Monthly Archives: March 2026

🚀 Best Proposal Software for Marketing Agencies – CheezySign

I remember sitting in a client meeting about eighteen months ago when a marketing agency owner mentioned something that stuck with me: “We spend more time chasing down signed proposals and payment confirmations than we do actually creating campaigns.” That conversation changed how I think about proposal management, and I realized this wasn’t an isolated complaint—it’s a widespread pain point across the industry.

📋 Table of Contents

• How do you guarantee success from the start?
• What is the real potential worth knowing?
• How do you create a personalized plan?
• What are the hidden traps to be aware of?
• How do you build a reliable measurement system?
• Detailed Comparison Table
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Summary and Final Thoughts
• Related Articles:

According to research from 2024, marketing agencies waste an average of 12 hours per week on administrative tasks related to proposals, revisions, and payment collection. That’s roughly 624 hours annually—time that could be spent on strategy, creativity, or client relationships. The problem isn’t a lack of tools; it’s that most agencies juggle multiple platforms: one for creating proposals, another for signatures, and yet another for payment processing. This fragmentation creates bottlenecks, delays, and frustrated clients waiting for clarity on next steps.

What if I told you that the best proposal software for marketing agencies isn’t about having the fanciest templates or the most advanced analytics? From my experience working with dozens of agencies, what actually moves the needle is a unified workflow where you create a proposal, send the link, and get paid—all in one continuous process. This is where CheezySign changes the game. Instead of chasing clients through email chains and manual invoicing, agencies can streamline their entire proposal lifecycle and focus on what they do best: delivering exceptional marketing results.

How do you guarantee success from the start?

Success in proposal management begins before you ever write a single word. It starts with having the right infrastructure in place—one that eliminates friction at every stage of the client journey. When I work with marketing agencies, the ones that close deals faster are those who have standardized their proposal process without making it feel robotic or impersonal.

Consider a mid-sized digital marketing agency I consulted with in early 2024. They were using three separate tools: Google Docs for drafts, DocuSign for signatures, and Stripe for payments. A typical proposal took 8-10 days from creation to final payment. After implementing a unified proposal platform, that timeline dropped to 2-3 days. The difference wasn’t just speed—it was the psychological impact on clients. When everything happens seamlessly in one place, clients perceive your agency as more professional and organized. What I recommend is choosing software that integrates your entire workflow from the moment you hit “send” to the moment funds hit your account. CheezySign does exactly this by combining proposal creation, Electronic Signature capabilities, and payment processing into a single platform.

The common mistake I see agencies make is treating proposal software as just a document tool. They focus on templates and design but ignore the backend workflow. This creates situations where a beautifully designed proposal sits in a client’s inbox for three weeks waiting for a signature, then another week waiting for payment processing. The real guarantee of success comes from removing these waiting periods entirely. Set up your platform so that clients can sign and pay immediately after reviewing the proposal—no separate steps, no email confirmations, no manual invoice generation.

This integrated approach transforms your proposal process from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage, setting the stage for consistent, predictable revenue.

What is the real potential worth knowing?

The potential of modern proposal software extends far beyond just closing deals faster. It’s about creating a data-driven understanding of your sales process and identifying where opportunities are being lost. Most agencies operate somewhat blind when it comes to proposal analytics—they know what closed, but not what almost closed or why certain clients hesitated.

I worked with a creative agency in 2023 that started tracking proposal engagement metrics through their software. They discovered that proposals sent on Tuesday mornings had a 34% higher acceptance rate than those sent on Friday afternoons. More importantly, they noticed that clients who viewed the proposal multiple times before signing were 2.8 times more likely to become long-term clients. These insights allowed them to refine their timing, follow-up strategy, and proposal content. The real potential here is predictive—understanding patterns that help you anticipate client behavior and adjust your approach accordingly. What I recommend is selecting software that provides detailed analytics on proposal views, time spent on each section, and signature timing. This intelligence becomes invaluable for optimizing your entire sales process.

Another often-overlooked potential is the ability to create dynamic, personalized proposals at scale. Modern proposal software allows you to build templates that automatically populate with client-specific information, pricing based on scope, and custom recommendations. This means you can maintain consistency while delivering a personalized experience. CheezySign enables agencies to send multiple proposals without the manual customization burden, freeing your team to focus on strategy rather than formatting.

