What is Proposal Management?

The proposal is the first stage in initiating a project. The process of proposal management includes monitoring and execution of the proposal, from planning to proposal submission. Companies hire managers or a team with the expertise to manage proposals. Smaller concerns tend to go with the available team to execute proposal related activities.

What is a Proposal Management Software?

A Proposal Management Software is a hi-tech system that helps the companies to create, organize and archive proposal and contract documents. The software has a smooth process flow that aids in better understanding and managing of such documents. For big companies, it is difficult to manage the plethora of documents and emails related to business proposals and contracts. The Proposal Management Software comes in handy and helps the organization to easily maintain a huge amount of documents. The right software helps the business to reduce costs, supports centralized governance, improves accountability and increases profitability. The software helps in managing the proposals throughout its lifecycle.

Proposal Management Software provides a comprehensive solution that streamlines and automates the process of managing proposals. The software with its advanced technology helps the managers to create and manage proposal documents.

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Tips on choosing the best software

A reliable and good proposal management software must incorporate the following aspects.

  1. Customer Friendliness

    The software must include the customer friendliness functionality that would enable the user to relay information across the platform. This would add more value to the proposal and helps the proposal manager to track its growth efficiently.

  2. Payment Solution

    A proposal management software with an inbuilt payment gateway will help the business in saving time. Once the proposal is sent agreed upon by all the involving parties, the next step is the payment for the project. With an integrated payment gateway, the business can easily track the payment and receipts without wasting time.

  3. File Storage

    Managing the proposals is an extensive process that would include many subsidiary documents and emails. To successfully keep the track on several files, the proposal management software must possess a highly intelligent and sleek centralized storage system. The central storage system will ensure that all the documents relating to a proposal are saved securely in a single location. The software must also possess the function of allowing access to the team members.

    With AI-powered CLM Solution, it can help businesses to reduce spend and improve efficiencies in their procurement strategy. In the near future, it is predicted that AI will continue playing a key role in cutting costs and reducing over-payment in procurement areas.

    AI-enabled CLM solution such as DocuCollab helps to cut down administrative, dispute and operational costs by setting up timely alerts and notifications. In case of non-fulfillment of contractual obligations, it enforces penalty clauses. It also drives business growth. By tracking data from past experiences like up-sell or cross-sell opportunities, AI-based CLM tools provide intelligent insight that helps users make more informed decisions in the future. Studies say this increases new revenue opportunities by 20%.

    Click here to read The Benefits Of A Contract Management Software In The Pandemic Stricken Period

  4. Proposal Creation

    An elegant and professionally written proposal can catch the eye of the viewing partners easily than a poorly written and designed one. The proposal management software must be integrated with the proposal creation feature with different templates. The templates can be customised by the manager according to the projects making it distinctive. The software must also include features like image and videos which can enrich the proposal document.

  5. Automation

    A fully automated proposal management system can drastically reduce the time and effort spent on preparing proposals individually and increase productivity by manifold. Automation eliminates repetition and errors in the proposal. System automation also ensures that the workflow of the process is smooth.

  6. Versatility

    Reliable software must be versatile in its adaptation to different kinds of proposals. The tool must be inclusive of designs and contents that can easily be customised to the bidding requirements. The versatility feature of the software system ensures that the proposals are not monotonous and tedious to read through.

  7. Integration

    An efficient proposal management software will have the integration feature where the system can be easily integrated with the existing system of the company. The integration ensures that the process is streamlined from both the ends. Integrating the software with default email ids and document system will ensure that all crucial information is recorded

  8. Collaboration

    A collaborative platform within the proposal management software will ensure better productivity and transparency. The collaboration tool greatly helps when team members are required to work remotely. The tool enables collaboration by way sharing documents and files among the team and virtually work on the same document with efficiency.

    Click here to read How To Improve Procurement Efficiency And Speed With Contract Lifecycle Management Solution

  9. Approval System

    The proposal management software must include an approval system where the hierarchy of the users can be defined. This will ensure that the final decision regarding the proposal is taken by the authorised manager even though a team of members worked on perfecting it. Approval system also ensures the privacy of sensitive documents saved in the storage.

    Additional Features to be considered

    • Inclusion of video formats
    • Multiple format compatibility
    • Inclusion of price tables
    • Intelligent reporting system
    • Measuring the performance
    • E-signatures
    • Communication tools
    • Analytics tools

    Proposal management software enables users to create strong and professional proposals. A clear proposal leads to a strong business connection with the partners.

DocuCollab encompasses all the features of an efficient proposal management software. Click here to know more.