Sales follow-up email sequence after a proposal
A sales follow-up email sequence for the 14 days after you send a proposal or quote: five emails with two subject lines each, the day to send, stop rules and the CRM task that keeps every touch on time. Plus objection replies, a meeting recap, a Word file and a free Excel tracker, no sign-up needed.
Made by Anatolii Ulitovskyi 
Fact-checked by RH Fardin Updated 1. Day 0: the proposal email, with a recap and one next step
Send with the proposalBefore you send
- The scope is agreed on a call or a visit.
- The proposal shows the price, what is included, the start date and a valid-until date.
- You know who decides and when they want to decide.
SubjectYour proposal for project, with the next step
OrYour company proposal: main result from start date
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for your time on day. Your proposal for project is attached.
In short: what is included, starting start date, for price. The price is valid until valid-until date.
The next step is a 15-minute call to go through it and answer your questions. Does day at time or day at time work for you? If decision maker would like to join, they are very welcome.
Best regards,
your name
phone
TipPut the next step in the email itself, with two set times. A proposal without a next date is the one that goes quiet.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Send proposal: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, 1 working day after the call or visit |
| When done | Status summary: sent date, value, valid until date. Create the Day 2 task. |
2. Day 2: a short check-in on the proposal or quote
Send when
- No reply 2 days after the proposal email.
- No call booked yet.
- Day 2 falls on a weekend: send on Monday.
SubjectRe: Your proposal for project
OrDid the proposal reach you?
EmailHi first name,
I wanted to make sure the proposal for project reached you. I have attached it again here.
If it helps, I can go through it with you in 15 minutes. Would day at time or day at time work?
Best regards,
your name
TipReply in the same thread so the proposal is one click away. Do not add new prices or a discount on Day 2.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Day 2 check-in: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, proposal date + 2 days, 10 am |
| When done | Status summary: sent date, no reply. Create the Day 5 task. |
3. Day 5: send one useful thing, not a reminder
Send when
- Still no reply after the Day 2 email.
- You have one thing that helps them decide, not just a reminder.
SubjectHow similar customer handled problem
OrOne more thing for your project decision
EmailHi first name,
While you review the proposal, this may help: one useful item, such as a short case, a checklist or a sample schedule. One sentence on why it matters for their project.
If any part of the proposal does not fit, tell me which part and I can adjust it.
Would a quick call on day at time help?
Best regards,
your name
TipGood items: a one-page case from a similar customer, a checklist, a sample schedule or photos of finished work. Never a discount.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Day 5 value email: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, proposal date + 5 days, 10 am |
| When done | Status summary: sent date with item, no reply. Create the Day 9 task. |
4. Day 9: the follow-up email after no response
Send when
- No reply to the proposal and two follow-ups.
- The deal is still open in your CRM.
SubjectShould I keep project open?
OrQuick question about your proposal
EmailHi first name,
I have not heard back about the proposal for project, so I want to check where things stand. Which of these is closest?
1. Still interested, just busy. I will check back on date.
2. We need changes. Tell me what, and I will update the proposal.
3. Not now. Tell me when to get back in touch.
4. We have decided not to go ahead.
A reply with just the number is fine.
Best regards,
your name
TipNumbered options are easy to answer from a phone. Option 4 is there on purpose: a clear no lets you close the deal.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Day 9 no-response email: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, proposal date + 9 days, 10 am |
| When done | Status summary: sent date, no reply. Create the Day 14 task. |
5. Day 14: close the loop politely
Always send itSend when
- No reply to the proposal and three follow-ups.
- Nobody else at the company has answered either.
SubjectClosing the file on project
OrShould I close this for now?
EmailHi first name,
I have not heard back, so I will assume the timing is not right and close the proposal for project on my side for now.
If things change, just reply to this email. The proposal is valid until valid-until date, and after that I am happy to send an updated one.
Thank you for considering your company.
Best regards,
your name
TipKeep it friendly and final: no guilt, no fake deadline, no last-minute discount. If the fit was good, create one task to check in after 3 to 6 months.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Day 14 close the loop: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, proposal date + 14 days, 10 am |
| When done | Status summary: sent date. Create a task 3 working days later: no reply means Lost, reason: no response. |
6. Objections: replies for price, timing, a competitor and another decision maker
Any reply stops the timed emails. Answer within one working day and end with one next step and a date.
6.1The price is too high
They sayIt is more than we budgeted.
