You will be able to present a proposal live so questions surface while you can answer them.
You finish a proposal at eleven at night, attach it to an email, write "Please find attached, let me know if you have any questions," and send it. Then you wait. Three days later the buyer replies: "Thanks, a bit more than we were expecting. We'll have a think." You never find out which part they read, what they thought "more than expected" meant, or whether anyone else saw it.
A proposal sent cold by email often gets read the way most people read a bill: they look for the number at the bottom, and judge the whole thing on that. The situation paragraph, the options, the reasons for your recommendation all get skimmed. And when the buyer has a question, you are not there to answer it, so they answer it themselves, usually with the less generous version.
The fix is simple. Walk the buyer through the proposal on a call or in person, then send the document afterwards.
When the buyer asks for a proposal, agree a time to go through it together. Say why in a way that helps them: "I'll put it together and then take you through it, so you can ask questions as we go. It takes about twenty minutes. Does Thursday at three work?"
Most buyers say yes, because it saves them reading time. Some will ask you to send it first. That is fine. Send it, and still ask for the call: "I'll send it tonight. Could we take twenty minutes on Thursday to go through it, so I can answer anything that isn't clear?"
If other people will be involved in the decision, this is the moment to bring them in. Hafiz asked Rachel whether Kelvin, her director, and someone from finance could join the walkthrough. Lesson 5.4, Map who decides and how, in the Discovery course, explains why that matters. Hearing it first-hand beats reading a forwarded email.
For an individual buyer, the same applies. A financial adviser presenting a recommendation to a couple will do better with both partners in the meeting than by sending a document to one of them and hoping it is explained well at home.
During the walkthrough, share your screen or put the printed page in front of the buyer. Go through it in order, and stop after each section to ask for a reaction.
After the situation paragraph: "Is that still an accurate picture?" After the plan and dates: "Does that timing work on your side, especially the bit you'd need to do?" After the options: "Which of these feels closest to what you had in mind?" After the price: just stop and let them respond, which lesson 3.2, Say the price plainly, then stop talking, covers.
Asking at each step, rather than only at the end, has two benefits. Questions come up while the relevant section is in front of you, so you answer them in context. And small concerns surface while they are still small. When Hafiz paused after the plan, Kelvin asked who would train the payroll clerk and whether two sessions were enough. That took two minutes to answer. In an email it might have become "we're not sure the team can cope," and a week of silence.
Keep your answers short and honest. If you do not know, say so and promise to find out by a specific day.
Have a page beside you and note every question the buyer asks, in their words. Each one tells you something about the written proposal.
A question about something the proposal already covers means that part is unclear. A question about something it does not cover means you missed it. A question repeated by two people means it is probably the thing they are most worried about.
After the call, fix the proposal before you send it. Kelvin's training question became a new line in the plan: "Two training sessions for the payroll clerk, plus a check-in call after the first pay run." Rachel's question about cancelling became a clearer sentence about the notice period. The version Hafiz sent that evening answered both, so when Kelvin reread it on his own, nothing was left to guess.
Then send the revised document with a short note listing what you changed. It shows the buyer you listened, and it gives them a clean version to forward.
Sometimes the buyer genuinely cannot meet, or the process requires a written submission first. In that case, make the document carry more of the explaining. Put a short summary at the top: the problem, your recommended option, its price and the next step, in five lines. Then follow up with a specific offer: "Happy to take ten minutes to go through it if that would help."
Before the activity, think of the next proposal you are due to send and who, besides your main contact, is likely to read it.
For your next proposal, write the message asking the buyer for a walkthrough call instead of sending the document first.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).