My biggest concern being a solo freelancer is that I won’t be taken seriously. Putting yourself out there with big clients is daunting, which is why I’m almost obsessive about the documents I send to clients. In the past, I was piecing together proposals in Powerpoint presentations and sending out fairly sloppy PDF documents that would nearly always be riddled with formatting errors.
Not the best look!
And then I discovered Bidsketch.
I’ve tried proposal software before and I have to say I’ve been underwhelmed. Often, the time it takes to turn their templates into something that represents your brand is barely worth the effort.
Bidsketch has changed all of this. I can now focus on the important parts of putting together a proposal – which is to tell a potential client the story of how I plan to help them achieve their goals.
First Steps: Getting around
The platform is incredibly intuitive and you’ll soon find your way around. The main parts you will need to know are the Clients section and the Proposals section. You can also save blocks of text that you use frequently (such as the “why choose us?” section) in the “Sections” section. This means that throwing together proposals is quick and easy.
Design Notes
My absolute favourite part of this proposal software is the design options. It’s easy to put your own branding on your proposals and inject a bit of fun with custom cover images. No more trawling through spreadsheets trying to make sure all the formatting is exactly the same. While the customisation options might appear limited, they are more than sufficient to put your own mark on the documents.
Follow Up With Confidence
Perhaps one of the best features is the ability to see what a client does with the proposal. You’ll get a notification when the client opens the proposal, so you don’t have to worry about following up to check if they received it! Log in to your dashboard and you’ll also see the client activity. This means you can see how long they viewed it if they saved it and if they printed it.
does it work?
Yes! At the moment, I have a 100% success rate with proposals sent with Bidsketch. Clients have noted that the process is easy and the proposals look professional and refined. While looks aren’t everything and I’d like to think the content plays a large part in winning clients, there’s no denying that creating a polished and professional look really helps!
