Proposal management software as a tool for manufacturers

Due to the unprecedented impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the global supply chain, the manufacturing industry is dealing with a number of critical problems including the rising costs of commodities, large shortages of vital resources, lack of shipping capacity and a dwindling workforce.

Despite these setbacks, however, order fulfillments are still in high demand. Now, as the Delta variant continues to disrupt the global supply chain, manufacturers and suppliers are shifting their business models to handle the industry’s bottlenecks and order requests.

As a result, many are looking towards premium proposal management software for executing business operations, securing new business opportunities and developing high-quality request for documents (RFx) such as request for proposals (RFP), request for information (RFI), request for quotes (RFQ) and request for bids (RFB).

In a new study conducted by QorusDocs, sales and proposal teams reported on how proposal management software helped them deliver more successful RFPs, support business demands and facilitate growth during this challenging time period.

The global supply chain’s impact on the manufacturing industry

It’s no secret the manufacturing industry has been hit hard during the global pandemic. Over the past year alone, the average price of commodities increased a staggering 19%, the largest year-over-year increase since 1974. As a result, there’s a substantial shortage of crucial raw materials such as wood, aluminum and steel.

Additionally, the manufacturing industry is dealing with a major labor shortage. In 2020, a reported 740,000 manufacturing jobs were lost amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, recent studies predict that U.S. manufacturing could have 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, resulting in a loss of up to $1 trillion.

The growing need for proposal management software in manufacturing

According to our new study, 64% of sales and proposal teams reported they saw an increase of RFxs by 30-56% from 2020 to 2021, greatly showing the growing supply and demand needs around the world.

Although the increase in RFx requests can mean new business opportunities, many companies are running into operational bottlenecks of their own. On average, it takes 7.6 days for sales and proposal teams to complete just one RFP. So, it’s no surprise that around 20% of RFP requests are never completed, resulting in companies losing approximately $725,000 in revenue each year.

Our research also found that 62% of companies have a dedicated proposal team and, on average, 28 employees are involved in responding to RFPs. However, as the manufacturing industry’s workforce struggles to bounce back, corporations are still dealing with a labor shortage, meaning that there are fewer employees dedicated to completing these intricate and time-consuming RFx documents.

As demands in the manufacturing industry continue to grow and evolve, sales and proposal teams are in need of tools that will assist in the efficient development of RFx documents and help secure higher win rates among new and existing customers.

The solution

With proposal management software like QorusDocs, suppliers are able to streamline the RFx process and respond to more requests per year. On average, teams without proposal management software work on 13 RFPs per month. Meanwhile, companies with proposal management software work on approximately 23 RFPs each month.

QorusDocs helps clients create high-value proposals in more efficient ways with its auto-fill capabilities, intuitive integrations and up-to-date content libraries that produce personalized responses that close sales. QorusDocs’ AI-powered auto-answer feature suggests the most accurate and engaging content, allowing customers to easily fill out detailed sections of RFx documents so they can dedicate more time towards other revenue-generating tasks.

As a result of these capabilities, 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%. Seventy percent also reported they were able to process more volume of requests, increasing their chances of securing business opportunities from new and existing clients.

Since implementing proposal management software like QorusDocs, sales and proposal teams have seen a sizable increase in win rates amid the growing challenges as a result of the global pandemic. On average, teams reported that 34% of average sales revenue came from RFPs for new business in the past year. Meanwhile, 48% saw an increase in win rate from existing customers by 66%, showing the great impact proposal management software can have on companies’ operations, new business and relationships with clients.

To learn how QorusDocs can transform your RFx process to accelerate your sales cycle and boost win rates, check out the demo below.