In today's competitive business landscape – where $11 trillion of revenue is won every year through RFPs – the ability to craft compelling and winning proposals is crucial for securing new opportunities and gaining a competitive edge. However, proposal management is a complex and time-crunched process, one that's often managed by individuals or lean teams that can be pushed to their limits by the sheer amount of work each proposal entails.

On average, proposal professionals spend over 40 hours per week responding to an RFP. When you consider that most companies are fielding multiple information requests simultaneously and that these questionnaires are only increasing in length – with some asking as many as a thousand questions – it becomes evident that traditional proposal management processes are inefficient and unsustainable. Proposal management solutions unlock much-needed efficiency by offering a centralized platform to expedite the creation, organization and submission of proposals, while improving the quality of the content.

A proposal management solution, in essence, is a comprehensive software tool designed to facilitate every state of the proposal lifecycle for organizations of any size. Whether you're a small business with big aspirations or a major enterprise responding to hundreds of RFPs annually, a proposal management solution should stand as the backbone of your proposal process. Leading companies that leverage these game-changing platforms have a 16 percent higher win rate and generate 34 percent more revenue, according to a recent report. Operating without one means potentially losing out on valuable revenue opportunities, posing an existential threat to your business.

Navigating the various solutions available on the market can be overwhelming. In this guide, we'll provide you with a roadmap to navigate the dynamic landscape of proposal management technology and highlight the key functionality that'll supercharge your proposal process and enable you to win more business, faster.