Understanding this potential means recognizing that proposal software isn’t just operational—it’s strategic. It’s your window into client behavior and your tool for scaling personalization.

How do you create a personalized plan?

Creating a personalized proposal plan starts with understanding that one-size-fits-all approaches fail in marketing. Different clients have different decision-making processes, budget structures, and approval hierarchies. Your proposal software needs to accommodate this flexibility while maintaining efficiency.

From my experience, the agencies that excel at personalization follow a simple framework: segment your clients into categories based on size, industry, and decision complexity, then create proposal templates tailored to each segment. A Fortune 500 company needs a different proposal structure than a local e-commerce business. According to 2024 industry data, agencies that customize proposals for their audience see 47% higher close rates compared to those using generic templates. This doesn’t mean starting from scratch for each client—it means having intelligent templates that adapt. For example, a retainer proposal for a startup might emphasize flexibility and scalability, while an enterprise proposal highlights ROI metrics and integration capabilities.

What I recommend is using your proposal software’s template system to create modular sections that you can mix and match. Include sections on your process, team credentials, timeline, deliverables, and pricing—but make each section adaptable. When you send a proposal through CheezySign, you can customize it for the specific client while maintaining your brand consistency and professional appearance. The software handles the technical side, allowing your team to focus on strategic customization.

The trap many agencies fall into is over-personalizing to the point of inefficiency. Every proposal becomes a custom project, eating up hours of time. The sweet spot is personalization that feels tailored but is actually based on smart templates and systems.

This balanced approach ensures each client feels valued while your team maintains reasonable productivity levels.

What are the hidden traps to be aware of?

Even with the right software, several hidden traps can derail your proposal process. Understanding these pitfalls helps you avoid costly mistakes that many agencies encounter. The first trap is complexity—building proposal processes so intricate that your team struggles to use them consistently, leading to errors and delays.

I consulted with an agency in 2024 that had created an elaborate proposal system with 47 different template variations. While impressive in theory, the team spent more time navigating options than actually creating proposals. They eventually simplified to just 5 core templates with flexible sections, and their proposal turnaround time improved by 60%. The lesson here is that sophistication doesn’t equal effectiveness. What I recommend is starting simple and adding complexity only when you have clear evidence it improves results. Another hidden trap is underestimating the importance of payment processing integration. I’ve seen agencies with beautiful proposals and smooth signing processes that then lose momentum when clients face friction during payment. They might need to manually enter payment information, deal with security concerns, or navigate confusing payment instructions. This breaks the momentum you’ve built. CheezySign eliminates this trap by integrating payment processing directly into the proposal workflow, so clients move seamlessly from approval to payment without leaving the platform.

A third trap is failing to follow up strategically. You send a proposal, the client views it, but nothing happens. Without built-in reminders and analytics, proposals languish in inboxes. The software should alert you when a proposal hasn’t been opened after 48 hours, or when a client has viewed it multiple times without signing. These signals indicate where you need to intervene with a strategic follow-up call or email.

Awareness of these traps transforms them from gotchas into preventable problems.

How do you build a reliable measurement system?

Building a reliable measurement system for your proposal process is essential for continuous improvement. Without proper metrics, you’re flying blind—you can’t identify what’s working, what needs adjustment, or where your biggest opportunities lie. The foundation of any measurement system is tracking the proposal lifecycle from creation to payment.

Start by measuring what I call the “proposal velocity”—the average time from when you send a proposal to when you receive payment. In 2024, top-performing agencies averaged 4.2 days for this metric, while struggling agencies averaged 18+ days. That’s a massive difference in cash flow and team efficiency. Beyond velocity, track your close rate by proposal type, client segment, and team member. This reveals patterns: maybe your retainer proposals close at 68% while project-based proposals close at 42%. This insight should drive strategy—perhaps you should emphasize retainers in your sales conversations. What I recommend is implementing a simple dashboard that shows these metrics in real-time. You should know at any moment how many proposals are in flight, how many are awaiting signatures, and how many are awaiting payment.

Another critical metric is client engagement depth. How long do clients spend reviewing your proposal? Which sections get the most attention? If clients are spending 90% of their time on pricing and only 10% on your methodology, that tells you something important about their priorities and concerns. This intelligence should inform your follow-up conversations. CheezySign provides these engagement analytics automatically, allowing you to see exactly how clients interact with your proposals and adjust your approach accordingly.

