Building Proposals

Overview

Proposal Builder allows Responsive customers to create sales proposal documents.

Permissions

You will need Create Proposal permission to be able to build a proposal. Refer Proposal Builder Roles and Permissions to learn more about the user roles and permissions.

Creating Proposal with Proposal Builder

To start crafting a new proposal, click Proposals from the quick navigation Menu. Click Create Proposal dropdown and select Start From Scratch or Choose Standard Template.

The different statuses of proposals are as follows:

1. Draft - Proposals that are being drafted and not yet built.
2. Ready - Proposals that are built, but yet to be shared.
3. Redraft - Proposals that were edited after being built.
4. Shared - Proposals that are built and already shared.

You have the following options to create proposals in Proposal Builder:

• Choose Standard Template: This option lets you create proposals quickly using Proposal Templates that are curated by your organization leveraging Section Templates and Themes (Response Templates).
• Start From Scratch: This option lets you customize every detail of your proposals from scratch. You can still leverage the Section Templates from the Content Library and Themes.
  Note: For custom roles, make sure the Custom Proposal permission is enabled in Organization Settings for the user role.
  

Creating a Standard Proposal (using Standard Template)

To use the standard proposal builder, click New Proposal and select Standard Proposal.

Step 1: Basic Information

Enter your proposal name and a brief description. Add relevant tags for easy searching. Optionally, set a due date and estimated value.

Next, select a template from the Proposal Template Library.

1. Displays the available proposal templates. You can click a template to preview it.

   

   1. Displays proposal details: creator, date, usage, tags, sections, placeholders for content, and pre-filled sections.
   2. Displays a preview of the template, including its layout, text, and images.
   3. View the other template options.
   4. Select this template for the proposal.
2. Search for proposal templates. You can use advanced options to narrow down your search.
3. Switch between thumbnail and list views for your proposal templates.
4. Sort the proposal templates.

After choosing the template, click Next to begin customizing your proposal content.

Step 2: Content

The Content step lets you personalize your proposal. Add sections from the library, create new ones, edit content, update placeholders (Merge Tags), configure catalogs, preview your proposal, and set up reviews.

1. Manage Sections pane: Displays the sections added to the proposal.
2. Content canvas: Shows the live preview of the proposal content.
3. Manage Dynamic Content pane: Lists the configurable content used in the proposal.
4. Preview: Preview the proposal with the selected theme.
5. Save: Saves your progress. You can also save and return to the Proposal list page.
6. Build Proposal: Allows you to build the final proposal. 

On the Manage Sections pane, you can:

• Click Add Sections > Add Sections from the library to add a new section to the proposal from the library.
• Click Add Sections > Create New Section to create a new section in the proposal.
• Click  and select Skip Section Names to skip showing the section titles on the proposal.
• Click and drag a section to reorder it.
• Click to add a reviewer to the section. Refer Assigning Section Review in Proposal Builder to learn more on setting up section reviews.
• Click and select Restore Section to discard any changes made to the section and restore it from the library.
• Click and select Update Section to save the changes made to the section in the library.
• Click and select Save Section to Library to add the section as a new section template in the library.
• Click and select Delete to remove the section.

On the Content canvas:

• The editing toolbar appears at the top of the page when you click into the canvas.
• Quick edit options appear when you select part of the text.

On the Manage Dynamic Content pane, you can:

• Provide/update the replacement text for Merge Tags from the Merge Tags tab.
• Configure the catalogs you want to include in the proposal from the Catalogs tab.
• Use to navigate to the occurrences of the Merge Tags and Catalogs.
• Use to collapse the right pane.

Once the sections and contents of the proposal have been configured, click Save to save the progress. Optionally, you can click the dropdown and choose Save and Exit to save your progress as a draft and return to the Proposal list page.

Click Preview to generate the proposal preview with the theme styles and layout applied.

Click Build Proposal to generate the proposal.

Creating a Proposal from Scratch (without using Standard Template)

To create a proposal from scratch, click Create Proposal dropdown and select Strat From Scratch.

Select the Primary Business Unit  and click Save.

Step 1: Basic Information

Enter a name and a brief description for the proposal. Add relevant tags for easy searching. Optionally, set a due date and estimated value.

Next, choose a theme for your proposal from the list. If you don't have any themes listed, you can use Add New Theme to upload one.

See Uploading Theme files for more information and instructions on how to upload a theme file.

Choose I'll do this later if you want to skip adding a theme (you can add a template later).

Step 2: Content

The Content step lets you add content to your proposal. You will be prompted to add sections from your section library.

1. To find the specific section template, you can perform keyword search or apply filters from the left pane.
2. Click Open Section Library to view your section templates library in a new browser window.
3. The available section templates are in the middle.
4. The selected sections are on the right.
5. You can click and drag a section's handle on the right pane to reorder it.
6. When you are finished, click Done.

On the content screen, you can add more sections from the library, create new ones, edit content, update placeholders (Merge Tags), configure catalogs, preview your proposal, and set up reviews.

1. Manage Sections pane: Displays the sections added to the proposal.
2. Content canvas: Shows the live preview of the proposal content.
3. Manage Dynamic Content pane: Lists the configurable content used in the proposal.
4. Preview: Preview the proposal with the selected theme.
5. Save: Saves your progress. You can also save and return to the Proposal list page.

On the Manage Sections pane, you can:

• Click Add Sections > Add Sections from the library to add a new section to the proposal from the library.
• Click Add Sections > Create New Section to create a new section in the proposal.
• Click  and select Skip Section Names to skip showing the section titles on the proposal.
• Click and drag a section to reorder it.
• Click to add a reviewer to the section. Refer Assigning Section Review in Proposal Builder to learn more on setting up section reviews.
• Click and select Restore Section to discard any changes made to the section and restore it from the library.
• Click and select Update Section to save the changes made to the section in the library.
• Click and select Save Section to Library to add the section as a new section template in the library.
• Click and select Delete to remove the section.

On the Content canvas:

• The editing toolbar appears at the top of the page when you click into the canvas.
• Quick edit options appear when you select part of the text.

On the Manage Dynamic Content pane, you can:

• Provide/update the replacement text for Merge Tags from the Merge Tags tab.
• Configure the catalogs you want to include in the proposal from the Catalogs tab.
• Use to navigate to the occurrences of the Merge Tags and Catalogs.
• Use to collapse the right pane.

Once the sections and contents of the proposal have been configured, click Save to save the progress. Optionally, you can click the dropdown and choose Save and Exit to save your progress as a draft and return to the Proposal list page.

Click Preview to generate the proposal preview with the theme styles and layout applied.

Click Build Proposal to generate the proposal.