The art — and science — of sales proposal follow-up

You’ve nurtured the prospect into an opportunity.

You’ve had a few meetings, come to terms, and written and sent a sales proposal.

Now all you have to do is sit back and wait.

And wait.

Sadly, sales quotes rarely sign themselves. A ping, at the very least, is almost always part of the process. Usually, a ping, another ping, a call or two or three, sometimes even a paid vacation to Maui…

Creating the perfect proposal follow-up is both an art and a science, and here we’re going to show you how to execute on both sides of that equation and encourage a prospect to sign and become a customer.

First, everybody's favorite subject, SCIENCE.

The science of the perfect follow-up

Sales is NOT like dating. The whole, “wait two days before calling” thing goes right out the window if you’re serious about closing a deal.

There’s a process to follow in most cases, which also differs on a case-to-case basis (we’ll explain). But the first part of the process in ALL cases is confirmation. Don’t just send the quote: confirm the send went as planned. Treat it like registered mail and confirm it was delivered and do so within 24 hours of sending.

And don’t forget you have every right to do this — in fact, you’re practically required to do this, so don’t pussyfoot. No, “I’m just checking… if you have a moment… sorry to bother you…” There’s a critical component of the close hanging in the balance. Reach out within a business day, confirm receipt, and be direct: “Ensuring you received the quote we discussed. Please let me know it’s in your hands. Thank you.”

The next step in every case is replying to that confirmation, but with a “soft ask” on when it will be signed. They just received it. It’ll likely have to be viewed/approved by others. Don’t increase the pressure… yet.

And here is where the process deviates depending on the industry, size of the deal, nature of the customer, and other variables.

If you’re in enterprise sales sending 6 and 7 figure quotes, it’ll make sense to give your prospect 3 - 5 business days before the next ping. You’re not demanding a sign just yet. But you are confirming that it has been read and all details are in place (you’re doing customer service more than sales at this juncture). No reply? Same message 2 days later.

If you’re in SMB sales sending 5 and 4 figure quotes, you can be a little more aggressive. Yes, check that all details are in place 3 - 5 business days after confirmation the quote was signed, but nudge for that signature. It’s a fact that product and service pricing changes all the time, and a quote signed today preserves the pricing therein tomorrow. A quote unsigned for weeks… well… things, as stated, can change.

Generally, the cadence for the perfect follow-up after you’ve sent a proposal is at least one check-in a week, alternate with emails and calls. And if you can’t get a date from them on when they’ll sign, get a date on when you can and should reach back.

If you want to automate that cadence, a configure, price, quote system can support you by helping to map workflows (and providing communications templates) for follow-up. And when you automate a process, you can more easily optimize it, too, ensuring that every sales rep in your department is following up in the same, effective way. (Remember: the thing about anything scientific is that it’s demonstrably repeatable.)