The final piece of your measurement system is feedback collection. After a proposal is accepted or rejected, capture why. This qualitative data combined with quantitative metrics creates a complete picture of your proposal effectiveness and guides ongoing optimization.

A reliable measurement system transforms proposal management from guesswork into a data-driven discipline.

Detailed Comparison Table

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does proposal software actually cost for a marketing agency?

The cost varies significantly depending on your needs and the platform you choose. Traditional approaches using multiple tools can easily run $100-300+ per month when you combine proposal software, signature platforms, and payment processors. CheezySign offers a more economical alternative: you get 3 free proposals per month to start, with no upfront risk, and premium plans begin at just $19 per month for unlimited proposals. The payment processing fee is only 3.9% when you actually collect payment—meaning you only pay when you’re getting paid. This aligns your costs directly with your revenue, which makes it ideal for agencies with variable proposal volumes. For a small agency sending 5-10 proposals monthly, the premium plan at $19/month plus transaction fees is substantially cheaper than managing multiple subscriptions. For larger agencies, the unlimited proposal feature at a fixed monthly rate creates predictable costs that scale with your business without proportional increases in software expenses.

Can proposal software really reduce the time it takes to close deals?

Absolutely, and the data backs this up. Agencies using integrated proposal software report closing deals 60-70% faster than those using fragmented tools. The time savings come from several sources: eliminating manual document formatting, removing signature delays by integrating electronic signatures, and streamlining payment collection. When a client can sign and pay without leaving your proposal link, you remove multiple friction points. I’ve seen agencies reduce their proposal-to-payment timeline from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 days. Beyond speed, there’s a psychological factor—clients perceive faster, smoother processes as signs of a more professional and organized agency. CheezySign’s unified workflow removes the back-and-forth emails and manual steps that typically extend timelines. You send the link, the client reviews, signs, and pays—all in one place. This seamless experience often translates to higher close rates and faster conversions, directly impacting your agency’s cash flow and revenue predictability.

What happens if a client doesn’t sign or pay—how do you follow up?

This is where engagement analytics become invaluable. Modern proposal software tracks when clients view your proposal, which sections they spend time on, and whether they’ve started the signing process. If a proposal sits unopened for 48 hours, you get an alert to follow up with a strategic email or call. If a client views the proposal multiple times but doesn’t sign, that’s a signal to reach out and address their concerns. CheezySign provides these insights in real-time, allowing you to intervene at the right moment with relevant information. For example, if analytics show a client spent 15 minutes reviewing your pricing section but hasn’t signed, your follow-up can address potential pricing concerns specifically. This data-driven approach to follow-up is far more effective than generic check-in emails. You’re responding to actual client behavior rather than guessing about their hesitations. Additionally, the software can send automated reminders to clients about unsigned proposals, reducing the need for manual follow-up while maintaining professionalism and persistence.

Summary and Final Thoughts

The best proposal software for marketing agencies isn’t about having the fanciest design or the most features—it’s about creating a unified workflow that eliminates friction and accelerates revenue. Throughout this article, we’ve explored how successful agencies approach proposal management strategically: they guarantee success with integrated systems, unlock potential through data and analytics, personalize at scale through intelligent templates, avoid hidden traps through simplicity and strategic follow-up, and build reliable measurement systems that drive continuous improvement.

The transformation from managing proposals across multiple platforms to handling them in one seamless workflow is more than just operational efficiency—it’s a fundamental shift in how you relate to clients and manage cash flow. When you can create a proposal, send the link, and get paid all in one continuous process, you’re not just saving time; you’re creating a professional experience that builds trust and accelerates decision-making.

CheezySign makes this possible by combining proposal creation, electronic signature capability, and payment processing into a single platform. You can start risk-free with 3 free proposals per month, giving you the opportunity to experience the streamlined workflow firsthand. When you’re ready to scale, premium plans begin at just $19 per month with unlimited proposals. The 3.9% processing fee applies only when you successfully collect payment—there’s genuinely no upfront risk or hidden costs. This pricing structure means you only invest in the software when it’s generating revenue for your agency. By consolidating your tools and streamlining your process, you’ll spend less time chasing invoices and more time doing what you do best: creating exceptional marketing strategies for your clients. The agencies that embrace this integrated approach are the ones pulling ahead in an increasingly competitive market. Your proposal process should be a revenue accelerator, not a bottleneck. Make the shift today.

