Hey Niepodam,

SMB deal.
Late stage.
Verbal yes on the call.

“Send it over.”

I send the proposal.

Then? Silence.

Day 3 — nothing.
Day 7 — nothing.
Day 12 — “Sorry, been busy.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the hard truth:

SMB deals don’t stall because of procurement. They stall because momentum dropped the second the call ended.

And most reps use email at the worst possible time… in the weakest possible way.

The mistake: Passive follow-up

What most reps send: “Hey — just checking in on the proposal. Let me know if you have any questions.”

That email screams:

• I have no leverage.
• I have no urgency.
• I have no control.

In SMB, you don’t have 8 stakeholders to navigate.

You have one decision-maker with 100 distractions.

Your job isn’t to “check in.”

It’s to re-create urgency in their inbox.

Rule #1: Re-anchor the pain

Late-stage SMB emails should never be about the document.

They should be about the consequence.

Instead of: “Wanted to see if you reviewed the proposal.”

Send: “When we spoke, you mentioned reps are losing ~5 hours a week manually doing X. If we don’t fix that before next month, does that push your hiring plan back?”

Now we’re back to impact.

You’re reminding them why they said yes in the first place.

Rule #2: Shrink the decision

SMB buyers stall when the decision feels heavy.

So remove weight.

Instead of asking for “signature,” ask for direction.

Example:

“Based on what we discussed, are we:

A) Moving forward for March
B) Adjusting scope
C) Parking this for later this year?”

This works because it forces a micro-decision.

No one wants to ghost when the options are clear.

Rule #3: Use the breakup strategically

In SMB, speed wins.

If it’s gone quiet after multiple touches, I’ll send this:

“I haven’t heard back, which usually means priorities shifted. Totally fine. Should I close this out on my side for now?”

That email does two things:

• Removes pressure
• Creates loss aversion

You’d be shocked how many replies come back with:

“No, no, still interested.”

Silence isn’t always rejection.

It’s often avoidance.

Your job is to make avoidance uncomfortable.

My late-stage SMB cadence

After sending a proposal:

Day 1: Recap email tying back to pain + clear start date.
Day 3–4: Re-anchor impact (not document).
Day 7: Directional email (A/B/C options).
Day 10+: Clean, confident close-out message.

No fluff.
No “just bubbling this up.”
No chasing.

Every email has a purpose:

• Recreate urgency
• Simplify the decision
• Or force clarity

Here’s the mindset shift:

In SMB, deals don’t die from complexity.

They die from distraction.

If your late-stage emails don’t restore urgency and direction, the deal drifts into “later.”

And “later” in SMB usually means never.

Control the inbox.
Control the deal.

Want me helping you and your team within your sales efforts? Let’s talk.

Or book me here directly for a Free Strategy Call

Alan "Modern Seller" Ruchtein.

Act like +1000 heroes:

Check out The Only Sales Course you'll ever need.