I spoke with a client via chat, he sent me the project details and what he's looking for. Then I built my proposal, detailing every task and step of what I'll do, delivery time and budget needed, then sent it.
I've gotten only silence as an answer.
I didn't charge for any of that...
So, do you send your "project plan" (I don't know the word for it in this context) to your client? How do you get them to pay you to do this kind of things before even starting the project?
Many customers are asking offers "just to see", or to compare to other offers, or to know the relevance of externalizing.
I always keep the details of time and budget for myself. If they want them, ask for a compensation. Also if necessary take care to state that these are estimates and should not be taken literally, as contractual.
If your goal is to tease them by showing your mastership of the problem to solve, just explain your resolution strategy/work breakdown, without figures.
In my business, most of the offers require some experimentation beforehand. Usually I don't charge, unless the task is more complex. Then I negotiate a preliminary POC.
This really depends on the client and the expected sales process. For example, when Perot Systems wanted the Blue Cross contract in Texas, they submitted a three page proposal while EDS (who had the existing contract) submitted several thousand pages detailing how they would change and improve the current process. (EDS won the contract.)
One way to find out what the client wants is to start with a simple proposal and ask the client if they would want more detail in the next revision of the proposal.
