What closes: the research

Every recommendation QuoteToYes makes in the editor, and every one your AI gets from get_recommendations, traces back to a finding on this page. We list the source and how strong the evidence is, and we only show numbers the source itself states.

How strong is each finding

• peer reviewed: Published in a peer reviewed journal.
• large vendor dataset: Large dataset from a company that runs proposals or sales data. Shows correlation, not proof of cause.
• single experiment: One controlled study. Useful, but not confirmed by many others.
• expert opinion: Survey answers or expert judgment.

Pricing

• Teams using interactive pricing (options and optional items the client can pick) won 2x more proposals and were 21% more likely to close.

  Platform data across 742,137 proposals. It shows correlation, not cause.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

• Adding an option that is clearly worse than a nearby one makes that nearby option more attractive. The authors (who first reported the effect in 1982) say it holds when the comparison is easy to see and preferences are not strong.

  The effect is weak when the extra option is unappealing or often chosen itself.

  peer reviewed Let's Be Honest About the Attraction Effect, Journal of Marketing Research, 2014

• When an option sits in the middle of a set, it gains share because it is the easiest choice to justify.

  peer reviewed Choice Based on Reasons: The Case of Attraction and Compromise Effects, Journal of Consumer Research, 1989

• Across 50 experiments with 5,036 people, the average effect of offering more options was close to zero, with wide variation between studies.

  So more options is not reliably harmful, but it is not reliably helpful either.

  peer reviewed Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload, Journal of Consumer Research, 2010

• Shoppers shown 6 options bought more often than shoppers shown 24 or 30.

  Later reviews (see the meta analysis above) found this does not replicate reliably.

  single experiment When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000

• Proposals with recurring fees showed an 18x lift in deal value.

  This is about deal size, not close rate.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

Video

• Proposals where the client watched a video were 3.3x more likely to close, yet only 20% of proposals included one.

  Clients who watch may already be more interested.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

• Proposals with an embedded video converted 4.5% better.

  large vendor dataset The 2021 Better Proposals report, Better Proposals, 2021

• 87% of consumers said a video convinced them to buy, and 84% of video marketers said video directly increased sales.

  Self reported survey answers.

  expert opinion Video Marketing Statistics 2025, Wyzowl, 2025

Proof

• Telling guests that most other guests reused their towels raised reuse from 35.1% to 44.1%. People follow what similar people did.

  Field experiment in hotels, not sales. It supports showing what clients like this one chose.

  peer reviewed A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels, Journal of Consumer Research, 2008. DOI 10.1086/586910

Risk

• In two experiments, a money back guarantee raised purchase intention and the price people were willing to pay.

  peer reviewed Understanding Money-Back Guarantees: Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Outcomes, Journal of Retailing, 2011

Deadline

• People given a short window to use an offer acted on it more often than people given a long one. Long windows led to putting it off and never using it.

  Studied with gift certificates, not business proposals.

  peer reviewed Procrastination of Enjoyable Experiences, Journal of Marketing Research, 2010

Speed

• Proposals sent within 24 hours of the meeting converted 23% better and were signed in about 5 days on average, versus 13 days when sent 3 to 4 days later.

  large vendor dataset The 2021 Better Proposals report, Better Proposals, 2021

• Across 1.25 million leads at 42 companies, contacting a lead within an hour made qualifying it nearly 7 times as likely as waiting one more hour.

  Field data from companies, about first response to leads rather than proposals.

  large vendor dataset The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, Harvard Business Review, 2011. Figures as reported here

Signing

• Proposals signed electronically closed 15% more often and 60% faster.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

• When the sender signed before sending, the close rate rose 65% and deals closed 25% faster.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

Payment

• 71% of proposals were paid through the proposal itself, and time to payment fell to 6 hours from 12.

  large vendor dataset The 2021 Better Proposals report, Better Proposals, 2021

Stakeholders

• When more than one person from the client viewed a proposal, the close rate rose 20%.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

Length

• A 5 page proposal had about a 50% chance of closing; at 30 pages it fell to about 35%.

  large vendor dataset Proposal length and close rate, from 2.6 million proposals, Proposify, 2021

• Winning proposals averaged 11 pages and 7 sections, against 13 pages for losing ones.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

Visuals

• 83% of winning proposals included images, 12 on average.

  large vendor dataset State of Proposals 2026, Proposify, 2026

• Proposals with a designed cover were 4.6% more likely to convert.

  large vendor dataset The 2021 Better Proposals report, Better Proposals, 2021

Trust

• Proposals sent from the company's own domain converted 19.3% better.

  large vendor dataset The 2021 Better Proposals report, Better Proposals, 2021

Selling

• Across 11,331 opportunities, deals where price came up on the first call won 42% of the time, against 5% when price never came up.

  About sales calls, not the proposal itself. It argues for clear pricing, not hidden pricing.

  large vendor dataset Data reveals the best time to talk price and budget, Gong Labs, 2020

Results from proposals here

Once enough proposals on QuoteToYes are marked won or lost, recommendations also show how often proposals with and without each element were won. Only counts are pooled across accounts. Nobody sees another account's proposals, clients or prices.