5 Excellent Options for Creating Proposals

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

5 Excellent Options for Creating Proposals

A major part of being able to secure clients for design projects is the ability to present proposals and communicate with clients who are trying to decide which designer to hire. Having a professional-looking proposal that provides the right details for clients will help to increase your conversion rates and to land more work.

There are a few different web apps that exist for the purpose of helping with the creation and the management of proposals. In this post we’ll take a look at the leading options, along with some templates for printed proposals.

Bidsketch

Bidsketch is an excellent proposal app with a ton of features. You can re-use content of your proposals, which can drastically reduce the amount of time that you spend creating proposals for new clients. You can use your own custom templates (HTML/CSS) to control the look and feel of your proposals, which is great for branding purposes. Bidsketch also has a selection of templates that you can choose from if you don’t want to create your own custom template.

An interesting feature is the support for optional items/fees, which is great for upselling additional services or products to your customers. Bidsketch also supports online signatures to help get your proposals approved faster. Included analytics and notifications will allow you to know when clients have viewed the proposal. Bidsketch also integrates with popular invoicing, accounting, and CRM apps Freshbooks, Harvest, and Highrise.

Pricing starts at per month for an Freelancer account that allows up to 200 proposals and 25 clients. To get access to the electronic signature feature you will need at least the Studio account at per month, which allows unlimited proposals and unlimited clients. The first 14 days are free on all plans.

QuoteRobot

QuoteRobot allows users to manage proposals and invoices. You can create your own custom templates (HTML/CSS), or you can use on of their pre-designed templates. QuoteRobot integrates with many other apps, including Freshbooks, Highrise, Salesforce, Xero, Google Apps, and Capsule.

QuoteRobot offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. After 30 days the price is per month for unlimited use.

Quote Roller

Quote Roller includes many of the same features as Bidsketch. With Quote Roller you can also have some control over the look of your proposals by customizing one of their pre-made templates. You can also get digital signatures on your proposals, and this is available on all of their plans.

Quote Roller includes analytics that help you to know what your clients are looking at and how much time they spend on proposal. You’ll also be able to integrate with a number of other apps like Freshbooks, Highrise, Google Apps, Xero, Harvest, Free Agent, and more.

Pricing for Quote Roller starts at .99 for a Basic account, which allows for unlimited proposals but does not include analytics and some other features. Each plan comes with a 14 day free trial, no credit card required.

Proposal Pad

Proposal Pad is another interesting option because it offers a free account (not a trial, but a limited account that is always free). Paid plans are also available starting at per month with additional features. Features like electronic signatures, data export, and custom templates are not available on the free plan.

Vandelay Premier Identity Sets

If you’re looking for a template for creating printed proposals or PDF versions, at Vandelay Premier we offer several Identity Sets that include proposal templates in InDesign or Illustrator format. Most of the Identity Sets include resources like invoice templates, letterhead, and business card templates.