The B2B buying process has never been more complex than it is today. Increasing risks, supply chain issues, and socioeconomic concerns have made buyers more selective, and as a result, vendors are seeing an increase in RFXs and other types of strategic bid requests.
The additional demands are shining a spotlight on response teams, who are involved in generating nearly half of an organization’s revenue, often without the resources they need for consistent high-quality bids that boost win rates.
AI-enabled automated bid management software, with robust content and workflow management, not only saves time and improves win rates, but also relieves the burden on bid and proposal teams. It frees them from the more tedious aspects of their jobs and empowers them to focus on quality instead of quantity.
But there are a variety of bid management software solutions on the market. How do you choose the right one? Keep reading for a guide on how to choose bid management software.
Identify the problems you need to solve
A recent report published by the Association for Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) and Responsive found that nearly half of an organization’s revenue comes from RFPs, bids, assessments and questionnaires. And, companies are seeing a 70% increase YoY in the amount of revenue generated from strategic responses. Yet, bid and proposal teams — who are the heartbeat of bid management processes — are facing significant challenges. They report having too few resources, tight deadlines, barriers to collaboration, and an overwhelming volume of siloed and scattered information. Of course, that’s not to say that all organizations face the same challenges. But, even one roadblock in an otherwise efficient response process can cost revenue and even your reputation. Before addressing your bid team’s challenges (or challenges with your processes if you don’t have a dedicated bid team) with a bid management software solution, it’s crucial to identify them. This proactive approach puts you in control and ensures you tackle the right issues. Ask the following questions:- Do we have a single source of truth for company knowledge, or is it siloed?
- Are there communication gaps?
- Are everyone’s expectations clear?
- Does everyone have a clearly defined role in the bid management process? Is there organization-wide buy-in?
- Are we generating winning responses or are we struggling to keep up?
- Is the information we’re sending accurate, compelling, and compliant?
Review the top bid management platforms
Several bid management platforms are currently on the market, but the capabilities differ tremendously. There are point solutions, which, like grammar checkers or antivirus software, have a single purpose (e.g., RFPs only). Then, there are Strategic Response Management (SRM) platforms, which unlock organizational knowledge for profitable growth. SRM platforms bring key automation and efficiency to any response process, from RFXs and security questionnaires to proactive proposals and ad hoc responses. Let’s take a look at some of the leading providers of bid management software.Responsive
Responsive is the leading AI-powered SRM platform, with advanced content and workflow management automation to enable growth, scalability, and compliance. Responsive has over 2,000 global customers, including over 20% of the Fortune 500. G2 has named Responsive the leader in global RFP software for six consecutive quarters and #1 in 16 of G2’s Grid Market reports.Loopio
Loopio describes itself as the “highest rated” and easiest RFP Response Management Software. Loopio offers AI-powered writing assistance with some collaborative, import, export, content management, and project management capabilities. However, customers also report that Loopio lacks integrations and is “cumbersome to use.” They also report that Loopio lacks advanced content management capabilities.PandaDoc
If the name PandaDoc sounds familiar to you, it may be because it is known as a document creation, workflow, and e-signature platform. Its primary strength in bid management may be its ability to create branded documents in customized themes, but some customers report a lack of features and difficulty editing content.Proposify
Like PandaDoc, Proposify issues branded proposals, but may not be the best fit for complex bids. It also has some workflow capabilities and a content library to store and retrieve previous documents. Some customers report proposal editing difficulties, limited customization, and bug issues.Qvidian
Qvidian markets itself as an AI-powered RFP response and proposal solution. Its focus is primarily on the financial services industry. Qvidian offers generative AI writing assistance and limited workflow and content management capabilities. Although there are significantly fewer reviews than the above companies, some reviews note the limited features.Rohirrim
Established in 2022, Rohirrim is a new entry to the bid management software market. The software uses generative AI (GenAI) to help draft bids and proposals. There are currently no G2 reviews.Compare bid management features across products
Bid management is about far more than creating attractive documents, although that’s certainly part of it. It’s a process that requires multiple cross-functional stakeholders, strict timelines, and accurate, up-to-date content. Bid automation reduces manual effort, improves consistency, speeds up turnaround times, and increases the chances of winning bids by allowing teams to focus on crafting more strategic, tailored responses. As technology, your organization, and customer requirements evolve, keeping up with the changes requires a solution that will scale with your needs, and increasingly, that requires artificial intelligence (AI) to automate and accelerate workflows across the entire bid process. A holistic and effective bid management process includes:- Importing, shredding, and exporting — The ability to import from the most common formats, immediately locate the most essential requirements, make a quick and accurate go/no-go decision, and export back into the customer’s preferred format
- Project management — Identify stakeholders and keep everyone on track and on time
- Collaboration tools — Communicate with stakeholders from anywhere and at any time
- Knowledge library and accessibility — Save time while maintaining compliance and accuracy with a knowledge management system that streamlines content review and recommends current, pre-approved content for each response
- Business intelligence — Track win rates, revenue, and other relevant metrics to improve future responses and facilitate key business decisions
- AI support — AI writing assistants can help teams generate first drafts, make edits, and refine them according to brand guidelines. The best bid management platforms will have AI-powered automation that eliminates manual, repetitive tasks and intelligently power project management and workflows.
