Generating a proposal with AI
A proposal is a longer, more persuasive document than a quote — it covers your assessment, your approach, why to choose you, and the investment. Writing one from scratch takes time. The AI draft generates one from your project data in seconds, ready to personalise.
What the AI draws on
The draft uses everything Surfacely already knows about the job:
- The scope of work — areas, surfaces, quantities
- Assessment notes — access method, defects found, exclusions, safety hazards
- Quote totals and payment terms
- Crew brief data, especially the safety controls section
- Your company profile — name, branding, and any profile text you've added
The sections
Every proposal follows the same fixed order — up to 12 sections, some optional. The AI populates each one from the relevant project data:
- Executive Summary — the job in a paragraph, written for the decision-maker
- Scope of Work — what you'll do, area by area
- Project Gallery — a hero photo per area, pulled from your scoping
- Our Assessment — what you found during scoping: defects, access, conditions
- Why the Preparation Matters — why the prep you've scoped is worth paying for
- Health & Safety — the safe work controls relevant to this job. Off by default; pre-populates from the crew brief if you've generated one first
- About Us — who you are, drawn from your company profile
- Why Us — your competitive positioning, drawn from your company profile
- Recent Work — up to two past completed jobs, each with a photo and suburb
- Investment — the financial summary with payment terms in $
- Terms & Conditions — your T&Cs, resolved for the correct locale
- Photo Appendix — the scoping photos attached to the job
Generating the draft
- From the project hub, open Proposals and tap New proposal
- In the proposal builder, tap Generate AI draft
- The draft populates all sections. Review each one — the AI is accurate but not perfect
- Edit any section directly in the editor. The proposal autosaves every 1.5 seconds
- When ready, send via the Send proposal button
Editing and autosave
The proposal builder shows a live preview alongside the editor. Everything autosaves as you type — you can leave and come back without losing work. On desktop, the layout is three panels: section navigation, editor, and preview.
What the client sees
The client receives a branded email with a portal link. In the portal, they see your logo, your brand colour, every section you've kept on, and an accept button. Once accepted, the proposal locks — the same protection as an accepted quote.
A PDF version is generated automatically alongside the portal — server-rendered, branded, ready to print or attach.
Why it matters: a well-written proposal wins more work than a bare quote. The AI draft gets you 80% of the way there in seconds. Your job is the remaining 20% — the personal detail that makes it about this client and this specific job, not a template.