Sending proposals

After a merchant contacts you, you can start a conversation about the merchant’s specific needs. From there, you can create a proposal to define the scope of work.

When you're getting your proposal ready, try to do the following:

• Describe the work that you will do to meet the merchant's requirements
• Set expectations about the process
• Create milestones for each stage of the work

It's a good idea to include as much relevant information as you can about the work in your proposal. This makes it more likely that the merchant will accept your proposal, and that the work will be completed successfully. Starting the process with open, detailed communication also makes it more likely that the merchant will leave a positive review, and contact you again for other work in the future.

If the merchant declines your proposal, then you can use their feedback to improve it before you submit it again.

Note

If you use a project management tool that creates your own proposal files, then it's recommended that you first submit a proposal through your Partner Dashboard to let the merchant know that you will send them your full proposal separately. This makes sure that the merchant receives a notification about your proposal in their messages.

The proposal form

The proposal form includes sections for the following information:

• Service
• Proposed work
• Milestones
• Estimated time to completion
• Terms and conditions
• Total cost
• Payment terms

Service

Use this section to select the service that you'll be performing. If you'll be performing more than one service, then you can describe the other services in the Proposed work section or create additional proposals.

Proposed work

Use this section of the proposal to describe the work that you plan to do for the merchant. Include any specific features or tasks that you've already discussed with them, and a summary of how you plan to deliver the work. You can also use this section to identify any potentially related work that isn't included in your proposal.

Milestones

Use this optional section to list any scheduled reviews or deliverables. You can add up to five milestones to a proposal. You can also add a price for each milestone, and how long it will take to complete each milestone.

Estimated time to completion

Use this section of the proposal to tell the merchant how long you think the work will take to be completed.

Terms and conditions

Use this optional section to provide the following information:

• The date when you will start the job
• Any circumstances that could change the estimated time to completion
• Any circumstances that might affect how quickly you can respond to the merchant, such as differences in your time zones or upcoming holidays

By setting clear expectations about your schedule, you can help to prevent the merchant from being frustrated by the length of time it takes either to complete the job or to contact you during the process.

Total cost

Use this section of the proposal to specify the total cost of the work that you'll do for the merchant.

Payment terms

Use this optional section to describe how and when you charge for your work. This can include payment preferences, payment schedules, payment methods, a refund policy, potential extra charges, and any other information that you think is necessary. For the best merchant experience, you should break up large payments into multiple payments based on key milestones. For instance, with a small project, you might charge 50% up front and 50% after the project is complete.

Creating a proposal

You can create a proposal from your conversation with a merchant.

Steps:

1. From you Partner Dashboard, go to Services > Messages.
2. Select the conversation with the merchant you want to submit a proposal for.
3. Click Create proposal.
4. Fill out the form provided.
5. Click Review message to see how the proposal will appear to the merchant.
6. Click Send proposal.

The proposal is added as a message in your conversation with the merchant. It also appears in the Proposals and jobs pane as a pending proposal. If you need to edit the proposal, then you need to cancel it and create a new one with the edited details.

Cancel a pending proposal

You can cancel a pending proposal before the merchant accepts or rejects it.

1. From you Partner Dashboard, go to Services > Messages.
2. Select the conversation that contains the proposal.
3. From the Proposal and jobs pane, click the proposal.
4. Click Cancel proposal, and then click Cancel to confirm.

Accepted and declined proposals

A merchant can review and accept or decline your proposal from your conversation.

When a merchant accepts your proposal, they're prompted to choose the store the work will be performed for. The merchant can also choose not to associate the proposed work with a store.

If the merchant selects a store, then a job is created. You can view and manage the job from the Jobs page in your Partner Dashboard. The job also appears in the Proposals and jobs pane beside your conversation with the merchant.

If the merchant doesn't select a store, then the proposal is marked as accepted. You can view the accepted proposal in the Proposals and jobs pane beside your conversation with the merchant.

Note

An accepted proposal is a job that isn't linked to a store when the proposal is accepted.

• If you're working on an accepted proposal, then you can't view it or mark it as complete on the Jobs page.
• You can still request a review for the work that was done.
• To receive payment for an accepted proposal, you need to create an invoice for the merchant outside of the Experts Marketplace.

If the merchant declines your proposal, then they're prompted to provide a reason. The proposal is marked as declined, and can be accessed from the Proposals and jobs pane.

Next steps

• After a merchant accepts a proposal, you can work with them both inside and outside of the Experts Marketplace.
• After you come to an agreement about payment, you can create an invoice and send it to the merchant.
• After the work is done, you can mark the job as complete.