New Proposal Drafting (Lightweight)
Overview
The new-proposal skill is now a streamlined playbook. It explains how to assemble a first-draft Sentient proposal using existing skills and source folders in this repository—no custom scripts or bundled assets required. Follow these instructions to move quickly from discovery to a shareable document while keeping messaging aligned with Sentient's positioning.
Quick Start
- •Run the latest customer-brief skill to capture discovery findings for the account.
- •Open the relevant product narrative in
product-white-paper/and flag the sections that map to the customer's needs. - •Reference the tone and messaging guidance in sentient-brand-guideline to keep language on-brand.
- •Combine the above into a proposal outline using your preferred editor (Docs, Notion, Markdown). The sample outline in
presentation-outline/is a good starting point when you need structure.
Recommended Workflow
- •Validate inputs: Confirm you have the newest intake form, customer brief, and stakeholder list from the account team.
- •Draft the executive summary: Highlight customer objectives, Sentient's solution fit, and expected outcomes in 2–3 paragraphs.
- •Detail the solution: Use content from
product-white-paper/to explain architecture, differentiators, and implementation plan. - •Showcase proof: Pull relevant success metrics from
smartchat-service-costs/or other collateral to reinforce value. - •Outline next steps: Define timeline, owners, and required follow-up actions. Link to the work-day skill if the deliverable should live in the shared Workday folder.
Success Criteria
- •Proposal mirrors Sentient's structure (executive summary → solution overview → roadmap → next steps).
- •Messaging stays aligned with the brand guidelines and references approved differentiators.
- •Source documents are cited or linked so reviewers can verify claims quickly.
- •Output is saved using the
<YYYYMMDD>-<CustomerName>-Proposal-R<Revision>naming convention.
Limitations & Notes
- •This lightweight skill intentionally omits automation scripts, bundled samples, and tests. It is documentation-only.
- •Teams that need repeatable generation or validation should add back scripts in a dedicated branch and update this guide.
- •Keep sensitive customer data out of the repository; store working drafts in approved collaboration tools.
Related Skills & Artifacts
- •customer-brief – Use to gather and refresh account discovery notes before drafting.
- •product-white-paper – Provides canonical product positioning and technical capabilities.
- •sentient-brand-guideline – Supplies tone, terminology, and styling cues for all outbound materials.
- •work-day – Automates saving final drafts to the shared Workday folder once ready for review.
Extending Later
If you decide to reintroduce automation:
- •Stand up generator scripts in
scripts/or a newautomation/folder. - •Document new usage patterns here so others know how to run them.
- •Add tests under
tests/to cover the automated workflow.