Proposal management software: how to choose the right tool

If building proposals in Word, attaching them to emails, and following up blind is the default for your sales team, you probably already know that this process is slowing you down.

Now, it’s just a matter of which proposal management software will work best for your business and team.

This guide will help you evaluate your options.

What is proposal management software?

Proposal management software is a platform that handles the full proposal workflow, from document creation and customization to sending, tracking, and closing proposals. It replaces the typical manual process of building proposals in Word or Google Docs, editing them, attaching them to emails, and blindly tracking them via email. 

What makes proposal management software different from a document editor is that it connects the proposal to the rest of your sales stack, including your CRM, e-signature, and payment tools. Plus, it gives you visibility into what happens once the proposal is sent, telling you who opened it, which sections they read, and when they shared it internally. 

What is proposal software? Check out our full guide. 

What proposal management software actually does: 5 must-have features

As you compare options, make sure the tool you choose has these five features. 

Proposal templates and content library

If every rep is starting from a blank page or hunting for last month’s version, your team will be wasting valuable time and energy. A template library gives your reps a branded, pre-approved starting point.

A content library of approved case studies, quoting, and service descriptions means your reps can customize rather than build from scratch. This makes a huge difference, since it can take reps hours to format and assemble content for each proposal. Templates eliminate this entirely.

Check out PandaDoc’s proposal templates if you want a better idea of what this can look like. PandaDoc offers a template library with smart content blocks, variable fields auto-populated from CRM data, and a reusable quote builder.

Read our blog on scaling your sales proposal process if you’re ready to improve your proposal workflow. 

CRM integration and auto-population

Manual data entry between your CRM and a proposal is where errors can occur, including incorrect entity names, pricing, or contacts. A native CRM integration pulls that data directly into the proposal, so when a deal closes, the signed document syncs automatically.

No copy-paste process means no manual data entry errors. PandaDoc offers native integrations with several major CRMs, including Salesforce and HubSpot.

The point of sales proposal automation is to help you close deals faster, and choosing proposal management software that integrates directly with the tools you already use is key. 

You can even use that software to automate document generation from your CRM or auto-generate sales quotes. 

Proposal analytics and engagement tracking

You want a tool that can show you who opened the proposal, how long they spent on each section, whether they forwarded it to a decision-maker, and when they last viewed it. This can help change the follow-up conversation. 

For example, instead of “just checking in,” a rep can say, “I saw you spent a lot of time on the pricing section. I’d be happy to walk through the numbers with you.” 

Proposal analytics and engagement data also identify which sections of proposals correlate with higher win rates.

Solid tools will offer real-time open and view notifications, time spent per section data, and a full audit trail of viewing activity. Learn how to set up proposal tracking in PandaDoc here. 

E-signature built in

Every extra tool in the signing flow is a drop-off point. If your prospect has to switch to Docusign after reviewing the document, you’re adding unnecessary friction and delay. Proposal-only tools require a separate e-signature software subscription and manual handoff.

Built-in e-signature keeps the whole experience in one session. Plus, the right tool will ensure the signed document is legally compliant across ESIGN, UETA, and eIDAS. 

This is true for PandaDoc, which can also enforce a signing order configurable for multi-party agreements. Tools like Proposify, Qwilr, and Better Proposals all require a separate e-signature integration. 

Approval workflows

When proposals go to clients before they’re approved, you risk compliance and credibility. Approval workflows route proposals through the appropriate internal reviewers, whether that’s legal, finance, or management, for example. This is done with configurable and automatic notifications. 

This means nothing goes out until it’s cleared. 

PandaDoc supports multi-step approval flows with conditional logic and role-based permissions. No developer setup required. 

How AI is changing proposal management

AI is impacting proposal creation on three levels:

Content suggestions: AI can draft proposal sections from a brief (including executive summary, scope of work, and pricing rationale) based on the deal context and approved content blocks. Your reps will still review and edit the content, but an AI assistant eliminates the blank page.

CRM-to-proposal auto-population: AI powers intelligent document processing, enabling it to extract details from the CRM record and populate the proposal with the right contact, company context, deal specifics, and relevant case studies. This cuts serious building time. 

