Benefits of Using Proposal Management Software

Whether you’re a freelancer or manager of an enterprise-level firm, there are plenty of reasons to consider using proposal management software.

It can be hard to keep track of the status of a proposal with countless contributors, so collaboration features cut down on the time you spend asking around for updates.

Automated Templates

A proposal management solution with templates helps you create proposals faster while keeping your content on-brand. If you work on a repetitive basis or need to respond to RFPs, these templates can save you hours by automating the creation process. The template feature also ensures that all essential elements are included in your bid, which can prevent a prospect from disqualifying your proposal by submitting missing information.

For teams that are working on multiple proposals at once, a proposal management solution with a collaborative space ensures that everyone has access to the same file. This way, team members can comment and review proposals in real time and ensure that all the necessary information is included. This is especially useful when your organization works with remote employees.

The software can also send reminders to prospects when it’s time to review the proposal, which ensures that they follow through on reviewing and responding. Moreover, the software can track how often a prospect opens the proposal, the number of times it is downloaded or printed, and whether or not the client interacts with any of its pages.

With proposal management software, your team can see what’s working and identify areas for improvement. This insight can help you improve your overall sales process and boost your revenue. This translates into more clients for your company.

Real-Time Collaboration

The right proposal management software allows multiple team members to edit a single document at the same time. This helps ensure that proposals always have the latest information and avoids duplications or conflicting changes. Some tools also provide real-time chat or commenting features to help keep everyone in the loop.

Streamlined workflows enable sales specialists to focus more on client-focused, customized proposals and faster proposal turnaround, which may improve win rate. Interactive proposals can even prompt prospects to “self” upsell, generating additional revenue without additional work from Sales.

Proposal to Payment

As an added bonus, a good proposal tool may offer integration with CRM, CMS and CPQ systems to feed personalized and contextual content into proposals, as well as with eSignature and payment software to streamline the deal and generate revenue. The best options also have built-in collaboration tools, a mobile app and 24-7 online support to make them easy for teams to use anywhere, at any time.

The latest proposal tools are designed to be multifaceted and adaptable for different departments, from project managers to marketing and sales reps. They’re typically compatible with most major project management tools, email marketing programs, time tracking and CRM systems. They may also integrate with third-party eSignature and payment gateways to facilitate a complete workflow. Some also include chat and video features to provide a more humanized and individualized customer experience.

AI-Powered Insights

If you’re a company that regularly responds to RFPs or sells products or services, a proposal management software solution can help you win more project bids and sales deals. With the use of artificial intelligence (AI), your proposal tool can provide valuable insights about how your prospects interact with your proposals, which elements they clicked on and which ones they glossed over. This information is invaluable for improving future proposals and enhancing your likelihood of winning projects.

In addition, a good proposal software should provide you with the option to automate a workflow that ensures that your prospects are contacted within a reasonable amount of time after receiving the initial proposal. This helps you avoid losing potential clients due to insufficient communication.

You should also consider a proposal software that allows you to send your proposals through multiple channels. This includes email, PDF and online proposals via links to customized landing pages. Lastly, the tool should be capable of analyzing the results of your previous proposal projects to help you improve your chances of success with new prospects.

Managing proposals with the use of a tool like Zomentum helps you stay on track for your projects and prevents any confusion about pricing or packages. Moreover, the tool is secure and allows you to grant access to your team members in different ways depending on their roles.

Seamless Integration

Many proposal management software applications offer a host of integrations to allow users to easily connect the system with their other business tools. For example, PandaDoc offers more than 30 integrations to connect the system with other programs like Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Google Drive, QuickBooks and more. It also supports e-signatures, document tracking and 24-7 support.

The ability to seamlessly integrate your proposal management solution with other business tools gives your team a single, cohesive, organized platform to streamline the process and improve productivity. This can save your team time and prevent rework caused by duplicate data entry or misaligned documents.

Oftentimes, when multiple team members are working on a proposal, it can be difficult to keep track of who is contributing and what parts of the document are being revised. However, with a proposal solution that features collaboration space, everyone can see the same document at any time, making it easier for everyone to stay on task and ensure the proposal is complete and error-free.

Additionally, proposal solutions that feature a project dashboard give team members visibility into a proposal’s progress and status. This allows team leaders to keep tabs on how close they are to closing the deal and can even open up a discussion about if there are any areas where the strategy could be improved for better engagement in future proposals.