DoAsk what they compare it with. Change the scope, not the price.
ReplyThank you for telling me. Can I ask what you are comparing it with, another quote or a budget? If the budget is amount, I can offer smaller scope for lower price. Shall I send both options side by side?
6.2Not now, maybe later
They sayThe timing is not right. Maybe next quarter.
DoAsk what needs to happen first. Create a task for the date they give.
ReplyThat makes sense. What needs to happen before you are ready, and when should I check back? I will put date in my calendar unless another day suits you better.
6.3We are talking to another company
They sayWe got a cheaper quote from competitor.
DoNever criticize the competitor. Offer to compare like for like.
ReplyThanks for being open about it. Quotes often differ in what is included, so it is worth comparing like for like. Ours includes key items. If you share what the other quote covers, I am happy to go through both with you on day.
6.4I need to check with someone
They sayI need to run this by decision maker.
DoOffer a one-page summary and a short call with the decision maker.
ReplyOf course. Would a one-page summary help, with the price, what is included and the start date? I can also join a 15-minute call with decision maker to answer questions directly. Does day at time work?
TipLog every objection in the deal notes as Price, Timing, Competitor or Decision maker. After 20 proposals you will see which one to fix in the proposal itself.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Answer objection: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, same or next working day |
| When done | Status summary: the objection, what you offered and the next step. Create a task for that step. |
7. After a call: the meeting recap email, sent the same day
Send when
- You had a call, a demo or a visit about the proposal.
- Within a few hours, while the details are fresh.
SubjectRecap and next steps: project
OrWhat we agreed today about project
EmailHi first name,
Thank you for your time today. Here is what we agreed:
1. Scope or change, for example the new schedule.
2. Start date: start date.
3. Price: price, valid until date.
Next step: who will action by date. I will send the updated proposal by date.
If I missed anything, reply and I will correct it.
Best regards,
your name
TipWrite the recap so the buyer can forward it to whoever approves the budget.
If they say yes
- Send the quote or contract for signature, and a payment link if you take a deposit.
- Set the deal to Won only after a signature, a payment or a written yes.
CRM task, linked to the deal
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Task title | Send meeting recap: deal |
| Assignee, deadline | Deal owner, the day of the call |
| When done | Status summary: what was agreed and who decides by when. Create the task Check decision: deal. |
For small sales and support teams
Keep every proposal follow-up owned and on time.
In CRMsoftware.pro each proposal is a deal with an owner, and each follow-up is a task with an assignee, a deadline and the linked deal. You send the emails from your own mailbox.
- Deals on a Kanban board, with tasks linked to each deal
- Quotes, e-sign and payment links to close the deal
- Free plan with 1 pipeline and basic tasks. Quotes and e-sign from Launch, $19 a month billed yearly
Free plan: 3 users, no credit card.
Filled example
One proposal, two follow-ups, signed on day 13
Brightway Office Cleaning, a fictional company, quotes nightly cleaning for two dental clinics and runs this sales follow-up email sequence. The buyer answers the Day 5 email with two objections, a call follows, and the deal is signed 13 days after the proposal. Day 9 and Day 14 were never needed.
Deal in the CRM on 5 October
| Deal | Nightly cleaning · Harbor Dental |
| Primary contact | Elena Ruiz, practice manager |
| Assigned to | Kim |
| Proposal sent | Tue 22 Sep, $2,150 a month |
| Replied after | Day 5 email: price, decision maker |
| Final value | $22,680 a year ($1,890 a month) |
| Status | Won on 5 Oct, day 13 |
Follow-up tasks
| Deadline | Task | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 Sep | Day 2 check-in | Sent, no reply |
| Mon 28 Sep | Day 5 value email | Sent, reply the same day |
| Mon 28 Sep | Answer objection | Call booked |
| Wed 30 Sep | Send meeting recap | Sent, new proposal |
| Fri 9 Oct | Check decision | Signed on 5 Oct |
Why follow up
Why a short sequence works: replies come fast, or after a nudge
Silence after a proposal is rarely a decision. In a study of Yahoo Mail users who email each other regularly, 2 million people and 187 million emails, more than 90% of replies came within a day of receiving the message, and half within 47 minutes1. If your buyer has not answered in two days, the proposal has probably slipped down the inbox, and a short check-in brings it back.
