Follow up on a proposal twice before changing tactics: a gentle day-3 note that invites questions, then a firmer day-7 note that asks for a decision or the real blocker. After that, pick up the phone. Every unsigned proposal needs a dated next touch, or it quietly becomes a dead deal.
Use this three days after sending the proposal. Low pressure, and it opens the door for objections you can actually fix, like scope and phasing.
Subject: questions on the proposal?
Hi [Name], the proposal went over on [day], so a quick check-in: anything unclear, or anything you'd change? Happy to walk through it in 10 minutes.
If a piece doesn't fit, say so. Scope is adjustable; silence is the only thing I can't work with.
Use this a week after sending, when the gentle nudge got nothing. Direct, respectful, and built around a three-way question that is very easy to answer.
Subject: where do we stand?
Hi [Name], I want to respect your time and mine, so a direct question: is this a yes, a no, or a not-yet?
If it's a not-yet, what's the blocker? Budget timing, another stakeholder, scope? I can probably help with any of those. And if it's a no, that's genuinely fine, just tell me and I'll close the file.
Use this only when the deadline is real: a start date you are holding, pricing that expires, a calendar that fills. Fake urgency reads as fake within seconds.
Subject: holding your start date until [date]
Hi [Name], a heads-up rather than a push: I've been holding [the start week] for this project. I can keep holding it until [specific date], after that the slot goes to the next project and we'd be looking at [later timeframe].
If you need more time to decide, that's fine too, I just didn't want the calendar to surprise you.
Use this around day 21 to 30, after the day-3 note, the day-7 note, and a call attempt. It ends the chase with the door open, and it regularly revives deals precisely because it stops pushing.
Subject: closing this out
Hi [Name], I haven't been able to reach you since sending the proposal, so I'll assume the timing isn't right and stop following up. No hard feelings at all.
The proposal stands through [end of quarter] if things change. If the problem resurfaces after that, reach out and we'll re-scope. Good luck with [their project] either way.
In Orbit, ask Hiro to watch your unsigned proposals. It nudges each one on day 3 with a gentle note and on day 7 with a firmer one, and it flags deals where nothing was ever sent at all. Each nudge lands as a card you approve, edit, or dismiss, so the chasing happens on schedule without a single proposal slipping your mind.
Three days. It is long enough for the prospect to have read the proposal and short enough that momentum from your last conversation is still alive. If the day-3 note gets nothing, send a firmer note at day 7, then switch to the phone.
Two emails, then a phone call, then a breakup note around day 21 to 30. The day-3 email invites questions, the day-7 email asks for a decision, the call surfaces the real blocker, and the breakup ends the chase politely while leaving the door open.
Offer the not-yet frame and ask for the blocker directly: "is it budget timing, another stakeholder, or scope?" Then propose a decision date: "can we put 15 minutes on [date] to land this one way or the other?" Endless reviewing usually means an unspoken objection that a direct question can surface.
Yes, when the reason is real: pricing you can only hold so long, a start date you are reserving, a calendar that fills. State it plainly in the proposal and remind once near the deadline. Invented countdown-timer urgency damages trust the moment it is recognized, and it usually is.
Usually one of three things: the price was higher than imagined and they are embarrassed to negotiate, a stakeholder you never met raised objections, or priorities shifted the week after your call. Follow-up exists to find out which, because each has a different fix.
Hiro drafts the day-3 and day-7 nudges for every unsigned proposal in Orbit. You approve each send. AI comes standard on every plan, with monthly credits included, no credit card to start.
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