"Ok, sounds good, just send me a proposal and we will come back to you."

"Sure, what would you need to see in the proposal to help you make the decision?"

Just stop it.

Proposals in sales are mostly pointless. There is nothing you can put in a proposal you cannot discuss in the meeting.

If you are spending your evenings crafting perfect PDFs, you are falling into the trap of busy work. We discussed this exact issue in The 'Always On' Sales Myth: Stop Working Harder. You are confusing administrative tasks with revenue generating activities.

The Proposal Trap: A Real World Example

Recently I was hit with the "send me a proposal" line.

I responded with a question. "Would you actually trust a sales trainer who sends proposals at this point?"

The prospect was confused. "What do you mean?"

"What is the close rate of your proposals?" I asked.

"We have plenty outstanding, but around 10 to 20 percent," he admitted.

"Now you can understand why I don't send them," I said.

"Good point."

Sending a proposal just over complicates the whole sales process. You send the proposal. You call them back. You discuss the proposal. You negotiate the proposal. It creates friction where there should be action.

The Only 3 Outcomes You Want

At the end of a sales meeting there are only three acceptable outcomes.

The Prospect says no

The Salesperson says no (yes that can happen)

Or next steps are agreed

Notice that "send more information" is not on that list.

The Better Alternative: The Paid Step

Your next step should always be a paid event. This could be a quote, an audit, or a trial run.

All my prospects are offered paid trial sessions that address the issues discussed in discovery.

I get paid. They are committed.

If they do not think I am worth that initial investment, we can all move on. If they do, we discuss what happens next. This effectively filters out the "wishy washy" prospects we warned about in Stop Begging for Meetings: The 2026 Cold Call Power Flip.

Start Serving, Stop Documenting

Those hours you are spending writing and sending proposals could be spent actually serving your client and providing them with a reason to work with you.

A fancy piece of paper with each other's logo on does not do that. It does not solve their problem. It does not demonstrate your expertise.

We talked about common excuses sales teams make in The Sales Translator: What "It's Too Hard" Really Means. "I have a huge pipeline of outstanding proposals" is one of the biggest excuses in the book.

Don't let paperwork be your metric for success.

Start serving. Stop documenting.