How proposal software can help with ongoing professional services staffing shortages

The Great Resignation is showing no signs of slowing down. According to CNBC, 4.3 million people quit their jobs in January 2022, still 23% above pre-pandemic levels, leaving 11.3 million jobs open for hire. 

As a result of this continued mass exodus over the past year, professional services are facing a major staffing shortage. Without enough employees, enterprises are struggling to manage daily operations, improve revenue streams, forge new business ventures, and maintain relationships with current employees and partners.

Due to this, many companies are outsourcing talent to keep business flowing. In fact, this past year, business process outsourcing deals were up 45%, reaching $2.6 billion. However, winning over new businesses, and maintaining operations with understaffed departments, is no easy feat–especially in this competitive market.

Proposal management software is a valuable tool that can aid companies during this increasingly demanding and stressful period by streamlining the intensive proposal process and ensuring they remain competitive. Here are a few ways organizations can significantly benefit from proposal software as industry experts predict the Great Resignation will continue to be a prominent challenge throughout 2022. 

Streamlined RFP process

During this progressively competitive time, vendors have a major opportunity as enterprises are eager to outsource and identify support. Rather than waste time and resources on inefficiently developing RFPs, teams need to streamline the creation of these documents and capitalize on this period of opportunity. Otherwise, they risk losing out on potential business opportunities critical for success. 

With proposal management software, sales and proposal teams can streamline the RFP process and respond to more business requests per year. Proposal software enables companies to efficiently create high-quality proposals with its auto-fill capabilities, intuitive integrations, and up-to-date content libraries that produce personalized responses, leading to increased win rates. 

For example, QorusDocs’ AI-powered auto-answer feature recommends the content prospects engage with most, allowing sales and proposal teams to fill out detailed, custom RFP documents that capture attention and lead to new business opportunities.

According to QorusDocs’ annual Not Your Average Benchmark Report, 70% of companies can process more volume of RFPs with proposal automation software, increasing their chances of edging out competitors and winning business from new and existing clients.

Efficient employee involvement in the proposal process

Although proposals are critical for growing businesses, they are a time-consuming process that involves numerous employees to complete. According to a new study, approximately 28 individuals across an organization contribute to the proposal process. Additionally, 59% of survey respondents report spending over 30% of their time on just proposals. 

However, amid the labor shortage, many sales and proposal teams cannot execute these important documents due to a lack of employees and time availability, impacting both business opportunities and relationships. In fact, on average, 20% of RFP requests are not completed, translating to an estimated median lost revenue of $725K annually for businesses.

QorusDocs’ efficient tools and automated capabilities streamline the proposal response process, significantly reducing the number of individuals involved and time dedicated to proposals. On average, 76% of sales and proposal teams feel that proposal management software has helped them decrease the average amount of time spent on completing an RFP by 53%. 

During these trying times where employee support is not readily available for all, proposal creation software can significantly aid understaffed sales and proposal teams. QorusDocs’ auto-fill capabilities and AI-powered recommendations save teams valuable time, allowing them to dedicate resources to other projects without losing out on potential support and business opportunities. 

Improved security questionnaires 

Although outsourcing vendors is critical, especially during this time of the Great Resignation, it’s important that companies understand who they are doing business with. For enterprises, security questionnaires and due diligence questionnaires (DDQ)–the long list of questions used to indicate security and privacy measures–are crucial aspects of the business process.

These comprehensive documents identify potential weaknesses and flaws in a vendor’s policies and practices before entering a professional business arrangement. When companies don’t conduct proper screenings through security questionnaires, they risk entering partnerships with businesses that don’t have strong security measures in place.

As a result, organizations can be susceptible to cyberattacks and cause their data to be vulnerable to outside sources. This is particularly important considering over 50% of all data breaches can be attributed to a third-party vendor’s access to a larger network. 

With its AI-powered tools, insightful analytics, and auto-fill capabilities that get smarter over time, proposal management software such as QorusDocs can greatly support companies and employees during the Great Resignation. 

By implementing proposal management software, vendors can create high-quality proposals with fewer employees, helping to secure outsourced opportunities that are highly sought-after. Additionally, proposal software streamlines the security questionnaire and DDQ processes, allowing companies and vendors to forge secure and trusting relationships during this heightened period of cyberattacks.