]

Decision process:
[Who else decides, what they need to see, timeline pressure]

Their exact language:
[Verbatim phrases from the call — these go into Section 1 verbatim]

My background relevant to this:
[One paragraph — relevant experience, not a full bio]

Proposed approach:
[3–5 phases of how you'd approach this engagement]

Investment:
[$X or $X–Y range for this scope]

Write eight sections:
1. The Situation (their words, their problem — not your framing)
2. What's at Stake (cost of the problem, opportunity size)
3. Target Outcome (specific and measurable)
4. How I'll Approach This (3–5 phases, inputs and outputs)
5. What You'll Receive (specific deliverables and timeline)
6. Why This Approach (brief credibility + differentiation)
7. Investment (fee clearly stated, what's included, what's not)
8. Next Steps (clear action, removes friction from the yes)

Tone: Direct and confident. Use their language in Section 1.
No jargon. Each section tight — readable in 6 minutes total.

WHAT TO EDIT IN THE DRAFT

→Verify every specific number — Claude sometimes infers details you didn't provide

→Read Section 1 aloud — make sure it sounds like you understood the client perfectly

→Sharpen Section 7 — Claude hedges on price; be direct about what's included and what isn't

→Cut anything that runs long — best proposals are shorter than most consultants think is professional

Make scenario — build guide

The automation that connects proposal send to signed deal.

Scenario 1 — Proposal Sent Trigger

PandaDoc: Watch Document Events → HubSpot + ActiveCampaign

Trigger: PandaDoc webhook fires when a document status changes. Route on status: "Sent" → update HubSpot deal to "Proposal Sent" + set follow-up date. "Viewed" → tag contact as "Proposal Opened" in HubSpot + pause the unopened follow-up sequence. "Completed" (signed) → update HubSpot to "Closed Won" → trigger onboarding sequence.

Scenario 2 — Follow-Up Sequence

Make Scheduled Check → HubSpot → ActiveCampaign

Make runs daily. Checks HubSpot for deals in "Proposal Sent" stage where: (a) deal was created more than 3 days ago AND (b) contact does NOT have "Proposal Opened" tag. For matching deals: trigger ActiveCampaign automation "Proposal Follow-Up Day 3." At day 7 and day 14, same logic triggers subsequent emails. When deal closes, Make removes contact from all follow-up sequences.

Scenario 3 — Closed Won → Onboarding

HubSpot Deal Stage Change → Make → Onboarding Sequence

When HubSpot deal moves to "Closed Won": Make fires the onboarding sequence — welcome email, Notion portal link, intake form, Calendly kickoff link. All in one automated sequence. The consultant's only task is to set up the Notion workspace (20 min) before the kickoff call. See the Client Onboarding Automation playbook for the full Make scenario.

Tools and cost

Everything required to run this system.

Tool	Role in system	Plan needed	Cost
Fathom	Discovery call transcription + AI summary	Free (unlimited Zoom recordings)	$0
Claude	Proposal drafting from structured prompt	Pro (extended context for long proposals)	$20/mo
PandaDoc	Proposal delivery, e-sign, payment, webhooks	Free (5 docs/mo) or Essentials (unlimited)	$0–$19/mo
HubSpot CRM	Deal pipeline, contact management, triggers	Free	$0
Make	Automation hub connecting all tools	Core (10,000 ops/mo)	$9/mo
ActiveCampaign	Follow-up email sequences	Lite	$15/mo
Total system cost			$44–$63/mo

At a $200/hour billing rate, recovering 3 hours per proposal means this system pays for itself in the first proposal of the month. Every subsequent proposal is pure recovered capacity.