For many professionals, sending proposals is the biggest part of their job. But often the hard work isn’t done until you receive a response from the client. It can be exciting when they finally reply and respond positively to your proposal – but what if they don’t? Follow-ups are an essential part of any successful proposal process, as it gives you an opportunity to engage with potential clients and persuade them why working with you would be beneficial for them.

When it comes to sales, the ability to follow up with your prospects is key. A well-timed follow-up email can help you grab their attention and get them thinking about your proposal if they weren’t already. In this post, we will explore how you can send smart follow-ups in less than a minute and tips for better follow-ups on your sales proposal.

Why you must send a follow-up email?

When it comes to success in business, one of the most important steps is following up after sending a proposal. Following up helps to ensure that your proposal was received and read, and provides an opportunity to answer any questions or address any concerns that may have arisen. Additionally, following up can be used as an opportunity to build a relationship with the person you’re doing business with – this can be beneficial for future collaborations. 

The best approach when it comes to follow-ups is promptness. As soon as you send off your proposal, reach out via email or phone call to make sure they receive it and are on board with all of its details.

Following up after sending a proposal is an essential step for any business. Not only does it show your professionalism and commitment to the potential client, but it also increases the chances of you getting the job. When you follow up, you demonstrate that you are organized and reliable, traits that any client values in a business partner.

How to send proposal follow-ups?

When it comes to submitting a proposal, it can be difficult to know how to follow up effectively. After all, you don’t want to come across as too pushy or overbearing. Sending a follow-up email after sending a proposal is essential for increasing the chances of your proposal being accepted and taken seriously. Here are our best tips for sending follow-ups that result in sales.

1. Automate follow-ups at the time of sending

The success of any sales process heavily relies on follow-ups to ensure the client is engaged and the proposal is being taken seriously. For sales teams, this can be a tedious task that takes up valuable time from more important tasks. Automating follow-ups at the time of sending a proposal can help make your team’s lives easier and increase their ability to close deals in an efficient manner. 

By automating follow-up emails, your sales team will save time and energy instead of manually tracking down proposals or going through multiple rounds of emails for each deal. Automated emails allow you to focus on building relationships with clients, engaging them in relevant conversations, and ultimately closing deals faster. Additionally, automated follow-ups provide an opportunity to personalize outreach by customizing content based on customer data such as purchase history or preferences.

It’s incredibly simple to schedule a follow-up in advance. If you’re using proposal software like Fresh Proposals, just “Check”  the reminder email option, specify the number of days like remind in 2 days, and pick the template you want to use.

2. Use proposal viewing insights to customize outreach efforts

Gathering data on which clients are viewing your proposals and how long they are spending with them can give you an advantage and help guide your follow-up strategy. Utilizing proposal viewing data to inform your conversations and tailor a message for each potential client can help make the process easier, faster, and more successful. 

Having access to this information will save time by eliminating guesswork in knowing when to follow up with a client. You can use the data to prioritize those that have shown interest in your proposals by spending additional time reviewing them or revisiting them multiple times over a period of days or weeks. By utilizing proposal viewing data to its fullest potential, you can customize outreach efforts to better serve customers and close deals more efficiently than ever before.

With Fresh Proposals analytics, you can monitor how many times a prospect has actually opened a proposal email and browsed through a proposal. In fact, you will also be able to see when the prospects are actively reviewing the proposal. You can also check how much time has passed since the prospect last viewed your proposal. And based on this information you can take the most suitable and proactive action.

3. Create templates for common follow-up scenarios

If you’re a business professional who is constantly sending proposals, then creating templates for common follow-up scenarios can help streamline the process. By having pre-written responses ready to send when needed, you can save time and energy while still ensuring your clients receive polite yet firm follow-ups in a timely manner. 

Creating templates allows you to customize messages based on the situation at hand. Whether your client has accepted or denied your proposal, each template should be tailored to reflect this difference and contain language that is both respectful and inspiring. Note that it’s important to adjust the tone of each message appropriately while still conveying the same overall sentiment. 

Here are some example scenarios:

• Prospect didn’t open your email with a sales proposal
• Prospect read the email but didn’t view your proposal
• Prospect read the full email and proposal
• Prospect read and stopped at a specific point in your proposal
• Prospect forwarded your email with a sales proposal

How to reduce the need for follow-up

Writing a professional proposal is the first step to success, but many professionals find themselves having to follow up with clients or potential customers in order to close the deal. This can be time-consuming and cause frustration. Fortunately, there are several things that professionals can do in order to reduce the need for follow-up after sending a proposal. 

4. Send proposals quickly

The ability to quickly and effectively send proposals is becoming increasingly important in today’s business world. In order to keep up with the competition, it is essential for companies to be able to quickly send out proposals that are clear, concise, and persuasive. This ensures that clients have all of the information they need in order to make an informed decision on whether or not they want to do business with you.

Not only does sending out a proposal quickly allow you to close more deals faster, it also reduces the need for follow-up emails and calls. When potential customers have all of the information they need right away, there’s no reason for them to wait around and ask questions later on down the line. Quickly sending out proposals can help your company save time by eliminating the need for additional communication with prospects.

5. Provide interactive pricing tables that clients can customize

The proposal process is often lengthy and complex, making it difficult to accurately determine the cost of services. One way that businesses can streamline their proposal processes and reduce the need for follow-up is by including interactive pricing tables in their proposals. Interactive pricing tables allow potential customers to easily view and compare different options available and make an informed decision on which package best meets their needs. 

Interactive pricing tables provide a visual representation of each package’s features and costs, so customers can quickly see the value they will be getting from each option. You can customize these tables with images, descriptions, or other visuals to help make them more attractive to your potential customers. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating a successful follow-up plan is essential to ensure that you don’t miss out on potential opportunities. Make sure to take the time needed to craft a clear, concise message and tailor your follow-up with the client in mind. By staying organized and persistent, you can create an effective follow-up system that will help increase your success rate.