Proposify vs. Responsive

We use proposals for client contracts. They are several pages long with a lot of legalese. We also use them for NDA contracts with clients. Mainly we use Proposify for client project proposals. The proposals include description, main project points, price, timing, scope, process, cost, and everything the client can expect. I like that we were able to design a custom cover for our proposals. Proposify does one thing very well and that is proposals. I like that it doesn't try to be everything

Incentivized

1. RFPIO is perfect for searching for specific information when you are responding to an RFP. Search engine is powerful. We narrow our search using several customized filters and know we are getting a thorough search. 2. Excel responses work very well in RFPIO. 3. Typical RFPs that are formatted in Word are challenging to run via RFPIO. We struggle with this. 4. We have yet to master the template.

Incentivized

• So our favorite feature is the huge time savings. If anybody's ever done proposals on Word or Excel; it’s a head wreck. Proposify is great because there are beautiful templates there ready to go, it saves you a ton of time, and they are visually appealing. We get lots of feedback from our clients when we send them out proposals that our proposals look amazing.
• There are great, sneaky metrics that we absolutely love. You get notifications on your phone via the app when somebody opens the proposal and when they've signed off on it. But you can also go into the app and see how much time people are actually spending looking at your proposal.
• Because you send out the proposals and you can have automated reminder emails, there’s communication back and forth within the proposal that you can have-- the clients can actually write notes back and forth. It just makes the whole thing super smooth and it integrates with most of your CRMs out there.

• Import/export - the configurations during import and export are invaluable. This saves us so much time during export with the amount of things we have pre-formatted. Additionally, this tool can handle export into native formats OR customized templates for Word, Excel, and PDF. This means we can export into Excel from outside tools, as well as utilize client/broker formats when needed - without minimal copy/paste (RFP friends... can I get an amen??)
• Auto-response - once a questionnaire is uploaded, the system can auto-respond based on past responses. It gets smarter over time as more responses are in the system. We find this picks up 25-40% on the low end and 90% on the high end (especially when we are responding to the same broker or consultant who has their preferred template)
• Keyword Field Mapping - the system allows you to map fields into your export template as well as your responses. The system auto maps these when exporting. We use this feature a lot to map salesperson info (custom fields for the stuff we want on the cover sheet/letter), client name, client nickname (the company, the client, the City, the County, etc.). This makes it easy to have customized responses without extra effort on our side.
• Guest Question Authors - the system allows you to send single questions to guest users easily so that they can answer via a web browser on a computer or laptop without signing in. I also particularly like that I can track it as a comment which helps me go back later and find my open items.

• The text editor is slow, buggy, and the Achilles heel of the Proposify platform. It got worse with the launch of their new UI.
• The new interface was launched way before it was ready for prime-time. As a result, there are still quite a few bugs Proposify has yet to fix. Once you upgrade to the new interface, you can't go back.
• It's not uncommon to have sections of a proposal disappear entirely from the PDF version.
• Depending on the browser, formatting can be far different that the creator intended.

Incentivized

• For questions that contain generalized words, the ability to pinpoint better responses with AI.
• As an end user, I always start with the Answers tab. It would be nice for RFPIO to open on the Answers tab, because I always go there first (learn my preferences).
• It would be nice to have guided paths the first time I open after new enhancements have been added.

Incentivized

We require a fair amount of back and forth of editing so this tool while helpful is not ideal for us

Incentivized

UI is friendly. Basically that alone is enough to renew because it is easy to use and gives accurate and fast results. The effective cross collaboration from other colleagues in my organization also makes for this tool to be extremely effective. Now that I understand how to use it, I can also easily train others on how to use it effectively.

Incentivized

Overall it's great. There's definitely a learning curve, and I wish that some things were easier to use. For example, changing images isn't the easiest thing to do in it, but I'd love to be able to quickly add and change header images in my proposals. So far I've figured it out, but each time I do it I forget how it's done since it's not intuitive.

Incentivized

I've actually never used Proposify support, so I'm unable to speak about it. I suppose that's a good thing. If I did need to use it, I would hope that they'd be responsive and intelligent, but, again, since everything has worked smoothly I don't really know how the support functions or how good it is.

Incentivized

The response time and attitude from the RFPIO team is extraordinary. I always feel like I am their only customer - that's how exemplary their customer service is! When we have a suggestion, it is addressed and escalated - ultimately it is resolved to meet (and exceed!) our expectations. The RFPIO team works collaboratively with us, coaching us on new features until we can use them with confidence. Webinars. User conferences. Clear and useable communication. Every method of "training up" is leveraged so that users can feel comfortable and are successful using the tool. AMAZING!

Incentivized

We were able to complete an RFP during our free trial. We were already leaning toward RFPIO but that pushed us over the edge.

We looked for a solution after we spent countless hours and years maintaining a MS Word Template system. Proposify takes many features and streamlines them, mak[ing] them interactive and clean. It's nice to digitally deliver a proposal that a customer can view online- it ads a "creative expectation" for a design agency to fulfill this approach facing a client. It's expected rather than a MS Word doc sent via email or printed and hand delivered. The export to PDF is a nice feature if you need to print.

Incentivized

At the time, three years ago, we evaluated Loopio as an alternative to RFPIO. Loopio didn't have the same resources as far as dynamic branding, content segmentation ability and was less price competitive than RFPIO. RFPIO also has an unlimited user model where you are not charged per user like many other RFP automation solutions. This makes the price much more scalable and also allows for creative engineering as far as use of the system

Incentivized

• The use of templates within Proposify has empowered our sales team to reduce the amount of time it took to send out a proposal by almost 50%!
• The ability to add user-selectable "add-ons" to a proposal saw a 10% increase in overall sale price.
• Developing the templates within the somewhat limited parameters that Proposify's design interface offers did require some significant time from our design team.

Incentivized

• Our response time has gone from 2 weeks, to around 24hrs of addressing an RFP
• We have seen considerable savings with reallocated headcount and reduced effort spent on other critical areas
• Our previous process had a blind spot when it came to visibility. Now we have 100% visibility across the organization.

Incentivized