Proposal

Proposal is the stage where the customer has your price and terms in writing: an estimate, a commercial offer, a quote by email or in a messenger. A price said aloud on a call does not count. The customer can forward written terms to the person who decides, put them next to other offers and reread them a week later. A number said on the phone gives them none of that.

In a CRM a deal moves to Proposal when the document is sent. The record holds the amount, the date sent and the file or a link to it. That amount becomes the deal amount, and pipeline coverage and the forecast are built from it. If the price changes later, update the amount so your open pipeline stays honest. Keep one template for the whole team, so every customer gets the same structure.

For example, an $8,500 estimate sent by email.

In a team of 2 to 10 sellers, proposals are often patched together from an old file, and some sellers turn them around much faster than others. A deal leaves Proposal when the customer has read it, asked their questions and named a date by which they will decide. Where it usually stalls: the proposal goes out, the seller waits politely, and silence gets logged as “still thinking.”

Each week the head of sales lists the deals in Proposal with no decision date recorded. Those are the deals at risk. A few days after sending, the seller writes to the customer with a question: what is unclear, who else needs to see it. A bare reminder gives the customer nothing to answer. Start with three working days as the follow-up rule and test it against your sales cycle.

Proposal sits between Conversation and Decision. A weak conversation shows up here as a proposal at the wrong price or for the wrong need. Put the average proposal amount next to your average deal size: the gap is roughly what you give away in discounts before the deal closes. The forecast leans on the decision date you record at the end of this stage.

• Sending a proposal before the conversation is done, so the price is a guess. Move a deal here only when need, budget and timeline are in the CRM.
• Sending a price with no terms. Put on one page what is included, the payment schedule and how long the offer is valid.
• Following up with “just checking in.” The customer has nothing to answer. Ask one specific question, for example who else will review the offer.
• Leaving the first amount in the CRM after a revision. The forecast then counts money the customer never saw. Update the amount each time you resend.

By Friday, each seller finds every deal in Proposal without a decision date and sends that customer one question: by what date will you decide? The answer goes into the CRM as the decision date, in the customer’s words. On Friday the head of sales checks which deals still have no date and puts them first on the agenda of the next pipeline review. For each one, the head of sales asks the seller: what stops you from asking for the date?

Six areas of the job on one map, with a self-assessment and a plan for your first month.