Proposal Software comes in many shapes and sizes. They are all similar but certainly not the same. One of the essential features of the proposal tool is the integration with your CRM. There are three reasons why you want this integration as well:

It saves time and avoids mistakes when writing the quotation. If you set up the tool correctly, it can feed information from your CRM directly into the device. This saves typing and thus time and avoids spelling errors in names. And in many cases, the quotations then come directly into your CRM. Pretty simple for follow-ups and contract administration.

It isn’t enjoyable if you have a new tool and have to log in at a different place constantly. You make your CRM the hub of the proposal tool with a link. No one then has to remember and save the link. The new tool must be incorporated into the standard Sales process and thus automatically becomes part of standard operating procedures. As a result, the adoption of the tool is much easier.

Many quotation tools store data on customer reading behavior. You can then use this information to bring it back to your CRM and build triggers there. For example, if it has not been opened three days after sending the quotation, the Sales employee responsible is given a task to call the customer after. Thus, many triggers can be thought of that help get a quote approved faster.

Do you want this too, but find it difficult? Happy to help!

A proposal tool or software costs about 5 to 75 euros per user per month. The actual cost depends on the tool, the number of users, and the functionality required. The cheapest tool is Quoters which costs $5 per user per month. Then you have all the basic functionality, such as your look-and-feel, collaboration, and different templates.

Unfortunately, simply purchasing a tool and handing out some login codes does not work. Consider technical and functional implementation. Again, the larger your environment is (more complex), the more expensive the implementation. Whether you do these yourself or have them done. After all, internal hours cost money, too.

Often, the larger the company and, therefore, more sales teams, the more complex the environment. For a simple implementation for convenience, keep in mind about €5,000 per sales team for one-time costs.

The more functionality the bid management tool has, the longer it takes to adopt all the required functionality. More buttons to learn… The more straightforward tools require about one-half day of the average salesperson, and then they can get started.

The superusers, also called admin, often need more time to become proficient with the tool. So count on €500 per sales employee who starts working with the tool.

How soon can I start using the new tool? On average, it’s 1 to 2 months.

How fast it is often up to you. After all, you (and part of your company) must set aside time to implement. Consider intake, process design, information delivery, and training. All those parts require you or other people in your company. Therefore, a simple implementation has a lead time of about four weeks. The more complex implementation takes as long as six months.

The proposal tools always deliver immediate results, even with your first proposal. Especially if the training has been done and the setup is well known, working with a tool will help the Sales employee to write faster and better offers. So time savings can already be seen in the first offer. After 3 to 5 quotes per sales representative, the results are even more vital because everyone is used to working with the tool. In addition to the time savings, Stryfes sees several monetizable benefits in most implementations. The odds of winning usually go up by at least 10%. And the time between quoting and signed contracts usually goes down by several days. So the bottom line is not just the time it takes to quote.

The time savings per company varies greatly and depend on your initial stage. Assuming you are now using a reasonably well-developed quotation template, we take 25% faster. If you have a rudimentary proposal, the time savings are as much as 50% per proposal.

Conversion improvement is tough to predict. On average, Stryfes sees an improvement between 30% and 50%.

Check out our ROI article for Bid Tooling. The same technique can also be used for Proposal Tooling
Return on Investments van Bid Tooling

Ask this question to a company specializing in implementations. Nevertheless, the answer is YES. Most of the tools can also be implemented by you and your colleagues. Especially with Stryfes’ implementation guides.

But we exist for a good reason. Implementing tools correctly often goes wrong on the following points:

• Not allocating enough time for implementation
• Technical implementation is too complicated
• Process implementation is being skipped
• Work is assigned to 1 person with which the team is not included
• Geen kennis/handigheid met tooling
• No time to do selection and implementation
• Unfamiliar with all the ins – outs of the tool, this leaves a lot of potential untapped

Read an article on the ten most common mistakes in proposals here
So that’s not how it should be

The cost of implementation is relatively low compared to companies’ annual order intake. So why would you still want to do it yourself?

Proposal tooling helps you provide quotes faster. Besides being faster, it’s also better. Implementing successful methods in quotations will increase the chances of winning for all your Sales staff. But before you surf to an online store right now and purchase a tool, there are a few things you should consider:

• Integratie van de offerte tool met jouw CRM
• The total cost of the proposal tool, and that’s not just the license fee
• Implementation

Met bovenstaande zaken kan je zelf aan de slag met de juiste keuzes. However, if you would like help, you can make an appointment with one of our Sales Strategists.

Want to read more about good quotations? Here are a few articles:

• Writing winning offers
• Build a tight proposal process
• What is an proposal?
• Impact on win ratio