If you’re a decision maker at your company, you need to be on the bleeding edge of, well, everything. But before you go signing up for seminars, conferences, lunch ‘n learns, and all that jazz, just know there’s a far better (and simpler) way: Subscribing to The Deep View.

This daily newsletter condenses everything you need to know about the latest and greatest AI developments into a 5-minute read. Squeeze it into your morning coffee break and before you know it, you’ll be an expert too.

Subscribe right here. It’s totally free, wildly informative, and trusted by 600,000+ readers at Google, Meta, Microsoft, and beyond.

A while back I had a prospect go quiet on me.

We had a solid discovery call. Real chemistry. They understood the value. I sent a detailed proposal within 24 hours and felt pretty good about it. And then nothing. The classic ghost. Three days, a week, two weeks. Silence.

In the old version of my business, I would have sent one follow-up, gotten no response, and moved on. Maybe with a little internal story about how they weren’t serious buyers or how the market was slow. But I had built a follow-up sequence by then, specifically for this scenario. So I ran it.

Six touches over 21 days. Not aggressive. Not desperate. Not a single “just checking in” email, which is the most useless phrase in business development. Just a sequence designed to add value at each touch, stay top of mind, and make it easy for them to say yes when they were ready.

They responded on touch four. Apologized for the delay. Said a few things had come up internally. Signed a $40,000 contract two days later.

The money was never gone. I just had to not give up.

The Real Reason Deals Die in Your Pipeline

I want to be clear about something before we get into the sequence. Most deals that go quiet are not dead. They’re paused.

The person you talked to is probably still interested. But they’re also dealing with 47 other things, their own internal approval processes, timing issues you don’t know about, and an inbox that looks like yours. Your proposal is sitting in a folder they intend to come back to and just haven’t yet.

When you don’t follow up, you’re not respecting their silence. You’re letting a deal die of neglect because you mistook a pause for a rejection.

Here’s a number worth sitting with: studies consistently show that 80% of sales happen between the fifth and twelfth contact. Meanwhile, 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. That gap between those two statistics is where enormous amounts of revenue disappear every year, including yours.

The follow-up sequence I’m going to give you closes that gap.

What Bad Follow-Up Looks Like (And Why It Fails)

Before the good stuff, let’s name the patterns that don’t work so you know what to avoid.

The “just checking in” email is the worst offender. “Hi, just wanted to check in and see if you had any thoughts on the proposal I sent.” Nobody responds to that. It gives the prospect nothing. No new information. No value. No reason to re-engage. It just reminds them of something they haven’t done yet, which creates mild guilt, which they handle by continuing to ignore you.

The pressure email is the second worst. “This offer expires on Friday.” “I have another client interested in the same spot.” “I need to know by end of week.” Unless you actually have those constraints, this is fabrication. Prospects can smell it. It signals desperation and erodes the trust you built on the call.

The essay email is also a trap. Long, detailed follow-ups that re-explain your entire offer, include three case studies, and ask five questions. Too much to process. Gets deferred indefinitely.

Good follow-up is short, adds something new each time, and makes the next step feel easy and low-pressure.

The Six-Touch Sequence

Here’s the exact structure I use. Every touch has a specific purpose. The timing is intentional. Adapt the language to fit your voice but keep the bones.

Touch 1: Day 3 after sending the proposal

Purpose: Confirm receipt and keep the door open without pressure.

Keep it two sentences. “Hey, just making sure the proposal landed okay on your end. Happy to answer any questions whenever you’re ready.” That’s it. You’re not following up on a decision. You’re just being a normal human who checks in.

A lot of proposals genuinely do get lost in spam or buried in an overloaded inbox. This touch handles that without making anyone feel pressured.

Touch 2: Day 7

Purpose: Add value and signal that you’re still thinking about their problem.

Bring something useful. A relevant article, a data point, a framework, an insight from a recent client situation that applies to something they mentioned on the call. “I came across this and immediately thought of what you were describing about [specific thing from their call]. Thought it might be useful regardless of what you decide. Also happy to jump on a quick call if you want to talk through anything.”

This touch does two things. It shows you were actually listening on the call, which differentiates you from every vendor who is just waiting for a yes or no. And it delivers value before asking for anything, which builds goodwill.

Touch 3: Day 10

Purpose: Address the most common objection in your space directly.

You know what makes people hesitate to buy what you sell. Every business has one or two main objections. Price, timing, internal buy-in, fear of it not working. Write a short email that dismantles that objection clearly and confidently.

