Custom Proposal Form

Use the Custom Proposal form to create or modify a custom proposal.

Parent Topic: Screens

Display the Custom Proposal Form

You display the Custom Proposal form in Custom Proposals.

To display the form, complete the following steps:

From the Vision Navigation menu, click Proposals > Custom Proposal.

Toolbar of Custom Proposal Form

Use the toolbar on the Custom Proposal form to create or save custom proposal records.

Field Description
Save Click this option to save the proposal under a proposal name.
New Click this option and then select New Proposal or Copy Current Proposal.
Delete Proposal

Click this option to delete the proposal that is currently open.

Warning: When you delete a proposal, it is permanently removed from the Vision database. You cannot undo this action.

Open Click this option and select the custom proposal to open from the Custom Proposal Lookup.
Sections Click this option to open the Configure Sections dialog box and create the Info Center sections for a custom proposal. Each custom proposal section contains records from one Info Center. You can add one or more sections to a custom proposal.

After you create one or more sections and click Close on the Configure Sections dialog box, a tab for each section now displays on the Custom Proposal form.

Create Proposal Log Click this option to display the Proposal log dialog box. Use the fields to identify the related opportunity.
Merge Proposal Click this option and select either:
  • Merge Current Section — Select this option to merge only the section whose tab you have open on the Custom Proposal form.
  • Merge Multiple Section — Select this option to open the Select Sections to Merge dialog box and select one or more sections of a custom proposal to merge.
Help Click this option to display the online help for Custom Proposals.

General Tab of the Custom Proposal Form

On this tab, enter basic information for the custom proposal that you are creating or modifying.

This data that you enter here does not show in the custom proposal itself; it is used to index the proposal record for easy location later on.

Contents

Field Description
Name Enter the name of the new custom proposal.
Number Enter the number of the new custom proposal if your company gives numbers to its proposals.
Client Open the Clients Lookup and select the name of the client to whom you are sending the proposal.
Organization Open the Organization Lookup and select the organization in your company that is preparing the proposal.
Proposal Manager Open the Employee Lookup and select the employee who has the primary responsibility to send this custom proposal.
Date Advertised Specify the date on which your organization received notice of the Request for Proposal.
Due Date Specify the date by which the proposal must be sent, as specified in the Request for Proposal.

Info Center Section Tabs of the Custom Proposal Form

After you add and configure a new section for a custom proposal, a tab for it displays on the Custom Proposal form.

You configure a new section for a custom proposal by clicking the Section toolbar option on the Custom Proposal form. Each section is based on an Info Center. You can create multiple sections, including multiple sections for each Info Center.

The name of the tab is based on what you entered in the Section Name field on the Configure Sections dialog box.

The order of tabs determines the order of the data in the custom proposal. You control the order of the tabs in the grid on the Configure Sections dialog box.

Each Info Center section tab display a grid that contains fields from the Info Center such as Name, Description, Title, and so on.

Grid Toolbar Options

Use the toolbar options on the grids to add, delete, reorder, and move records in the grid. Other toolbar options apply for only certain Info Center section tabs.

Toolbar Options Common to All Info Center Tabs

Field Description
Add Records Use this option to open the Info Center lookup and add records to the custom proposal section.
Reorder Use this option to sort the records in the grid by either ascending or descending alphabetical order of one of the fields in the grid.

The order of the records in the grid affects the order of the records that are displayed in the merged document.

  1. Click Reorder.
  2. From the drop-down list in the Sort Field on the Reorder dialog box, select the field in the grid by which you want to reorder the records.
  3. In the Direction field, select either Ascending or Descending to select how to sort the records in the grid.
  4. Click OK.
Move Up Use this option to move a selected row up. Click the row that you want to move up. Then click Up.

If you do not see this option on the toolbar, click >> at the right end of the toolbar.

Move Down Use this option to move a selected row down. Click the row that you want to move down. Then click Down.

If you do not see this option on the toolbar, click >> at the right end of the toolbar.

Delete Records Use this option to delete a record from the section.

Click the row for the record that you want to delete, and then click Delete.

Toolbar Options on a Clients, Employees, Leads, Marketing Campaigns, Opportunities, Projects, Text Libraries, and Vendors Info Center

Field Description
Graphics Use this option to add graphics for a selected record in the grid.
  1. Click the record in the grid for which to add graphics. Then click the Graphics toolbar option.
  2. On the Graphics dialog box, select one or more graphics in the Available list, and then click Right -> add the graphic for the record.

    You must first upload graphic files for a record on the Files tab in the Info Center before the files can be selected on the Graphics dialog box.

Toolbar Options Only on a Clients Info Center Tab

Field Description
Contacts Use this option to select specific contacts whose data you want to merge out with the selected client records.
  1. Select a Clients record in the grid, and click Contacts.
  2. On the Select Contacts dialog box, select the contacts to add and click OK.

