Are your proposals taking too long to write?
We recently started using QuoteRoller to template & streamline our quoting and client engagement process (yep it's tough being so popular!).
One interesting feature is the built-in analytics, which give you a nice breakdown of how long a prospect spent reading each section in your proposal (plus an email notification when they open it).
Here's the stats for a recent proposal I sent:
From the stats you'd think there were only two sections in the proposal but there's actually 3 more sections of carefully crafted verbage from needs analysis, client testimonials to terms & conditions. Hopefully this was just a first glance, and they'll be back later on to have a closer look.
If you've spent any time in sales, you'll know that proposals can take a LOT of time. I suggest you consider using a product like QuoteRoller (or Proposable, or SocketApp) to template your proposals (and even your products & services).
This is an easy and obvious way to reduce the time you spend proposing plus get insightful analytics on which sections of your proposals are most read.
TIP - If you're smart you'll link the line items in your proposal to the tasks in your job tracking software... then you can more easily track the tasks that cause time or budget blowouts and then increase the time quoted in your proposals.
PS - We've tried all 3 of the online proposal solutions above. We favour QuoteRoller for our purposes, mainly because they've done a great job of allowing you to create a catalogue of services, products & subscriptions so you easily drop them into your quotes as required.