How to Generate Custom Sales Proposals in 60 Seconds Using AI (Free Automation for Agencies)
If you run an agency, consulting firm, or service business, you know the proposal grind: A prospect books a discovery call. You spend 30 minutes understanding their needs. Then you spend 2-4 hours crafting a custom proposal—researching their business, writing problem statements, outlining solutions, creating pricing tables, designing timelines, and formatting everything in a professional document.
By the time you hit "send," you've invested 5+ hours into a deal that might not even close.
What if you could generate that entire proposal—customized, professional, and ready to send—in 60 seconds? No templates. No copy-pasting. No manual formatting. Just pure automation that turns a simple discovery call form into a polished PandaDoc proposal with AI-written content, dynamic pricing, and project timelines.
This automation is completely free to build, processes unlimited proposals, and you can sell it to other agencies for $2,000-4,000 as a proposal generation system.
In this guide, I'll walk you through building an AI-powered proposal generator using Typeform, OpenAI GPT-4, and PandaDoc. By the end, you'll have a system that eliminates 95% of proposal writing time while actually improving quality and close rates.
Why Manual Proposal Writing Is Killing Your Agency
According to HubSpot's Sales Statistics, sales reps spend only 34% of their time actually selling—the rest is consumed by administrative tasks. Proposal writing is one of the biggest culprits.
Here's what the traditional proposal process looks like:
Traditional Method:
Have discovery call (30-60 minutes)
Take scattered notes (15 minutes)
Research client's business and competitors (30 minutes)
Write problem statement (30 minutes)
Draft custom solution (45 minutes)
Create timeline and milestones (20 minutes)
Build pricing tables (15 minutes)
Format in Google Docs or Word (30 minutes)
Convert to PDF and send (10 minutes)
Total time: 4-5 hours per proposal
Close rate: 20-30% (industry average for service businesses)
Revenue per hour invested: If you close a $10,000 project at 25% close rate, you earned $2,500 for 20 hours of proposal work across 4 prospects = $125/hour
Now imagine this instead:
Automated Method:
Fill out 2-minute post-call form with discovery details
AI generates entire proposal automatically
Review and click "send" (5 minutes)
Total time: 7 minutes per proposal
Close rate: 30-40% (better because proposals are faster and more consistent)
Revenue per hour invested: Same $10,000 project at 35% close rate = $3,500 for 28 minutes of work = $7,500/hour
That's a 60x improvement in productivity.
The Complete Proposal Automation Stack
Here's what you'll need (all with free tiers):
Typeform – Discovery call form (free: 10 responses/month, $25/month for unlimited)
OpenAI API – GPT-4 for intelligent proposal writing (~$0.30-0.50 per proposal)
Make.com – Automation orchestrator (free: 1,000 operations/month)
PandaDoc – Professional proposal delivery ($19/month per user, free trial available)
Total monthly cost for 20 proposals: $30-50
Compare that to:
Proposal writer: $50-75/hour × 4 hours × 20 proposals = $4,000-6,000/month
Proposal software alone: $100-300/month for tools like Better Proposals or Proposify
Opportunity cost: Hours you could spend closing deals or delivering client work
The ROI is undeniable. One closed client pays for a year of this automation.
What This Automation Actually Produces
For every discovery call, you get a complete proposal document with:
Professional Cover Page – Client name, company, project title
Problem Analysis – AI-written multi-paragraph breakdown of their current pain points
Custom Solution – Detailed explanation of your proposed approach
Platform Stack – Technologies and tools you'll use
Project Milestones – 4-6 phase roadmap with deliverables
Timeline Breakdown – Realistic timeframes for each milestone
Pricing Tables – Dynamic pricing with project costs and platform fees
E-Signature Ready – Sent via PandaDoc for instant signing
All formatted professionally, branded with your agency logo, and delivered within 60 seconds of completing the discovery form.
The 8-Module Automation Workflow Explained
This automation is deceptively simple but incredibly powerful. Here's how it works:
Stage 1: Capture Discovery Call Data
Module 1: Typeform Webhook Trigger
When you finish a discovery call, you fill out a Typeform that captures:
Client basics: Company name, contact info, industry
Call outcome: "Send proposal," "No fit," "Meeting not attended"
Business description: One-sentence summary of what they do
Problem statement: What they're currently doing and why it doesn't work
Proposed solution: Your recommended approach
Tools/platforms: What services you'll use (Monday.com, Make.com, etc.)
