02/10/2026
A maybe costs you more than a no.
The no frees you up, and the maybe keeps you following up for weeks while you stop looking for new work, because the pipeline looks full.
You know the ones: three proposals out, all warm, none closed.
Silence is not a slow yes, it is a decision nobody made, and it usually comes from the same three things: the money came up late, the meeting ended without a date, and nobody asked whether it was still alive.
Put the number on the table early, close every meeting with a next step and a day, and give the client an easy way to say no.
How many of your open proposals are really maybes?