Electronic bidding software: the guide

Do you still make your proposals on paper and by hand? Do you use tools like Word to create your contracts? If so, I’m here to tell you that it’s now 2019 and there are very effective and easy-to-use electronic proposal software options that will save you an incredible amount of time and, above all, will enhance the quality of the customer experience (UX) of your business.

If you are already using electronic proposal software, do you know that it’s possible to synchronize them with your CRMs? The advantage? You can save even more time and be ultra-efficient!

In general, creating a proposal for a client takes between 10 and 25 minutes. Sometimes much longer. But let's focus on the average, which is 18 minutes.

Roofing representatives can send up to 8 proposals a day. In digital solutions, we typically send out an average of two proposals a day. If I do a quick calculation at 3 proposals per day x 18 minutes, that totals 56 minutes each day.

The average salesperson takes about an hour each day minimum to write and create their proposals. With a tool like PandaDoc, Proposify, or Better Proposals, we can easily reduce that to 5 minutes. If you use a CRM like Pipedrive and it is synchronized with PandaDoc, we’re talking only a few seconds...

You could save up to 45 minutes a day per representative thanks to this incredible digital tool! That’s 10% of a normal workday!

In this article, we will compare 3 electronic proposal software: PandaDoc, Proposify, and Better Proposals. But first, let’s start from the beginning.

What is electronic proposal software?

Electronic proposal software is an online (Cloud-based) tool that allows you to create proposal templates, customize them, and send them to your clients and prospects electronically.

Your clients and prospects can thus legally sign contracts with just one click... but that’s not all. Most electronic proposal software allows you to know when the proposal has been opened, how long it was viewed, and which sections were most consulted.

Your clients can also choose options and write you comments online, allowing you to respond to their questions with a speed that often completely unsettles them!

Some of them, like Proposify, offer users "Pipelines." This allows small businesses that do not want to invest in a CRM right now to maintain a certain level of control and follow-ups on the proposals sent.

Now, here is our opinion on 3 very popular electronic proposal software: PandaDoc, Proposify, and Better Proposals.

Synchronizing CRM and electronic proposals with PandaDoc

In the past, the biggest bug I encountered when using a CRM was that I had to either transcribe information from my CRM into my proposal software OR the sync (called Integration) between the CRM and the proposal software was really poor.

In the end, I wasted a lot of time. That all changed once I integrated PandaDoc with Pipedrive CRM. Why? Because PandaDoc and Pipedrive companies are business partners.

In fact, the PandaDoc team used the Pipedrive CRM when searching for investors, also known as Series A, totaling 5 million USD. They succeeded and consider that a large part of their success is due to the use of the CRM.

The PandaDoc electronic proposal software has been working closely with the Pipedrive CRM team ever since to offer a very robust "bilateral" integration. In other words, information from Pipedrive CRM can be found in PandaDoc with great ease, making the creation of proposals in PandaDoc super simple.

Since we use Pipedrive CRM, we definitely have a strong preference for PandaDoc. Previously, as you can see in the screenshots above, we were users of Proposify, and that’s been for over 3 years.

Another very interesting advantage of PandaDoc is its user-friendly dashboard. The dashboard provides a very clear overview of the status of proposals.

If you do not have a CRM and are wondering if your business is at the stage of implementing a CRM into its processes, I recommend reading the article on our blog before making a decision regarding your electronic proposal tool.

Proposify: perfect for businesses without a CRM

Proposify is perfect for freelancers, self-employed workers, or businesses that currently do not have a CRM. Its "CRM" integrated into their electronic proposal software is very effective if your sales process is simple.

The proposal creator is a "drag & drop," so you can easily create your templates without much difficulty. Proposify often has "bugs," but the customer service is very proactive. If you encounter a major issue, their team will generally offer to help you over the phone or screen sharing. It’s very rare to see such effective customer service.

If you take the "Large" version, you will be able to rely on several interesting integrations, such as Stripe, which allows you to collect a deposit upon signing the electronic proposal. You can also give specific permissions to some of your users.

For example, if you have a sales manager, they might need to approve each proposal before you can send it to your clients.

Despite the disappointments I’ve had over time with Proposify, I still recommend the software for small businesses without a CRM and solopreneurs who want to create beautiful proposals and save time.

Better Proposals: a simple and effective software

Better Proposals sits between Proposify and PandaDoc. It’s the cheapest at $19/user, but some of its features may cause more advanced businesses in their digitization to turn away from it.

In fact, Better Proposal is solely an electronic proposal tool, so there is no integrated CRM. Therefore, to have a performing system, you need to integrate it with a CRM!

Integrations are often difficult or limited to execute.

So who is Better Proposals for? Either for businesses that only want electronic proposal software that is affordable and simple to use, or for businesses that don’t have complex integrations between their CRM and their proposals.

For example, I recommend Better Proposal with any CRM for a business that bills time or that doesn’t have many products. Or, if your contracts are simple and do not require many "variables" from your CRM, Better Proposals can do the job perfectly.

For a construction company, a marketing agency, or IT, I suggest much more PandaDoc.

For a small consulting agency, a cleaning business, etc., you will be satisfied with Better Proposals.

Which electronic proposal software should you choose?

It all depends on your needs. Before recommending a specific electronic proposal software, we need to establish your needs to guide you correctly! The investment in a consultation with one of our digital tool and CRM experts could save you a lot of time and money!

Any questions? Write to me