Last week, a colleague of mine asked me why organisations do not respond to proposals sent to them either through e-mail or by post.
According to him, it would not only be courteous to let those who send such mails know the organisation’s response to their proposals, but it will also help them to make informed decisions going forward.
Companies usually send response to only those they intend to sponsor. The question then is, what happens to the other businesses waiting to get a feedback on the proposals they had sent?
The sponsorship and events departments of major companies in Nigeria are besieged all through the year with numerous requests for the sponsorship of one event or the other. It is very easy, due to the deluge of requests, for a company to get side tracked, thereby falling into the trap of ignoring the proposals received which did not align with the current goals of the business. However, what most organisations do not realise is that in acting this way, they are being unwittingly discourteous to the organisations, individuals and institutions that sent in those proposals. It is simply rude of an organisation not to respond to any letter or proposal sent to it. It does not matter if it is a negative, positive or a ‘maybe’ response. What is important is that a response is sent regardless of its content. No matter how large an organisation may be, it must never fail to pay attention to the little details, especially where they concern the expectations of their customers on the quality of their service.
It does not take too much effort and time to be courteous, to express gratitude or to say ‘thank you’. When an organisation receives a letter, an invitation or a proposal, it is important to send an acknowledgement and to state in clear terms, the organisation’s position regarding the sponsorship proposal. I recall, while working in the marketing division of Vmobile now Airtel, some years ago, that we had a unit that dedicated a worker to sorting through all the proposals that came to the division (I hope this culture continued through the mergers). One pile was for proposals that needed a second look while another was for proposals that would not be sponsored. Letters were then sent to all those who fell into the category of the organisations that would not be sponsored thanking them for considering Vmobile a possible sponsor for their event, but regretting that the company would not be able to participate as a sponsor at the time and then wishing them a successful event. Consider the language and tone used in that example; it was friendly, appreciative and courteous even though it declined to sponsor. This is very important, as the organisation that sent the proposal to your company would not have done so if it didn’t see something positive and valuable in your organisation to consider aligning its vision with yours. Hence, not responding would make your organisation most undeserving of the recognition accorded it, ab initio, by those who had written in.
Furthermore, technology has made it easy to acknowledge proposals and to send ‘thank you’ emails. In this age of instant communication, organisations cannot use a slow mail delivery system anymore as an excuse for not responding to mails of whatever nature. Therefore, it will be to the benefit of your organisation to acknowledge any letter of sponsorship as this creates and promotes goodwill between your organisation and the sender. It shows that your company values the relationship between it and the sender and emphasises your organisation’s appreciation of the time the sender took in preparing the proposal. It also removes from the sender the anxiety of wondering if your organisation received the proposal and whether or not there will be a response.
Acting courteously will show that you deeply appreciate the trust and faith given to your organisation. It is, therefore, imperative for any company that has yet to put in place this culture of courtesy and respect in addressing proposals and invitations, to add this important aspect of reputation management, relationship building and unequaled customer service to its organisational culture.