When and how to follow up on a proposal

A proposal is not always lost to a competitor. Often it is lost to silence: the client meant to reply, got busy, and the moment passed. A good follow-up is not pushy. It keeps the decision moving, answers the questions the client has not asked yet, and makes it easy to say yes, or no.

This guide gives you a schedule, short emails you can adapt, and ways to handle the replies you will get.

Plan the follow-up before you send

The most useful follow-up happens before the proposal leaves your outbox. At the end of your last call, ask two questions:

• "When do you expect to make a decision?"
• "Who else needs to see this before then?"

Then agree on the next contact: "I'll send the proposal on Tuesday. Shall we book twenty minutes on Friday to go through any questions?" A call in the calendar beats any number of emails, because it turns follow-up from chasing into a meeting both sides agreed to.

Put a validity date in the proposal itself, for example 14 or 30 days. It gives the client a natural deadline and gives you a reason to get in touch near the end. Make accepting it a single step too: what the acceptance page and the e-signature need.

A follow-up schedule

Adjust the timing to the size of the project and what the client told you about their decision. For a typical project with a decision expected within two weeks:

If a call was booked for day 3, that replaces the day 2 email. If the client gave you a decision date, aim the direct question at the day after it.

Day 0: send it with a note

Do not send the proposal as a bare attachment. Write three or four lines that someone could forward to their director without editing:

Hi Anna, here is our proposal for the new Halden website. In short: a rebuild on a CMS your team can update, twelve page templates, launch in ten weeks, €18,500 excluding VAT with care plans from €150 a month. The pricing page lets you add or remove the brand refresh and SEO audit. Looking forward to Friday's call.

Day 2: check it arrived

Short and practical:

Hi Anna, just checking the proposal reached you and opens fine on your side. If it helps, I'm happy to walk you and Tom through it in fifteen minutes this week.

This email catches the proposals stuck in spam, and the offer of a walkthrough often brings in the person who was not on your first call.

Day 5 to 7: add something useful

The middle follow-up should give, not ask. Ideas:

• A short answer to a question that came up on the call, which you have now looked into.
• A relevant case or example you did not include.
• A clarification on one point in the proposal, such as how content delivery works or what the care plan covers.
• A risk or opportunity you noticed on their current site.

Hi Anna, you asked on our call how other roasters handle subscriptions on their site. Here are two examples we built, with what worked. No need to reply; I'll check in next week.

Day 10 to 14: ask directly

Now ask a question that is easy to answer:

Hi Anna, where are you with the website decision? If the timing has changed, just tell me and I'll adjust the plan. If something in the proposal doesn't fit, I'd rather hear it and fix it.

Giving the client permission to say no, or "not now", often gets you a faster and more honest reply than another polite nudge.

After the validity date: close the loop

If you hear nothing by the validity date, send one last message that closes the file without burning the bridge:

Hi Anna, our proposal was valid until 31 October, so I'll assume the timing isn't right and close it on our side. If things change, reply to this email and I'll send an updated version. Good luck with the launch season.

A message like this can bring a reply even after weeks of silence, because it removes the pressure. Either way, you can stop thinking about it.

Phone or email?

Use email for anything the client might forward: the proposal, summaries, written answers. Use the phone (or a short video call) for anything that needs a conversation: objections, budget, timing, who decides. If you have only ever emailed a client, the day 10 follow-up is a good moment to suggest a call instead.

"Can you do it for less?"

This is a buying signal, not a rejection. The client is telling you they want to work with you, at a different price. Do not answer by cutting your rate. Trade instead.

• Reduce the scope. "We can get to €14,500 by starting with eight templates instead of twelve and adding the rest in a second phase."
• Point to a smaller option. If your proposal had options, this is what they are for. See good, better, best: pricing options in a proposal.
• Change how they pay. A discount for paying upfront (5% on €18,500 is €925) helps your cash flow. Spreading the payment over three months helps their budget without changing the total.
• Change how long they commit. A lower monthly rate for a 12-month care plan, for example 10% off €350, gives them a saving and you a year of income.

Each of these gives something in return for something. A plain discount gives something for nothing, and teaches the client that your prices are a starting point.

When the answer is no

Ask why, briefly and without arguing: "Thanks for letting me know. Would you mind telling me what tipped it, so we can improve?" Common answers are price, timing, a competitor with a closer case, or a project that was cancelled. Write them down. After a few, you will see patterns: a section of your proposals that does not convince, a type of client you should not spend time on, a price that needs a smaller option.

Things to avoid

• "Just checking in" with nothing else. Every follow-up should give a reason to reply.
• Following up every day. Leave a few working days between messages.
• Reopening the price before they ask. Offering a discount in a follow-up tells the client the first price was not real.
• Following up only with the person you met. If someone else decides, ask to include them in the walkthrough.
• Giving up after one email. A client may well reply to the second or third message, simply because the first one arrived on a busy day.

For the proposal itself, see how to write a web design proposal that gets signed.

How Propozit helps

In Propozit's live demo the pricing slide already gives you trade-offs to offer instead of a discount: optional extras with live totals, pay upfront and save 5% or spread over 3 months, two commitment deals for the care plan, and an SEO audit free with Care Plus, with a nudge beside the totals that names the gift. See interactive pricing.

Propozit sends your decks and has proposal tracking: you see when a proposal is opened and which slides were read, so you follow up at the right moment. Propozit is in early access and free to start.