Pathway: Accounts > Search > Account (Customer Service Screen) > Orders, Quotes and Contracts
This article details the Add Proposal form available in the Orders, Quotes and Contracts section of a site. Proposals are created for a variety or reasons (rate changes, service changes, new services, etc.) and are available to both active and prospect accounts.
After a proposal is issued, it is tracked in the following sales CRM tools:
Create a Proposal
From the account's Orders, Quotes, and Contracts section, click the + icon to open the Add Document - Proposal screen. This is where you will create a proposal. There are many tabs on this screen to enter data, if applicable. Review each tab below to learn about each field for creating proposals.
Settings Tab
The Settings tab establishes the basics of the document and qualifies it as either an 'Opportunity' or 'Quote'. Because a proposal document does not include a signature section it is considered an opportunity and tracked in the Pipeline Opportunities dashboard using the 'Proposal' filter.
Indicates the current status of the proposal and will automatically update if the proposal is sent, viewed or signed in the system. Status options include: Identifies the account contact the proposal/agreement will be sent to. Account Contacts must be created first or they will not display as a drop down selection.
Related Article: Add Account Contact Option to link an existing lead service to the proposal/agreement. Linked leads reduces double entry by allowing a user to copy services from the lead to the quote.
*Important - Leads will continue to populate in the Sales Pipeline - Leads dashboard until linked. Linking to a document closes the lead.
Related Articles: Add a Lead; Pipeline Leads Option to display estimated surcharges on the printed proposal.
Surcharge group must be assigned to site prior to adding services to the proposal or service agreement. To re-calculate the estimated surcharges the service rate must be updated or removed and re-added to the form. Option to group services/charges on the proposal by Site, Line of Business (LOB) or Material.
Option to include the (estimated) work order charges on the proposal.
Field Descriptions
Field
Description Document Format
Identifies the document's format and determines how/where it will be tracked in the Sales Pipeline CRM tools.
Form Format setup is located in Setup > Document Formats > Format.Document Type
Indicates a reason code for the proposal.
Example: Change In Service, New Business, Increase in Service, etc.
Document Type setup is located in Setup > Document Formats > Type.Status
Source
Indicates how the sale originated (referral, internal, employee, and etc.).
Sales Rep
Identifies the sales representative responsible for the proposal or agreement. Form notifications, dashboard tracking and credit for a sale/approval are sent to the sales representative selected.
Sold By
Identifies who made the sale. Provides flexibility to record who made the sale if it was someone other than the sales representative. Form Contact
Linked Leads
Title
Option to enter the title for the Form Contact.
PO Number
Option to enter a PO number if one exists.
Effective Date
The date proposed services and billing will begin.
Delivery Date
Indicates the customer’s preferred date to receive service equipment.
Estimated Close Date
The expected date the sale will close and drives the Sales Pipeline Opportunities dashboard.
Close Probability
Probability of a successful sale (identified by the sales representative).
Term
The initial term length of the service agreement.
Renewal Term
Indicates the automatic renewal term length.
Note
Notes added here display in the Comments section of the proposal.
Delivery Instruction
Internal note that displays on the delivery work order for the driver to see and does not appear on additional service work orders.
Custom Field1 Text
Open field to print additional information not otherwise included on the proposal. Field name can be customized in Setup > Document Format > Formats (Settings tab).
Payment Required at Customer Signature
(Applies to contracts)
Option to require a deposit for services to begin. If a payment is required, the contract can not be saved until payment has been collected using either a bank account or Credit Card. Payment requirement options include:
Print Est. Surcharge
Option to print the estimated tax on the proposal. Service fees must be entered on the Services tab to calculate.
Group Method
Multiple Start Dates
Allows the user to define a unique start date for each service added to the form and is primarily used for broker agreements and not a regular sales proposal. Print Est WO Charges
Services Tab
The Services tab identifies the service(s) and additional charges the proposal includes. Services are entered in one of two ways, copied from a lead or, manually added.
Add additional rates in the Service Charges section for anything the customer may call in and request. The account is only charged when the added service is used. If a lead was previously created for the account, and the service recorded in the lead matches the service proposal, select Copy Lead to auto-fill the fields in the Add Service screen. Select ‘Map Service Locations’ to display a Satellite or Map view of the sites included in the proposal. When the map opens, a location pin displays over each site. If needed, use the drag and drop feature to relocate a site's pin to the approximate location the site should be serviced from. For example, if the service container is located on the west side of the parking lot, drag and drop the pin in that location to direct the driver where to go.
