Feature

ReadingHeatmap
forProposals

Most heatmap tutorials on the web teach you how to read a website heatmap (Crazy Egg, Mouseflow, Hotjar). A proposal reading heatmap is different: it maps time per page and scroll depth across a multi-page document, not clicks on a webpage. This page explains what the colors mean for sales, and how to act on them.

Free on every plan
Works with any PDF or deck
Zero setup
Activity
Analytics
Proposals
Live
Proposals sent
↑ 23%
147
Open rate
↑ 12%
89%
Signed
↑ 18%
62%
Read time
↑ 8%
4:32
Recent activity
SM
Sophie Martin is viewing your proposal
live
JD
Jean Dupont — 4m12 on Pricing
8 min
ML
Marie Leclerc forwarded the proposal
23 min
PD
Pierre Durand — 3rd open
1h
Opens / week
30 days
Opens
Signed
+2,800 sales teams trust us
DoctolibQontoAlanSpendeskPayfitSwilePennylaneContentsquareMiraklAB TastyDoctolibQontoAlanSpendeskPayfitSwilePennylaneContentsquareMiraklAB Tasty
Why open tracking is not enough

"Opened" tells you nothing about whether they read.

Most proposal tools only tell you a document was opened. A 3-second skim and a 9-minute deep read both count as yes. A heatmap turns that binary into a gradient, so you can actually tell a tire-kicker from a buyer.

👁️

Opens are a vanity metric

Without page-level dwell, you cannot tell a 3-second cover bounce from a 9-minute deep read. If your dashboard only shows yes/no, you cannot time the follow-up. You are flying blind.

11saverage cover-only bounce time
🗺️

You need to know which pages convert

On a 15-page proposal, the winning section might be the case study on page 7. Or the ROI model on page 11. Without a heatmap every page looks equal. In reality, 80% of closing signal lives in 20% of the pages.

80/20of reading time lands on key pages
⏱️

Drop-offs hide in averages

"Your proposal has a 4-minute average read time." Useful, until the average hides a cohort that spent 9 minutes on pricing and another that stopped at page 2. Averages lie. Heatmaps tell the truth.

variance between signer and ghoster cohorts
Not the heatmap you think

Two different things
get called a "heatmap."

Google's top 10 for heatmap guides will teach you to read website heatmaps. That is a different tool. A proposal reading heatmap works on a multi-page document, not a landing page.

Website heatmap

Clicks, cursor, scroll on a single webpage

Tools like Crazy Egg, Hotjar, Mouseflow, and VWO visualize cursor movement, click density, and scroll depth on a single webpage to improve UX and conversion.

Examples: Crazy Egg, Hotjar, Mouseflow, VWO
Proposal reading heatmap

Page time + scroll depth on a document

Afterquoted, DocSend, FlowPaper, and Publuu track time per page and scroll depth on multi-page documents (PDF, PPTX, Slides) to time sales follow-ups and understand buyer engagement.

Examples: Afterquoted, DocSend, Publuu, FlowPaper
How it works

Three signals, one visual.

Every time your proposal link is opened, we start capturing three signals in parallel: the page the viewer is currently on, how long they stay there, and how deep they scroll within that page. Nothing else. No cursor position, no keystrokes, no tracking outside the document session.

Those signals feed a rendering engine that colors each page on a gradient: cold pastel grey for skipped or skimmed, warm orange for lingering, deep red for obsession. On a 15-page proposal, the heatmap instantly shows where the momentum is.

If the Pricing page glows red and the Case Study glows amber, the prospect is price-sensitive but interested. If the Cover glows red and everything else stays grey, they bailed. If the final Terms page glows amber, they are mentally closing. Three viewings, three completely different follow-up strategies.

Patterns decoded

What the heatmap pattern
actually means for sales.

Every vendor shows you the heatmap. Nobody teaches you how to read it. These four patterns are the most common we see across the Afterquoted customer base.

Pattern

Hot pricing, cold everything else

What to doProspect cares about price, not context. Call them with a sharper pricing narrative, lead with ROI, not features. Expect a negotiation.
Pattern

Hot cover, lukewarm body, cold end

What to doOpened fast, got distracted halfway, never finished. Follow up with a 3-line summary email pointing to the back half of the deck, do not re-send the whole thing.
Pattern

Hot case study, hot pricing, hot terms

What to doMentally closing. Call now with commitment language, do not send a "just checking in." They are ready, you are the one stalling.
Pattern

Cold everywhere except page 2

What to doPage 2 is usually the executive summary. A yes/no decision got made in 90 seconds. If they did not reply, it was no. Time to reframe the offer, not re-send.
Features

Every interaction on your proposal, visible.

More than just open tracking. Complete intelligence on every sales proposal.

Page-by-page analysis

Reading heatmap

See exactly which pages captivate your prospect and which they skim. Every second is tracked.

