How Long Does It Take To Close A Proposal On Average?

Average Proposal

Have you ever sent a proposal, not heard anything for a few days, and then sat there anxiously overthinking on whether you should check in on them or not?

You don’t want to be overbearing but also don’t want to let them go cold.

What’s the right balance?

The cool thing is there is some data out there on this topic.

Proposify did a study recently on 1.3 million proposals which produced some really cool insights.

Ready for some cool numbers?

Buckle up! Let’s go!

Average time from proposal sent to first open and view: 80 minutes

Average number of views on proposals that get closed: 7 views

Average time from first open to close: 51 hours

Of course, the answer can vary depending on the type of service you offer and what type of customer you serve.

Things like deal size can certainly affect these averages. So if your numbers are significantly different, it doesn’t automatically mean you’re doing it all wrong. But it IS an interesting data point to think about and compare.

Biggest Takeaway

The biggest takeaway for me in the above stats is this:

If it’s been over 2 days, or they’ve viewed it 7 times and then stalled, it’s time to check-in.

The cool thing is you can see each and every time the customer views your proposal in the timeline view on your SynkedUP proposal. Easy peasy to keep in the know.

Having this knowledge is super helpful to give you an idea of what the customer’s “temperature” is.

Another tip is to check on the proposal 2-3 hours after sending it. If they haven’t opened it yet, it would be a good idea to check in with them and make sure they got it and that you didn’t “fat-finger” the email address or something.

Here’s another cool tidbit: proposals with e-signature capabilities where the customer can view, interact with, and approve the proposal on their phone or on a website are 3.3X more likely to close!