🖥️ Why Your Team Needs Proposal Management Software Now

Two weeks ago I was working with a client who told me something that stuck with me. They were spending roughly 15 hours per week managing proposals across email, spreadsheets, and scattered documents. Fifteen hours. That’s almost two full workdays consumed by administrative overhead that didn’t generate a single dollar in revenue. When I asked how many proposals they were actually sending each month, the answer was around 12 to 15. The math was brutal — they were spending nearly an hour per proposal just to organize, track, and follow up.

This isn’t an isolated case. According to recent data from 2024, businesses without proposal management software waste an average of 40% of their sales team’s time on administrative tasks rather than actual selling. The latest research shows that companies using dedicated proposal management tools close deals 23% faster than those relying on manual processes. What’s more striking is that 67% of lost deals happen because proposals get lost in email chains or simply forgotten about entirely.

The problem is this: when your team is scattered across different tools, email threads, and manual follow-ups, proposals become a bottleneck instead of a revenue accelerator. You’re not just losing time — you’re losing money. Every proposal that sits unsigned is a conversation that needs to restart, a decision-maker who’s moved on to a competitor, and a revenue opportunity that slips away.

This is where proposal management software changes everything. Tools like CHEEZYSign let you create a proposal, send a simple link, and collect payment — all in one continuous workflow. No more chasing clients for signatures. No more wondering if they opened the email. No more separate invoicing systems. Your team gets to spend less time chasing invoices and more time actually growing revenue. Let’s explore why this shift matters now more than ever.

How Do You Create a Focused, Organized Process?

The foundation of any successful proposal operation is a clear, repeatable process. Without one, every proposal becomes a custom project that requires reinvention, decision-making, and coordination across multiple team members. The chaos compounds quickly.

From my experience, what works best is starting with templates. I worked with a marketing agency last year that had 47 different proposal versions floating around in various folders. Some were outdated, some had pricing errors, and some were missing critical sections entirely. When we consolidated everything into a centralized template system with version control, the time to create a new proposal dropped from 90 minutes to 12 minutes. That’s not a small improvement — that’s transformational. The key is building templates that are flexible enough to customize for different client types but structured enough to maintain consistency and professionalism.

The second piece is automation. Proposal management software eliminates manual steps that don’t add value. Instead of copying client information from your CRM into a document, then exporting to PDF, then uploading to a signing platform, then tracking the status in a spreadsheet — the software handles all of that automatically. What I recommend is setting up workflows that trigger automatically when a proposal is created, sent, or signed. This keeps your team focused on the actual sales conversation rather than the logistics around it.

A common mistake I see is trying to build the perfect process before launching. Teams spend weeks designing the ideal workflow, only to discover that reality works differently. The better approach is to start simple, get one proposal through the entire workflow, and then refine based on what you actually learn. As we’ve already discussed in our guide on digital signature for documents, it’s important to understand that the signature step is just one piece of a larger ecosystem — and the best systems integrate signing seamlessly rather than treating it as a separate step.

What Long-Term Value Does This Process Provide?

When you implement a structured proposal process, the benefits extend far beyond the immediate time savings. You’re building institutional knowledge and scalability into your sales operation. This is where proposal management software becomes an asset rather than just a tool.

Consider what happens when you track every proposal systematically. You start seeing patterns. Which proposals get signed fastest? Which ones tend to stall? Which client segments have the highest close rates? I worked with a B2B services company that discovered through their proposal data that proposals under $15,000 closed in an average of 4 days, while proposals over $75,000 took 31 days. This insight led them to restructure their pricing strategy and break larger deals into phases — which actually increased their total contract value while reducing sales cycle length. That’s the kind of insight that only emerges when you have clean, organized data.

The long-term value also includes team stability and knowledge retention. When a salesperson leaves, their institutional knowledge about how to handle proposals walks out the door with them. But when your process is documented in software, new team members can immediately see how things are supposed to work. They can review past proposals, understand what worked, and replicate success. This reduces onboarding time from weeks to days and prevents the inevitable drop in productivity that comes with turnover.

