Proposal processes are complex. Whether they are done on an ad-hoc basis by a single person at a smaller company, or they are rigidly-managed by a proposal team at a large firm, the details of putting together a proposal project for RFPs, RFIs, or other submittals are a complicated mix of content, planning, and good old fashioned project management. To begin, there is the development of documents, schedules, and benchmarks by which the proposals will be measured. Then there is the actual launching of the proposal – making it public, which often involves an inordinate amount of notifications, distributions and question periods. Finally, the whole process turns back internal for a review and selection cycle, which itself can involve multiple people discussing, grading, scoring, and voting.
Document management systems help manage the proposal process by offering tools for collaboration, document version control, notifications and workflow, voting, and more. We plan to discuss the role of document management, and just how it can help, in a webinar coming up next Thursday. If proposal management is an area of interest to you, feel free to stop by our document management webinars page and register.
