Stop 3 of 8 · Weekly
The security program proposal
Turn the assessment into a tiered program the client can choose from, with staffing and technology spelled out and every number left for you to fill.
The document that decides whether you get the work
The assessment says what is wrong. The proposal says what Curtis will do about it, who does it, and roughly what it costs. Most consultants write a good assessment and then a proposal that reads like a second assessment with a price on the end. The client reads the first three paragraphs and skips to the number.
What changes when Claude drafts it is not the persuasion. It is that the mechanical half, mapping each finding to a control, each control to a staffing assumption and each assumption to a budget line, stops taking a Saturday. Curtis still writes the executive summary himself, because that is the part a client reads twice.
Tiers, and what each one means
Three tiers, named for what they cover rather than for metal.
| Tier | What it buys |
|---|---|
| Baseline | Physical hardening, procedure, staff training, no standing coverage |
| Managed | Baseline plus monitoring, advance work for travel, on-call response |
| Full coverage | Managed plus posted or travelling protection to an agreed schedule |
Every tier lists the findings it closes and the findings it leaves open. That second list is the honest part, and it is the reason a client upgrades in month four rather than calling someone else.
Try this
Turn the attached assessment into a security program proposal with three tiers named Baseline, Managed and Full coverage. For each tier: the findings it closes by finding number, the findings it leaves open, the controls involved split into physical, technical and procedural, and the staffing assumption in roles and hours per week. Use Contractor 1, Contractor 2 and so on for people. Then give me a budget table with one row per line item and columns for the item, the unit and an empty rate column. Do not put any number in the rate column and do not estimate any cost. [paste the assessment with placeholders]
Write three versions of a one page executive summary for the proposal below. Version one for a principal who wants the shortest possible answer. Version two for a chief of staff who will compare us against two other firms. Version three for a corporate risk committee that needs the exposure quantified in operational terms rather than money. Same facts in all three, no new claims, and no sentence that promises an outcome we cannot control. [paste the proposal body]
Read this proposal as the sceptical family office lawyer who will be in the room. Give me the ten questions you would ask, hardest first, marking the three you think we would struggle to answer. For each one, note whether the answer belongs in the proposal, in the contract or in the meeting. [paste the proposal]