Toolbar Options Only on an Employees Info Center Tab

Field Description
Build Resume Click this option, and select one of the following options from the shortcut menu to specify how to make a resume for a selected employee:
Option Description
Add Resume Category Select this option to build a basic resume for an employee.

On the Select Resume Categories dialog box, categories that were added to the Resume grid on the Resume tab of the Employees Info Center for an employee are listed in the Available section. Select resume categories and move them to the Selected section using the Right-> button. Move the categories up and down in the list using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. When you click OK, the selected text files are added to the Text Editor in the order selected.

To add specific project experience for this employee, use Add Project Experience.

Add Project Experience Select this option to build a resume from any project.

On the Project lookup, select the projects to include in the employee's resume, in the sequence that you want them to appear. The Project lookup includes all projects, but you have options for including just those projects this employee is associated with, and where this employee has worked over a certain number of hours.

Edit Resume Select this option to edit an employee's resume text in the Vision Text Editor.
Add Resume Category to Selected Records Select this option to add a resume category for multiple employees that you have selected on the grid.

Hold down the SHIFT key and click the first and last field at the left of the Name column to select multiple employees that are listed next to each other on the grid. Or hold down the CTRL key and click the field at the left of the Name columns to select employees that are listed in non-sequential rows.

This option does not display the Select Resume Category dialog box if the selected employee's info center record does not have resume categories configured on the Resumes tab. Vision displays a system message instead.

Add Project Experience to Selected Records Select this option to add project experience for multiple employees that you have selected on the grid.

Hold down the SHIFT key and click the first and last field at the left of the Name column to select multiple employees that are listed next to each other on the grid. Or hold down the CTRL key and click the field at the left of the Name columns to select employees that are listed in non-sequential rows.

This option does not display the Select Resume Category dialog box if the selected employee's info center record does not have resume categories configured on the Resumes tab. Vision displays a system message instead.

Project This option applies only when you use an Adobe InDesign merge template for an Employee Info Center section of a custom proposal. If you use a Microsoft Word merge template, this options is not activated. Instead, use the Build Resume toolbar option to add projects for employees.
The Projects option has two menu options:
  • View and Select Projects for this Employee — Select this menu option to associate projects to one employee that you selected in the grid. Selecting this option displays the View and Select Projects dialog box.
  • Select Projects for Selected Employees — Select this menu option to associate projects to multiple employees that you selected in the grid. Selecting this option displays the View and Select Projects dialog box.

First, click the employee/s in the grid that you want to add projects to. Then click Projects and select the appropriate menu option. On the View and Select Projects dialog box, click Search to display the Project lookup where you can find and select projects that you want to add to the employee/s. Selected projects are displayed on the Selected Projects grid on the View and Select Projects dialog box.

In addition to selecting specific projects in this dialog box, you must have added at least one field from the associated projects in the InDesign merge template that you created for the employee section of the custom proposal. In the merge template, if you selected the option to include all associated projects, then you do not need to select specific projects using the Projects toolbar option. All associated projects for employees will be added automatically to the employee section of the custom proposal.

Toolbar Options Only on a Project Info Center Tab

Field Description
Descriptions This option applies when you use either an Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word merge template for a proposal section.

Click this option, and select one of the following options from the shortcut menu to enter a description for the project.

Option Description
Add Description Category Select this option to choose an existing description that was added on the Descriptions grid found on the Background tab of the Project Info Center for the selected project.

On the Select Description Categories dialog box, the description categories are displayed on the Available list. Select description categories and move them to the Selected section using the Right-> button. Move the categories up and down in the list using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. When you click OK, the selected text files are added to the Text Editor in the order selected.

Edit Description Select this option to edit the description in the Vision Text Editor.
Add Description Category to Selected Records Select this option to add a description category for multiple projects that you have selected on the grid.

Hold down the SHIFT key and click the first and last field at the left of the Name column to select multiple projects that are listed next to each other on the grid. Or hold down the CTRL key and click the field at the left of the Name columns to select projects that are listed in non-sequential rows.

Team This option applies when you use either an Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word merge template for a proposal section.

Use this option to add project team members (employees) to a Project Info Center section of a custom proposal. Possible team members are the associated employees who are entered in the Employee grid on the Team tab in the Project Info Center for a project.

First, click the project in the grid for which to add team members. Then click the Team toolbar option. On the Select Team dialog box, select the team members from the Employee Info Center.

You must also add a merge code for associated employees, a proposal team, and employee data in the merge template that you created for the project section of a custom proposal. In the merge template, if you selected to include all associated employees (instead of Proposal Team), then you do not need to select employees using the Team toolbar option. All associated employees for a project will be added automatically as team members for all projects.