Follow-ups also bring in a large share of the answers. In Belkins' 2025 data on 7.5 million cold B2B emails, steps 2 to 6 of each sequence brought 58.6% of all replies, and the study puts the practical range at 3 to 5 steps2. Your buyer asked for the proposal, so four short follow-ups in 14 days is persistence, not pressure, as long as each email has a job and the sequence stops at the first answer.
The hard part is remembering the next email. That is why each one here comes with a CRM task, an owner and a deadline.
90%+
of email replies came within a day of the message
58.6%
of replies to cold B2B emails came from follow-ups
4
follow-ups in 14 days, each with an owner and a deadline
Timing plan
How many follow-up emails to send, and when
Five emails over 14 days: the proposal and four follow-ups, each with a different job. Count the days from the proposal date; a weekend day moves to Monday. Objection replies and the meeting recap go out whenever they are needed.
| Day | Its job | Stop or switch if | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Proposal sent | Recap the offer and ask for a 15-minute call | They book the call: send the recap after it |
| Day 2 | Check-in | Make sure it arrived and offer the call again | Any reply, a booked call or a no |
| Day 5 | Add value | Send one item that helps them decide | Any reply, a booked call or a no |
| Day 9 | No response | Offer four easy answers, including no | Any answer, including not now |
| Day 14 | Close the loop | Close politely and leave the door open | No reply in 3 working days: Lost |
Why stop after four follow-ups? More emails add pressure but rarely new information. In Belkins' cold email data the practical range was 3 to 5 steps2, and your buyer already knows you. After Day 14, close the deal, or set one check-in in 3 to 6 months if the fit was good.
Stop rules
When to stop the sequence, and what to do instead
Timed emails are only for silence. The moment the buyer does anything, stop the sequence and treat it as a conversation. Close the open task with a status summary, so the deal shows what happened.
They reply with a question
Stop the timed emails. Answer within one working day and end with one next step. Replace the open task with a task for that step.
They book a call
Mark the follow-up task done and create a task to send the meeting recap on the day of the call. Attach the proposal to the calendar invite.
They say not now
Ask what needs to happen first and when to check back. Create a task for that date. The deal stays open.
ReplyThanks for letting me know. Shall I check back on date?
They say no
Thank them, ask one question about why, and close the deal as Lost with the reason in the notes. Never argue.
ReplyThank you for letting me know. May I ask what made the difference? It helps us improve, and I hope we can work together another time.
An out-of-office reply
It is not an answer. Move the open task to the day after they return and continue from there.
Someone else answers
Add the new person to the deal as a contact, send them the proposal with a two-line intro and restart at Day 2.
Never send a fake deadline, never add a buyer to a newsletter because they did not reply, and never write "just following up" with nothing new.
Excel tracker
What is in the Excel follow-up tracker
Three sheets: Follow-ups with one row per proposal, Summary with the totals, and Lists with your owners, dropdown values and the timing plan. Columns marked Auto fill in by themselves.
| Column | What it does |
|---|---|
| Deal, contact, owner, value | One row per proposal. Pick the owner from the dropdown. |
| Proposal sent | The date you emailed the proposal. Enter it once. |
| Day 2, 5, 9 and 14 due Auto | Proposal date plus 2, 5, 9 and 14 days. Weekend dates move to Monday. |
| Sent | The date you sent each follow-up. |
| Reply date and reply | Replied, Call booked, Not now or Said no. Any reply stops the timed emails. |
| Replied after Auto | The last email sent before the reply. |
| Outcome and next action | Open, Won or Lost, and what happens next. |
| Next email and next due Auto | The next follow-up to send and its date. |
| Status Auto | Overdue, Due today, On track, Stopped (they replied) or Done (won, lost or all emails sent). |
The sample holds the example deal and 7 more proposals: 3 replies, 1 won, 2 lost, and on a weekday 1 follow-up due today and 1 overdue. The Summary sheet shows open deals, replies, won and lost deals, overdue follow-ups, replies by email and totals per owner. The file opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets (File, then Import).
How to set up
Set up proposal follow-up in 5 steps
- 1
Write your versions once
Fill in the brackets and save each email as a draft or template in your mailbox.
- 2
Name one owner per proposal
The sender sends every follow-up. A named backup covers absences.
- 3
Create one task at a time
Send, mark the task done, write what happened, create the next one.
- 4
Stop at the first answer
A reply, a booked call or a no ends the timed emails.
- 5
Record the outcome
Won or Lost on the day you know, with the reason.
