{
  "slug": "proposal-win-rate-cost",
  "title": "Proposal Cost Per Win Calculator",
  "heading": "Cost Per Won Proposal Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/proposal-win-rate-cost",
  "summary": "Price the unpaid pitching effort behind every deal you actually close.",
  "description": "Every proposal has a cost — hours of scoping, writing, design, and presentation — and only some of them convert. This calculator multiplies proposals written by hours each and your loaded cost per hour to get total annual pitch spend, then divides by wins to get cost per acquired client. Comparing that to average deal value gives you a pitch-efficiency ratio: pitch cost as a percentage of first-year revenue. Agencies with a 20% win rate and heavy custom proposals often spend 8-15% of first-year contract value just to win it, which is why qualification discipline and templated proposals produce more profit than more pitching does.",
  "formula": "Pitch spend = proposals × hours each × loaded cost. Wins = proposals × win rate. Cost per win = pitch spend ÷ wins.",
  "dateModified": "2026-08-25",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=proposal-win-rate-cost",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "proposals",
      "label": "Proposals per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 40,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "hours",
      "label": "Hours per proposal",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 12,
      "unit": "hrs",
      "min": 0.5,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "cost",
      "label": "Loaded cost per hour",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 70,
      "unit": "$/hr",
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "winRate",
      "label": "Win rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 22,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 100
    },
    {
      "id": "deal",
      "label": "Average first-year contract value",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 48000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "perWin",
      "label": "Pitch cost per won client",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "spend",
      "label": "Annual pitch spend",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "wins",
      "label": "Clients won per year",
      "format": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pctOfDeal",
      "label": "Pitch cost as % of first-year value",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "wonRevenue",
      "label": "First-year revenue won",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Proposals per year: 40",
      "Hours per proposal: 12 hrs",
      "Loaded cost per hour: 70 $/hr",
      "Win rate: 22 %",
      "Average first-year contract value: 48000 $"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Pitch cost per won client: $3,818.18",
      "Annual pitch spend: $33,600.00",
      "Clients won per year: 8.8",
      "Pitch cost as % of first-year value: 8.0%",
      "First-year revenue won: $422,400.00"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter proposals per year.",
      "Enter hours per proposal (hrs).",
      "Enter loaded cost per hour ($/hr).",
      "Enter win rate (%).",
      "Enter average first-year contract value ($).",
      "Read your pitch cost per won client on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "proposals": 24,
        "hours": 7.199999999999999,
        "cost": 40,
        "winRate": 13,
        "deal": 29000
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "proposals": 40,
        "hours": 12,
        "cost": 70,
        "winRate": 22,
        "deal": 48000
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "proposals": 64,
        "hours": 19.200000000000003,
        "cost": 110,
        "winRate": 35,
        "deal": 77000
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What's a healthy pitch cost as a share of contract value?",
      "a": "Under 5% is efficient, 5-10% is normal for mid-market services, and above 15% usually means you're pitching unqualified opportunities or over-producing proposals — spec creative for a $30k project is a classic example."
    },
    {
      "q": "How do I lower it without pitching less?",
      "a": "Two levers beat everything else: qualify harder so you write fewer doomed proposals, and templatize so each one takes six hours instead of sixteen. Raising win rate from 20% to 30% cuts cost per win by a third with no change in effort per proposal."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should I include design and exec time in the hours?",
      "a": "Yes, at their own loaded cost. A principal's two hours on a pitch often costs more than the writer's eight, and excluding it is why agencies underestimate pitch spend by half."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does free spec work belong here?",
      "a": "It does, and it's usually the line that shocks people. Price spec work at loaded cost, add it to hours per proposal, and see whether the accounts you win that way still look good after the acquisition cost."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/agency-effective-hourly",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/agency-client-concentration",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/agency-capacity-plan"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Proposal Cost Per Win Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/proposal-win-rate-cost)"
}