Cover
0:18
Context
1:42
Solution
2:31
🔥 Pricing
4:12
Terms
0:54
Real-time

Instant alerts

Push, email or Slack the moment your proposal is opened. Follow up within the minute.

🗂️
Proposal opened
Sophie Martin — 2 min ago
🔔
Pricing page viewed 3×
Jean Dupont — 15 min ago
✉️
Proposal forwarded
Marie L. — ceo@acme.com
Intelligence

AI coaching on your proposals

Across 100 proposals, AI identifies the patterns and tells you exactly what to change to close more.

🧠Afterquoted Insight
73% of your prospects drop off at the Pricing page. Your signed proposals present pricing after the value proposition. Try repositioning your pricing section.
Full journey

Engagement timeline

Every interaction is tracked: opens, time per page, forwards, re-reads.

Sophie Martinopened the proposal2:32 PM
Spent 4min12 on the Pricing page2:34 PM
Forwarded to ceo@acme.com2:41 PM
Pierre Durand (CEO) opened the proposal3:07 PM
Zero friction

All your formats, as-is

Upload your file exactly as it is. No need to recreate it. That's our difference.

.PDF.PPTX.DOCXG. SlidesFigma
Integrations

Connected where you work

Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive. Alerts come to your tools. CRM auto-sync.

SlackHubSpotSalesforcePipedriveZapier
+0%
proposal conversion rate increase
0min
average follow-up time after open
0h
saved per month per sales rep
0/5
average rating on G2 and Capterra
Pair with alerts

A heatmap without real-time alerts is a history lesson.

You will see the heatmap build in real time. Get a Slack ping the second a page turns hot, so you call while the proposal is still on your prospect's screen. Sub-60-second latency on Growth.

See real-time alerts
Testimonials

They close more
with Afterquoted.

"
★★★★★

Before Afterquoted, we were sending proposals blind. Now we know exactly when to follow up. Our closing rate went from 22% to 41% in 3 months.

TL
Thomas Laurent
Sales Director, Ekino
+86%closing rate increase
"
★★★★★

The AI coaching made me realize my Pricing page was always the exit point. I restructured my proposals and the results were immediate.

MA
Marie Arnaud
Founder, Studio Delphi
+340hsaved in 6 months
"
★★★★★

Knowing that my prospect's CEO forwarded the proposal to finance is gold. I follow up with the right info, at the right moment.

SK
Sylvain Kessler
Account Executive, Spendesk
−67%closing time reduction
Pricing

Start for free.
Scale when you're ready.

No credit card. No commitment. Cancel anytime.

Monthly
Annual2 months free
Starter

To discover Afterquoted and start tracking your first proposals.

Free
  • Up to 10 tracked proposals/month
  • Real-time email notifications
  • Per-page analytics
  • 1 user
  • Afterquoted branding
Create free account
Enterprise

For organizations with advanced needs.

Custom
  • Everything in Growth
  • Unlimited users
  • SAML SSO / SCIM
  • Dedicated API + webhooks
  • 99.9% SLA guarantee
  • Dedicated account manager
  • Custom onboarding
Talk to an expert
FAQ

Reading heatmap,
answered.

A reading heatmap is a visual breakdown of how long your prospect spent on each page of your proposal, rendered as a color gradient. Darker, warmer colors mark pages where the prospect lingered. Lighter colors mark pages they skimmed or skipped. It turns raw tracking data into an instant visual read.
No. Those tools track clicks, cursor movement, and scroll on a single webpage. A proposal reading heatmap tracks time per page and scroll depth across a multi-page document (PDF, deck, Slides). Different data source, different visualization, different use case.
Page-level for multi-page documents, plus scroll-depth within each page. On a 15-page proposal, you see time per page and scroll percentage per page. We do not track cursor movement or individual word reading. Just what matters for sales timing: which page, how long.
Yes. Afterquoted renders your native file in the browser and captures page-level engagement. PDFs, PowerPoint, Word, Google Slides, and Figma exports all work out of the box. No conversion, no rebuild, no lost fonts.
Yes. The heatmap updates as the session happens. You also get a Slack or email notification the moment the proposal opens, so you can watch the heatmap build live. Latency is typically sub-30 seconds.
Each viewer gets their own heatmap. You see that the champion read pages 1 to 5 and 11 to 15, while the CFO read only the pricing section on page 8. Stakeholder-specific heatmaps help you tailor the follow-up to the right person.
Yes, basic page-level heatmap is included on the free plan (up to 20 tracked proposals per month). Detailed heatmap with scroll depth, stakeholder split, and AI pattern detection unlocks on Growth and above.
Keep reading

Heatmap data gets sharper with context.

Written by the Afterquoted team. Last reviewed for accuracy: April 2026. Pattern examples anonymized from live Afterquoted customer workspaces.

Stop guessing which page
made your deal tilt.

Join +2,800 sales teams who turned raw opens into actionable heatmaps. Free up to 20 proposals, no credit card required.

Free on every plan
Works with any format
No credit card required