Add Service
Add Service Charges
Copy Lead
Map Service Locations
History Tab
The History tab provides a log of actions performed on a document, ensuring full transparency and accountability. It captures key activities such as:
- Email history
- Each instance the form was viewed
- The date the form was approved
- The signature date an agreement was signed
- The date a Proposal Expiration alert was issued. Alert notifications are issued 90 days from, 60 days from, 30 days from and day of expiration.
Attachment Tab
Use the Attachments tab to attach and save PDF documents with the proposal. Select ‘Display for Proposal’ if the attachment should be displayed with the proposal when printed or emailed.
Estimated vs Actual Tab
The Estimated vs Actual tab displays a service’s estimated revenue compared to the actual revenue calculated when service begins. By default, this tab does not display unless enabled in Service Code Setup.
Field Descriptions
| Field | Description |
| Estimate Type | The selection made in the ‘Estimated’ field when the service was added in the Services tab.
|
| Est Revenue | The value entered in the ‘Revenue’ field when the service was added in the Services tab.
|
| Est Orders/Units | The value entered in the ‘Units’ field when the service was added in the Services tab.
|
| UOM | The UOM (Unit of Measure) selected in the ‘UOM’ field when the service was added in the Services tab. |
| Booked |
|
| Billed Qty |
|
| Billed Revenue |
Enable the Estimated vs Actual Tab
Pathway: Setup > Services > Service Code The Estimated vs Actual tab will only display if the proposal includes at least one service code where Enable Estimates Tracking is set to ‘Yes’. Otherwise, the tab will be hidden from view. By default, the Enable Estimates Tracking field is set to ‘No’ in Service Code setup.
Term Addendums Tab
If Term Addendums apply to a proposal, they can be enabled on the Term Addendums tab.
Addendum availability is managed in Setup > Document Format > Format and depends on the Form Type. Additionally, an optional pre-authorization process can be configured to ensure approval before sending the proposal to the customer if it includes an addendum.
Surcharge Rates Tab
If surcharge rates apply to a service, they can be added from the Surcharge Rates tab.
After selecting the green add icon, click within each field to select the surcharge, set the effective start date, specify the rate, and choose the rate type. Additionally, an optional pre-authorization process can be configured to ensure approval before sending the proposal to the customer if it includes surcharge rates that are different from the established rate in setup.
Additional Information
Enable a Pre-Authorization Process (Optional)
To ensure proposals undergo the appropriate level of review, businesses can configure a pre-authorization process before sending proposals to customers. This flexible setup allows for a tailored approval process, requiring either a single pre-authorization from the user’s manager or a two-step process that includes oversight from a higher-level manager.
Authorization Logic
Pathway: Setup > System > User
Identification of Approver The system identifies the approver based on the manager listed in the Manager field of the user profile for the individual who drafted the proposal. If a second authorization is required, the system refers to the manager listed in the first approver’s user profile.
Setup to Require 1 Authorization
For the system to require a single pre-authorization before the proposal can be sent to the customer, the following must be true:
Setup and Logic to Require 2 Authorizations
For the system to require two pre-authorizations before the proposal can be sent to the customer, the following must be true: Rate Below Medium Weight Target The logic for triggering 'Rate below Medium Weight Target' requires the following setup:
Term Addendums The logic for triggering two pre-authorizations with term addendums requires enabling one of the available addendums in the proposal.
And any two of these are true:
Illustrated Logic for 2 Authorizations
Surcharge Rate Override
The logic for triggering two pre-authorizations with a surcharge rate override requires adding a surcharge and applying a rate that is different than the surcharge's default rate.
Send Proposal
After the proposal has been created, the option to email it directly to the customer for review and approval is available.
Send Proposal
Once the customer has opened the proposal, the sales representative will receive a blue notification indicating it has been viewed.
Email Proposal
Proposal Example
The following is an example of a printed or emailed proposal. Proposals will vary dependent on your template setup.
Customer Option: Send Message
Upon receiving an electronic version of the proposal, customers can choose to send a message to the assigned sales representative. Once a message is sent, the sales rep will be notified with a blue notification containing the message. The message will also display in their Recent Activities and on the Customer Service screen. Sales reps are not able to message the customer back using the same process and must use an alternative means of communication.
Related Articles
This article is related to the Sales CRM Workflow that includes the following process: