Do you know what clients do with your proposal?
See when clients open and read your proposal. Use tracking to time your follow-up perfectly, without guesswork or stress.
For entrepreneurs and sales professionals who send proposals regularly, not knowing what happens next is stressful. Call too early and you're pushy. Wait too long and you lose the deal. So when is the right moment? Here's how to time your follow-up without the guesswork, the stress, or the annoyed client.
Following up on gut feeling? Been there, done that
In my early years I always followed up on proposals based on gut feeling. Sometimes I'd call in the middle of a busy week and hear: 'Oh right, your proposal... I still need to open that.' Awkward for both of us. Since I started using real-time proposal tracking, things look different. I know when a proposal is opened, which sections get attention, and when it's signed. I can time my actions and skip the guesswork.
Proposal tracking
Offorte's proposal tracking shows you how clients interact with your proposals. You see:
- how often and when your proposal is opened;
- which sections or pricing tables get viewed (interaction tracking);
- which proposals are fully read, still pending, or signed.
You stop calling on a hunch and start reaching out when the client is actually engaged. A bit of psychology helps too.
Tracking + behavior = right action
People rarely decide in a straight line. But you can match actions to what the tracking data tells you.
If a proposal was just opened, send a short check-in message within 24 hours to show you're engaged. When it's been viewed multiple times over 3 to 5 days, call or email with additional context to move things toward a yes. If it stays unopened for over a week, send a friendly reminder to get back on their radar. And once a proposal is signed, thank the client right away and discuss next steps by email or phone to strengthen the relationship.
For larger projects, decisions often involve a team: a buyer, project manager, controller. Track each stakeholder separately. Start with a short email to your main contact, then call the secondary decision-makers. You avoid overloading one person and keep your overview.
Choose the right channel
Most follow-ups work fine over email. Sometimes that's all you need.
- Email: best for first contact or when multiple decision-makers are involved. Safe, formal.
- Phone: works well after high-interaction moments, especially to clarify or advise.
- WhatsApp: useful for quick reminders with solo entrepreneurs, but not great as a first touchpoint or with larger groups.
(Source: Marketing Tribune)
Why this works
You stop stressing about when to call. You stop sending follow-ups nobody asked for. The path to a yes gets shorter. You're always a step ahead instead of a step behind.
In short
Good follow-up isn't luck. Proposal tracking tells you when someone reads, where they hesitate, and when to step in. Every follow-up becomes more relevant and more personal. Shorter turnaround, higher conversion, and a process where you're not guessing anymore.
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Of course you want to win great assignments or orders with your proposals. You do your best to make the best possible offer to the customer or prospect. If only you could crawl into his head to turn on the yes button. The yes button is invisible in everyone's brain. Only neuro-researchers can see it. Fortunately for us, they share their knowledge. Just search neuromarketing. Communication and advertising specialists use the research results to get a grip on the thinking and decision process of consumers (and with success, for that matter). But beware, many of these insights can easily be applied when making proposals. Incorporate one or more neuroprinciples in your proposal and you immediately have a strong lead over your competitors. Read on to discover the 5 most effective neuro-principles that revolutionize the odds of winning proposals!
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