3 ways to speed up the sales proposal development process

Jennifer Tomlinson
Written by Jennifer Tomlinson / Oct 28, 2020

As Executive VP of Marketing, I work to identify business needs and help QorusDocs’ clients generate revenue more effectively and efficiently. I spearhead efforts to increase brand awareness through digital marketing and client engagement.

Recently, we surveyed our customers to find out which aspects of the business development process presented the biggest hurdles, and about 70% of respondents revealed that "responding to RFPs in a timely manner" was an ongoing challenge. This result isn't exactly surprising. Crafting a winning sales proposal or RFP response is a team effort.

While a dedicated Sales Proposal team can facilitate the process, almost every meaningful RFP response requires input from experts across your organization. When these experts work in disparate business units that don't typically interact, gathering that input inevitably takes time.

Without effective collaboration, just getting out a bid can become a nightmare - but it doesn't need to be this way. By taking the following steps, as outlined in Destination CRM, companies can improve time management during the sales proposal and RFP response development process, leading to higher-quality bids and happier employees. 

1. Understand how time is allocated

To effectively set priorities and prevent bottlenecks, you'll need insight into how your team - those working on bids - allocate their time. Say, for example, an RFP response will need input from Sales, it's important to clearly articulate where RFP-related activities, such as finding relevant content, stand in relation to their other responsibilities.

In an ideal world, Sales will spend most of their time in front of customers. Introducing ways to automate non-customer-facing responsibilities will allow these team members to do what they do best, while making life easier for your Sales Proposal team.

If an RFP response requires input from various SMEs, you can take some of the pressure off of your Sales Proposal team by storing SME knowledge in a centralized location. This will also give them more time to focus on strategy development and putting a compelling RFP response together, rather than having to chase down colleagues for answers.

2. Focus on ROI

If you see that client satisfaction is dropping while you craft sales proposals or you notice billable work being put aside in favor of new business activities, it is likely time to invest in tools and resources so your team is better equipped to manage those proposals and RFP responses. This approach also leads to efficiencies in productivity, especially when using ROI calculators to understand how every team member's time is being spent.

On the flip side, if the Sales Proposal team struggles to submit polished bids promptly, it may be time to evaluate your internal processes to identify inefficiencies or obstacles.

  • Is there confusion around team members' roles?
  • Is the team relying on dated software that slows the process?
  • Do they require additional training to put together an RFP response effectively?

A candid conversation with your team should help you identify where additional investments are required.

3. Leverage tech to drive efficiency

Modern businesses rely on various digital tools to enable processes and facilitate work. If those tools aren't integrated, however, they may actually impede workflows. The best collaboration tools allow employees to work primarily with the essential tech that they already use. For Sales, these may be your CRM and email client and for Marketing, it might include Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Cloud.

For this reason, since you won't replace these applications, don't invest in software that will leave employees duplicating their efforts. Rather introduce tools that will work synergistically with your existing tech stack. Assess the thresholds of your Sales Proposal teams (along with others involved in proposal development) and consider tools that will support all of them. Remember, when making the case for new software, to benchmark your current productivity so you can outline actionable targets for improvement.

Successful sales proposals and RFP responses are - now more than ever before - vital to business growth.

View the original article on Destination CRM here.

Find out more about how Qorus can help you bring this advice to life and help you close more deals, faster.

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