Due to COVID-19, many workforces worldwide shifted into remote work weeks. Although much of daily life has returned to “normal” this year, remote work isn’t going anywhere for some businesses. In fact, nearly three-quarters (74%) of U.S. companies plan to permanently shift employees to remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

Due to this, tools that enable collaboration and communication across locations are becoming necessary. Last month, our client QorusDocs debuted their new Not Your Average Benchmark study, an in-depth report highlighting how proposal management software supported companies as they handled an influx in business requests and RFPs this year.

In particular, the QorusDocs study highlights how proposal management software supported employees as they continued working remotely and completed business proposals in 2021.

On average, 28 professionals within an enterprise respond to RFx requests. However, the work-from-home transition in 2020 made it difficult for many teams to collaborate seamlessly on responses, causing the whole process to become a slow and complicated effort filled with miscommunication and fulfillment bottlenecks.

With proposal management software, however, teams were able to see several benefits that aided their ability to efficiently respond to RFPs and other business proposals no matter from where in the world they worked.

Improved collaboration and internal communication

Collaboration is key to any business’s success. However, COVID-19 left a lasting impact on how employees collaborate. Before the pandemic, U.S. workers spent an average of 43% of their workweek collaborating either in person or virtually. That number fell to 27% for professionals who worked from home in 2020.

In 2021, however, many remote teams saw collaboration on business proposals and RFPs improve using proposal management software. According to the QorusDocs study, companies reported that collaborations on RFPs improved by a staggering 56%.

Additionally, 85% of survey respondents using proposal management software agree that it’s easy to collaborate when working on a request. 83% of enterprises also reported that the internal RFP completion process became more apparent and straightforward since implementing proposal management software.

Proposal management software enables teams to keep response templates and approved content in a single location, helping them get a head start on every project. Additionally, having materials grouped in a centralized location enables team members to quickly find answers for their questions, locate content relevant to prospective clients, and collaborate effectively with co-workers to produce high-level responses. 

Automated processes

Proposal management software equips teams with automated tools designed to enable the efficiency and quality of their proposal responses, ultimately leading to increased wins and more revenue-generation opportunities.

This past year, proposal management software greatly supported enterprises’ capacity to complete an increased volume of quality, personalized RFPs, and secure new business opportunities. Seventy-four percent of companies utilizing automated proposal tools saw a positive increase in deal velocity, and 54% could process a greater volume of RFP responses overall.

Additionally, the efficiency and automated process proposal management software brings to RFP development helped decrease the time spent responding to proposals by 53%. Along with this, 85% of companies using automated proposal software reported having the tools needed to effectively respond to proposals and cater to each specific request with greater detail and information.

The future of proposal management software and remote work

The U.S. job market is currently seeing a massive shift in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As industry experts predict the “Great Resignation” will continue in 2022, employers and companies are adding new incentives to keep current employees and attract new ones.

With many professionals not wanting to return to in-person workdays, remote and hybrid work weeks are common perks offered to the workforce. In fact, recent research has found that 74% of workers say that working remotely would make them less likely to leave a company.

Along with this, the global market for proposal management software is projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2019 to $3.1 billion by 2024. The growing shift to cloud-based technologies, the integration of artificial intelligence-enabled tools, and the adaptability for remote work are just a few factors driving automated proposal software adoption.

As shown in 2021, many companies have benefited from the numerous tools automated technology offers, including the ability to build personalized RFx responses more efficiently, leading to a greater volume of completed requests, an increase in deal velocity and revenue, and growth in business win rates. Due to this, proposal management software will continue to be an integral tool for many workforces in 2022, especially as remote and hybrid work models become the “new normal.”