Hey there. Want a marshmallow?
Okay, what if I told you that you could have one marshmallow now or two marshmallows 15 minutes from now?
(Why yes, I am 100% conducting a Stanford marshmallow experiment on you.)
I assume we’re all adults here, so maybe a quarter of an hour isn’t that big of a deal. You can probably wait it out and get double the marshmallows in a few short minutes. No sweat and s’more sugary goodness.
But what if that gratification was delayed for 15 days? Or 15 weeks? OR 15 MONTHS?
The feeling of delayed gratification doesn’t just apply to marshmallows. It also plays into what keeps sales teams from updating processes and tools. That perceived gap between implementation and payoff feels risky.
It’s like saying, If we won’t see huge results immediately, let’s stick with what we have.
Or, in other words: one somewhat-guaranteed marshmallow now instead of the possibility of a whole bag of them later.
The good news?
Proposal software isn’t only about the long-term and ongoing benefits it provides for your proposal process and close rate. There are some immediate advantages you can access right as you implement. That means more closed deals and a faster time to value on your investment.
So, let’s look at eight things business proposal software can help you and your team do or accomplish right away. And there’s no fluff here—these sweet benefits are all taken from real user reviews and other feedback.
8 ways proposal management software helps your sales team immediately upon implementation
1. Solidify your offering
If you’re moving from a disjointed proposal process to new proposal software, the process of moving over can help you nail down your offering and pricing.
A content library filled with ready-to-roll fee tables and packages to choose from means you’re not building out your offering from scratch for each proposal. Your pricing will be more efficient, as well as when estimating time and other costs.
Solidifying your offering also provides clarity for your sales team. They’ll be able to efficiently put together proposal pricing and packaging because they won’t be questioning what they can or can’t do, price-wise. There will be no questions about what you sell and for how much or rogue sales reps offering off-the-books deals that can’t be followed through on.
2. Update in real-time
As your sales team presents proposals to clients and gets their feedback, they no longer have to say that they’ll have the final version over to them ‘soon’.
‘Soon’ becomes ‘as soon as the meeting ends’ when you can easily update the proposal in real-time on your laptop and send it for approval right away.
And, there are no more chicken-scratch meeting notes to decipher and no more sketchy verbal handshake deals. Your sales reps can focus on the pitch, not trying to remember last-minute changes.
3. Increase prospecting
Has your sales team ever held off on building out your prospecting and pipeline because they’re unsure about when they’ll be able to get proposals out to the leads they already have?
With proposal software, your sales team can generate more leads for your sales funnel because they're more confident that their new process means a quick and efficient turnaround on new proposals.
4. Get projects started faster
Once the proposal is accepted and signed, what’s your process for getting the project off the ground?
With online proposal software’s handy integrations, your sales team can set it up so that the new client’s details are immediately added to your project management software. Tasks, to-do lists, and deadlines can be set up in a flash—no waiting on a kick-off meeting or manual information transfer.
5. Revive dormant proposals
The proposal was sent and then… *crickets*. You hate to see it happen, but it does. Way too often.
Proposal software’s metrics let you see if someone’s circled back to view a dormant proposal document. This insight lets your sales team reconnect with the lead at the perfect time, and maybe bring a deal you thought was dead back to life.
6. Ditch proposal procrastination
Proposal software banishes many of the reasons it takes so long to get a proposal out the door. Like the questions that get fired around via Slack and email: Where are the updated team bios? Who has our latest case study? And what should go in the executive summary again?
An organized content library and easy-to-use templates mean proposal creators know exactly where to start every time. It’s also easy to pull in the deal details from your CRM. And there’s no waiting around for help from marketing to make it look good.
7. Read prospects’ minds
Have you ever wished your salespeople could know what your prospects are thinking? While it doesn’t make you completely clairvoyant, proposal metrics can give you insight into your clients’ minds.
Are they lingering on a certain section of the proposal? Have they viewed a specific page multiple times? Metrics can give you that insight, so your sales reps can reach out with timely help. Even better, some proposal software includes a chat function so prospects can reach out right away when they have a question—no ESP required.
8. Increase revenue per rep
It’s not necessarily that you need more sales reps; what you need is to get more proposals out the door and more deals closed. So if you’re not ready to scale your sales team, proposal software can help your existing salespeople be more productive, right as you implement.
By streamlining your proposal creation process and including value-adds, like flexible fee options, you can increase your average contract value and client base without a sales hiring blitz.
S’more helpful side effects
While good things (like marshmallows) can come to those who wait, who says you have to? More is more when we’re talking about the benefits of adding a tool to your sales tech stack.
And proposal software can offer the best of both worlds—benefits upfront AND later on—so your sales team can keep killing it.