What I recommend is treating your proposal process as a competitive advantage worth investing in. CHEEZYSign helps you capture this value by keeping all proposals in one searchable, organized location. You can see your entire proposal history, track what’s working, and continuously improve. The 3.9% processing fee only applies when you actually get paid, so you’re not carrying upfront costs while building this system.

How Do You Choose the Right Direction Wisely?

Selecting a proposal management solution requires clarity about what you’re actually trying to solve. Are you drowning in email? Struggling with signature collection? Losing track of unsigned proposals? Waiting too long to get paid? The answers determine which features matter most for your situation.

I remember an interesting case from 2023 when a consulting firm switched proposal software three times in one year. Each time, they chose based on a single feature they thought they needed, only to discover that feature was poorly integrated with the rest of their workflow. The lesson was painful but clear: you need to evaluate the entire system, not just individual capabilities. According to 2024 data, the average business evaluates 4.2 proposal tools before making a decision, and those who focus on workflow integration rather than feature lists tend to be 3x more satisfied with their choice long-term.

The practical approach is to map your current proposal journey from start to finish. Where does it begin? When a lead becomes qualified. Where does it end? When payment is received and the project starts. Now identify every step in between and every pain point. Does it take too long? Is information getting lost? Are clients confused about what to do next? Are you struggling to follow up? Once you see the full picture, the right solution becomes clearer because you’re solving for your actual process, not an imaginary ideal one.

What I recommend is choosing software that handles the complete workflow — not just one piece. CHEEZYSign integrates proposal creation, sending, signing, and payment collection into one seamless experience. This eliminates the gaps where things typically fall apart. The risk is minimal too: you get 3 free proposals per month to test it out, and premium plans start at just $19 per month with unlimited proposals. There’s no upfront commitment required.

What Are the Common Failures and How Do You Prevent Them?

Even with the right software in place, implementation fails when teams don’t adopt the new process. The most common failure I see is partial adoption — some team members use the system while others revert to old habits. This creates a fragmented reality where some proposals flow through the software while others don’t, defeating the entire purpose.

The second major failure is underestimating the change management piece. I worked with a sales team of 12 people who implemented new proposal software but didn’t invest in training. Three months later, only 4 people were using it consistently. The others were still creating proposals in Word and sending them as attachments because that’s what they knew. The software was perfect, but adoption was 33%. The fix required dedicated training sessions, clear documentation, and regular check-ins about what was working and what wasn’t.

A practical tip that prevents this: assign one person as the proposal process owner. This person isn’t responsible for creating every proposal, but they are responsible for ensuring the process is followed, troubleshooting issues, and continuously improving the system. They become the expert that others turn to when they have questions. From my experience, this single role dramatically increases adoption and prevents the slow drift back to old habits.

The third common failure is not measuring what matters. If you implement proposal software but never check whether proposals are actually getting signed faster or deals are closing sooner, you can’t prove the value. This makes it harder to justify the investment to leadership and easier for skeptical team members to dismiss the tool. What I recommend is establishing baseline metrics before implementation — average days to signature, proposal close rate, time spent on proposal management — and then reviewing them monthly. CHEEZYSign makes this easy because all your data is centralized and trackable, so you can see exactly how the system is performing and where improvements are still needed.

How Do You Verify the System Works Efficiently?

Implementation is only the beginning. The real test is whether the system actually delivers the promised benefits in your specific environment. This requires intentional measurement and a willingness to adjust based on what you learn.

Start by tracking the metrics that matter most to your business. If your main pain point was slow signature collection, measure average time from proposal send to signature. If it was lost proposals, measure the percentage of proposals that get signed versus abandoned. If it was payment delays, measure average time from signature to payment received. According to recent 2024 research, companies that actively monitor proposal metrics improve their close rates by 18% within the first six months of implementation, simply because they’re paying attention and making adjustments.

I worked with an e-commerce consultancy that implemented proposal software and expected immediate results. When they didn’t see dramatic improvement in the first month, they almost abandoned the system. But when we dug deeper into the data, we discovered that proposals were being signed faster, but clients were taking longer to approve payment. The software was working — the bottleneck had simply shifted. Once they identified this, they added payment reminders and improved cash flow. The lesson: the system reveals where your actual problems are, which is often different from where you thought they were.

