Best Sales Proposal Automation Software

Sales proposal automation software helps you to create proposals quickly and easily and deliver them in a convenient format to your clients. Therefore, it is essential to select the best sales proposal automation software to save time and improve efficiency. However, this can be a difficult task as there are scores of programs out there. We come to your aid by giving you practical tips and hints to help you do educated comparisons to pick the best sales proposal automation software for your company needs.

Get to Know Each Product with Free Trial

An ideal way to begin your search is to sign up for the free trials or demo offered by leading sales proposal automation software providers. This will enable you to check out each product’s main features and other elements without spending any money. You can then opt for a solution that best fits your unique requirements. Find out whether the popular proposal platforms offer a free trial and sign up for them: PandaDoc, Paperless Proposal, Octiv, QuoteWerks, and Proposify. These tools have received impressive rankings in our sales proposal automation software reviews that you can read to get a comparison of their features. 

Targeted Businesses

• Entrepreneurs and small businesses have simpler needs and they can make do with a one-size-fits-all system.
• Large enterprises need customized sales proposal automation tools and advanced functionality for their greater needs and to improve their sales efficiency and productivity.
• Individual sellers can also take advantage of basic sales proposal automation software when dealing with regular customers.

Examples of Sales Proposal Automation Software

• PandaDoc: PandaDoc helps you to create and deliver sales proposals and quotes as well as track presentations and close deals more quickly with legally binding eSignatures. Key features include CPQ functionality, document builder, workflow management, and built-in eSignatures.
• Paperless Proposal: A cloud-based enterprise level proposal creation and management system. You can use it to create impressive business quotes, proposals, and contracts in just a few minutes.  
• Octiv: Enables collaboration and connection across the sales software ecosystem. Octiv improves sales productivity by streamlining workflows between marketing and sales.
• QuoteWerks: Create professional proposals and quotes in minutes. QuoteWerks has the simplicity of spreadsheets, with the flexibility, feature set, and robustness of high-end custom solutions.
• Proposify: Create attractive proposals, streamline them in the cloud, and get quicker sign-off with online signatures. You can try the software free for 30 days.

Types of Sales Proposal Automation Software

Web-based proposal software

In SaaS proposal management software, you need to import content into the solution. After content is imported, the system acts like a search engine to help you find what you need quickly and easily. The HTML format allows better use of search features such as stemming and full-text searching.

Small business systems

These are one-size-fits-all solutions that are ideal for the basic needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Enterprise systems

These are more customized solutions for the greater needs of large enterprises and include advanced features, robust business logic, and customer support.

Native file format proposal software

Some proposal software store files in their native file format (PDF, Excel, or Microsoft Word). Other web-based proposal systems are starting to store content in the form of HTML.

Key Features of Sales Proposal Automation Software

Look for the following common features in sales proposal automation tools:

• Proposal branding – Allows you to create branding rules and inspect proposals for brand compliance.
• Proposal templates – Enables you to use templates for standard layouts with variable fields.
• Proposal content library updates – You can update standard content and saved proposal language.
• Searchable database: Proposals are stored in a central database. You can easily search and locate past proposals in the database.
• Guided proposal creation – Recommendations, question flow, and an authoring wizard to help sales professionals create proposals based on the details of the deal.
• RFP response and management – You can create proposals based on the requests you receive.
• Proposal collaboration – You can collaborate with your colleagues to review and revise proposals. May include automated approval workflows and versioning.
• User permissions and editing controls – You can control who views the proposals and who can edit them.
• Content tracking – Reporting and analytics features that give insight into proposal content engagement and performance. For example, you can learn what content your clients read and what content helps to close successful deals.
• Proposal delivery – Convenient options to deliver proposals to clients such as hard copies, electronic documents (Word, PDF, HTML, RTF) and links to online proposals.
• Interactive proposals – Interactive options for clients as they can select from agreements, choose add-ons to upsell themselves, and sign electronic agreements.
• Sales proposal workflow – Proposal automation to boost sales efficiency.
• Proposal automation user interface – The user interface is simple and easy to navigate for sales professionals and their collaborators even if they do not have technical skills.
• E-signature – This feature allows users to attach binding electronic signatures to documents.

Benefits of Sales Proposal Automation Software

• Streamlines workflow to enable users to create proposals more quickly and easily.
• You can create higher quality proposals that have consistent branding and are more personalized with regard to RFP specifications and contract details.  
• Another benefit is you can boost sales effectiveness with customized proposals and fast turnaround which can enhance the win rate.  
• Interactive proposals enable your clients to upsell themselves, which can increase the deal size and revenue gained without sales professionals needing to put in the extra effort.
• Sales proposal automation software solutions can also serve as repositories for proposal templates.

Latest Trends

No market leaders

Currently, there are no market leaders in the proposal software category because the field is at a nascent stage and too splintered right now. The five apps we have mentioned in our Top Vendors category have good reputation and track records but they do not qualify to be market leaders as of now.

Customized proposal software for specific industries

Companies are preferring to invest in niche apps as they are designed for the business processes and challenges of a specific industry. Plus, organizations don’t have to purchase multiple software systems for project management, sales, and client support, and can instead subscribe to a single niche proposal software solution that covers all their needs.

Potential Issues

Setup hassles

Users of sales proposal software have reported that they faced difficulties while setting up the systems. Particularly, they found it hard to create document templates and a content repository. Software vendors need to recognize this drawback and improve their solutions.

Use of outdated and inaccurate content

All concerned employees such as sales professionals and managers need to use standard templates and the most current version of documents. Otherwise, they can end up using outdated and inaccurate content as well as different versions which will the mar the quality of the proposals.

Branding inconsistencies

Another common challenge faced by sales managers is proposals with branding inconsistencies. Sales professionals need to make good use of proposal management software to ensure the proposals they create have uniform branding and formatting features so that they stand out among the crowd and attract the attention of clients.

Useful Statistics

Sales proposal is considered part of sales enablement. Companies are also focusing on this to ensure that their agents are well-equipped to create the best proposals. And, of course, to win them. On that note, here are some useful statistics regarding sales, sales proposals, and sales proposal automation solutions:

• Companies pay attention to sales tools (58.5%), proposal development (22.9%), as well as enablement technologies (37.3%)
• Working with a proposal template cuts time spent on the proposal process—from 30 hours to a mere 10 hours.
• Automation saves time and money, as inefficient work processes can make companies lose between 20% to 30% of annual revenue.
• AI adoption is predicted to increase by 139% in the next three years.
• 85% of sales tasks can be automated by 2020.

Considerations When Selecting a Sales Proposal Automation Software

You have to be careful when choosing a sales proposal automation software. For one thing, there are vendors whose primary industry target may be different from yours. If you sign up for a solution that is not exactly tailored to your needs, it can lead to problems down the road. Aside from that, here are things you need to consider:

• Interdepartmental collaboration needs. There are times when sales, marketing, finance, and other teams have to put their heads together to come up with the best proposal. Since each one may have different requirements, it can be difficult to have a one-size-fits-all solution. Thus, you have to gauge what their needs are before selecting a platform.
• Support for current workflow. A software that automates a critical process is going to introduce changes to your workflow. But you have to find one that does not force you to overhaul your entire process. Rather, you want a software that can support it while ensuring that redundant tasks are automated.
• Integrations. Just as with teams, various software solutions have to work together for an attractive proposal. Therefore, you have to ensure that you subscribe to a solution that can play well with third-party applications.