BSCs Receive Data On Proposal Tracking, Clicks

Part two of this three-part article discusses the advantages of data collection when using proposal software.

Cavalier Services uses the software in a number of ways, but one of its chief uses is for analyzing data.

For example, the software allows Cavalier Services to receive an email every time a proposal is read, as well as see specific data on what was read and for how long.

“Maybe you send a proposal July 1, and you don’t hear anything from them at all, but you can see that they read it July 2,” says Decker. “Then they may happen to go in on July 4, and they read this page on green and the investment summary. You know you’re in the game still and that they are still interested.”

That’s important given how proposals and bidding in the janitorial services industry can be a long process.

“Sometimes, we may get someone who asks for a proposal in May, and they don’t make a decision until October,” says Decker. “So, we get that [email] in August when they look at it, and we can call them and check in to see how things are going.”

The data shows more than just when a prospective client looked at the bid. BSCs can learn how long a prospect studied the bid and which parts were viewed the most.

“It gives us an extra set of eyes we didn’t have before — we didn’t know if they were reading [proposals] or looking at them,” says Decker. “We also know what’s important to them.”

Comparing data from one bid against data from others can eventually show trends a BSC may use to adjust future proposals. For example, if clients often click on a sustainability section, this may be a topic to highlight even more or move closer to the front of the proposal.
 
“It gives us a little bit of market research,” says Decker. “It gives us this level of knowledge and vision that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Landing a new account comes down to reaching the right decision-maker, and BSCs may not have access to this information. But if the prospect passes the bid along to others in the organization, the software will gather this information by tracking contact information for people who are forwarded the proposal.

“If you get the proposal from us, and you forward it to your boss, we may not have had your boss’ contact information before,” says Decker. “We might not have been able to know who the other decision-makers were.”