Most proposals don’t lose deals because of pricing.
They lose deals because of how the work is described.
You send a solid proposal, everything looks fine… and then the client comes back negotiating hard. Or just goes with someone cheaper.
And when you look closely, there’s one common pattern:
Your proposal is built around hours.
Hey there, I’m Tabish Bibikar, and I coach and mentor founders of software companies to build scale in their business fast… and this is something I’ve seen across HealthTech, Fintech, and Enterprise IT teams again and again.
The issue is not that hours exist.
The issue is when hours become the main story.
Let’s take a simple example from HealthTech.
You’re building a patient onboarding system for a hospital.
Your proposal says:
“140 hours of development, 40 hours of testing…”
What happens next?
The hospital admin forwards it internally, and someone replies:
“Can we get this done cheaper?”
Now you’re in a rate discussion.
But that’s not why they came to you.
They came because patients are dropping off during onboarding, or staff is spending too much time entering data manually.
That’s the real problem.
But your proposal didn’t stay there.
Now, to be fair — in spaces like HealthTech, Fintech, Enterprise IT… you often can’t avoid showing effort.
Procurement teams ask for it. Internal approvals need it.
So I’m not saying remove hours completely.
I’m saying — don’t lead with them.
Instead of starting with:
“Here’s the effort and cost”
Start with:
“Here’s the problem, here’s what changes after we fix it, and here’s what this engagement looks like.”
For example, same HealthTech case:
Instead of leading with hours, you say:
“We’ll help you reduce patient drop-offs during onboarding by simplifying the flow and removing manual steps.”
Now the client is thinking about impact.
If they later ask for effort breakdown, you can share it.
But it’s no longer the anchor of the conversation.
I worked with a Fintech services company that made this shift.
Earlier, every proposal started with effort and rates.
After changing the structure, something interesting happened — clients still asked for details sometimes, but negotiations became less about cost per hour and more about whether the solution made sense.
Fewer line-by-line discussions. Better quality deals.
And there’s a subtle shift here.
When your proposal is built on hours, you sound like someone executing tasks.
When it’s built on outcomes, you sound like someone who understands the problem and owns the result.
That’s a very different position.
So here’s something simple.
Open your last two or three proposals.
Check what shows up first — hours or outcomes.
Because whatever comes first… shapes how the client evaluates you.
If you’re building a B2B software company and want to improve how you sell and position your work do reach out to me on LinkedIn
