Innovative Solutions for Winning Proposals | Alfredo Ramirez from Prosal

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Alright, everyone, welcome to today’s episode of Pathmonk Presents. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Alfredo from Prosal, the CMO and co-founder there with them. How are you doing today, Alfredo?

Alfredo Ramirez: I’m doing great. How are you?

Ernesto: I’m doing great! Great to get a chance to have Prosal here on Pathmonk Presents. Let’s dive in—why our listeners are tuning in. In your own words, can you tell us a little bit more about what Prosal is all about?

Alfredo: Absolutely! I’m really excited to be talking about Prosal. It’s an incredible time for us. We’re a startup that helps businesses unlock predictable revenue through requests for proposals, or RFPs as they’re affectionately known.

RFPs are documents that essentially state a project and help people hire an agency or consultant for a specific effort. These are typically big projects or long-term efforts, but RFPs can be tough to find and extremely difficult to qualify. If done right, though, they turn into fantastic leads.

We take what can be an hours-long process of reviewing hundreds of RFP pages and condense it into just a few minutes. That way, you know exactly what leads to focus on.

Ernesto: That’s awesome! It’s great to hear how you streamline such a complex process. For our listeners, what’s the key problem Prosal solves for clients?

Alfredo: As I mentioned, RFPs are notoriously difficult to find. They’re scattered all over the place, issued by a wide range of organizations—municipalities, governments, nonprofits, even private companies.

The RFP market is massive: a $13 trillion international industry. In the U.S. alone, nongovernmental institutions spend billions, while government entities and state and local municipalities spend trillions on hiring for various projects.

Think about the road being built in your neighborhood, a new school, the basketball court at that school, or even the website for your local library—chances are, those all went through an RFP.

We take these scattered opportunities, vet them, and verify them to ensure they’re legitimate leads with no incumbents already in place. We provide our clients with all the resources to go after the opportunities that fit them best.

Ernesto: That’s fantastic. Is there a specific target audience or ideal customer profile for Prosal?

Alfredo: Absolutely. Our sweet spot is U.S.-based consulting agencies and professional services businesses with 11 to 50 employees. These companies typically specialize in web development and design, marketing, branding, communications, or strategic planning.

Our clients love that we find prospects who are actively buying what they sell. While we work best with RFP pros—those already familiar with the RFP process—we also help newcomers who’ve never dealt with RFPs before. They quickly learn how one successful contract can be a game-changer for their business.

Ernesto: That’s great. How do people typically find out about Prosal? What’s your top client acquisition channel?

Alfredo: Our number one channel is email. While email outreach might seem saturated, we take a highly personalized approach. Before we reach out, we thoroughly research our prospects and match them to an opportunity on our platform—specifically one that hasn’t gotten much attention yet.

This gives them a legitimate chance at winning a new client right when they join. Our cold outreach converts at about 5%, but we’ve seen some groups convert at an impressive 25%.

Ernesto: Those are fantastic numbers! Kudos to you for making it work so well. For our listeners who want to learn more, they can check you out at Prosal.io. What role does your website play in client acquisition?

Alfredo: The website is critical—it’s where the entire experience begins and ends. We’re a web application; you won’t find us in an app store or a physical location. Everything lives online at www.prosal.io—soon to be Prosal.com when we launch Prosal 2.0 in April.

Our website is where clients find opportunities, track their history, and manage performance. We’re constantly refining and optimizing the experience to ensure we deliver better opportunities based on each client’s preferences and past experiences.

Ernesto: That makes sense. Are there any tools or tips you’d recommend for website lead generation?

Alfredo: Definitely. My top advice is to always test, test, and test again. What worked six months ago might not work today.

For tools, I love Crazy Egg for A/B testing, snapshots, and heat maps. Before that, we used Hotjar for similar insights. Both tools have informed a lot of our design decisions.

Another key tip is to minimize steps for users. Simplify everything. We learned this the hard way when we added a couple of extra fields to our signup process. It caused a huge drop-off, so we quickly reverted to the original flow. Always prioritize user experience.

Ernesto: Great advice and insights—thank you for sharing. Now, let’s switch gears and talk about you as a leader. What are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Alfredo: Lately, I’ve been juggling operations and marketing since we just finished a fundraising round. But now, I’m refocusing on my core mission: growing the company and getting the right people on board.

My top priorities include experimenting with messaging, analyzing channels, and, most importantly, talking to our customers. I firmly believe in listening to customers to understand their needs, their language, and how they describe their challenges. This helps us refine our solutions and innovate in meaningful ways.

I also manage a global team of seven, holding daily 15-minute standups to ensure everyone is aligned and supported.

Ernesto: That’s incredible. Where do you go to stay updated on the latest marketing trends?

Alfredo: I’m a big fan of podcasts and newsletters. Some of my favorites are How I Built This by Guy Raz, Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman, and the Demand Curve Growth Newsletter. These resources offer fantastic insights, from founder stories to practical marketing strategies.

Ernesto: Excellent recommendations. Now, let’s move into our rapid-fire round. Are you ready?

Alfredo: Let’s do it!

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Alfredo: I just finished 1984 by George Orwell and am about to finish Creativity, Inc. by Edwin Catmull. Both are incredible reads.

Ernesto: What’s the one thing Prosal is most focused on right now?

Alfredo: RFPs—100%.

Ernesto: If there were no limits with technology, what’s one thing you’d fix as a marketer?

Alfredo: I’d give myself more time to be creative.

Ernesto: If you could automate one repetitive task, what would it be?

Alfredo: Responding to emails—it’s a never-ending battle.

Ernesto: What’s one piece of advice you’d give your younger self as a marketer?

Alfredo: Don’t forget why you started.

Ernesto: Powerful words. Thank you so much, Alfredo. For anyone tuning in, what’s the one thing they should remember about Prosal?

Alfredo: RFPs. If you’re interested in them, Prosal is your go-to platform.

Ernesto: Fantastic! Thank you so much for joining us today, Alfredo. To our listeners, don’t forget to check out Prosal.io—soon to be Prosal.com. Stay tuned for the next episode of Pathmonk Presents.

Alfredo: Thanks, Ernesto!