If you’ve ever created a presentation or proposal, chances are you’ve likely used presentation software, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, or LibreOffice Impress. But have you ever considered an alternative way to create your proposals?

Presentation software’s strength is in enabling you to create visual presentations with customizable slides. However, proposal software starts with well-designed proposal templates that you can customize and then present, giving you an edge over your competitors.

In this post, we put presentation software and proposal software in a head-to-head comparison so you can decide which solution is best for you.

Presentation Software

The most popular presentation software is PowerPoint, which has been around for more than two decades. Business professionals, teachers, and speakers use it to create presentations by combining text, graphics, images, and other media on slides.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Presentation software is an excellent choice for businesses, considering most people are familiar with how to use it. However, it’s not the best option if you want your presentations to stand out from your competitors.

Also, multiple people use their templates, making it challenging to personalize your work. When prospective customers see a lack of individuality and creativity on your part, they might be less willing to invest in your business.  If they detect you’re unable to invest in your presentation to them, they might perceive you as unable to invest in the care and attention they need.

User and Client Experience

Presentation software, particularly PowerPoint, can be a great way to deliver your presentations. However,  it comes with some drawbacks. First, it’s challenging to collaborate with others on projects because you can share only your file library. If the storage amount exceeds its limitations (over 100 documents), you must pay for more space as an upgrade.

Second, some clients report that PowerPoint PDFs or files sent as an email attachment sometimes go to spam folders if they exceed the allowed attachment size.  When the files are so large, they won’t even open.

To ensure potential customers receive these types of online communications, you must send additional sales documents alongside any part presentations. This way, there’s no question about the kind of deal you’re offering.

Support and Training

Because Microsoft Office is one of the most popular online office platforms, it’s convenient to find additional support from other users. This widespread use has brought about many user-generated forums, YouTube how-to videos, and peer-to-peer help for those who need it. Google also has online help for Google Slides, and LibreOffice has online community support for Impress on its website.

Integrations

PowerPoint seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft products and the different apps available on your computer, like charting software Lucidchart. Google Slides also integrates with applications such as Zapier,  but LibreOffice Impressions only works with LibreOffice applications.

Reporting and Tracking

Unfortunately, presentation software doesn’t have a way to determine how a client interacts with your email. You can only assume they’ve opened it and viewed what you sent, but there isn’t any other feedback.

Pricing

PowerPoint is not available as a stand-alone product and must be bundled with other Microsoft Office products. A basic package that includes PowerPoint starts at $9.99 per month.

Google Slides is available with a Gmail account for free. It’s also available as part of a business plan at $12/month that includes other Google apps.

Impress is available free of charge with the download of LibreOffice.

Proposal Software

The proposal software industry is expected to more than double between 2019 and 2024. Proposal software, such as Zomentum Grow, simplifies the way technology partners do business from creating proposals to tracking and measuring them. See how Zomentum Grow compares to presentation software.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Proposal management software has many strengths. You can:

• Create a proposal from scratch or use an existing template.
• Present the proposal to your peers or prospective clients.
• Customize proposals for your prospective clients.
• Track the proposal immediately after you click Send.
• Leverage your prospects to sign the proposal electronically.
• Collect payments from the same tool and interface.

Proposals sent using Zomentum Grow use a dedicated link that prevents presentations from going into spam folders. Also, the internal workflow is more practical, with the final result looking more impressive and professional.

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Unlike PowerPoint, flashy animations aren’t available between the slides. More features mean a broader learning curve for your teams. Personalizing the proposal and beautifying it is excellent, but adding more can be challenging until you are more familiar with the process.

User and Client Experience

With proposal software like Zomentum Grow, high-volume presentations are created quickly and efficiently. You get an organized content library so you can easily customize your proposals, or you can use the proposal software in its online version in the presentation mode. However, if necessary, you can download a PDF file of your proposal.

With Zomentum Grow, your prospects can comment and communicate with other stakeholders in the proposal while reading it. Through an interactive feature, you can add pricing tables or choose pricing options for the desired level of engagement, all without leaving the platform.

A few simple clicks quickly bring everything together. You can select how many recipients need e-signatures. You can also set reminders about deadlines and then wait patiently for your clients to review and sign your contract.

Support and Training

Zomentum Grow has a support team ready to assist you with your proposals or just answer questions about Zomentum Grow. You can reach our support team by phone, email, webchat, and through social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Integrations

Proposal software is known for its integrations and flexibility in creating, sending, and monitoring your proposals and closing a deal. Zomentum Grow supports more than ten integrations, including Gmail, Outlook, Ingram Micro, Etilize, and Zapier, for different integrations to streamline your sales workflow and stay on top of your deals.

Reporting and Tracking

Proposal software like Zomentum Grow provides all the data and analytics you need to know how your prospects interact with your proposal. You get a chance for personalization, which isn’t possible with presentation software.

Zomentum Grow empowers you with proposal software metrics to help you track annual contract value (ACV) and understand the deal stages of your sales cycle.

Pricing

Our current pricing plan is $99/MSP for up to two users billed monthly. Factors that influence the price include:

• Features and integrations
• Onboarding and training
• Templates and asset setup
• Support

Create Your Proposals With Proposal Software from Zomentum Grow

For some people, the choice between presentation or proposal software is easy. They’re comfortable with Microsoft PowerPoint. Also, they don’t have any supplemental sales documents to create, so they use the product they’re familiar with for their team’s proposals.

However, if you’re looking at streamlining your workflow and enhancing collaboration between teams, choose Zomentum Grow. Zomentum Grow enables you to create professional proposals quickly and easily and customize recommendations for each customer. The software provides a variety of templates and samples to use and reuse, saving you time and resources to generate a proposal.

Plus, you can easily track and measure the success of your proposals. With this information, you can improve your proposal templates to make them more effective. Let Zomentum Grow take your prospects from proposal to sale.