# Cadence schedule

The five touch windows, counted in days since the proposal was sent. Use this file to find which touch is due right now. Never send two touches in one message, and never send a touch out of order.

## How to find the touch number

1. Count days elapsed since the proposal was sent (send date to today).
2. Match that count to a window in the table below.
3. If today falls between two windows because a check-in was missed, send the touch matching where the deal sits today. Mark the earlier, unsent window "skipped" in the tracker rather than "sent late."
4. If a reply has already come in at any point, stop. Do not send a touch to a client who has replied.

## The five touches

| Touch | Window (days since send) | Job of this touch |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day 2 to 3 | Confirm the proposal landed and restate the specific next step already agreed at send, written as a real update rather than a placeholder message. |
| 2 | Day 6 to 7 | Add one new piece of value: a case study, a short testimonial, or a direct answer to an objection the client hasn't raised but probably has. |
| 3 | Day 10 to 12 | Name the most likely blocker out loud: budget, internal approval, or timeline. This is the highest-yield touch in the sequence. Belkins' 2026 analysis of 7.5 million B2B outreach emails found step 3 alone outperforms steps 1 and 2 combined, and steps 2 through 6 together account for 58.6 percent of all eventual replies against 41.4 percent for the first send. |
| 4 | Day 16 to 18 | Offer a time-bound option: a start date that is genuinely closing, or a smaller version of the scope. Only use a deadline that is real. |
| 5 | Day 21 to 28 | Close it out. State plainly this is the last check-in and the file closes without a reply. HubSpot reports a 33 percent response rate on this exact message type, run only after every earlier touch has gone unanswered. |

## After touch 5

If day 28 passes (or 3 to 5 business days after touch 5 went out, whichever window the owner prefers) with no reply, the deal moves to closed, no decision. See references/proposal-tracker-template.md for how to log that, and examples/closed-record-example.md for what a finished record looks like.

A reply at any point, even after touch 5, cancels the closed status. Reopen the record and answer what the client actually wrote.

# What silence after a proposal usually means

Use these facts once, near the start of a cadence, to give the owner context before the first touch goes out. State them as base rates from named studies about deals in general. These numbers describe patterns across many clients; what this specific client will do is a separate question they don't answer. Never promise a specific client will respond because a study says some clients do.

## The client isn't necessarily saying no

Dixon and McKenna's analysis of over 2.5 million recorded B2B sales conversations (published via Harvard Business Review, later expanded in their book *The Jolt Effect*) found that 40 to 60 percent of deals showing real buying intent end in no-decision rather than a loss to a competitor. Of that no-decision group, roughly 56 percent comes down to buyer indecision and 44 percent to a preference for the status quo, staying with whatever the client is already doing.

In plain terms: a client who goes quiet after a proposal they were genuinely interested in is usually stuck rather than rejecting it. Indecision beats "no" by a wide margin.

## Getting ghosted before the work even starts happens to almost everyone

Leapers' 2025 survey of 1,013 UK self-employed workers, fielded October to November 2025, found that 48.5 percent had been ghosted by a client before a project even began. Just under half.

## Persistence pays inside the cadence itself

Belkins' 2026 analysis of 7.5 million B2B outreach emails found that steps 2 through 6 of a follow-up sequence account for 58.6 percent of all eventual replies, against 41.4 percent from the first send alone. Step 3 specifically, the touch that names the likely blocker, outperforms steps 1 and 2 combined.

## The last message still works

HubSpot reports a 33 percent response rate on its own close-out message, the kind sent only after every earlier touch has gone unanswered. The final "this is the last check-in" message does real work: it gets replies on its own.

## How to use these

- Give the owner one or two sentences from this file, in your own words, cited to the source, before naming a plan for touch 1.
- Never use these numbers as a claim about the specific client in front of you. They describe patterns across many deals; treat this specific client as a separate case the numbers don't speak to.
- Do not add new statistics to this list from memory. If a fact isn't sourced here, don't quote it as a fact.

# Proposal tracker

This is the log for every proposal that goes quiet, not just the one in front of you. Keep it running across all your open proposals so a stalled deal is never held only in an inbox or in memory. Add one row when a proposal goes 48 hours without a reply, update it after every touch, and close it out when the cadence ends.