Personalization at scale: AI-assisted proposals can be customized per prospect (different industry, deal size, decision-maker) without each one requiring a custom build from scratch. 

Proposify’s AI generator has been getting a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. It can create proposals from scratch, which is helpful for teams with no existing template library. 

PandaDoc’s approach, on the other hand, layers AI into an existing workflow. This means templates, CRM data, AI content suggestions, and e-signature all in one platform. This results in faster proposals and a connected signing and tracking flow, not just generated content. 

Proposal management software comparison: all-in-one vs. proposal-only

Proposal-only tools are great for their intended use case. The real question is whether a tool that only handles proposals is the right fit for your team if you also need e-signature, contract management, and CRM integration. 

When you have to stitch all those pieces together separately, you’ll likely be paying for and maintaining three separate tools with three separate data flows. An all-in-one tool gets rid of tool sprawl and the manual handoffs that happen between them 

Here’s a quick comparison of how top tools shape up next to PandaDoc:

How to choose proposal management software: 5 questions to ask

1. Does it integrate natively with your CRM? 

If your team lives in Salesforce or HubSpot, the proposal tool needs to pull from and push back to that system. You should not require a manual export. 

Make sure to ask for a live demo of the CRM trigger to see how it works.

2. Is e-signature built in, or do you need a separate tool? 

For most sales teams, this is a non-negotiable. Every additional tool is another subscription, another login, another manual handoff, and another step where deals can stall.

3. What do the analytics actually show? 

There's a big difference between being able to see "opened / not opened" and time spent per section, with a full viewing history and forwarding activity. 

Know what your analytics will actually show you before you commit.

4. How does it handle internal approvals? 

If proposals need sign-off from legal or finance before going to your clients, make sure that the tool supports configurable approval chains. You don’t want that process to happen outside the system in a separate email thread.

5. What's the setup time? 

For most sales teams, especially SMBs, a three-month implementation project just won't work. Self-serve setup with a working CRM connection and a usable template library should be achievable in days.

See how PandaDoc answers all five. Request a demo. 

Why PandaDoc for proposal management

PandaDoc can handle your proposals, e-signature, contract management, payments, and analytics in a single platform. Here’s what that actually looks like:

• No tool sprawl. The proposal, the signature, and the tracking all live in one place. That means no manual handoffs between systems, and no data falling out of sync.

• CRM-native. Proposals are triggered directly from the CRM deal record, the data auto-populates in the document, and signed documents are synced back automatically. PandaDoc supports native integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive.

• AI-assisted. AI content suggestions and smart content blocks reduce build time. AI-powered data extraction populates proposals from your CRM data without needing manual entry.

• Analytics built in. This means real-time engagement tracking at the section level, so you can know which part of the proposal the prospect is spending time on before you follow up.

• Scalable. Whether a three-person sales team or a 300-person enterprise, PandaDoc’s template library, approval workflows, and workspace management can scale without requiring a new tool or a developer.

All of the features listed above (CRM integrations, approval workflows, analytics, custom branding, content library, and quoting) are included in our Business plan. 

More than 28,000 small and mid-market businesses on PandaDoc's Business plan rely on the platform end-to-end for proposal management, combining e-signature, contract storage, embedded payments, and document analytics.

If you’re a team that only needs e-signature and basic templates, you can start on the Starter plan. For most sales teams that need CRM-connected proposals and analytics, the Business plan is the right fit. Check out the PandaDoc pricing to see what’s best for you. 

PandaDoc has consistently been rated #1 for proposal software on G2. 

Using PandaDoc, Remofirst, a global HR and payroll platform, helped reps save 15 minutes per proposal.

"PandaDoc has changed how we approach contracts, not just in terms of efficiency, but in the quality of the decisions we’re able to make. We can actually spot trends and adjust our strategy based on what the numbers are telling us. That kind of visibility is priceless for a volume-driven business like ours."

Christopher Ginty, Director of Revenue Operations at RemoFirst

Check out PandaDoc’s proposal software and start your free trial today.