Bidding on contracts, government and private, is a stressful, time-consuming, and highly-competitive aspect of business. As any seasoned contractor will tell you, replying to a Request For Proposal (or RFP) takes considerable time, effort, and thought. It is not simply a matter of emailing one guy; a formal business proposal requires copious paperwork, unambiguous statements of purpose, and a clearly-outline business model for the work that needs to be done. RFP often attracts hundreds of contractors all bidding against each other. How do contractors stand out?
Intense competition requires innovative solutions. For that, proposal software consistently proves to be an invaluable asset for contractors. Proposal software (otherwise known as proposal management software or proposal creation software) has one goal in mind: to efficiently and thoroughly prepare a business proposal that will attract the attention of agencies and companies that propose RFPs. Proposal software eliminates the possibility of duplicate or inadequate documentation. A RFP may require many things: quotes, rates, business history, insurance information, project models, lists of assets and equipment, employee information, etc. Proposal software collects this information and organizes it in an organized, professional, and most importantly, presentable manner.
What attracts RFPs the most — what most government and private agencies are looking for — is not just what a bidder does, or has done, but how it presents itself. Contractors that have seen the most success bidding on government contracts and private ones have one thing in common: they were able to submit a presentation of their company so astounding that their bids had to be accepted. The documentation needed for a proposal can be — in fact, often is — overwhelming. Contract pricing alone can take up tens of pages. If not more. Providing these documents is challenging, often prone to duplications as well as inadequate materials.
Proposal software, however, takes care of all that. By using proposal software, contracts can bid on RFPs with at least some peace of mind, and they can focus more time and energy on their core projects.
