Check the Scope Change Before You Revise the Proposal
The Departure
You're heading to the next client meeting when a buyer sends a “small change”: add six users, move kickoff forward, and include the integration discussed on the call. You could ask AI to rewrite the proposal immediately, but that risks turning a request into something your team has promised. Give it the comparison job first, while you're busy getting to the meeting.
The Co-Pilot
Tool: ChatGPT Work, tested with GPT-6.1 Sol Light on the web
The Use Case: Compare a buyer's new request with your existing proposal and approved offer, then return the decisions needed before you requote.
The Build: OpenAI introduced GPT-6.1 Sol this week for Work and Codex. We tested a specific sales job in Work rather than assuming a new model would handle every commercial detail correctly.
The synthetic buyer went from 12 to 18 users at $40 per user per month, billed annually. Work calculated $8,640 a year, up $2,880, kept the $600 setup charge separate, and left the requested 10% discount unapproved. It also caught a kickoff date earlier than availability and refused to invent prices for extra training or the integration.
One controlled example, not a guarantee. But it gives you a useful standard for the answer you should expect.
Start with three short, dated sections: OLD PROPOSAL, NEW BUYER REQUEST, and APPROVED OFFER. Label individual facts P1, B1, A1, and so on. Include only material your organization allows in the tool. The approved offer should say what you can actually sell, including who must approve exceptions.
The Prompt:
You are my Proposal Change Checker. Use only the three labeled sources below: OLD PROPOSAL, NEW BUYER REQUEST, and APPROVED OFFER. Treat the buyer's requests as requests, not accepted commitments. Treat the approved offer as the authority for what we can promise. Return a table with: changed requirement, old position, requested position, supported impact, source IDs, and decision needed. Separate unchanged terms from changes. Calculate supported price differences, showing the arithmetic and currency; keep recurring and one-time costs separate. Flag missing prices, approvals, owners, or dates instead of guessing. Finish with a draft reply of no more than 120 words acknowledging the request and asking for the decisions needed to revise the proposal. Do not accept the new scope, send anything, edit records, use connected apps, or browse the web.
Paste your three source sections below that prompt. The output is an internal review aid, not your revised quote.
The Upgrade
Topic: Put a change check between the buyer's email and your new proposal.
Load the three sources before your next stop. Open ChatGPT on the web, select Work, and start a new task. Use Sol 6.1 if it's available. Access depends on your plan and rollout; this test used pasted text, not uploaded files or an inbox connection.
Let the comparison run while your attention is elsewhere. Work on web runs in the cloud, according to OpenAI's guide. Start while connected and check the result when you return. Our test kept the browser open; mobile use and laptop-off continuation weren't tested. No recurring monitor is needed for this one request.
Review the decisions before the wording. Recalculate the price difference. Check whether the date is possible and which additions lack approval. Then review the short reply. Keep internal scenarios out of the customer message, resolve the open decisions, and only then revise the proposal.
The Landing
Take one recent “can you also include…” request and run this check before your next meeting. Look for the row that still needs a human decision. That's the conversation to have before you put a new number in the proposal.
Safe travels,
Marcellus