[Research] 5 ways to increase the close rate of your proposal

If you don’t already know, we’re PandaDoc and we’re in the proposal business. 74% of our customers exclusively use our all-in-one software to create, send, track, and eSign proposals. So, we’ve analyzed the data of our 10,000+ customers to deliver to you the top tips to help you win more business. Check out the stats below to gain insights into how you can improve your proposal process.

What day of the week is my proposal most likely to close?

Breakdown of the process and timeline

Obviously, it is best to send your proposal during the work week (Monday-Friday) but surprisingly we found a proposal is more likely to close on Friday or the weekend more than any other days during the week.

Should I include images or video in my proposal?

While the industry you are in will dictate which kind of media to include in your proposals, our data shows that completed (signed) docs included at least 1 image or 1 video. A proposal with media (photos or videos) is 32% more likely to close. What really helps a winning proposal is to keep it well-structured and separate text blocks with clear headers.

Should I create a proposal from a template?

Templates are huge time-savers for creating the same doc over and over. Most PandaDoc users create 1-2 templates to automate their proposal process. In 2018, PandaDoc customers created over 290,000 templates! Holy cow! Of those templates, over 6 million documents were created.

That means roughly 20 docs were generated from just 1 template. Imagine how much time our customers saved by generating all of those proposals, quotes, and contracts?!

What's the average time to close?

For proposals containing a signature block, we analyzed when the documents were completed.

We should note: Not all documents are signed even if they contain a signature block. These stats represent the percentage of documents that are electronically signed.

How long should my proposal be?

This will likely depend on your industry and the type of solution you are offering to your prospects and customers, but our data suggest that the highest conversion rates on proposals came from docs that were about 6 to 8 pages in length.

Should I consider an integration?

Yes! In fact, this is the best way to use PandaDoc. Almost 6 million documents were sent in 2018 using PandaDoc and about 30% of those docs used an integration to build or complete them. Also about a ⅓ of PandaDoc customers use an integration to increase their close rates.

How often should I send reminders to my prospect?

It’s important to remind your prospect to sign without being too annoying. You are 30% more likely to close a deal if you send a series of reminders. And by the way, PandaDoc makes this super easy with a feature to help you automate the reminder process.

Wrapping it up

The #1 takeaway is that your proposal should speak to your prospect or client and prove how your business is going to address the pain they are experiencing and how your solution is the best fit.

By creating a highly-customized proposal tailored precisely to the needs of your customers, you’re showing they can expect the best of the best. And hopefully, with these data points, you’ll be on your way to closing more business in record time.