The ability to track proposal engagements, like the number of views, has existed for years. You may even have Slack alerts set up to notify you in real-time when your proposal is being viewed. 

But no one really knows what to do with this data (outside of refreshing your inbox and hoping the DocuSign confirmation comes in). Is more views a good sign? How many times do they need to review it? When is this going to close?

At Cacheflow, we were curious about these questions too. So we decided to analyze 10,000 SaaS proposals from our platform in 2023 to find out.  

In the first version of this series, we’re going to look at the relationship between the number of times proposals were viewed and their completion rates (aka ‘win rates’). 

Methodology and findings

Our analysis categorized proposals into four distinct groups based on the number of views:  "Less than 3 times," "Between 3 and 5 times," "Between 5 and 10 times," and "Above 10 times." 

This classification aimed to uncover patterns that could inform strategies to enhance proposal win rates.   

This data comes from a randomized sample of 10,000 proposals that were created and sent in 2023 from Cacheflow customers. These companies are all global SaaS companies, ranging from 5 to 500 employees. 

The results of the investigation were illuminating:

• Less than 3 times: 18% win rate
• Between 3 and 5 times: 44% win rate
• Between 5 and 10 times: 69% win rate
• Above 10 times: 76% win rate
• Across all categories, there was an overall average win rate of 55%.

Significance of the findings

The results present several key takeaways for how SaaS companies can approach proposal management and engagement strategies:

1. Direct correlation between views and completion rates

The data unmistakably highlights a direct correlation between the number of views and proposal win rates. Proposals viewed more frequently are more likely to be completed, suggesting that engagement level is a critical predictor of success. This might be an obvious assumption, but it does provide us with actionable insights on cutoff points for engagement.

2. The importance of engagement

The sharp increase in win rates from the "Less than 3 times" category to the "Above 10 times" category underscores the importance of engagement in the proposal process. This finding suggests that proposals that fail to capture and retain interest are less likely to be successful.

3. Strategic implications

Organizations should consider strategies aimed at increasing proposal views to improve win rates. This could involve targeted follow-ups, automated nudges, optimizing proposal content for relevance and engagement, and leveraging analytics to identify and replicate the most effective engagement practices. You should also focus on making your quotes accessible (aka an interactive quote link vs. a PDF quote that was emailed to a single prospect)

4. Investment in analytics

The significant variation in win rates across different engagement levels also highlights the need for proposal activity analytics. Understanding which proposals gain traction and why can help organizations refine their approach, focusing on high-impact strategies that drive engagement and Closed Won deals.

Best software to track SaaS proposals. 

Cacheflow was designed to make selling and buying SaaS as easy as possible. And that includes tracking the engagement on your sales proposals. Our platform automates the tracking of proposal opens, shares, downloads, changes, and confirmations for signature and payment. 

Instead of forecasting your deals based on ‘AE instinct’, Sales VPs and CROs can use activity-based events to know how their team's deals are really progressing. 

And that's just a slice of how Cacheflow helps you close more deals. Book a demo to see for yourself!