What does an executive search proposal contain?

The client's situation and why the role is open; the brief, meaning the scope, experience and location sought; what success looks like for the appointment; the approach and timetable, phase by phase from briefing to appointment; the team who will run the search and relevant past assignments; and the terms: fee basis, payment schedule, expenses and guarantee. This template has a slide for each.

What is it filled from?

Your notes from the briefing meeting, the client's brief or RFP, the role description, and your notes on the approach, the team and the fees. Upload or paste them and the slides are filled; you edit the result before it goes to the client.

Will it fill in our standard fee?

Only if your notes state it. The fee basis, payment schedule, expenses and any guarantee are taken from your notes; a standard fee or guarantee is never added on its own. Parts with nothing to fill are removed from the slides.

How are past assignments shown?

Only the assignments your notes list. When a past client is confidential, it is described generically, for example as a listed engineering group, rather than named.

No. The deck is built in your brand inside Formatix and filled from your notes; what you download is the finished PowerPoint file or PDF.

PowerPoint template · Reports

Client proposal template for executive search

A client proposal is the document a search firm presents to win a retained mandate: what the firm understands of the client's situation and the brief, what success looks like, how the search will run and over what timetable, who will do the work and what they have done before, and the fee and terms. This PowerPoint template has those slides in the firm's brand: a cover, our understanding, the approach and timetable in phases, the team and relevant experience, and the terms. Formatix fills it from the briefing notes, the client's brief and the consultant's notes on approach, team and fees.

The proposal is often the deciding document in a competitive pitch, and it is usually written against a deadline, the day after the briefing meeting. A template that already carries the firm's structure and design lets the partner spend that day on the understanding and the approach rather than on the slides.

Use this template in your brand — free All 23 templates

10 free credits, no card needed. One credit fills one document.

Client proposal, first slide or sheet. Shown in Formatix branding with fictional example content; yours is built in your brand.

What's in the template

The pitch for a retained mandate: your understanding of the brief, the approach and timetable, the team and relevant experience, and the terms.

Cover with the client, the appointment and who is presenting
Our understanding: the client's situation, the brief and what success looks like
The approach and timetable, phase by phase, from briefing to appointment
The team on the search and relevant past assignments
Terms: fee basis, payment schedule, expenses and guarantee, only when your notes give them

What it's for: Pitching for a new retained search after the client briefing.

PowerPointDelivered as an editable PowerPoint file, or saved as PDF.

Who uses it

Retained executive search firms
Pitches for new mandates, and repeat proposals to existing clients.
Board and leadership practices
Proposals for chair, CEO and non-executive appointments, presented to a nominations committee.
Specialist and interim search firms
One proposal format for every pitch, whichever partner leads it.

Every slide of the example

The example is in Formatix branding with fictional content. When you pick this template, it is rebuilt with your logo, colours and fonts before you use it.

How you use it

1
Pick the template
Open Formatix, choose this template in Studio, and give us your website. We pull your logo, colours and fonts and rebuild the template in your brand. You see a sample before you use it.
2
Drop your notes
Upload your notes from the briefing meeting, the client's brief or RFP, and your notes on the approach, the team and the fees. One credit fills one document.
3
Check and send
The filled document appears beside the original for checking. Edit anything in place, then download the Word, PowerPoint or Excel file, or save it as PDF.

Download or automate? The free download is a plain file you fill in by hand. In Formatix the template is rebuilt in your brand, with your logo, colours and fonts taken from your website, and filled from a CV or your notes in about a minute. What you keep is the finished document: an editable Word, PowerPoint or Excel file.

Ask for changes in plain words, such as "move the photo to the right" or "add a Languages section", and the template is updated with the rest of its formatting kept. If you already have a document you send clients, upload that instead and Formatix turns it into a template. How Studio builds templates

Questions about this template

What does an executive search proposal contain?: The client's situation and why the role is open; the brief, meaning the scope, experience and location sought; what success looks like for the appointment; the approach and timetable, phase by phase from briefing to appointment; the team who will run the search and relevant past assignments; and the terms: fee basis, payment schedule, expenses and guarantee. This template has a slide for each.
What is it filled from?: Your notes from the briefing meeting, the client's brief or RFP, the role description, and your notes on the approach, the team and the fees. Upload or paste them and the slides are filled; you edit the result before it goes to the client.
Will it fill in our standard fee?: Only if your notes state it. The fee basis, payment schedule, expenses and any guarantee are taken from your notes; a standard fee or guarantee is never added on its own. Parts with nothing to fill are removed from the slides.
How are past assignments shown?: Only the assignments your notes list. When a past client is confidential, it is described generically, for example as a listed engineering group, rather than named.
Is this a download?: No. The deck is built in your brand inside Formatix and filled from your notes; what you download is the finished PowerPoint file or PDF.