Timeline: How long the project will take ("2-3 weeks")
Pricing: Estimated project value and any platform costs
According to Typeform's conversion research, conversational forms like Typeform increase completion rates by 35% compared to traditional forms—meaning your team actually fills it out consistently.
Pro tip: The more detailed your form responses, the better the AI output. Train your sales team to be specific.
Stage 2: Conditional Routing
Module 2-3: Smart Filtering
The automation checks the "call outcome" field. If it's anything other than "Send proposal," the workflow stops. This prevents wasting AI credits and PandaDoc proposals on unqualified leads.
Filter logic:
"Send proposal" → Continue to AI generation
"No fit" → Stop (optionally send them to a nurture sequence)
"Meeting not attended" → Stop (optionally trigger follow-up email)
This conditional routing ensures you only generate proposals for real opportunities.
Stage 3: AI Proposal Generation (The Magic)
Module 4: GPT-4 Problem & Solution Writing
This is where it gets interesting. The automation sends your discovery form data to GPT-4 with a sophisticated prompt that includes:
System context:
"You're a helpful, intelligent sales assistant. We're an operations agency that builds outreach systems, CRM systems, project management systems, no-code systems, and integrations. Our clients are enterprise, so write in a spartan, no-frills tone that implies intelligence."
Few-shot examples: The prompt includes two complete example proposals (one for a recruiting firm migrating to Monday.com, another for a real estate company building an email outreach system). This teaches GPT-4 your agency's writing style and proposal structure.
Your specific input:
{ "businessDescription": "{{client's one-sentence business summary}}", "problem": "{{what they're doing now and why it sucks}}", "solution": "{{your proposed solution}}", "tools": "{{platforms you'll use}}"
}
AI output:
{ "problemPitch": "1. You're using systems that don't scale...", "solutionPitch": "1. First, I'll migrate & build you a scalable system...", "title": "Streamlining [Client] & Migrating to [Platform]", "platformList": "Monday.com, Make.com, Typeform"
}
According to OpenAI's GPT-4 technical report, few-shot learning (providing examples) improves output quality by 40-60% compared to zero-shot prompts—which is why this automation includes those example proposals.
Why this works so well:
GPT-4 learns your agency's tone from examples
It structures proposals consistently (clients love predictability)
Problem/solution framing follows proven sales psychology
Output is professional but not robotic
Stage 4: Milestone & Timeline Generation
Module 5: GPT-4 Project Roadmap
A second AI call generates 4 project milestones with associated timelines based on your solution description and rough timeline.
Input:
{ "solution": "{{your proposed solution from the form}}", "roughTimetable": "{{timeline from form, e.g., '3 weeks'}}"
}
Output:
{ "milestone-1": "MVP & Outreach Process Flow", "timeline-1": "7-10 days", "milestone-2": "Platform Set Up (Airtable, Outreach, GPT-4)", "timeline-2": "5 days", "milestone-3": "Testing & Iteration", "timeline-3": "3 days", "milestone-4": "Process Documentation", "timeline-4": "1 day"
}
Why separate AI calls?
Breaking the proposal into two prompts (problem/solution, then milestones/timeline) produces better results than asking GPT-4 to do everything at once. Each prompt is laser-focused on one task.
Stage 5: Document Assembly
Module 6-7: JSON Parsing
Both AI responses come back as JSON strings. Make.com's JSON parser modules convert these into usable variables that can be mapped to the PandaDoc template.
This step ensures clean data mapping—no weird formatting issues or incomplete text.
Stage 6: PandaDoc Proposal Creation
Module 8: Generate & Send Proposal
All the pieces come together in the PandaDoc module, which:
Maps client data:
Client first name, last name, email
Company name
Project description (AI-generated title)
Injects AI-generated content:
Problem pitch (multi-paragraph analysis)
Solution pitch (detailed approach)
Platform list
4 milestones with timelines
Creates dynamic pricing tables:
Table 1: Main project cost (from your form input)
Table 2: Platform/service costs (e.g., Monday.com subscriptions)
Applies your template: The automation pulls from a pre-designed PandaDoc template with your branding, terms, and e-signature fields already configured.
According to PandaDoc's 2024 State of Proposals, proposals sent within 24 hours of the sales conversation close at 3x the rate of those sent later. This automation gets yours out in 60 seconds.
Result: A professional, branded proposal document appears in PandaDoc, ready to send with one click.
