Slow proposals: separate work from waiting before choosing AI
For slow proposals, separate work from waits and consider AI where confirmed information is waiting to be passed on.
Key points
- Separate proposal work from waiting
- Let AI hand over confirmed information
- Use approved scope and price in drafts
Overview diagram in preparation
Contents
Separate proposal work time from waiting time
A&A perspective
A handoff wait is the time between having the documents ready and the next person starting work. Choose AI work after locating the delay. If that wait exceeds the time spent writing, transferring information may be worth testing. Count waiting for a customer reply separately.
A&A perspective
If days pass between a sales conversation and sending a quote or proposal, reconstruct one recent deal. List the meeting notes, price review, proposal drafting and sending stages. For each stage, record active working time and the gap between the previous stage ending and this stage starting.
Hypothetical example
Imagine a promotional-materials production company where a price has been settled but has not reached the employee drafting the proposal. That is a wait for information.
Hypothetical example
If the owner is still thinking through the production scope, the decision itself is taking time. This and the following company examples are hypothetical.
A&A perspective
Separate the reasons for waiting: a document has not arrived, a colleague is unavailable, or a customer has not replied. If the employee is busy with another production job, delivering the document earlier will not by itself get the proposal sent. Reassigning the task or reserving drafting time comes first.
From the sources
Anthropic, an AI developer, describes KANE, a US creative and growth agency. Its workflow uses meeting notes to assess fit and its own past projects for pricing, then connects those inputs to proposals and documents for signature.
A&A perspective
That account does not identify which waits caused most of the delay. Automate & Augment (A&A), the organization writing this article, focuses on transferring confirmed information to the next person. Any reduction in waiting needs to be tested on your own deals.
A&A perspective
The first artifact is a table with the stage, active working time, previous completion time, next start time and reason for waiting. Add the document to transfer and the person responsible.
A&A perspective
If those start and completion times were not recorded, start with the next deal. Avoid diagnosing waiting time from memory alone.
Let AI hand over confirmed information
A&A perspective
A candidate for AI is work waiting for transcription or organization even though the underlying information is settled. Before asking AI to speed up the whole proposal, choose one source document, the fields to extract and the next person’s task that needs them.
Hypothetical example
In the production-company example, this means moving scope and price confirmed by the owner into a proposal draft. Give AI the confirmed document and ask it to retain the same field names for deliverables, deadline and price. Do not include guessing unresolved terms from previous deals in that assignment.
A&A perspective
Also write down when the next task may begin. Required fields must be present, and it must be clear who reviewed which version before drafting starts.
A&A perspective
If something is missing, identify the field and who must answer, then stop. Check which customer information the chosen AI service may handle before transferring documents.
From the sources
Clay, which provides information research tools for sales and other work, publishes a recruiting case about Lovable, an app-building service. It describes researching candidates’ backgrounds and what they have built before recruiters review the information and decide whether to contact them.
A&A perspective
The useful pattern here is preparing information for the next task while leaving the decision to a person. Recruiting and proposals involve different decisions and people. A&A proposes applying that division of work to proposal handoffs; it does not assume the same speed or results will follow.
A&A perspective
For a trial, add the source document, conditions for starting the next task and the person to return questions to your handoff table. You do not need to connect every stage after a sales conversation. Test one handoff with an identified reason for waiting, both when information is complete and when it is missing.
A&A perspective
If the task is simply to organize a short piece of writing, a person can supply the document to AI without building an automatic connection between systems.
A&A perspective
For infrequent tasks, consider whether maintaining that connection would be worth the effort. Adding another tool is not the goal.
| Reason for waiting | Check first | Possible next step |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmed information awaits transcription | Are the source document and required fields settled? | Let AI transfer them into the next draft |
| Scope or price remains undecided | Whose decision is still needed, and about what? | Have a person confirm the terms |
| The person responsible is busy elsewhere | Is there drafting time or another person available? | Reassign the task or reserve working time |
| The customer has not replied | Are the question and follow-up time clear? | Track customer-response waits separately |
Create documents from the approved scope and price
A&A perspective
Use the same confirmed terms for the proposal and contract drafts. Decide where and by whom scope, price and deadline are reviewed, then use that version for both drafts. This consolidates the review of the terms; it does not remove the check before sending documents.
Hypothetical example
In the production-company example, the owner confirms the scope and price, and the document receives a review date and version. Staff or AI use that version for both drafts. Specify the source document so that separate notes do not become conflicting terms.
Hypothetical example
If the customer asks to add another deliverable after the conversation, do not carry the old version straight into contracting. Show the change to the owner, then update both drafts from the newly confirmed terms. A normal review point does not eliminate questions about missing information or changed conditions.
A&A perspective
The sender compares scope, price and deadline in the drafts with the source document. This checks both whether AI transferred the fields correctly and whether the content can be sent to the customer.
A&A perspective
This article does not assess legal adequacy. Matching commercial terms does not establish that a contract is sufficient.
A&A perspective
After the trial, add document preparation, draft review and rework time to the table alongside waiting. If transcription falls but review or corrections increase, the case for continuing to assign that task to AI becomes weaker. Include usage charges and the work needed to maintain the connection.
From the sources
Both sources are accounts published by the vendors involved. KANE’s account includes a participant’s report of time saved, but does not publish a stage-by-stage breakdown. Lovable’s recruiting case does not test the effect on proposals.
A&A perspective
Compare deals with similar scopes and keep customer-response waits separate. If waiting falls and the total burden including review and rework also declines, an adjacent stage may be a candidate.
A&A perspective
Work with constantly changing scope, or delays caused by insufficient staff capacity, can remain outside the connection.
Choose AI work from the reason for waiting
A&A perspective
For slow proposals, separate active work from waiting between tasks.
A&A perspective
If confirmed information is waiting to reach the next person, that handoff is a candidate for AI.
A&A perspective
Use the same approved scope and price for both drafts, and return changed terms to a person.
For slow proposals, separate active work from waiting between tasks. If confirmed information is waiting to reach the next person, that handoff is a candidate for AI. Use the same approved scope and price for both drafts, and return changed terms to a person.
FAQ
Would connecting every task after a sales call be faster?
Identify the reason for waiting first. Connecting tasks with missing information or unresolved human decisions can move incomplete drafts forward. One option is to test a single handoff of confirmed information.
Can there be a handoff wait if I handle sales and proposals alone?
There can be a gap between organizing notes and opening the proposal, even for one person. Distinguishing other work from postponing tedious transcription helps identify a possible AI task.
How much faster will proposals become with AI?
This article’s method has not been measured. Compare similar deals while recording work, waiting, review and rework. Do not use the improvement reported in a case study as the forecast for your own business.
Sources & editorial note
Primary pages read for this article. Publication dates below belong to the sources; access dates record our research.
- Claude for Small Business launches new workflows, integrations, and training programs
Anthropic · 2026-09-15
Accessed 2026-10-29 - How Lovable uses Clay to scale one of the fastest-growing startups in history
Clay · Publication date not displayed
Accessed 2026-10-29