Founder of Mimiran, an online proposal application, so I see lots of sales proposals. Also help companies from startups to F500 on sales and pricing strategy.
Sales proposals don't have to be scary. I went from dreading the words "can you send me a proposal", to enjoying creating and discussing them. And along the way, I learned to help others create more compelling proposals.
Have a template that defines the project's goals, the plan (who does what, and when), the price, and any terms and conditions. Then, ask the prospect what they would like to see in the proposal. If they don't know, or completely agree with what you already have, just use your template. If they say "I need to show XYZ to get approval", make sure you include XYZ.
This is a pretty vague question, but in general, if you are pricing "correctly" as an expert, it's really easy to change your pricing, because you're pricing based on value.
Changing prices can have a huge impact on profit (and quality of life). Take a few minutes and read through these blog posts (there are 4, starting with this one: http://www.mimiran.com/proposals/i-sell-services-what-the-do-i-sell/).
If you are pricing hourly, yes. You will be able to better map value and price to your customers' needs.
My personal peeves with CRM: 1. No support for actually closing the deal. (Full disclosure, this is partly why I created Mimiran Online Proposals (http://www.mimiran.com)-- to get you from "can you send me a proposal?" to deal closed.)
2. Too much manual data entry (SFDC, looking at you). Too much time and effort having to manually track, vs actually trying to sell. Then the VP of sales wonders why the reports don't look right.
Rueben is one of the finest minds in product pricing technology today. He spearheaded the entire pricing initiative at Selectica and created the systems that help drive configuration and pricing at some of the largest companies in the world. I highly recommend his expertise!
Mimiran offers excellent pricing software and pricing consultation services. I often have complex and data intensive pricing projects and have used Mimiran's software with gratifying results. In addition, Reuben Swartz is quite impressive in his knowledge of pricing and analytical techniques. Mimiran has been an important factor in my ability to deliver the results my clients want.
Reuben is a master in the Pricing space. He knows the Process, people and technology in this space down cold. Reuben led the team that built Selectica's Pricing product and helped secure the initial customers as well. Plus - he has a very pleasant, professional personality. Pleasure to work with. Would love to do it again.
Reuben and I were frequently foxhole buddies on many large-scale and complicated Pricer deployments for Trilogy. Reuben owned the product suite and I typically handled customer implementation and customization. Reuben's insight into the pricing space -- most notably his ability to see "through" literal customer requirements and understand how to lead them towards what they really want and need rather than what they're directly asking us for -- was a fantastic asset to me time and again. Reuben's business acumen coupled with his outstanding technical and analytical skills make him a force to be reckoned with.