We have seen that the process of proposal management has largely been done manually. In the last couple of years, it has been shifted to a software-based approach. Organizations have started looking for an efficient software to prepare bid proposals. 

Earlier organizations were using different tools for different purposes, making the process cumbersome and inefficient. A proposal management software does everything and anything that you need to prepare a winning bid proposal, thereby reducing the time in which the task is completed and thus improving efficiency. Here in this article, we will share four simple ways to find the best proposal software for your company.

Proposal Management Software: Proposal management software is also known as RFP management software. This software helps vendors in drafting the Requests of Proposals for tenders. It is cloud-based and highly secure ensuring that none of your valuable data can be accessed by a third-party. At the same time, all the tasks associated with preparing the bid proposal and submitting are done with great ease. Proposal Management and Automation are two key areas it addresses.

After knowing the basics of Proposal Management and the software designed for it, we can now look at the ways how to find the best proposal software for your organization. It must have a combination of features that eases your work at the same time makes it quick and efficient. Here is the list of features to search for when choosing software suited to your needs.

1. It must automate the work and the processes: Process and content automation are the two main things that you must look forward to.

• They make the work a lot easier by setting up reminders for the task which are yet to be completed and whose due date is near. Similarly, it automatically emails the contributors regarding the pending assignments. It also works to connect all the departments such as sales, marketing, finance, etc. Facilitating the automatic submission of reports after receipt and confirmation. All these functions come under the management of processes.

• Everything related to content creation is automated using Artificial intelligence. Proper reviewing and updating of content are taken care of by this feature.

• Content and Knowledge base: It should have rich content and knowledge base as far as proposal making and evaluation is concerned. Also, in the Association of Professional Management Software (APMP), 85% of them recommend a software enabled knowledge library efficiency as the best and the most essential.

• Knowledge of Proposal Management and its diverse features: The basic work of the system is only proposal management carrying different interesting and intriguing features which make the work easy. But this won’t be of any use if the knowledge library itself is hard to access and use. The ease of access and use thus is the first primary criterion for the system to be successful.

• The first necessary component of it is the ability to create and format responses in the desired manner. Good formatting skills are a prerequisite for the software to be useful. It should have the ability to attach links and photos to the responses to make them more attractive, and different styles of formatting for different uses make the content clearer.

• It also should have good search functionality to give the users a google-like experience. With a large amount of data being stored in a single place searching using filters becomes very essential. It narrows down the results, making search process easier.

• Efficient management of data is also a very basic yet essential feature. Organizing and grouping similar types of data and information provides a well-defined structure to the data. Every stakeholder should have his/her account or sub-account to access all the information that is needed. Also, this connects every stakeholder through a common interface. 

1. Management of Tasks and Workflows and Maintaining Collaboration: Task management includes tracking costs and searching for ways to reduce them. Time-saving and fast working are also very important. Clear assignment of roles and responsibilities and tracking the progress of each and every worker online makes the burden on top officials really less. 

Now talking about collaboration and workflow management, a common interface makes it comfortable for the users to interact on a common platform at the same time and thus improving efficiency, cooperation, and collaboration. Sharing ideas and suggestions through common notes and comments platform which everyone can access is also a great way to have all teams in touch. Easier extraction of files from various other systems also helps a lot in workflow management.

Here we saw what are the essential things, programs, and functions that we have to look for in order to find the best proposal software for your business. We came across a list of functions that are really very important determinants and factors. 

Hope this list helps you decide your preference and what is the best RFP Software that best suits your company’s requirements.