Proposal tracking
for the proposal you already wrote.
Send your proposal as a tracked link and get an email when the client opens it. Keep writing it in Docs, Canva, Notion or a PDF; nothing about your process changes except the link you paste.
Quick answer
To know when a client opens your proposal, share the proposal as you normally would, create a tracked short link to it, and turn on an open alert for that link. Each time the client opens it you get an email with the time, their city and country, and the device. Use one link per client so every open can be tied to the deal it belongs to.
Opened: Acme · Website redesign proposal
Track Link · [email protected]
Your link was just opened
Acme · Website redesign proposal · go.youragency.com/acme
- When
- Wed 28 Oct, 09:12 UTC
- Where
- Chicago, United States
- Device
- Mobile · iOS · Safari
- Opens so far
- 4
Reading the opens
An open isn't a yes. It does tell you when to follow up, and roughly how the deal is moving.
One open, soon after you sent it
They are looking now. A short, specific follow-up within the hour lands while it is in front of them.
Several opens over a few days
They keep coming back to it. Often the moment to ask whether anything is unclear or holding them up.
Opens from new cities or devices
It has probably been forwarded, which usually means it has reached someone else involved in the decision.
No opens at all
It may be sitting unread, or caught in a spam folder. Resend with a short note rather than chasing a decision.
The city comes from the IP address, so a VPN or a company network can put someone in the wrong place. Company email scanners can also open a link seconds after it arrives; an open that fast is usually a scanner, and the next one is the client.
Works wherever the proposal lives
A tracked link forwards to any web address, so the proposal can stay where it is.
- Google Docs and Slides
- PDFs in Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive
- Canva, Pitch and Gamma decks
- Notion and Coda pages
- Figma and Miro boards
- A proposal page on your own site
One link per client
A link can tell you it was opened, not who opened it. Give each client their own link, named after them and the deal, and every open on it belongs to that deal. On your own domain it reads go.youragency.com/acme, which is also a link a careful client is happier to click.
A tracked link or proposal software?
Proposal tools such as PandaDoc, Proposify and Qwilr track opens too, inside their own editor. Which fits depends on how you write proposals today.
| Tracked link | Proposal software | |
|---|---|---|
| Keep writing in Docs, Canva, Notion or a PDF | Rewrite it in their editor | |
| Email when the proposal is opened | ||
| Your own domain on the link | Depends on the plan | |
| Time spent on each page | Some tools | |
| E-signature and payment | Usually | |
| Same links for posts, emails and QR codes |
If your proposals need e-signatures and payments in one place, proposal software is the better tool. If you write them in whatever suits the client and just need to know when they are read, a link is enough.
How to track a proposal
- 1Share the proposal the way you normally would and copy its link: a Google Doc, a PDF in Drive or Dropbox, a Canva or Pitch deck, a Notion page.
- 2Create a tracked link to it, one per client, named after the client and the deal.
- 3Turn on an alert for that link with the rule On every open.
- 4Send the tracked link instead of the original. You get an email each time it is opened.
A quote valid for 14 days? Give the link an end date and it stops opening when the offer does. More on the alerts themselves in link open alerts.
Proposal tracking FAQ
How do I know if a client opened my proposal?
Send it as a tracked link and turn on an open alert. Every time the link is opened you get an email with the time, the city and country, and the device, and the link's page keeps the full history of opens.
Can I tell if someone opened a Google Doc I shared?
Not reliably from Google itself. Drive's Activity dashboard is a Google Workspace feature, and a client at another company shows up only if their company's settings share view history. Put a tracked link in front of the Doc instead: every open through that link is recorded.
Will the client see Track Link anywhere?
Not on a paid plan. The link redirects straight to the proposal, and on a custom domain it reads go.youragency.com/acme rather than anything of ours. On the free plan each visit shows a short Track Link notice first.
Can I see how long they spent reading it?
No. A link records the open, not what happens inside the document. If page-by-page reading time matters to you, document-sharing tools such as DocSend are built for that.
What if they download the PDF or forward it?
Opens of a downloaded copy happen on their machine and can't be seen. A forwarded link is still your link, so those opens are recorded and often show up as a new city or device.
Can the proposal expire, like a quote?
Yes, on Pro and above. Give the link an end date and it stops opening after that day; add a password if it should only open for the people you sent it to.
Which plan do I need?
Open alerts are part of Agency ($49/mo, 50 alert emails a month) and Business. Tracking the opens themselves works on every plan, including the free one.
Know what happens after you hit send
Link open alerts
An email the moment someone opens a link you sent.
Document tracking
See when a Drive file, PDF or deck behind your link is opened.
Password-protected links
A password before the link opens, on any destination.
Expiring links
Set the day a link starts working and the day it stops.
Real-time link tracking
Watch clicks land live as they happen on your links.
Follow up while it's open
Start free with full click analytics. Open alerts come with Agency at $49/mo.
Track your next proposal