Fed up of creating and managing proposal software using spreadsheet and word document? Well, it’s time to fasten your proposal creation process by choosing a proposal software that meets your business needs. You need to look for a proposal software that helps to simply your process, in turn helping to improve overall productivity of your business.
Following are the keys feature a proposal software should offer so that it helps transform your business into a roaring success.

Cloud-based Software
A cloud-based solution means you can use the software without installing it on your computer. You don’t have to load the copy of the software application to access and use the software. It is a web-based application, so all you need is an internet connection to get the software working on your computer.

Delivers Proposal Automation
Well, this is one of the main reasons why you have decided to incorporate proposal software into your business process. Isn’t it? As we all know, manually creating proposals is tedious, time consuming, and error-prone, which can negatively affect productivity of sales reps. So if you want your sales reps to spend minimum amount of time in creating proposals and focus more on converting those proposals into sales, then you need to choose a software that automates the creation and delivery of sales proposal.

Easy to Implement
Deployment or implementation of software comprises activities that get your software program ready for use. Opting for an online proposal software that is cumbersome and tedious to implement can become your biggest business headache. So ensure that the software you choose can be deployed with little effort and in minimum amount of time. In other words, you shouldn’t waste time in making the software run properly in your existing environment. Using fast-to-deploy proposal software solution can go a long way in achieving your business goals and minimizing operational cost.

Provides a Range of Professional Proposal Templates
The software should provide a slew of professional proposal templates so that you spend minimum time and effort in designing the template. Moreover, the templates have to be fully customizable so that you can fine tune the design of your proposal as per the nature of services and solutions being offered. When you use pre-built proposal templates that are specific to client needs, your proposals look professional, which works in attracting the prospect.

Ease of Use
Having a tough time in creating proposals using the software defeats its purpose as you have purchased it to save your time, reduce sale cycle and create proposals in minutes. So make sure that the software you select does not require a vast amount of training effort to get familiar with it. The software should be easy to understand and have a simple interface so that least amount of effort is needed to successfully incorporate it into your business.

Offers Advanced Editor
The job of customizing the pre-built templates is possible using an editor. So whether it is about customizing the style sheets in the proposal or setting up the margin, color, header, footer or adjusting the layout of the proposal, it can be easily done using the editor. An advanced editor will allow you add images and even audio and video in the proposal, thereby making it more appealing to the customer.

Flexible Tables
Whatever you want to include in the tables, be it pricing grids or payment schedules should be possible. The pricing tables in the software should have the functionality to auto-calculate taxes, discounts, and the final pricing. Pricing tables that calculate values help to skip the task of manually calculating the total cost.

Easy to Maintain Library
A library that keeps records of past and present proposal and moreover is easy to maintain and organize is a key feature of a proposal software. The library should be searchable according to the specified criteria so that you easily get the proposal that you are looking for. The library should allow you to organize and store the content the way you want.

Integrates Seamlessly
Quite a few companies use account systems such as QuickBooks, ERP software such as Microsoft Dynamics and CRM software such as SalesForce to manage their various business processes. So ensure that the proposal software in which you are investing, integrates seamlessly with the aforementioned software applications. This can work wonders to streamline your business operations and prevent duplicate entry of data.

Provides Convenient Payment Options
Keeping the customer’s convenience in mind, the proposal should also integrate with ePayment getaway systems such as PayPal, which accepts credit cards. This will allow the customer to make payment online once he has approved the proposal.
As far as approving the proposal is concerned, the less paperwork the better. So the proposal software should have a built-in e-signature functionality, which can save a lot of time of both the sales rep and the end customer.

Printing Feature
The proposal software should allow you to print and preview the proposal created as well as export the proposal to the client in any format including PDF and HTML.

Similarly, choosing a sales quoting tool that has the aforementioned features is always a good option. All in all, go for a proposal software that enables you to create and deliver a proposal in minutes rather than hours. Remember the earlier you send your proposal to the client, higher are the chances of winning the deal.