How to follow up radio proposals

Agree the next step before you send it

The best follow up starts before the proposal leaves your desk. If you send it with no agreed next step, you have handed control to silence. The advertiser may still be interested, but they are busy. Your proposal drops into their day beside invoices, staff issues and customer messages.

Before sending the proposal, agree what happens next. Keep it simple. Ask, “If I send this over today, when would be a sensible time for us to talk it through?” That one question changes the whole rhythm. You are no longer chasing. You are keeping an agreed appointment.

Also ask who else needs to see it. Many proposals slow down because the person you met is not the only person involved. If a partner, manager, finance person or board needs to look at it, you want to know early. Then you can write the proposal with those readers in mind.

A good pre send check should cover the goal, the budget range, the timing, the decision maker and the promised reply date. If any of those are missing, your follow up will be weaker.

• What result does the advertiser want from the campaign?
• When do they want activity to start?
• Who must approve the spend?
• What concern might stop them saying yes?
• When have they agreed to talk again?

Follow up fast, but keep it useful

Do not leave a warm proposal sitting for a week unless the advertiser asked for that. If they gave you a clear date, follow up on that date. If they did not, check in the next working day or within two working days. That is soon enough to keep the idea fresh without sounding panicked.

Your first message should not say, “Have you made a decision?” That can make the advertiser feel cornered. Instead, remind them why you sent the proposal and make it easy to reply.

Try something like this: “Hi, I wanted to make sure the proposal reached you safely. I built it around bringing more of the right local customers to mind before your key trading period. Is the plan close to what you had in mind?”

That message does three useful things. It checks the proposal arrived. It links the plan to the advertiser’s goal. It asks one clear question. One question is easier to answer than five. Busy people often reply to simple messages because they can deal with them in under a minute.

If you spoke about a concern during the sales call, mention it. For example, if they were unsure about message length, you could say that you have allowed room for a clear offer and a simple call to action. If they were worried about timing, you could point out the first available start date or remind them why a lead in period matters.

Add value instead of asking again

The worst follow up is a string of messages that all say the same thing. “Just checking in” is fine once. After that, it becomes noise. Each touch should give the advertiser a small reason to re engage.

Value does not need to mean a new discount or a larger package. In fact, leading with price too soon can weaken the proposal. Better value is often clearer thinking. You can help them see how the campaign would work, what the advert should say, how the timing fits their trading pattern or what decision needs to be made next.

For example, your second follow up might include one short idea for the advert opening line. Your third might answer a concern you know often comes up, such as how often the message should run or why the same message needs to be heard more than once.

Keep it personal. A shop wanting more weekend footfall does not need the same follow up as a service firm trying to fill appointment slots. Use the advertiser’s own words from the first meeting. That shows you listened.

If you need help with the proposal itself, it may be worth reading How to choose radio proposal templates or software. If the advertiser has already shown clear interest and you want to move from yes to signed, read How to turn advertiser interest into a sale. If your wider issue is losing track of people after good conversations, read How to stop losing track of advertisers.

• Send a sharper advert idea based on their goal.
• Explain why the suggested schedule fits the buying moment.
• Offer to walk through the plan in ten minutes.
• Ask whether one part of the proposal is holding them back.
• Remind them of the start date they first wanted.

Use a simple follow up planner

A station does not need a complicated system to follow up well. It needs one shared place where every proposal has a status, a next action and a clear owner. If the next action lives only in a sales person’s head, it will be missed when the day gets busy.

Here is a simple radio proposal follow up planner you can use with your team.

• Advertiser name and main contact
• Proposal sent date
• Proposal status, such as sent, reviewed, needs changes, likely yes, paused, won or lost
• Advertiser goal
• Advertiser concern
• Message sequence, including first check in, value follow up, call request and pause message
• Call notes with date, time and summary
• Promised response date
• Next action
• Next action owner
• Final outcome
• Reason won or lost

Know when to pause politely

There is a point where follow up stops being helpful. That point will vary, but for most stations a good rhythm is four or five planned touches after the proposal, unless the advertiser keeps engaging. If they open up, ask questions or request changes, keep going. If they give no reply after several clear attempts, pause with grace.

A pause message should leave the door open without guilt. Try this: “I have not been able to catch you, so I will leave this with you for now. If the campaign is still useful, I am happy to talk it through. If the timing has changed, no problem at all. I can help when it is back on the table.”

That message protects the relationship. It also stops your team wasting energy on a proposal that is not moving. Pausing is not giving up. It is choosing where to put attention.

When the advertiser does reply, record the reason. “Too busy” is different from “too dear”. “Need to ask partner” is different from “not sure radio will work”. Each reason tells you what to do next. It also helps the station improve future proposals.

Keep every reply where the team can see it

Missed follow ups often happen because notes are scattered. One person has a call note. Another has the email. A third knows the advertiser was worried about timing. Then someone goes away for a day and the proposal stalls.

StationCortex can help by keeping advertiser notes, proposal status, tasks and next actions in one place. That means the team can see what was promised, who owns the next step and what should happen next. It also makes sales meetings more useful because you can look at real proposal movement, not vague memories.

After each advertiser conversation, log the date, who you spoke to, what they said, any change to the proposal, the concern raised, the promised reply date and the next action. If the advertiser asks for a change, note exactly what changed and why. If they say they are not ready, note when to check back and what must happen first.

If you are inside StationCortex and are unsure what to do next, ask TEX from your station workspace. You can ask at any time. TEX uses product guidance to suggest steps and can ask follow up questions. If you still need help, you can contact the StationCortex team in the same conversation. You can include an optional screenshot, and replies stay in your support history.

That matters when you are busy. You do not want your team guessing how to record a reply, where to set a task or what status to use. Ask, get guidance, keep the conversation together and move on.