## Columns

| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Client | Client or company name |
| Proposal date | Date the proposal was sent |
| Amount | Quoted amount or range |
| Scope | One line: what the proposal covers |
| Agreed next step | The specific next step agreed at send (a call, a signature, a start date). Never invented, only what's actually in the thread. |
| Touch 1 sent | Date and channel, or blank |
| Touch 2 sent | Date and channel, or blank |
| Touch 3 sent | Date and channel, or blank |
| Touch 4 sent | Date and channel, or blank |
| Touch 5 sent | Date and channel, or blank |
| Status | open / replied / closed, no decision |
| Notes | One line on what came back at any touch, if anything, written as raw material for your own pattern-spotting rather than a claim about why the deal died. |

## Blank template (copy this row for each new proposal)

```
Client:
Proposal date:
Amount:
Scope:
Agreed next step:
Touch 1 sent:
Touch 2 sent:
Touch 3 sent:
Touch 4 sent:
Touch 5 sent:
Status: open
Notes:
```

## CSV version (for a spreadsheet)

```csv
Client,Proposal Date,Amount,Scope,Agreed Next Step,Touch 1,Touch 2,Touch 3,Touch 4,Touch 5,Status,Notes
```

Paste that header row into a spreadsheet once, then add one row per proposal underneath it.

## Rules for keeping this honest

- Log only what's actually in the sent proposal or the thread. No detail gets invented to fill a blank column.
- Update the touch column the same day the message actually goes out; don't rely on memory later.
- A row carries exactly one status at a time, moved from open to either replied or closed, no decision.
- A reply reopens a closed row. Change the status back to replied and stop treating it as closed.
- Reuse this same template for the next proposal, and the one after that. The value of this file comes from running it every week rather than filling it out once and setting it aside.

# Touch templates

Five templates, one per touch. Fill the bracketed placeholders using only details already logged in the tracker or visible in the thread. Never write in a detail you're guessing at. Present the filled draft to the owner for approval before anything is treated as sent.

## Touch 1 (day 2 to 3): confirm receipt, restate the next step

```
Subject: Following up on [scope] proposal

Hi [client first name],

Wanted to make sure the proposal for [scope] landed okay on your end.
Whenever you're ready, the next step on our side is [agreed next step].
Let me know if anything in there needs adjusting first.

[owner first name]
```

## Touch 2 (day 6 to 7): add one new piece of value

Pick one: a case study, a short testimonial, or a direct answer to an objection the client hasn't raised but likely has (cost, timeline, or how the work actually starts).

```
Subject: One thing that might help with [scope]

Hi [client first name],

Circling back on the [scope] proposal. Thought this might be useful
while you're deciding: [case study, testimonial, or direct answer to
the likely objection, one sentence].

Still glad to walk through any part of it if that's easier than email.

[owner first name]
```

## Touch 3 (day 10 to 12): name the likely blocker

This is the highest-yield touch in the sequence, so don't skip it or fold it into touch 2. Name the blocker using evidence from the thread if it exists (something the client said about budget, an approval step they mentioned, a timeline constraint). If no such evidence exists, phrase it as a question the client can correct rather than a stated fact.

```
Subject: Checking in on [scope]

Hi [client first name],

No pressure either way, just want to check: is [named blocker, e.g.
budget, getting sign-off internally, timing] the thing holding this
up, or is it something in the scope itself? Happy to adjust on my end
if that helps.

[owner first name]
```

## Touch 4 (day 16 to 18): a real time-bound option

Only use a deadline or a smaller-scope option that is actually true. A start date you can't honor or a scarcity claim that isn't real breaks trust faster than silence does.

```
Subject: A option for [scope], if timing helps

Hi [client first name],

If it's useful: I can hold [start date] for [scope], or we could scale
it down to [smaller version of scope] if that fits better right now.
Either way works on my end, just let me know what's closer to what you
need.

[owner first name]
```

## Touch 5 (day 21 to 28): the close-out

State plainly this is the last check-in. Run this only after every earlier touch has gone unanswered.

```
Subject: Closing the file on [scope]

Hi [client first name],

Haven't heard back, so I'll go ahead and close this out on my end for
now. If [scope] becomes relevant again down the line, just reach out
and I'll pick it back up.

[owner first name]
```

## Before presenting any of these

- Confirm the draft doesn't repeat the previous touch's framing or restate "just checking in" with nothing new attached.
- Confirm every bracketed detail traces to the logged tracker row or the thread.
- Get explicit approval from the owner before anything is treated as sent.

# Worked example: a full cadence, open to close

This is a sample thread for a fictional client. It shows how the tracker, the templates, and the schedule fit together across one deal, start to finish.

## The deal

```
Client: Riverside Millwork
Proposal date: March 3
Amount: $4,200
Scope: cabinet refinishing, kitchen and mudroom
Agreed next step: client to confirm a start week once they'd reviewed with their spouse
```

## Day 2: no reply yet. Base-rate context given to the owner

Before drafting anything, the owner was given this context: most proposals that go quiet aren't a no. Dixon and McKenna's research on over 2.5 million B2B sales conversations found 40 to 60 percent of genuinely interested deals end in no-decision rather than lost to a competitor, and Leapers' 2025 survey found nearly half of self-employed workers get ghosted before a project even starts. Neither fact is a promise about this specific client.

