God bless email and the wonderful tool it is for salespeople, but at what point does efficiency morph into laziness? Let me show my age by saying I remember the time when we didn’t have the luxury of email and had to hand-deliver our proposals to customers—and actually discuss them. In the spirit of full transparency, I’m not really all that old (Gen X baby!), but I’ve been around long enough to see email go from being a benefit to becoming a detriment that’s stripped the humanity out of the sales process. Presenting proposals live and in person has become a dying art form—and that’s taking a lot of winnable opportunities with it. Salespeople have grown passive-aggressive and overly sensitive to rejection, and the appeal of “just send it and see what happens” has exploded. The result? More volume, less quality. Customers open the attachment, skip the narrative, jump straight to the price, and immediately feel sticker shock. They might go back to double-check the scope of work, but from there it’s straight to shopping your competitors—because no one from your company took the time to walk them through the outcomes and value.
Sure, sometimes you get lucky and the emailed proposal works out—the customer is ready to sign, no questions asked. But how often have you sent one off, only to be ghosted or hear they went with your competitor without ever circling back? It feels like a massive waste of time, thought, and effort. If you want to increase your odds of winning more deals, stop skipping the conversation. Take the time to walk through the proposal together. Highlight what matters most to the client. Answer their questions. Ease into the price instead of ambushing them with it. And beyond all that—it just creates a better, more personal experience. Frankly, I could list a dozen reasons why you should present proposals live (in person or via video), but here are the five that matter most:
- You control the message – Don’t let the customer make assumptions. Walk them through the logic, value, and outcomes.
- You prevent sticker shock – When you ease into price with context, you reduce emotional resistance.
- You show you care – Taking the time to talk it through sends a clear message: this matters to you, and so do they.
- You hear their hesitation – Live conversations uncover unspoken concerns that a PDF never will.
- You increase your close rate – A proposal presentation isn’t a formality—it’s your final sales conversation. Treat it that way.
