My pitch (sales / fundraising / new role / proposal) just got rejected. Help me ask for honest feedback that I can actually use.
WHAT YOU PITCHED: {sales_deal / fundraise / job_loop / internal_proposal}
TO WHOM: {their_role + your_relationship_to_them}
HOW IT ENDED: {polite_no / ghosted / 'maybe_later'}
WHAT THEY DID SAY in the rejection: {paste_their_words}
MY GUESS about what really happened: {pricing / fit / timing / specific_objection_unaddressed}
WHAT I'D LIKE TO LEARN: {one_specific_question}
FUTURE OPTIONALITY — do I want to pitch them again?: {yes_in_3_months / yes_at_a_new_company / no / unclear}
WRITE:
1. **A 4-line message** asking for feedback — calm, specific, no 'is there anything I could have done better' (too vague to get a useful answer).
2. The single best question to ask — narrow enough they can answer in 2 sentences.
3. **What to ask if they say 'great pitch, just timing'** — push politely.
4. **What to do if they ghost the feedback ask** — one follow-up, then close it cleanly.
5. **What to NOT ask** — 3 questions that will guarantee a vague answer or no reply.
6. **The way you'll close the loop** with what you learn (1-line message back in 6 weeks showing you applied the feedback).0 copies·0 saves·3 views
204 words·1,223 chars
Sample output
Pitched: $80K SaaS sale to a VP at a 1000-person company. Got 'really enjoyed the conversations, going in a different direction.' My guess: integration risk that I didn't address fully in the final demo. Want to learn: was it the integration concern, or pricing? Want to pitch them again — maybe in 6 months or at a new company.
1. The 4-line message (sent 3-5 days after the rejection — not same day):
'Hi Maya — thanks again for the time across the last few weeks, and for being direct about the decision. One question I'd really value your honest read on: was the deciding factor the integration story (specifically the [data warehouse] piece), or something else? I'm asking so I'm sharper next time and would owe you one.'
Why this works: specific (not 'any feedback?'), narrowed to ONE thing, frames it as low-cost for her ('one question'), explicit offer ('owe you one').
2. The best question structure: Name your hypothesis IN the question. People can quickly confirm or deflect a specific hypothesis. They cannot easily answer 'what could I have done differently.'
Bad: 'Any feedback?' Better: 'Was it the integration concern?' Best: 'Was the integration story with our data warehouse setup the deciding factor — or something I missed?'
3. If they say 'great pitch, just timing':
'I hear you on timing. To make sure I'm not missing something, was there any concern under the timing — fit, integration risk, the team buy-in piece — that would still be there in 6 months if I came back? Want to make sure timing is the real word, not the polite one.'
Warm, but you press once. People will tell you the real answer the second time when you give them permission to.
Parameters
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FAQ
Ask for feedback AFTER the deal is closed enough that they have nothing to lose by being honest. Ask too soon and you'll get the 'great pitch, just timing' deflection that's polite but useless. The prompt targets Claude Sonnet and lives in the Personal & Career category on mycopyprompt.
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4. If they ghost the feedback ask:
One soft follow-up, 7-10 days later: 'Hi Maya — circling back on this one note. Totally fine if too busy to dig in — just didn't want to assume.'
If still silence after another 10 days: leave it. Don't ask a third time. Sometimes the lack of response IS the feedback — usually that the answer is something they don't want to say in writing.
5. What NOT to ask:
6. The close-the-loop message (6 weeks later):
'Hi Maya — quick update: based on what you said about the integration story, I rebuilt the data-warehouse demo and added a 1-pager on the migration timeline. We just closed a similar-sized deal where that was the deciding factor — wanted to say thanks for the honest feedback. No agenda; just wanted you to know it landed.'
Why this works: closes the relationship loop, demonstrates you take feedback seriously, plants a seed for future engagement, no ask.