## Touch 1, sent day 3, email

```
Subject: Following up on cabinet refinishing proposal

Hi Dana,

Wanted to make sure the proposal for the cabinet refinishing landed
okay on your end. Whenever you're ready, the next step on our side is
picking a start week once you've had a chance to talk it over.
Let me know if anything in there needs adjusting first.

Marcus
```

Tracker updated: Touch 1 sent, March 6, email. Status stays open.

## Day 6: still no reply. Touch 2 sent

```
Subject: One thing that might help with the refinishing

Hi Dana,

Circling back on the cabinet proposal. Thought this might help while
you're deciding: the last kitchen we did on this same street took
nine working days start to finish, no surprises on the timeline.

Still glad to walk through any part of it if that's easier than email.

Marcus
```

Tracker updated: Touch 2 sent, March 9, email.

## Day 11: touch 3 sent, naming the likely blocker

The thread had no direct evidence of the blocker, so the touch was phrased as a question, not a stated fact.

```
Subject: Checking in on the refinishing

Hi Dana,

No pressure either way, just want to check: is timing the issue, with
the holidays coming up, or is it something in the scope itself? Happy
to adjust on my end if that helps.

Marcus
```

Tracker updated: Touch 3 sent, March 14, email.

## Day 13: reply arrives

Dana replied that the real issue was budget rather than timing. The record moved straight to "replied" and the cadence stopped. The owner and Dana negotiated the mudroom out of scope and closed at $3,100 two days later, outside this procedure, since a reply always takes over from here.

## What the tracker looked like at the end

```
Client: Riverside Millwork
Proposal date: March 3
Amount: $4,200 (closed at $3,100, mudroom dropped)
Scope: cabinet refinishing, kitchen and mudroom
Agreed next step: client to confirm a start week
Touch 1 sent: March 6, email
Touch 2 sent: March 9, email
Touch 3 sent: March 14, email
Touch 4 sent: (blank, not reached)
Touch 5 sent: (blank, not reached)
Status: replied, won
Notes: budget, rather than timing, was the real blocker. Confirmed by client directly on touch 3.
```

# Worked example: a closed-out record

This is a sample record for a fictional client. It shows the format for closing a deal out after the full five-touch cadence runs with no reply.

```
Client: Hearthstone Landscaping
Proposal date: February 10
Amount: $8,900
Scope: backyard drainage and paver patio
Agreed next step: client to walk the site with their contractor before approving
Touch 1 sent: February 13, email
Touch 2 sent: February 17, email
Touch 3 sent: February 21, phone message
Touch 4 sent: February 27, email
Touch 5 sent: March 5, email
Status: closed, no decision
Notes: no reply at any touch. Site-walk step from the original agreement may never have happened on their end; nothing in the thread says either way.
```

## Why this record is closed

Touch 5 went out March 5. By March 10, five business days later, nothing had come back. Per references/cadence-schedule.md, that closes the file. The row is marked "closed, no decision" instead of staying "open," because an open row is what keeps an owner checking an inbox that isn't going to answer.

## The one-line debrief

For the owner's own notes rather than anything meant for the client: the deal died somewhere around the site-walk step, and nothing in the thread points to price or scope as the reason. Treat this as raw material for the owner's own pattern-spotting across proposals. It goes in the tracker's Notes column exactly as written above, phrased only as an observation.

## If a reply had come in later

A reply after touch 5, even weeks later, reopens this record. The status would change to "replied," the "closed, no decision" line would go, and the reply gets answered on its own terms instead of folded back into the five-touch sequence.

Send the first follow-up 2 to 3 days after you sent the proposal. Waiting longer than that lets the deal go cold; following up sooner reads as pushy.

Move to the second or third touch in the cadence depending on exact days elapsed, never repeat your first message. By day 10 to 12, name the most likely blocker directly (budget, approval, timing) so the client has something specific to correct.

Not usually. Dixon and McKenna's Jolt Effect research, covering 2.5 million B2B sales conversations, found 40 to 60 percent of deals with real buying intent end in no-decision rather than a loss to a competitor. Silence is more often indecision than rejection.

After five touches spread across roughly three to four weeks. The fifth touch tells the client plainly this is the last check-in, then you close the file and move on.

Each touch has to add something the last one didn't: new value in touch two, the named blocker in touch three, a real time-bound option in touch four. Repeating 'just checking in' is the single most common way a follow-up sequence fails.

Yes. The tracker and the five message templates are built to be reused across every proposal you send, so you run the same system every time one goes quiet.