Sales proposals are a necessary evil in the business world. You need them to win new clients and keep existing ones, but they can be time-consuming and difficult to create.  And if you’ve ever created a presentation or proposal, it’s highly possible that you have used presentation software like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides. But, have you ever considered using an alternate solution for creating your proposals?

The ability to make visual presentations with editable slides is the strength of presentation software. Proposal software, however, comes with expertly created proposal templates that you can personalize and then present, giving you an advantage over your competition.

In this article, we will compare presentation software and proposal software side by side so that you can choose the one that works best for you.

Presentation Software

What is it?

Presentation software is a computer program that helps you create and deliver presentations. It can be used to create slideshows, handouts, and other visuals to support your presentation. Presentation software typically includes tools for creating, editing, and formatting text, images, and other content. It may also provide features for animating slideshows and adding transitions between slides.

PowerPoint is one of the most popular presentation software options and for good reason. It’s easy to use and it has a ton of features that can help you create an engaging presentation. Plus, there are plenty of templates available that can help you get started quickly and easily.

Strength and weaknesses

Given that most individuals know how to use presentation software, it’s a great option for corporations. However, it’s not the ideal choice if you want your presentations to stand out from those of your competitors because when you’re using presentation software, you’re usually limited to the design options that are available within the software. This means that you might not be able to create exactly the look and feel that you want for your presentation.

And plus multiple people already use their templates, so it becomes difficult to personalize your work. And when prospective clients see a lack of originality and imagination on your behalf, they may feel less inclined to invest in your company and might assume you are incapable of giving them the care and attention they require.

User and Client Experience

You can deliver presentations effectively by using presentation software, especially PowerPoint. But it does have certain limitations. First, presentation software is not well suited for creating complex graphics. If you need to include a lot of charts or diagrams in your presentation, you may be better off using a different program.

Second, presentation software is not always very good at handling multimedia content. If you want to include videos or audio clips in your presentation, you may need to use a different program or convert the files into a format that the presentation software can use. And lastly, lack of collaboration features.  If you need to collaborate with others on your presentation, the software makes it difficult for you to do so.

Support and Training

Because Microsoft Office is one of the most widely used online office platforms, it’s easy to find additional support from other users through the mediums like YouTube how-to videos, forums Quora, and Reddit.

Integration

Most people use PowerPoint to create slideshows for presentations. However, there are many other ways to use this program. You can integrate PowerPoint into other programs to create a more dynamic presentation.

Integrations of PowerPoint allow users to create more dynamic and interactive presentations. By integrating PowerPoint with other software, users can create presentations that are more engaging and informative. 

For example, you can integrate PowerPoint with Excel to create charts and graphs. This is helpful if you want to show data in a visually appealing way. You can also import videos and images into your PowerPoint slideshow. This can help add interest and variety to your presentation.

There are many ways to integrate PowerPoint into other programs. By doing this, you can create a more dynamic and interesting presentation.

Tracking

Unfortunately, there is no way for presentation software to know how a customer responds to your email. You can only presume that they have opened it and read what you sent.

Proposal Software

What is it?

Proposal software is a type of computer program that helps people create, manage, and track proposals. It can be used to create both simple and complex proposals and can be customized to fit the specific needs of users. Proposal software can make the proposal process more efficient by automating tasks and providing tools for collaboration.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Proposal management software has many strengths:

• It makes the user’s job easier, not harder. By having a drag-and-drop interface, for example, the user can create a professional-looking document without having to worry about formatting or layout. 
• The software comes with built-in proposal templates that can be customized to fit the user’s needs.
• The software allows the user to collaborate with team members on the proposal so that everyone is on the same page.
• You can instantly track the proposals after you send them.
• You can immediately get the proposals signed electronically with an e signature

However, in contrast to PowerPoint, there are no fancy animations available between the slides. Also, customizing and enhancing proposals is great but using all the features can be a challenging task for your team unless the team gets familiar with the entire proposal creation and management process.

User and Client Experience

High-volume presentations can be created quickly and effectively with proposal software like Fresh Proposals as it provides a pre-built framework of proposal templates that you can customize completely to create your own as per your needs.

With Fresh Proposals, the client can add comments, feedback, notes, questions, or clarifications while reviewing the proposal. In fact, the internal team members can also discuss internal activities such as client visit and their interactions, etc. The software also handles all the aspects of the signing process- from collecting consent, to delivering and storing the e-signed proposals/contracts/documents and detailed audit trail of the transaction. 

Support and Training

The support team at Fresh Proposals is available to help you with your proposals or just provide general information. Our customer service representatives are available via phone, email, web chat, and via social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Integrations

Proposal software is recognized for its integrations with other tools and flexibility in creating, sending and managing proposals. To simplify your sales workflow and keep track of your deals, Fresh Proposals offers more than 10 integrations, including Gmail, Zapier, Trello, Stripe, and Dropbox.

Reporting and Tracking

With proposal software, you will be able to know the real-time status of your proposal like when your client has opened the proposal, how many times s/he has opened it, and which section s/he has spent more time on. Inputs like these will allow you to time your follow-ups in the most precise way.

Create Your Proposals with Proposal Software

Some people may find it simple to choose between presentation or proposal software. Microsoft PowerPoint is familiar to them, they don’t have to generate more sales documents either, so they use the product they are comfortable with.

However, if you want to improve team collaboration and streamline your sales process you can go ahead and choose Fresh Proposals.