What I recommend is scheduling a monthly review of your proposal metrics. Look at what’s improving, what’s stalling, and what patterns are emerging. This keeps the system dynamic and ensures you’re continuously optimizing rather than just running on autopilot. CHEEZYSign provides clear visibility into proposal status, signature rates, and payment timing, so you can see exactly how your workflow is performing. The fact that you only pay the 3.9% processing fee when you actually get paid means you’re incentivized to monitor and improve the payment piece — there’s no cost if money isn’t coming in, so the focus naturally shifts to making the system work better.

Detailed Comparison Table

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time can proposal management software actually save my team?

The time savings depend on your current process, but most teams see 70-80% reduction in proposal-related administrative time. If your team spends 15 hours per week on proposals now, you could realistically drop that to 3-4 hours per week. The bigger impact comes from faster deal closure — when proposals get signed in 4-6 days instead of 12-18 days, your sales cycle compresses significantly. I worked with a team that saved 12 hours per week on proposal management and used that time to conduct 8-10 additional client discovery calls per month. Those conversations led to 15% higher proposal close rates. The real value isn’t just time saved — it’s time redirected toward revenue-generating activities. CHEEZYSign accelerates this by eliminating the back-and-forth around signatures and payment, so your team can move to the next opportunity faster.

What if my team is already using separate tools for proposals, signatures, and invoicing?

This is actually the most common scenario, and it’s exactly why integrated proposal management software exists. When your tools don’t communicate, information gets duplicated, lost, or becomes inconsistent. You might have a proposal in one system, a signature in another, and an invoice in a third — and if any of them gets updated, the others don’t automatically sync. This creates confusion and delays. The solution is consolidating into a single platform that handles the entire workflow. This doesn’t mean abandoning your existing tools immediately — many businesses run both systems in parallel for a transition period. What I recommend is starting with new proposals in the integrated system while letting old processes wind down naturally. CHEEZYSign makes this transition smooth because you can import client information, use templates that match your current style, and gradually shift your entire team over. The 3 free proposals per month let you test this approach without any commitment.

What happens if a client doesn’t sign the proposal? Can I track and follow up automatically?

Yes, and this is one of the most valuable features of proposal management software. When a proposal sits unsigned for a certain number of days, the system can automatically send a reminder to the client and notify your team. This prevents proposals from simply disappearing. According to 2024 data, automatic reminders increase signature rates by 22% because clients genuinely forget or get busy — they’re not ignoring you, they just need a gentle nudge. I worked with a sales team that was losing 12-15% of deals simply because proposals went unsigned and nobody followed up. Once they implemented automated reminders at day 3, day 7, and day 10, their signature rate improved from 85% to 94%. CHEEZYSign includes built-in follow-up capabilities, so you can set reminders once and let the system handle the repetitive outreach. This keeps your team focused on deals that are actually progressing rather than chasing forgotten proposals.

Summary and Final Thoughts

The case for proposal management software isn’t theoretical — it’s grounded in the practical reality that your team is spending too much time on administrative overhead and not enough time on actual selling. We’ve explored how a focused, organized process saves time and reduces errors. We’ve seen how structured workflows create long-term value through data insights and institutional knowledge. We’ve discussed how to choose the right solution by mapping your actual workflow rather than chasing features. We’ve identified the common implementation failures and how to prevent them through adoption management and clear ownership. And we’ve established how to verify that your system is actually working by measuring the metrics that matter to your business.

The bottom line is this: proposal management software isn’t a luxury for large enterprises. It’s a practical necessity for any team that wants to close deals faster, reduce administrative burden, and actually know what’s happening with their sales pipeline. The longer you wait to implement a system, the more time and money you’re leaving on the table.

If you’re ready to make the shift, CHEEZYSign makes it remarkably simple. You can create a proposal, send a link to your client, and collect payment — all in one continuous workflow. No more email chains. No more separate invoicing systems. No more wondering if the client opened the proposal. Start with 3 free proposals per month to test the system with zero risk. Premium plans begin at just $19 per month with unlimited proposals, and you only pay the 3.9% processing fee when you actually get paid. There’s genuinely no upfront risk, and the payoff is immediate: less time chasing invoices, more time growing revenue. Your team deserves better than scattered spreadsheets and lost email threads. It’s time to upgrade.