Real-World Processing Timeline
Let's walk through what happens in real-time:
0:00 – Discovery call ends, you open the Typeform 2:00 – You finish filling out the post-call form (10-12 fields) 2:01 – Typeform webhook fires, triggering Make.com 2:02 – Make.com checks "Send proposal" filter → Passes 2:03 – GPT-4 receives problem/solution prompt 2:18 – AI returns customized problem & solution pitch (15 seconds) 2:19 – GPT-4 receives milestones/timeline prompt 2:28 – AI returns 4 milestones with timelines (9 seconds) 2:29 – JSON parsers extract data 2:35 – PandaDoc creates proposal document with all content 2:40 – Proposal appears in your PandaDoc dashboard, ready to send
Total processing time: 40 seconds (completely automated)
Your time investment: 2 minutes (filling out the form)
Total human time: 2 minutes vs. 4-5 hours manually
Advanced Customization Options
The power of this system is its flexibility. Here are enhancements you can add:
1. Multi-Tier Pricing Options
Modify the PandaDoc pricing tables to include:
Starter package: Basic implementation ($X)
Professional package: Full build + training ($Y)
Enterprise package: Custom + ongoing support ($Z)
Let clients self-select their budget level right in the proposal.
2. Industry-Specific Templates
Create separate proposal templates for different verticals:
E-commerce: Focus on sales automation and inventory systems
SaaS: Emphasize onboarding flows and user engagement
Professional services: Highlight CRM and project management
Route proposals to the right template based on a "industry" field in your Typeform.
3. Automated Follow-Up Sequence
Add modules that:
Wait 24 hours after sending proposal
Check if the prospect viewed it (PandaDoc tracks this)
If not viewed: Send reminder email
If viewed but not signed: Send follow-up with FAQs
According to Yesware's sales research, 80% of sales require five follow-ups, but 44% of salespeople give up after one.
4. Proposal Analytics Dashboard
Connect PandaDoc to Google Sheets or Airtable to track:
Proposals sent per week/month
Average time to signature
Win rate by pricing tier
Most common objections (from PandaDoc comments)
5. Team Assignment Logic
If you have multiple salespeople, add a router that:
Assigns proposals to the person who took the call
Notifies them when the proposal is viewed
Tracks individual close rates
Why This Beats Every Other Proposal Tool
Let's compare this automation to popular proposal platforms:
PandaDoc alone: $19-49/user/month, but you still write proposals manually Better Proposals: $19-79/month, templates help but content is still manual Proposify: $49-590/month, fancy design but no AI content generation Qwilr: $35-150/user/month, interactive but time-intensive to build
This automation: ~$30-50/month with AI-written content, dynamic pricing, and instant generation
Plus, you own the entire system. No vendor lock-in, no feature limitations, no price increases.
How to Monetize This Automation
This isn't just for your agency—it's a sellable service.
Service Package Options:
1. Proposal System Setup ($1,500-2,500)
Build complete automation in Make.com
Design custom PandaDoc template with client's branding
Create tailored Typeform with their discovery questions
Provide AI prompt tuning for their writing style
Include 2-hour training session
2. Proposal-as-a-Service ($300-600/month)
You maintain the automation
Client sends you discovery notes
You generate and send proposals on their behalf
Monthly reporting on proposal metrics
Ideal for: Agencies that close 10+ deals/month
3. White-Label License ($3,000-5,000)
Complete Make.com blueprint
Customizable PandaDoc templates (5 industries)
Video training library
90 days of technical support
Rights to resell to their clients
Real client story: I sold this system to a marketing agency for $2,200. They now generate 15-20 proposals per month (previously 5-6 because of time constraints), increased their close rate from 22% to 31%, and added $180,000 in new client revenue in Q4 alone.
Their ROI? 8,100% in three months.
Cost Breakdown: What You'll Actually Spend
Let's be transparent about real costs at scale:
For 30 proposals per month:
Typeform Pro: $25/month (unlimited responses)
OpenAI API: $15-20 (2 calls per proposal × $0.30/call × 30)
Make.com: $0 (well under 1,000 operations/month)
PandaDoc: $19-49/month (depends on team size)
Total: $59-94/month for 30 complete proposals
Per-proposal cost: $1.97-3.13
Now compare to traditional methods:
Freelance proposal writer: $100-200 per proposal
In-house sales ops person: $4,000-6,000/month salary
Opportunity cost of sales team: $150-300/hour
The automation pays for itself after processing 1-2 proposals.
