You Sent a Proposal Without Agreeing a Decision Date

Understand the situation before responding

Review the last conversation for any actual commitment. “We will take a look” is not the same as a dated approval meeting. Check whether you owe additional information or whether the buyer is waiting for a colleague. Avoid implying the contact is late simply because a week has passed. Your proposal validity period may govern your own offer, but it does not mean the buyer agreed to review on that schedule.

An example message to adapt

Hi [Name], I realised we did not agree the review process when I sent the proposal. Who needs to consider it, and what would be a realistic next step? If the project is no longer a priority, please say; otherwise we can agree what information is needed and when it is useful to reconnect.

Illustrative teaching example. Replace the prompts with buyer-confirmed facts; this is not a client conversation, claimed result or message to send automatically.

Prepare a useful next action

Ask about the process before proposing a date. Understand whether the contact can decide directly or needs other approvals. Once that is clear, suggest a realistic review point as a proposal, not an established commitment. If the buyer accepts, record what should happen by that date and which party owns the next action. Offer to clarify one outstanding question rather than scheduling an unnecessary meeting by default.

Record the decision and its limits

Record a confirmed date only after agreement. If the buyer cannot identify a decision process or current priority, mark the deal unconfirmed and consider pausing it. Avoid repeatedly moving an internally invented close date to the next week. The improvement is a more accurate buying conversation, even where the answer is that no decision is planned. Use what you learn to agree a next step before sending future proposals.