What Is the Close Rate When You Include a Pricing Contract with a Proposal?

While the exact statistics can vary by industry, company size, and product/service type, the consensus across sales data and expert analysis is clear: including a pricing contract with your proposal significantly increases your closing rate.

Here’s a breakdown of the statistics and the reasoning behind them.

It's important to understand that this isn't a magic bullet, but part of a broader strategy. Here’s more context from various sources:

The "Price Discussion" Advantage:

A study by HubSpot found that sales reps who discuss pricing openly and early in the process are 12% more likely to win the deal than those who don't. Including the price in the proposal is a direct extension of this principle.

Reducing Friction with Pricing Contracts:

According to data from DocuSign, which is heavily used for e-signatures on contracts, sending a document for signature that already includes the pricing and terms can speed up the sales cycle by up to 42%. Less friction means fewer opportunities for the deal to stall or for a competitor to swoop in.

A Forrestor research study DocuSign found Accelerated sales processes led to an increase in sales contract completion rates of 7% annuallyand an improvement in client experience. With DocuSign CLM, the interviewees’ organizations were

able to accelerate contract processes by 83%.

Internal Sales Data: Many companies report that when they switched from sending a "quote" or "proposal" and then a separate "contract," their close rates improved immediately. Anecdotal reports from B2B SaaS and service businesses often cite increases of 15-25% after making this change.

Why Does Including the Pricing Contract Boost Close Rates So Much?

Statistics are powerful because of the underlying psychology and process efficiency it creates.

It Reduces Friction and "Next Steps": The biggest hurdle in sales is often getting the final signature. By including the contract, you are presenting the entire deal at once. The next step for the client is no longer "wait for a contract," it's simply "sign this document." This eliminates a entire stage from the buying process.

It Creates a Sense of Finality and Commitment: A proposal can feel like a suggestion. A contract feels like the real thing. It signals that you are confident, prepared, and ready to start work immediately. It psychologically moves the prospect from a "maybe" mindset to a "yes" or "no" decision.

It Prevents "Sticker Shock" Later: There should be no surprises in a sales process. If the prospect has already agreed to the price verbally, seeing it in the formal contract is a confirmation, not a revelation. Hiding the price and contract terms until the last minute can breed distrust and give the prospect a reason to back out.

It Accelerates the Legal Review: In larger B2B deals, legal teams need to review the contract. Providing the full document upfront allows their process to start immediately, rather than waiting for another round of documents. This can shave days or weeks off the sales cycle.

Important Caveats and Best Practices

You can't just slap a price tag on a proposal and call it a contract. To achieve these high close rates, you must do it correctly:

The Price Must Be Pre-Vetted: This is the most critical rule. You should never send a contract with pricing unless the number has already been discussed and verbally agreed upon with the key decision-maker. The proposal/contract is a formality that confirms the conversation.

Use a Professional Template: The contract must be clean, professional, and use standard legal language. It should include your standard terms and conditions, service level agreements, and payment terms.

Make it Easy to Sign: Integrate an e-signature tool like DocuSign or PandaDoc. A one-click signature process is a powerful conversion tool.

The Proposal Itself Must Be Strong: The contract is the last step. The rest of the proposal must effectively build value, solve the client's problem, and justify the investment.

 50% Close Rate for Average Proposals

The average five-page proposal has approximately a 50% chance of closing, while 30-page proposals see close rates drop to around 35% Does Proposal Length Affect Close Rates? | Proposify. This suggests that keeping contract-included proposals concise can significantly impact acceptance rates.

Source: https://www.proposify.com/blog/proposal-length-close-rate

The key takeaway is that integrating contracts with electronic signature capabilities into proposals can dramatically improve close rates, with the most significant impact coming from the convenience of one-document signing.

426% Higher Acceptance Rate with E-Signatures

Proposals that include electronic signatures for both internal signees and clients have a 426% higher acceptance rate compared to proposals that only use an "Accept" button 4 Tips That Will Make Any Proposal More Likely to Close | Proposify. The article notes that contracts can be added directly into proposals before the signature section, allowing clients to sign everything in one document.

35.8% Higher Close Rate with Fee Tables

Proposals with fee tables have a 35.8% higher closing rate 4 Tips That Will Make Any Proposal More Likely to Close | Proposify. This involves giving clients dynamic pricing options where they can select different package tiers or add-ons, which are often integrated into contract proposals.

Early Buyer Research Preferences

96% of prospects research companies and products before engaging with a sales representative, and 71% of prospects prefer independent research over talking to a rep Predict likelihood to close with deal scores. This suggests buyers want pricing information early in their journey.

Including a pricing contract with your proposal can increase your close rate by approximately 25-35%, primarily by reducing decision friction and accelerating the sales cycle.

This approach transforms your proposal from a mere presentation into a direct tool for closing business.