What is Proposal Management Software?

Proposal management software is designed to improve the productivity and quality business teams need to compete efficiently. Because it's designed specifically to facilitate the proposal management process, and the team synchronization and collaboration necessary to achieve success, it makes submitting high-quality, stand-out proposals faster and easier. Here's how.

 

Integration and Access

Proposal management software integrates the team, time, and document management tools that drive productivity. The team has easy access to what they need to do their jobs efficiently; assignments and deadlines to focus their time, reusable content and team mindshare to expedite their writing, automated version control to avoid overwriting, and document collaboration to drive productive reviews. At the same time, the proposal manager has workflow for standardizing the process and keeping the team in sync and on deadline, as well as real-time status and process improvement analysis.

Document Management

Proposal management software is a centralized, secure document management platform, complete with access permissions, version control and accessible an audit trail. Documents are organized into discrete Workspaces, including folders for current document versions, reusable content, strategy, etc. Teams access document versions based on view or edit access. When accessed for editing, the document is locked to avoid overwriting. When the document is published, the version advances, with previous versions available for view and roll-back. Because the documents are centralized, teams avoid the issues that come with email sharing, for example, inadvertently working on the incorrect document version. Because all published documents are indexed, all information is automatically available for search, filter, and reuse, making it easy to create a first draft quickly.

Workflow

Proposal management software standardizes and automates the proposal process to keep the team in sync and on task. Everyone is automatically up-to-date with what they need to be working on and when it’s due. Missteps that can easily derail the written portion of the sales cycle are avoided. Together the team acts in a coordinated fashion toward a common goal, avoiding confusion and saving time.

Team and Time Management

Proposal management software eliminates the time-consuming and arduous search for information. Teams easily find assignments so their time is focused on execution. They effortlessly access (and work on) the current document version, saving a ton of heartache. They easily follow solution and strategy discussions for better writing clarity (and capture mindshare for use on future proposals). They keep pace with shifting deadlines as updates are reflected in their calendar. Together they save time that can be invested in the quality of their proposal writing.

Collaboration

Proposal management software empowers real-time document and graphic collaboration for discussion and reviews. The team reviews synchronously or asynchronously, viewing each other’s comments and replies in real-time. They tag the original document with revision instructions, what’s working, what’s not, and how to improve it. They toggle between document versions to clarify their comments. They chat with experts to validate solution or strategy comments. They reply to each other’s comments, countering and conferring, and coming to consensus on how to improve the proposal. Once the review is complete, the proposal manager evaluates, clarifies, sorts, filters, and prioritizes review instructions before the team takes action. Because reviews are conducted centrally, proposal managers skip the multi-document “merge” step, buying more time for the team to work on revisions.

Reporting

Proposal management software captures time and task information for real-time reporting and performance analysis. Proposal managers know who is working and when they are done. They see bottlenecks, and step-in to redistribute workload before they become delays. They analyze how well the process is working. With proposal management reporting, proposal managers know where process change will improve efficiency, how to better budget for the next proposal, and a historical record of the team’s activities and performance.

Proposal management software is designed to improve team productivity, synchronize for greater efficiency, and empower collaboration that drives higher quality proposals.

What Makes Proposal Management Software Unique?