It’s hard for your clients to say “yes” to your proposal! It’s sad but true.

Your presentation went great. You hit it right home. But you haven’t heard from the client… You are committing the fifth proposal sin and it may cost you that win you need so badly.

You make it too hard

No one likes working too hard but you make it too hard for the client to say ‘yes’.

There was great energy in the room. Engaged client throughout the proposal presentation. Well done. Compliment yourself. But it’s now three days…

The client would have given you the call by now, right? You’re getting nervous.

How do I know? Well, been there, got the t-shirt.

But look, it’s very hard for the client now. They went through a few presentations. All well done, give or take.

And now they have a big decision to make.

Tons of stuff go through their minds – the client feels stuck because they don’t do this daily. And it all takes time.

Well, let me break the news: they are stuck because they don’t know what to do next.

And when you leave it open at the end of your presentation you make it hard for them.

Be easy to say YES to

When you finish the presentation and leave it open you run the risk to get ghosted.

The client has a decision to make and you need to make it easy for them – easy to say yes to you.

So, you have to leave the client with a roadmap.

Your presentation was great.  But don’t leave without doing these three steps:

1.  Lay out the very next 3 – 5 steps

Be specific. Spell out what you will do and what you expect the client to do. Make it very clear.

2.  Put down some dates

When do these steps need to happen? And who by? Make a little table: 3 columns – action, responsible, date! A reminder for you- actions start with a verb!

3.  Reserve the team

Make one of the actions ‘Reserve the team until…’ and put in a date. A little hint: it’s days not weeks away! Make it absolutely clear how long you can hold the introduced team and by when you will need a decision.

Now you can leave and less likely to get ghosted.

And here’s a final idea:

Once you’re back, send an email to the client reiterating the roadmap. And send it to all the meeting participants so everyone knows what they need to do next.

And if you’re stuck in your ways, come talk to me. I’d love to help you discover your capacity for client and people excitement.