A discipline that’s key to our professional lives is especially salient in terms of proposals. I call them “sedulous next steps,” or SNS.
Nowhere is a definitive future, agreed-upon action more important than in developing, documenting, and delivering proposals. It’s rather useless to promise a proposal quickly and then take your time following up. Speed and milestones are as important as detail and description.
Before you leave the buyer and after the conceptual agreement, you should use language such as this:
I’ll have this on your desk before 10:30 on Thursday. Are you available Friday after- noon at 2 to chat by phone so that I can find out your choices?
If not, what time is best on Monday? Would you prefer I call your cell phone or office number?
If you have a conceptual agreement based on a trusting relationship, you should not receive a response such as:
- I’ll get back to you when I can next week.
- Call me in about two weeks.
- I’ll need to have some of my people review what you send.
- Take your time, there is no rush here.
- Why don’t you schedule another meeting and bring it by?
All of these are “stop” signs requiring that you return, like Groundhog Day, to an earlier part of the conversation and reestablish (or establish for the first time) a trusting relationship, value, a sense of urgency, and definitive next steps. A failure to do this is why so many consultants complain to me that, “I can’t understand it, the buyer won’t return my calls despite our productive meeting.”
Productive for whom?
Here is a typical schedule you can follow and even place in your briefcase to refer to during your visit:
| Step | When |
| ¹. Establish conceptual agreement | During meeting with economic buyer after trust is established ³ |
| ². Reconfirm conceptual agreement | Prior to end of meeting |
| ³. Set time and date for buyer to expect proposal | Prior to end of meeting |
| ⁴. Set time and date for follow-up after proposal is received | Prior to end of meeting |
| ⁵. Set contingency time and date in case follow-up is missed | Prior to end of meeting |
Thus:
I’ll have this on your desk before 10:30 on Thursday. Are you available Friday after- noon at 2 to chat by phone so that I can find out your choices?
If not, what time is best on Monday? Would you prefer I call your cell phone or office number? In case something occurs that we don’t anticipate and we miss that call, how is Monday morning before the day begins, say at 8:45? how is Monday morning before the day begins, say at 8:45?
We’ve covered why the buyer might not be responsive when you don’t create SNS (e.g., the buyer just wants you to be gone and really hasn’t felt a trusting relationship grow). But why would the buyer not respond if you do have a trusting relationship and tight conceptual agreement?
Glossary
SNS: Sedulous next steps are those vital connections between you and the buyer, which maintain momentum and minimize time duration. They are important throughout the marketing and delivery relationships, but absolutely critical in the proposal stage.
Personal concerns have arisen that trump all else •Illness •Emergency assignment •Company emergency (e.g., lawsuit) •Interference and interruption by others/shifting priorities •“Cools off” to the value after you leave •Learns new, pertinent information that’s discouraging •Misses or misplaces your call/forgets
For these and allied reasons, I’ve been suggesting the following preventive and contingent actions:
•Take your time to gain trust and test that trust, for example, is the buyer sharing with you and seeking advice? •Reconfirm everything on the spot, while you’re there. •Set definitive next times and dates. •Set contingency times and dates. •Request a cell phone number and/or personal e-mail. •Ask while together, “Are there any obstacles you can conceive which might delay your acceptance of my proposal that we haven’t yet discussed?”⁴ •Move quickly—as quickly as you can. This is enhanced by our very brief and pithy proposal format. •Ask the buyer’s secretary or assistant if anything is preventing a return call if the original and contingency aren’t made. •Don’t assume the buyer is damaged or dishonest or uninterested. •These judgments will adversely affect your behavior. •Make three calls, and then write a hard copy letter. We’ll talk about this contingency more a bit later.
Understand for now that time is money in the sense that the faster you are, the more you’ll make. But let’s look at adverse events that occur despite your best plans.
One golden rule:
12. Get there firstest with the mostest and measure it with your calendar.
Notes
1. This enables the buyer and you to be told that FedEx had a mechanical problem or a storm cancelled the flight.
2. Which is not in person, and which I discuss later in the chapter.
3. This may take more than one meeting in certain circumstances, so be sure to schedule the next meeting while you’re there.
4. If the buyer says, “Yes, I haven’t seen your fees!” respond, “That’s true, and you’ll see fees, options, and ROI in detail tomorrow!”