Have you ever had what you thought was an amazing conversation about a coaching or consulting project with a client that ended in them asking you to send a proposal, and then when you sent it, you hear crickets?

A week later when you check in, and you still hear nothing back. Then, your Saboteur goes wild with assumptions.

Maybe you think, “How could I have been so wrong? I thought this was going somewhere! I’m going to have to close my business and get a JOB! How dare they! I put so much time and energy into that proposal, and they are so rude to just ignore me! They are the ones that asked me to put a proposal together!? I don’t want to work with them anyway.”

Four months later, you receive a harried email that reads something like, “I am so sorry, I got so busy. We really want to do this, when can we talk!?”

Sigh.

It’s happened to us all. I have been there myself.

In the corporate world, a week feels like a day. Once an email dips below the page fold in their inbox, it’s out of sight, out of mind, because there’s so much coming at them every single day. So, for them, barely any time has passed, while in the meantime, you’re sitting there waiting to hear from them while time inches by.

Although we can’t totally flip the script on this, there are some very easy practices you can put into place to avoid being “ghosted” by your prospects.

Practical Strategies for Handling Proposals

Just like with anything, the proposal itself is not the “Holy Grail”, the process and strategy you outline is what can make the difference between a great prospect becoming a client or not. It is possible to avoid the pitfalls of the business development process if you get strategic about it right from your initial call or conversation.

I encourage my clients to talk through their process with their prospects. Part of the process is, when they put together the proposal, they schedule a proposal review meeting with the prospect a day after they send over the proposal for review. This ensures that the process continues to move forward.

The value proposition for the client is that this will allow you to review the proposal together, address any issues or challenges, and come to a decision on whether to move forward or not. It also ensures that it remains a priority both for you and the client. A week or two in the corporate world flies by in a snap, so this strategy serves everyone involved.

This makes sure that your proposal stays at the top of their radar. If it’s a powerful yes, in your review meeting, you move forward. Boom! You’re off to the races.

And if the proposal didn’t land, you get a chance to talk about it. You can review the scope, timing, and budget, and make changes if need be. Hopefully, you and your prospect will come to a powerful yes or a powerful no, and sometimes it may involve scheduling another proposal meeting. Oftentimes, you need to re-propose and have another discussion about it to make sure you’re truly serving their needs.

If it’s going to be a no or a “no for now”, your prospect will usually cancel that proposal review meeting, and then rather than being ghosted, you both know it’s not moving forward.  As disappointing as this can be, it’s much better to know than to be left guessing.

Sometimes, they’ll ask to postpone. Then you know it’s a timing thing: they’re not ready yet. What a blessing that is! Then you don’t have to sweat about why they haven’t gotten back to you yet. In this case, say, “Let’s pick a date out in the future. When do you think this will be a priority?” If they resist that, you can say, “Why don’t we put something on the calendar for me to follow up with you?”

Anything you can do to get in their calendar will aid in this process moving forward, and better yet, prevent you from feeling ghosted.

I also recommend, to the degree that you can, be clear in your own head on how much money each of your components cost so that when you are meeting with them, you can do some calculations quickly and give them a ballpark in the meeting. If they want you to coach four people, including a 360 interview with each of them, and lead a meeting with their manager, you should be able to calculate that number quickly and give them a ballpark estimate, per person. Then you can get a sense of whether this scope and price lands with them before you put all the work into the proposal. If the price doesn’t work for them, you can make adjustments (hopefully to reduce the scope if they need you to reduce the price) and go from there.

Tune into the Energy of the Conversation

If your prospect is really resistant to setting up a follow-up meeting, tune into the energy. It probably means that their answer is a no, or a no for now and they are just uncomfortable with telling you so.

In that scenario, get curious, especially if your prospect says something like, “Just send me a proposal and I’ll think about it.” A lot of people are uncomfortable with saying, “Hm, I don’t think this is the right fit,” so instead, they’ll ask you to write up a proposal as an easier way for them to bring the conversation to a close and giving you unnecessary homework to boot!

A lot of my clients will spend an hour or more on a proposal, which is too much time to spend if your prospect isn’t serious. If you pay attention to the energy, you know if the prospect is leaning in or not. If someone asks you to do a proposal when they’re not leaning in, get curious. Say, “It surprises me that you’d like a proposal, because based on our conversation, it seems like you have more questions. Doing a proposal takes me some time, so let’s keep talking to make sure we get to a scope of work that feels like something we are both excited about, or to get to a clear answer on whether to move forward or not.”

With that approach, you’re setting up the expectation that the two of you are in a relationship. This isn’t a buyer/seller scenario; you’re both exploring whether it’s a mutual fit to work together. This is an opportunity to push back and not simply give them what they say they want. Setting boundaries is something that they will respect. It changes the power dynamic.

When people realize that you’re not there to sell to them, but to determine whether it’s a good fit to work together, they are much more willing to be honest with you. When they know that your sole purpose is not to just “seal the deal,” most people will respect it and lean in more.

Be willing to take a stand for what you offer and tune into where to bend and where to stand firm.

Free Training “Creating Captivating Breakthrough Sessions to Powerfully Enroll Clients in Uncertain Times”

If you want to refine your business development process, check out my Creating Captivating Breakthrough Sessions training to learn how to set the context, how to have the meeting(s), and how to be strategic when you do need to create a proposal and follow up. You can find it on my speaker page along with some other helpful free trainings!

With appreciation,