The Christmas Light Proposal Builder
Site walk at 10. Proposal in their inbox by noon, with their building lit on the cover. Two tools, both free to use: ChatGPT writes it, Canva makes it look like this.
Step 1. Get the template
Twelve pages. Cover, letter, scope, your property lit, timeline, ten reasons, three packages, video page, projects, testimonials, and an Approve Online page. Every photo, logo, and QR slot is filled with a sample so it looks finished. Swap in yours.
Open the Canva templateClicking makes your own copy in your Canva. A free account works. Nobody else sees your copy.
Step 2. Set up ChatGPT once
Open ChatGPT. Make a new Project. Name it "[Your Company] Proposals." Paste this into the Project instructions and fill the brackets. Then upload your logo, three project photos, and three testimonials to the Project's files.
You build commercial holiday lighting proposals for [COMPANY] in [CITY, STATE]. Owner: [NAME], [PHONE], [EMAIL], [WEBSITE].
Every proposal follows this exact structure, one section per page, in this order:
1. COVER: "Holiday Lighting Proposal". PREPARED FOR [property]. RECIPIENT [name, title]. PREPARED BY [owner]. [Month Year]. Hero image: their building lit (I will upload it).
2. A NOTE FROM [owner]: "Dear [name]," one paragraph about their property and what they told me they wanted on the site walk, one paragraph about us (local, family-run, fully insured), what happens next, sign-off with my name and title.
3. WHO WE ARE: two short paragraphs, then All-Inclusive Service (Design, Installation, Maintenance, Takedown & Storage), then the trusted-by names from my files.
4. SCOPE OF SERVICES in five steps: 1 Custom Design. 2 Supply of All Materials (commercial-grade LED, custom-cut, timers). 3 Professional Installation (trained, fully insured crew). 4 Season-Long Maintenance (we return within 24 to 48 hours). 5 Takedown & Storage (January; labeled and stored).
5. [PROPERTY], LIT: one caption for the mockup ("This is what [property] could look like this December") and three short lines under "What we'll light."
6. PROJECT TIMELINE: design approval date, install date tied to THEIR event, maintenance all season, takedown window in January. Then four lines under "What happens after you say yes."
7. 10 REASONS to decorate your [property type] for the holidays. Rewrite for their property type.
8. YOUR OPTIONS: three packages named Classic, Signature (most popular), Premier. Each: one sentence describing the look, four included lines, and ONE line "Total: $X per season". Then a multi-year line and an add-ons line.
9. WATCH IT COME TO LIFE: two sentences for the video page.
10. FEATURED PROJECTS: three, each a name, city, and two lines.
11. WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY: three testimonials from my files, with names.
12. LET'S GET TO WORK: "Reply YES and we'll lock in your install date." A terms line. Contact.
Rules: short sentences, plain words. No bulb specs unless I say the customer is technical. Never a per-foot price. Say "investment" in the letter, "Total" only on the options page. Never invent testimonials, client names, logos, or numbers; use only what I give you and put [BRACKETS] anywhere you need something from me.
Output: the full text in a canvas, one section per heading, so I can paste each section into my Canva template page by page.
Step 3. The cover: their building, lit
Take a straight-on daytime photo of their building on the site walk, or grab it from Google Street View. Upload it to the Project chat and paste this. Two or three tries is normal. Keep the best one and drop it into page 1 and page 5 of the template.
Render this exact building at dusk with professional warm-white C9 Christmas lights along every roofline, [lit garland with a red bow on the monument sign / wreaths on the columns / the entrance trees wrapped in warm white]. Keep the building, signage, landscaping, and parking exactly as they are. Photorealistic. No added text. Same angle as the photo.
Step 4. After every site walk, paste this
New proposal. Property: [NAME], [ADDRESS], [HOA entrance and clubhouse / retail center / restaurant / office]. Contact: [NAME], [TITLE]. Site walk: [DATE]. What they said they wanted: "[THEIR WORDS]". What we'd light: [roofline all sides, entrance monument, gatehouse, six trees, four wreaths]. Their timing or event: [lit by Nov 15 / the board's holiday party Dec 6]. Packages: Classic: $[__]. [what's included] Signature: $[__]. [adds...] (most popular) Premier: $[__]. [adds...] Terms: [no deposit, invoiced on completion, net-30 / 50% deposit, balance on install]. Multi-year: [3 years, same price locked]. Use the three project photos and three testimonials from the Project files. Build the proposal.
Then paste each section into the matching page of your Canva copy, drop the render on the cover, export as PDF, and send it the same day as the walk.
Step 5. Before it goes
- Their name spelled right, twice: cover and letter.
- The thing they said on the walk is in the letter.
- The timeline matches their event.
- Package totals are your numbers. No per-foot price anywhere.
- The middle package is marked Most Popular.
- The Approve Online button goes to your link. Your phone number is on the last page.
- The render looks like their building.
Why this works
Proposify audited about two million proposals. Zomentum and others added to it. This template is built on what they found.
Watch it built in ten minutes
Read next
- How to Create a Christmas Light Proposal That Closes: what goes on each page and why.
- How to Sell Christmas Lights to HOAs: the manager, the board, the budget meeting.
- How to Bid Commercial Christmas Light Jobs: pricing and the adders.
- How to Use LinkedIn to Land Commercial Contracts: finding the name.
- How to Plan a Commercial Display That Wins Multi-Year Contracts.
- Contractor Resource Center: every guide and calculator in one place.
Want the rest of the system?
The proposal is the last step. Finding the property managers, the cold call, the email with the mockup, HOAs, and government bids are the class. In-person training or the online program.
Questions: jason@christmaslightshq.com