SOP example: Follow up an open proposal
One of ten examples from our library of 150+ pre-made SOPs. Copy it, change it to how your company works, and give it an owner.
Scope
This SOP covers how Marketing & Sales follows up a proposal (a quote for a project or monthly retainer) that has been sent and has no answer yet. It starts when a proposal is sent to a prospect. It ends when the prospect says yes, says no, or the follow-up is closed as no response. Anything sent to the prospect waits for approval of the exact text by the person the delegation rules name.
Roles
- The Leads & follow-up agent: Tracks every open proposal, reminds the team when a follow-up is due, drafts each follow-up message, and records the answer.
- The salesperson: Owns the prospect relationship, edits and approves follow-up drafts within the limit set by the delegation rules, and takes calls.
- The owner: Approves messages or terms that go beyond the salesperson's limit, such as a changed price or scope, as the delegation rules say.
- The SOP writer agent: Keeps this SOP up to date when the steps change.
The steps
- Log the proposal as open with the prospect, the date sent, the amount quoted, and the next follow-up date.
- Check that the proposal has the prospect's decision date or ask for one in the first follow-up.
- Send the first follow-up a few days after the proposal. Ask if it arrived and if there are questions. The exact text is approved before it is sent.
- If the prospect replies with questions, the salesperson answers them. Any answer that leaves the company is approved first.
- If there is no reply, send a second follow-up that adds something useful, such as a short answer to a common question. The exact text is approved before it is sent.
- If there is still no reply, the salesperson tries a phone call or another channel the prospect has used.
- If the prospect asks for a change in price or scope, the person named in the delegation rules decides before anything is promised.
- Record the answer as yes, no, or no response after the last planned follow-up. If no, note the reason given, if any.
- If yes, hand the work to the team that runs the project or retainer. If no or no response, close the proposal politely and leave the door open.
- Review the closed proposals each month for patterns in reasons and timing.
KPIs
- Proposal win rate: Count proposals answered yes divided by proposals closed in the period, from the proposal log. Target: set per business.
- Time to first follow-up: Measure days from the date a proposal is sent to the date the first follow-up goes out, from the proposal log. Target: set per business.
- Open proposals past their follow-up date: Count open proposals whose next follow-up date has passed without a follow-up, from the proposal log. Target: set per business.
- Closed with no response: Count proposals closed as no response divided by all closed proposals, from the proposal log. Target: set per business.
The AI-first version
- The Leads & follow-up agent logs each sent proposal and sets the follow-up dates from the decision date (machine)
- The Leads & follow-up agent drafts the first follow-up using the proposal details and the prospect's earlier messages (assisted)
- The salesperson reads the draft, edits it, and approves the exact text before it is sent (judgment)
- The prospect replies, asks questions, or stays silent (external)
- The Leads & follow-up agent drafts answers to questions or the second follow-up, and the salesperson approves the exact text before it is sent (assisted)
- The salesperson calls prospects who have not replied and decides whether to offer changes. Changes beyond the salesperson's limit go to the person the delegation rules name (judgment)
- The Leads & follow-up agent records the answer, closes the proposal, and passes a yes to the project team (machine)
- The Leads & follow-up agent sends a monthly summary of won, lost, and silent proposals, with reasons, to the owner and HQ (machine)
How to use this SOP
Run it for a month as written, then fix what didn't match reality. In the AI-first version, machine steps go to an agent, assisted steps are drafted by an agent and checked by a person, and judgment steps stay with a person.