Loopio vs. Sofon Proposal Organizer

I use Loopio specifically for RFP's mostly. I think it is a great and adequate tool for this and much of what I think that needs to improve are not large needle movers for me since the software as a whole is fantastic. It is very easy to upload an RFP into Loopio and begin answering those questions or pulling from previously answered questions. I also will use Loopio for large client proposals and I often use the "search functionality within Loopio to see if I can find answers to clients questions. I like that I can also pull images from Loopio as well and often use those visualizations in my proposals.

Incentivized

In my opinion, the most valuable characteristic of SPO is that by answering simple questions a very complex product can be configured; therefore the scope of delivery is defined very well. In addition, SPO has great flexibility to manage prices and costs. However, SPO is configurator of parts that allows incorporating basic design rules for their selection. SPO is not a optimised for developing complicated engineering design rules.

• Ease of use - a few minutes' tutorial is enough for a newcomer to start using the tool.
• Handy options - i.e. support in searching for the right answer
• Often meaningful & useful releases

• Top Down approach
• Drive sales representatives to their goal
• Clear final calculation

• Adding new answers to the library was easier and better with the "close the loop" functionality. Now, it seems like it is easier to miss questions to add to the library.

Incentivized

• SQL servers may lead to unexpect failures
• Tables created in SPO could have better interface with the user
• Management of user licences could be easier

Unfortunately I have no possibility to renew or not renew SPO so it is difficult to answer to this question

Usability is good but falls short of excellent. The interface is clean and well organized. They clearly spent some time working on the UI and took some feedback from focus groups to help keep it tidy. On a few occasions, we have experienced a little bit of lag while updating the question database. I'd like to see just a little faster response time on a consistent basis.

Incentivized

They're very supportive and reply in a timely manner. Whenever I contacted the support I received a helpful reply that actually solved my issue. Quite often when my team suggested an improvement that would simplify and speed up our work it happened not long after which is perfect for us.

• User friendly--very simple
• Reviews of libraries can be assigned
• Non-named user licenses can be used by various people
• Close Loop--changes can be added to library with just a few clicks
• View text in library and can copy content
• Reporting on reviews and usage and projects
• Help center and assigned representative
• Library duplicates functionality

Incentivized

The previous product we used was developed by ourselves so my experience is very limited. I can say that having a software like SPO we can configure the product without any programming experience and this makes things faster and better. Moreover, I can say that MS Office compatibility is a strong point.

• I have saved hundreds of hours working in Loopio instead of answering RFP's on my own. This has allowed me to spend other hours elsewhere. Having an RFP management tool has been an incredible timesaver
• The creation and management of questions has also saved me hours of time in searching out tough questions to answer and has also saved my colleagues time as well since we don't need to collaborate to find answers.
• Have had some issues with downloading the proposal in a readable format for clients to view. I've sometimes had to go back and figure out what went wrong when exporting which can be frustrating- especially when dealing with very tight deadlines.

Incentivized

• Reduce quotation time at the proposal office,
• better definition and more organise project scope at project management level
• centralisation of knoweldeg: one problem, one solution