Jason Mudd

Bidsketch will make you smarter and grow your sales and customers

I was so pleased when IT expert Robert McNicholas of Techsperts introduced me to BidSketch. It's rare that an app or system comes along that's a real game changer like this one.

One of the best features is that it allows for electronic signatures on contracts and agreements. That's a feature that I've wanted for years and it gives small businesses a Fortune 500 polish with the convenience and full compliance of capturing signatures electronically; easy for you and your clients.

No more, “Did you get the email, what\'s your fax number, what\'s the best email address to send this to?” and similar complications. No more issues with traveling and being unable to print and sign, etc. It’s literally “sign and drive!”

Another great feature is the analytics and the software’s ability to know what deals are getting closed and other factoids which it shares among its high-value tips in email newsletters.\r\n

In addition, I found that the BidSketch team, Ruben and his staff, is highly accessible, professional and courteous in all my interactions with it.

There's no overseas call center with broken English and little familiarity with the product. The company stands by its service and is very open to our requests, issues, ideas and suggestions.

You can configure your account so that you get notifications when customers view your proposal, and you can also go in and see how many people looked at the proposal and when and for how long it was viewed. This is valuable intelligence.

(I know of an advertising agency that was able to determine that Zappos spent fewer than 14 seconds reviewing five pages of its 25-page proposal. That information told the agency that Zappos wanted a real relationship with the buyer, the agency sent too much information and/or was never in real and meaningful consideration from the company. (See: http://adage.com/article/agency-news/zappos-review-incites-reproach-ad-agency-creative/137930/)

Many solo entrepreneurs, microbusinesses and small businesses will be very excited that this BidSketch solution integrates with Basecamp, FreshBooks and Salesforce, giving them further integration and efficiencies when using multiple small-business solutions.

One of my favorite things about BidSketch is that it has helpful videos as well as its ongoing sales support material, not to mention newsletters and blog tips that are based on macroanalytics of its customer base and proposal usage summaries.

This company’s blog has taught me some new and high-value proposal tips, and I've read several sales and proposal books and seminars as part of operating my own growing company for more than 11 years. It's rare that I find such useful and applicable information available from one of my vendors.

Some of my favorite videos and blog posts include:

Why Freelance Writers Get Paid Less Than Web Designers www.bidsketch.com/blog/everything-else/writers-vs-designers/
This Simple Change Will Win You More Proposals www.bidsketch.com/blog/selling-web-design/simple-change-will-win-more-proposals/

I love the facts and insights BidSketch shares. For example:

Proposals with fewer than five pages are 31 percent more likely to win.
A fast proposal is 26 percent more likely the winning proposal (2.7 days is the average winner’s turnaround time vs. 3.4 days, the average losing turnaround time).
An online proposal is accepted 60 percent faster and 18 percent more often than a traditional proposal, which can take about 29 days instead of just 18 days online, according to “How to Land More Clients With Your Proposals” (www.bidsketch.com/blog/land-clients-with-proposals/)

These get me very excited my business, new business and about BidSketch.

To that end, I highly recommend and frequently use BidSketch, and I think every small and emerging business should, as well. Bidsketch will make you smarter and grow your sales and customers.

Image credit: 123rf