So your team’s cranking out RFP responses, security questionnaires, and sales proposals—but are you actually getting better at it, or just busier? If you’ve got Responsive (yep, that one), you’ve probably seen their dashboards and reports. The problem is, most people never get past the surface.
This guide is for people who want to do more than just print out pretty charts for their boss. We’ll talk about what actually matters, how to dig in, and what’s just noise. Let’s cut through the fluff and help you actually improve your win rates—not just measure them.
Step 1: Start With the Right Questions
Before you even open up a dashboard, you should know what you’re trying to solve. Here are a few questions worth answering:
- Are we submitting a ton of proposals but barely winning?
- Which types of proposals do we win (or lose) most often?
- Where are we wasting time—on the wrong deals, slow reviews, endless rewrites?
- Who on the team is actually helping us win?
If you don’t have these questions in mind, you’ll end up staring at pie charts that tell you nothing useful. Write down your top 2-3 questions. That’s your North Star for what to look for in the data.
Pro tip: Don’t chase “vanity metrics.” Number of proposals sent means nothing if they’re all duds.
Step 2: Find and Understand Your Win Rate
Win rate sounds simple: it’s the percentage of proposals you win. But it’s easy to get this wrong. In Responsive, you’ll find a win/loss report, but first, make sure your deal statuses are set up correctly. Otherwise, the numbers are garbage.
How to do it:
- Check your statuses: Make sure proposals are being marked as “Won,” “Lost,” or “No Decision” consistently. If your team forgets to update these, your win rate will be off.
- Go to Reports > Win/Loss: This shows you your basic win rate.
- Segment the data: Look at win rate by proposal type (RFP vs. questionnaire), customer segment, region, or even by sales rep.
What to watch for:
- High volume, low win rate? You might be chasing every deal instead of qualifying.
- Low volume, high win rate? Your team could be too picky (or just playing it safe).
- Lots of “No Decision” or “Withdrawn”? That’s a red flag—maybe you’re spending weeks on deals that go nowhere.
Ignore: “Average proposal value” unless you’re selling wildly different deal sizes. It just muddies the picture.
Step 3: Dig Into Proposal Performance Metrics
Responsive has a bunch of stats about proposals—completion time, number of revisions, time spent per section, etc. Here’s what’s worth your time:
Metrics that matter:
- Time to complete: How long does it take to respond? If you’re losing deals because you’re slow, this jumps out fast.
- Number of reviewers/contributors: More isn’t always better. Sometimes too many cooks really do spoil the soup.
- Question reuse: Are you reinventing answers every time, or using your library? High reuse = more efficient process.
How to analyze:
- Compare your fastest and slowest proposals—what’s different?
- Look for bottlenecks. Is legal review always the slow part? Does it take ages to get technical answers?
- Track over time. If you’re not getting faster, your process probably isn’t improving.
What not to obsess over: Page counts, word counts, or how many “tasks” get completed. These are easy to track but don’t tell you anything about whether you’re actually winning more.
Step 4: Identify What Drives Wins (and Losses)
Data is useless unless you tie it back to reality. Responsive can show you which proposals won or lost, but it won’t tell you why—unless you add a little extra effort.
Try this:
- Add custom fields for “Reason Won” and “Reason Lost” to your proposals. Even a dropdown (“Price,” “Features,” “Timing”) is better than nothing.
- Review your last 10-20 losses: Is there a pattern? Are you always second on price, or do you lose when legal takes too long?
- Talk to sales: The numbers only tell part of the story. Get real feedback from the people on the front lines.
Caution: Don’t trust the “reason lost” field blindly—people tend to blame price, even when it’s not the real problem. Look for patterns, not excuses.
Step 5: Use Filters and Drill-Downs—But Avoid Analysis Paralysis
Responsive reports are flexible—you can slice data by customer, region, product, team member, time period, and more. This is powerful, but can also lead to endless “interesting” charts that don’t help you make decisions.
How to use filters:
- Start broad, then narrow: Look at your overall win rate, then drill into segments where it’s better or worse.
- Compare apples to apples: Don’t compare government RFPs to simple vendor questionnaires—they’re totally different beasts.
- Set up saved views: If you find a useful report (like “Win Rate by Proposal Owner for Enterprise Deals”), save it. Don’t rebuild it every month.
Ignore: Reports that don’t lead to action. If you can’t do anything with the insight, move on.
Step 6: Get the Team Involved (Feedback Loops Matter)
Improving win rates isn’t a solo project. If you want your analysis to actually change results, you need buy-in from the people writing and reviewing proposals.
How to do it:
- Share key metrics in plain English: “We’re winning 25% of proposals, but only 10% in healthcare. Let’s dig in.”
- Highlight quick wins: “Deals where we use more library content get done 40% faster.”
- Ask for input: “What’s slowing you down? Are we wasting time on the wrong deals?”
What not to do:
- Drown people in data. Pick 2-3 metrics that matter.
- Make it about blame. The goal is better results, not finger-pointing.
Step 7: Iterate—Don’t Just Report
If you’re waiting for a magic number to fix your win rate, you’ll be waiting forever. The best teams treat reporting as a feedback loop:
- Look at the numbers.
- Try one change (qualify harder, reuse more answers, shorten review cycles).
- See if it moves the needle.
- Repeat.
It’s not glamorous, but it works. The point isn’t to have the prettiest dashboard. It’s to win more of the right deals with less wasted effort.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Stay Skeptical
Don’t get lost in a sea of charts. Start with clear questions, focus on the metrics that actually matter, and use Responsive’s reporting to drive real improvements—not just show off. Most important: keep it simple, and don’t be afraid to change your approach as you learn. The best results come from small, steady tweaks, not from chasing the latest reporting fad.
Now get out there, look at your numbers, and make one change this month. That’s where real progress starts.