Set it up in CRMsoftware.pro
- Open Deals in the left menu. Open the deal, or click New Deal and fill in the title, value, stage, expected close date, primary contact and Assigned to.
- On Launch, build the price with New Quote in Quotes, link it to the deal and set Valid Until. Change its Status to Sent when you email it.
- Open Tasks in the left menu and click New Task. Enter the Task title, pick the Assignee, set the Deadline and choose the Linked deal. The deal page lists it under Linked tasks.
- Send the email from your own mailbox. Then write what happened in the task's Status summary, click Mark done and create the next task.
- Every morning, open My Tasks and clear Due today and Overdue first.
- When the buyer says yes, use Send for Signature on the deal page and Create Payment Link on the invoice. Then set the deal Status to Won, or to Lost with the reason in Notes.
CRMsoftware.pro does not send these emails for you: you send them from your own mailbox, and the tasks keep the timing. Deals with 1 pipeline and basic tasks are free. Quotes, invoices, e-sign and payment links come with Launch, $19 a month billed yearly.
Weekly follow-up review, 10 minutes
- Every open proposal has one open follow-up task.
- Overdue tasks: send today or move the date with a reason.
- No reply 3 working days after Day 14: close the deal as Lost.
- Stopped deals have a next action and a date.
- Closed deals have an outcome and a reason.
FAQ
Sales follow-up email sequence questions
What is a sales follow-up email sequence?
It is a planned set of emails you send after a proposal, quote or meeting until the buyer answers. This one has five, on Day 0, 2, 5, 9 and 14, and any reply, booked call or no stops it.
How many follow-up emails should you send after a proposal?
Four after the proposal email, over about two weeks, with the last one closing the loop. In a large cold email study, follow-ups brought 58.6% of all replies and the practical range was 3 to 5 steps2.
How long should you wait to follow up on a proposal?
Two days for the first check-in, then 5, 9 and 14 days after the proposal. In a Yahoo Mail study, more than 90% of replies came within a day of the message1, so two quiet days usually mean the email got buried, not rejected. If a day falls on a weekend, send on Monday.
What should a follow-up email after no response say?
Give the buyer an easy way to answer. The Day 9 email offers four numbered options: still interested, needs changes, not now, or no. A one-word reply is enough.
How do you write a quotation follow-up email?
Name the quote and the project, restate the price and the valid-until date, and ask for one next step, such as a 15-minute call at two set times. Reply in the same thread so the quote is attached again.
What is a close-the-loop email?
It is the last email in the sequence: you close the proposal for now, tell the buyer how to restart and thank them, with no guilt and no last-minute discount. No reply within 3 working days means Lost, reason no response.
Is it true that 80% of sales need five follow-ups?
We could not find a study behind it. SMEI, the sales association the number is usually traced to, says it comes from a 1942 survey by its Long Island chapter with fewer than 40 members3. Track your own replies instead: the Excel tracker shows which email each reply came after.
Can CRMsoftware.pro send these follow-up emails automatically?
No. You send each email yourself from your own mailbox. CRMsoftware.pro keeps the timing: each follow-up is a task with an assignee, a deadline and the linked deal, and My Tasks shows what is due today and overdue.
How do I track proposal follow-ups in CRMsoftware.pro?
Create a task in Tasks with a title, Assignee, Deadline and Linked deal. When you send the email, write the result in the Status summary, mark the task done and create the next one. Deals and basic tasks are free; quotes, e-sign and payment links come with Launch.
Related templates
Free tools
Sources
- Reply times in a study of Yahoo Mail users, WWW 2015 conference: Farshad Kooti, Luca Maria Aiello, Mihajlo Grbovic, Kristina Lerman and Amin Mantrach, Evolution of Conversations in the Age of Email Overload
- Follow-up data from 7,530,489 cold B2B emails sent in 2025, updated June 26, 2026: Belkins, Sales Follow-Up Statistics in B2B (2026 Study)
- Origin of the "80% of sales" statistic, August 4, 2021: SMEI, Sales Statistics: How many calls to close a sale?
- Plans, prices and features, checked 7 October 2026: CRMsoftware.pro pricing
Give every proposal an owner and a next date.
Start free with 3 users, 1 pipeline and basic tasks. Launch, $19 a month billed yearly for 8 users, adds quotes, invoices, e-sign and payment links. Growth for 20 users adds unlimited pipelines, and Scale covers 50 users.