You've written a proposal and sent it to your clients. You know that included in it, was a secret weapon that put you ahead of your fiercest competitors. You have extensive experience in the area of expertise that this project requires and even though you're not the cheapest bid, your fees are reasonable because you run a tight ship and represent extreme value for your client.
On paper, you should win this bid hands down. Your client even told you so. It's been 6 weeks since you submitted and you're getting nervous because the client said they would have to make a decision within a month. Despite your repeated (but not insistent) follow-ups, all you hear is crickets, so you start to have nightmares about this bid and the fact that it seems to have slipped through your fingers.
You are hesitant to keep following-up for fear of crossing the threshold from persistent to annoying and you secretly curse your client for vanishing.
We've all been in those situations and they suck. The good news is that there are ways to know for sure. Here's one such way courtesy of the always on-point Blair Enns. From September to the end of the year is when the most deals are closed, as people are looking to spend their remaining budget before year-end.
Try it, you'll be surprised. Some of you may even have gotten one such email from me, in a twist of irony.