“One thing I hear a lot at this stage is [objection]. Here’s how I typically think about that, and here’s what I’ve seen happen with clients who had the same concern.” Then be honest. Don’t spin. If the objection is valid in some circumstances, acknowledge that. Authenticity at this stage sells better than polish.

Touch 4: Day 14

Purpose: Social proof that speaks directly to their situation.

Share a quick story from a client who was in a similar position. Keep it short. Two paragraphs maximum. The point is not to brag. The point is to show that you’ve navigated this exact territory before and you know what happens on the other side.

The best version of this is specific. Not “I’ve helped lots of businesses like yours.” But “I had a client in [similar situation] who was wrestling with [similar concern]. Here’s what they did and what happened afterward.” Specificity converts. Vague claims don’t.

Touch 5: Day 18

Purpose: Explicitly release the pressure.

This one is counterintuitive but it works. “I know timing isn’t always right and that’s genuinely okay. If this isn’t the right moment, just let me know and we can pick this back up whenever makes sense for you. No pressure either way.”

This email gets responses because it removes the awkward obligation they feel. They’ve been half-meaning to get back to you for two weeks and they feel bad about it. This email gives them an easy out and paradoxically makes it easier for them to re-engage. Many people respond to this one by saying the timing actually is fine and they just got buried.

Touch 6: Day 21 to 25 (the breakup email)

Purpose: Close the loop and create one final reason to respond.

“I’m going to stop reaching out after this one so I don’t clog up your inbox. If something changes on your end and you want to revisit this, I’m always here.” Done. Signed. Sent.

This one generates a disproportionate number of responses. Something about the finality of it triggers people. They either confirm they’re not ready (useful information that lets you move on cleanly) or they suddenly find the urgency they couldn’t locate for the past three weeks. Either outcome is better than the current state of wondering.

Automating This So It Actually Happens Every Time

Here’s the problem with manual follow-up sequences: they require you to remember. And when you’re running a business, remembering is a liability. You get busy. Prospects fall off your radar. You lose a deal you would have closed because you meant to send touch three and just didn’t.

The only way this works consistently is if the system runs automatically once a proposal goes out.

I use Make.com to build the automation logic. When a proposal is marked as “sent” in my CRM, it triggers a sequence. Each touch goes into a queue at the right interval. The emails are templated but I can personalize the value-add on touch two with a quick edit before it sends. Everything else runs without me touching it.

This means the sequence runs on every single prospect, not just the ones I happen to remember to follow up with. That consistency is what closes deals. Not talent. Not luck. Consistency.

If you want a pre-built blueprint for this in Make.com, keep reading.

Reviving Cold Leads From the Last 90 Days

Here’s the move that pays immediately. Don’t just build this system for future prospects. Go back and look at every proposal or sales conversation from the last 90 days that went quiet.

You have a list of people who were interested enough to have a conversation with you. Some of them just needed more time. Some had internal changes. Some got overwhelmed and deprioritized the decision. Very few of them actively decided not to work with you. They just drifted.

Don’t start from touch one with these people. That’s too basic for someone you spoke with months ago. Start from touch two or three. Add genuine value first. Acknowledge the time gap directly and without apology: “I know it’s been a while since we talked. I was thinking about your situation recently and wanted to share something that might be useful.”

I’ve re-engaged prospects after 90 days of complete silence using this approach and converted them into clients. The money is already sitting in your CRM. You just have to go get it.

Set aside 30 minutes this weekend. Pull your last 10 dormant prospects. Write a touch-two style email for each one. Send them Monday. See what comes back.

One more thing worth saying: this works across price points. I have seen this sequence re-engage $500 leads and $50,000 leads. The psychology is the same regardless of the number. People get busy, they drift, and a well-timed sequence that adds real value brings them back. The size of the deal changes. The human behavior does not.

One Move This Week

Pull up your last 10 proposals or sales conversations that didn’t close. Count how many of them received more than two follow-up touches.

If the answer is fewer than half, you’ve just identified a significant revenue leak that has nothing to do with your offer, your pricing, or your sales skills. It’s a follow-up consistency problem. And now you have the sequence to fix it.

Pick three of the most promising dormant leads. Write them a touch-two email today. Add something useful. Reference something specific from your original conversation. Make it easy for them to respond. Send it before you close this tab.

Talk soon,

Dan

Dead Simple Growth