If you’ve ever had a great conversation, sent the proposal, and then… radio silence, you’re not alone. One minute the client is engaged, asking smart questions, acting excited. The next minute you’re staring at your sent folder thinking: Did they even open it?
And the maddening part is you don’t even get a clean “no.”
- No “too expensive.”
- No “we went with someone else.”
Just… ghosted. (Like a bad date, except you also did free strategy and built a custom scope.)
Okay, here’s the truth: Sending a proposal by email is a mistake. But probably not for the reason you think.
Most consultants assume deals fall apart because of pricing, scope, or timing. In reality, however, many opportunities stall because the proposal process quietly shifts control away from you and onto an already overwhelmed decision maker.
If you’ve ever sent a proposal you felt good about only to hear nothing back, this article helps you understand what’s really happening and how to prevent it.
💡 If you’re pressed for time, you can watch this video instead:
Why Does Emailing a Proposal Often Backfire?
Emailing your entire proposal to your client is a mistake, and here’s why. When a proposal arrives in the decision maker’s inbox, it doesn’t land in a vacuum. It lands in the middle of meetings, deadlines, internal politics, and competing priorities.
Here’s what typically happens next:
- They scroll to the last page and check the price
- They skim without full context
- They hit a section that feels unclear or heavy
- They decide to come back to it later
Later becomes tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes next week. Next week becomes “Do we really need to do this now?” And then finally, your prospect forgets, and goodbye, proposal.
The thing is, once you click “send” on your email proposal, you’ve stepped back from being a proactive partner to simply waiting for your prospect to make the next move.
And by putting the proverbial ball in their court, you’ve boxed yourself into no good options, and are left only with thinking up ways to be clever in a follow-up email without coming across as needy or impatient.
(Spoiler: There is no good version of a “just wanted to follow-up” email.)
What Happens in a Decision Maker’s Head After You Hit “Send”?
Inside organizations, even a strong opportunity can lose momentum if it:
- Feels complex to implement
- Requires internal coordination
- Raises questions the decision maker can’t immediately answer
- Creates a lot more work before any visible results
When that happens, decision makers don’t reject the proposal. They sideline it.
Unfortunately, once an opportunity loses urgency, it’s very difficult to revive. Typically, it takes – at best – 3 to 6 months for the decision maker to circle back around and feel slightly interested again. Our goal is to prevent this from happening in the first place.
Why did my prospect ghost me?
Ghosting is rarely personal. It’s protective. When a proposal feels overwhelming, the safest option is to avoid it. That’s especially true for leaders who already spend most of their week in meetings and problem-solving mode. Let’s look at some numbers:
- A 2025 Microsoft Study found that more professionals (especially C-level executives) are experiencing “infinite workdays”, with 40% checking emails after 6 pm.
- This may have contributed to almost 50% of US and Canadian decision makers reporting feeling significant daily stress (Gallup)
Remember: From your prospect’s perspective, pausing feels rational. From yours, it feels confusing and frustrating. This gap is exactly why emailing proposals creates so many stalled deals. Check out our guide, How to Scale Your Consulting, Executive Coaching or Solo Practitioner Business, for more information.
What Should You Do Instead of Sending a Proposal?
Instead of simply emailing proposals and leaving the ball in their court, it’s much more efficient if you present them in an active conversation or presentation.
This can happen:
- In person
- Over Zoom or any other collaboration platform
- As a scheduled finalization conversation
Why Does Presenting a Proposal Build More Trust?
Walking a client through a proposal does something subtle but powerful: it reinforces partnership.
In live conversations, you can:
- Clarify intent in real time
- Adjust the scope together
- Explain the reasoning behind the recommendations
- Figure out tricky sticking points as a team
- Show how the solution fits their organization
Most decision makers believe their organization is unique. And from their seat, it is. When you customize and refine the proposal with them, it signals care and strategic thinking, not commoditized selling.
How Do Live Proposal Conversations Surface Objections Early?
When you send a proposal via email, prospects can just skim and go, “meh, okay.” But a scheduled conversation makes you an active strategic partner in the process as the decision maker thinks through questions like:
- “Who internally needs to be involved?”
- “How disruptive will this be?”
- “Do we have the capacity for this right now?”
This turns proposals into a proactive collaboration where you can address concerns immediately, before they turn into reasons to delay.
⚠️ What If a Prospect Asks You to “Just Email It Over”?
This is where many consultants give in. But, this is also where most problems start because expectations were never set earlier.
The proposal conversation only works if you establish your process long before a proposal exists. And why our proprietary BoldHaus 5-part sales process exists.
How Do You Set Expectations Before the Proposal Stage?
This is one of the most important things we teach our BoldHaus Collective members. It’s a proven process — refined through more than two decades of real-world use — that allows them to do this in a way that feels comfortable, is fully in integrity, and genuinely serves clients.
From the first moment a prospect expresses interest, you should:
- Explain how your firm works
- Outline the stages of your process
- Position that process as a reason for results
- Ask for alignment before moving forward
This does two things:
- It positions you as the expert
- It invites the client into a partnership, not a transaction
When clients opt into your process early, they’re far less likely to resist it later.
Why Does This Work?
Clients who respect your process tend to:
- Make decisions more confidently
- Engage more collaboratively
- Treat you as a strategic partner
Clients who push back often see the outside firm as a vendor who takes orders, not a trusted advisor whose counsel they value. Remember, however, that you are the expert in your own field. You have a service and expertise that can help them, and while — naturally — you also want the sale, you need to proactively protect your position and your energy.
How Do You Go Deeper Into Enterprise-Level Selling?
If you’re building either a solo practice or boutique professional services firm, and you want to work confidently with organizational decision makers, this proposal strategy is just one piece of the puzzle.
At BoldHaus, we help expert-led firms:
- Design enterprise-ready sales processes
- Navigate complex B2B buying environments
- Position themselves as strategic partners, not vendors
You can explore the details of the BoldHaus Collective here.