- Generate brand-compliant and attractive documents — Looks do matter, at least to an extent. A library of branded templates enhances professionalism and consistency.
Importing, shredding, and exporting
Importing, shredding (or finding the key requirements), and exporting all require sophisticated AI capabilities. Bid management software like Responsive can quickly summarize lengthy documents and compile a list of key requirements. This helps facilitate the go/no-go decision-making process and helps determine the right subject matter experts (SMEs) for the bid management team. Once the bid is complete, AI then exports it in the customer’s preferred format. Because this feature requires a sophisticated software engineering team, the capability is rare among bid management software providers.Project management
Beyond providing a single place to track bid projects from start to finish, AI-powered bid management software can help manage your process from intake to post-mortem. Automation simplifies complex workflows, many of which need to happen simultaneously.Collaboration tools
In-app @communication and simplified input and review cycles keep everyone working together, even when globally distributed. Some solutions offer communication integrations but few offer native collaboration tools. The best bid management software solutions will automatically identify the best SMEs (subject matter expert) for a project based on availability and relevance.Knowledge libraries
A well-curated knowledge library ensures efficiency and compliance by providing immediate access to a single source of truth. AI can go several steps further by helping maintain the knowledge library, generating responses from past Q&A pairs, flagging outdated or unreliable content, and automating review cycles. As anyone who’s ever conducted a content audit can confirm, managing content is complicated. Certain types of AI are up to the job, but only the most advanced bid management software providers have functionality that simplifies content management and governance.Business intelligence
With the help of AI, organizations can compile and analyze the data they need to determine project viability, revenue earned, win rates, ROI, and more, prompting smarter decision-making. Business intelligence capabilities also require advanced AI. Few bid management software options offer it today.AI support
Bid management software should assist with drafting responses, and most do, to an extent. At the very minimum, GenAI capabilities should offer writing assistance. A robust bid management platform will go beyond simple writing assistance and generate a first draft based on the contents of the knowledge library in just a few clicks. Big management software built to scale will also have robust AI functionality that go beyond GenAI to intelligently power proposals, bids, and RFXs across the entire opportunity lifecycle.Generate on-brand, attractive documents
Customizable templates are among the most common, if not the most common, features in bid management software. More advanced features enable table, content, and image building. Software with robust content management systems offer templates that can be tailored by industry, business size, etc., and can be saved for future use.Review the UX and customer support
Regardless of how effective or robust a bid management solution is, it must be easy to use. Before purchasing, ask for a thorough demonstration of the product’s user experience and include some of your potential users. Check the reviews and ask for customer stories. Some software solutions offer free trials, but beware. Introducing a temporary solution within an existing tech stack can expose an organization to risks. Before purchasing, you should assess several factors.Value
When choosing bid management software, go beyond pricing to look at value. How many use cases will the solution support? How much more efficient will your teams be? What is your anticipated ROI? If a solution is difficult to use, people won’t use it. Take a look at how users interact with the software to help determine ease of use.The first time I logged into Responsive, it took me about 10 minutes to get comfortable with the platform. After that, I quickly found responses to all of my open questions — seeing 100% value from the very beginning.
The type of onboarding or training provided
Proper onboarding improves implementation, user adoption, and your return on investment. Thoroughly assess an organization for professional services and other types of onboarding support.Highly professional and knowledgeable - the Responsive team consistently demonstrates expertise and a deep understanding of our needs. They are true partners in the process, working collaboratively to find the best solutions for our specific requirements. Kudos to the Account Management, Customer Success, Onboarding, and Technical Support teams for their end-to-end support and partnership.
Our migration to the new platform was exceptionally smooth. The Responsive team meticulously planned and coordinated the process, ensuring minimal disruption to our workflow. We always felt supported and informed throughout the transition.
User limits
Scalability is vital for business growth. If bid management software can’t grow with you, you may have to repeat the buying and onboarding process, which can be costly and could potentially interfere with or even waylay your response process.
After using Responsive for a year, user adoption tripled over the previous RFP software. To date, we have 240 active JAGGAER users working inside Responsive. In 2023, our RFx team managed 346 RFx and TQ projects and answered over 50,000 questions inside Responsive.
