B2B Proposal Approval Process: Who Signs Off and What Is the Next Step?

What role does your contact play

B2B purchases usually involve several people, each with a different role. The person you are messaging may hold one or more of them. Record a role only if the chat gives evidence for it.

1. UserThe person who will use the product or service day to day. Evidence: “Our warehouse packs 200 boxes a day, speed matters.” They know the technical needs but usually do not approve the budget.
2. InitiatorThe person who started the purchase and is collecting proposals. Evidence: “I’ve been asked to gather three quotes.” Often your main contact.
3. ApproverThe person who makes the final decision: a director, department head, board. Evidence: “The director needs to review and approve it.” You may never message them directly.
4. Budget holderThe person who authorises payment: a finance director, accounts. Evidence: “Finance is looking at next quarter’s budget.” Sometimes the same as the approver, sometimes not.

The approval process: three questions

After sending the proposal, look for answers to these three questions in the chat. Each can be a separate gap.

1. Who will review itWho will the proposal be presented to: one person or a committee? Will your contact pass it on with their own comments, or as it is? Without knowing this, your proposal may sit among others with no explanation.
2. What criteriaWhat will the decision be based on: price, timing, warranty, technical fit, past experience? If you do not know the criteria, you do not know which part of your proposal to strengthen.
3. What dateWhen will the decision be made? An internal meeting, a budget cycle, a project start date. Without a date, follow-up is guesswork: too early or too late.

These questions should not feel like a burden to the customer. Ask them naturally on the day you send the proposal: “Who will you be presenting this to? If it helps, I can prepare a one-page summary for your manager.”

Three stalled proposals

The examples below are illustrative. In each, a B2B equipment proposal was sent and the conversation stalled.

1. Waiting on internal feedbackLast signal: “The technical team is reviewing it, I’m waiting for their feedback.” Open question: the technical team may have questions that are not reaching you. Next step: “If the technical team has questions, our engineer can do a 15-minute call with them directly. Who should I contact?”
2. Criteria unclearLast signal: “Management is comparing several proposals.” Open question: compared on what? Next step: “What matters most to management: price, timing or service? I’ll put together a comparison table around that.”
3. No meeting agreedLast signal: “Interesting, let’s talk.” Open question: when, and with whom? Next step: “Would a 30-minute meeting next Wednesday or Thursday work? Feel free to bring the colleague who’ll be involved in the decision.”

None of the three is a generic reminder. Each fills a specific gap that the chat does not show: who is giving feedback, which criterion matters, and who will be in the meeting.

A multi-person decision map

Build a simple decision map for every B2B opportunity. The map below is an illustrative example: a warehouse equipment proposal to a logistics company.

1. Mark, warehouse managerRole: user and initiator. Evidence: “I’ve been asked to gather three quotes. Speed is important for us.” Contact: direct, via WhatsApp.
2. Technical teamRole: technical reviewer. Evidence: “The technical team will review it.” Name and contact: unknown. Next question: who on the technical team is reviewing?
3. DirectorRole: approver. Evidence: “The director makes the final decision.” Criteria: unknown. Next question: what matters most to the director?
4. FinanceRole: budget holder, likely. Evidence: none, only “the budget hasn’t been approved yet”. Status: unconfirmed; needs asking.

The map shows you are in direct contact with only one of four participants, and two have unknown names or criteria. The purpose of your next messages is clear: fill those gaps. At this stage, “Have you decided?” achieves nothing.

A mutual action plan

In B2B sales, the next step is often two-sided: you prepare something, and the customer does something internally. Agree it in the chat as a short plan.

• Our step: a specification for the technical team and a one-page comparison for the director, by Tuesday.
• Customer’s step: the technical team’s feedback and a meeting date with the director, by the end of next week.
• Agreed date: a short call next Friday to discuss the feedback.

The plan should feel like help, not pressure: you are making their internal process easier. Once it is agreed, your follow-up stops being “Any news?” and becomes “As agreed, here is the specification.”

If the proposal went to a single person who went quiet, the general rules are in customer not responding after a quote. Judge how serious your contact is using the fields in buying signals in chat. And put your own steps from the mutual plan on your list for tracking customer commitments.

How to check your own chats with Chatdue

Chatdue reads your company’s WhatsApp conversations and extracts a summary, sales stage, objections, competitor mentions and amounts mentioned for each chat. By creating your own analytics fields, such as “decision-maker”, “approval criteria” and “decision date”, you can see the map above across all your B2B opportunities.

The “Who to contact today” list shows follow-ups that are due, each with a suggested message based on the conversation. You send the message yourself. Chatdue does not guess at roles inside an organisation: it shows only what was said in the chat.

Frequently asked questions

1. What should I ask if my contact is not the decision-maker?Do not try to go around them. Help them instead: “What questions might come up when you present this to your manager? I’m happy to join a meeting if that helps.” That lets you learn who decides while protecting your contact’s standing.
2. How do I plan follow-up if the internal approval date is unknown?Make finding the date the purpose of your next message: “Roughly when will the proposal be reviewed? I can send you an update the day before.” If there is no reply, send a short question a week later, but do not repeat the same reminder. Every message should bring a new useful material or question.