Get the Free Template
Ready to eliminate proposal writing from your workflow?
Download the Complete Make.com Blueprint (JSON File) →
What's included:
All 8 automation modules pre-configured
Typeform template with essential discovery questions
GPT-4 prompts with few-shot examples for your industry
Milestone/timeline generation prompt
PandaDoc mapping configuration
Conditional routing for qualified leads
Setup guide with step-by-step instructions
Simply import into Make.com, connect your accounts (Typeform, OpenAI, PandaDoc), customize the AI prompts for your agency, and start generating proposals.
Setup Instructions: Get Running in 1 Hour
Step 1: Create Your Typeform (15 minutes)
Sign up at typeform.com
Clone our discovery call template (included in download)
Customize questions for your service offering
Enable webhooks to trigger Make.com
Step 2: Design PandaDoc Template (20 minutes)
Sign up at pandadoc.com
Create new proposal template
Add your branding (logo, colors, fonts)
Insert token placeholders for dynamic content ({{Client.Company}}, {{Client.ProblemArea}}, etc.)
Configure pricing tables and e-signature fields
Step 3: Get OpenAI API Access (5 minutes)
Sign up at platform.openai.com
Add $10-20 credit
Generate API key
Enable GPT-4 access
Step 4: Import Automation Blueprint (15 minutes)
Download the JSON blueprint
Open make.com
Create new scenario → Import Blueprint
Upload the JSON file
Step 5: Connect & Test (10 minutes)
Connect Typeform account (webhook + API)
Connect OpenAI account (API key)
Connect PandaDoc account (OAuth)
Test end-to-end with a sample discovery form
Verify proposal generates correctly
Once working, you'll never write a manual proposal again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this work for non-agency businesses? Absolutely. We've seen this used successfully by consultants, SaaS companies selling custom implementations, freelancers, and even professional services like accounting firms.
Can I customize the AI writing style? Yes—that's the point. The system prompt and few-shot examples teach GPT-4 your brand voice. Want more formal? Casual? Technical? Just adjust the examples.
What if the AI makes mistakes? The proposal is generated as a draft in PandaDoc. You review before sending (takes 2-3 minutes). In practice, 85-90% of content is usable as-is after proper prompt tuning.
How accurate are the milestones and timelines? Very accurate—the AI bases them on your input timeline and solution description. If you say "3 weeks," it breaks it into logical phases that add up to ~3 weeks.
Can this integrate with my CRM? Yes. Add modules to create/update records in HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or any CRM with a Make.com integration. Track proposal status alongside deal stages.
What if I need approval before sending proposals? Add a Slack notification module that alerts a manager when a proposal is generated. They can review and approve before the PandaDoc send step.
Advanced Pro Tips
Tip 1: A/B Test Proposal Styles Create two PandaDoc templates (formal vs. casual) and randomly assign proposals. Track close rates to find what resonates with your audience.
Tip 2: Add Social Proof Automatically Include a module that pulls recent case studies or testimonials from Airtable and inserts them into the proposal based on industry match.
Tip 3: Dynamic Pricing Based on Scope Add conditional logic that adjusts pricing tiers based on project complexity flags in your Typeform (e.g., "simple" vs. "complex custom build").
Tip 4: Video Proposal Intros Use Loom API to automatically record a personalized video walkthrough of each proposal and embed it at the top.
Tip 5: Competitor Analysis Module Add a web scraping module that researches the prospect's competitors and includes relevant insights in the problem statement.
Final Thoughts: Stop Writing, Start Closing
Here's the reality most agency owners don't want to face: Every hour you spend writing proposals is an hour you're not spending closing deals, delivering client work, or growing your business.
The agencies winning in 2025 aren't working harder on proposals—they've eliminated proposal writing entirely through intelligent automation.
This system doesn't make your proposals worse—it makes them better. More consistent, faster, and proven to close at higher rates because they're delivered while the prospect is still hot from the discovery call.
If you're still manually writing proposals in 2025, you're competing with one hand tied behind your back.
Bonus: The 3-Day Proposal Challenge
Want to see this automation in action? Try this:
Day 1: Set up the automation (1 hour using our guide) Day 2: Run your next discovery call and generate your first automated proposal (2 minutes) Day 3: Compare time invested vs. your old process (4-5 hours saved)
Close one extra deal per month thanks to faster proposal delivery, and this system pays for itself 50x over.
Download the automation blueprint → and start closing faster tomorrow.
