Business Growth Brief · By Leanne Reichhoff
The proposal is finished. You have explained the scope, included the investment, and sent it to the prospective customer. From your side, the next step seems straightforward: they need to make a decision.
They may still be trying to understand what that decision involves.
They could be comparing approaches, discussing the investment with another decision-maker, or wondering how much time their team will need to contribute. They may like your company and still have questions they cannot quite put into words.
At Re3, we consider the proposal and follow-up part of the full customer experience. These interactions help someone assess both your recommendation and what working with your company may be like.
Explain How You Reached the Recommendation
A proposal can be accurate and still require the customer to make important connections on their own. You may understand why the scope includes a particular phase or service, but a list of deliverables does not necessarily communicate that reasoning.
For example, a customer might ask for a website and receive a proposal that begins with strategy. Without an explanation, that phase may look like additional work they did not request. If the proposal connects strategy to unresolved questions about services, audience, or positioning, the customer has a clearer basis for evaluating its value.
Explain what you heard, what needs attention, and how the proposed work responds. Where there are tradeoffs, make them understandable. If you have prioritized one area and deferred another, explain why.
This also helps when the proposal reaches someone who was not in the original conversation. They need enough context to understand the recommendation without relying on another person to reconstruct the meeting.
Make the Customer’s Responsibilities Visible
The customer is evaluating an investment of time and attention as well as money. A leadership team may be comfortable with the price while uncertain about whether it can support the engagement.
Be clear about what participation requires. Consider:
- Which people need to be involved in early conversations.
- What information, access, or materials the customer needs to provide.
- Which decisions require their approval.
- How quickly feedback is needed to maintain the schedule.
- Who will be responsible for using or maintaining the result.
Specific expectations make the engagement easier to assess. “We will need your input throughout” gives a busy leader very little to plan around. Describing the conversations, review points, and decisions gives them a more useful picture.
It also creates an opportunity to address practical concerns before work begins. If several people must approve the project, the process needs to account for that.
Use Follow-Up to Address What Is Still Unclear
A message that says “Just checking in” asks whether the customer has made progress, but may do little to help them make progress.
A useful follow-up has a reason beyond the passage of time. It might clarify why a particular phase was included, offer to discuss the customer’s responsibilities, or revisit an issue they raised during the first conversation.
You can also ask a more specific question: “Are there parts of the recommendation or your team’s involvement that would be helpful to talk through?” That gives the customer a place to begin without assuming what concerns them.
When customers are comparing proposals, help them understand meaningful differences in scope and approach. Explain your own recommendation accurately. They may need to see how planning, implementation, support, or internal responsibilities differ before they can make a fair comparison.
Keep the Experience Consistent With Your Positioning
A company may describe itself as thoughtful, responsive, and easy to work with. The proposal process gives a prospective customer evidence of those qualities.
Do the documents use language they can understand? Is the next step clear? Are answers timely and specific? Does the company remember what the customer shared? Are changes and exclusions explained?
These details belong to the same experience that began on the website and continued through the first conversation. A customer does not evaluate each interaction in isolation. They use them together to form an impression of the company.
Review the Process From the Customer’s Side
Read one recent proposal alongside its follow-up messages. Imagine receiving it without the knowledge your team has about the work.
Write down questions about the recommendation, the customer’s responsibilities, timing, support, and next steps. Then identify where your process should answer them: in the proposal, a discussion, a supporting document, or a follow-up.
A clearer process cannot remove every concern or guarantee a decision. It can help someone understand what they are considering and give them a more accurate preview of working with you.
What does your proposal process teach a prospective customer about your company?
