It is not an easy task to tell someone you work with that the ideas you received were terrible. Imagine the hard work that went into their proposal. You cannot say no to it and feel glad about it unless you are heartless and do not value your employees at all.
Despite the difficulty of the process, you still need to be honest about it. You cannot let the project continue since it could hurt the company in the long run. You need to end it now and move on with a new proposal. These tips will aid you as you reject project proposals for a marketing campaign.
Point out the specific problems
When you tell someone that you find the proposal to be problematic, you need to provide the reasons why. You cannot just tell someone that you did not like what you got and move on. It will not only be painful, but it could also make someone feel enraged. Professionals understand that they do not always do the best job. However, they also want to know why they got rejected and what they could do the next time. If you only give them a big no without any explanation whatsoever, you are not helping that person grow. It is possible for the same mistakes to happen on the next project proposal.
Give alternatives
If you did not like what you read, you could point out a better way to approach the project. Perhaps, your point of view could also be wrong, and the employee will challenge your ideas. Of course, it hurts if it reaches that point, but it could lead to a more comprehensive discussion of the plan. You might even rethink your rejection after understanding why the proposal was presented that way.
Acknowledge the good aspects
You reject a proposal because you do not think it will work, but it does not mean you dislike the whole thing. There could be some aspects that you find interesting and worthy of acknowledgement. Talk about those elements and show why you love them. However, you cannot sugar coat your ideas since you might come off as being fake. Your decision to reject might even come under scrutiny if you keep talking about what you like.
Move on
Once you have laid out the reasons for the rejection, it is time to move forward. You still have a lot of things to do. You can find someone else to continue the project. If it is a team effort, you can look for another person to take the lead. You also need to remember the deadlines that you need to meet. Now is not the time to dwell on problems and get stuck.
Perhaps, someone else has better ideas that could be useful for the next project proposal. It might be about the use of traditional advertising such as a pull up banner. It could work with the correct approach.
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