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Creating the Proposal Library

As a proposal administrator, you create and maintain the Proposal Library, which consists of pieces of text that sales representatives can add to their proposals. In the Siebel File System, these pieces of text are components of the File section type.

Documents in the Proposal Library are different from the other components you created earlier, because components are parts of the proposal template, which are automatically included in proposals generated from that template. Documents in the Proposal Library are available to sales representatives only on an as-needed basis. As an administrator, you can also recommend documents to include in the templates.

After sales representatives create a default proposal automatically, they can add more documents from the Proposal Library or use the Edit Layout command to customize the default proposal. The Proposal Library allows multiple proposals created from the same template to have different contents, and it can help sales representatives find answers to specific Request for Proposal (RFP) questions.

As an administrator, you place the various components in the Library and maintain the information. When the sales representatives need additional text to add to a proposal, they review the documents in the Library, select the component they want to insert, and automatically insert it into the proposal.

The sales force cannot update the information in the Library. The only sections and components available to sales representatives are those you provide for them.

To prepare the Proposal Library, you must:

• Create document files for the Proposal Library
• Add sections for the proposal Proposal Library
• Add components to the Proposal Library sections
• Recommend documents to be included in templates

These tasks are a step in Process of Creating Proposal Templates.

Creating Document Files

You create document files for the Proposal Library in the same way that you create the proposal templates themselves. Use Microsoft Word to enter text and bookmarks, and then map these bookmarks to fields in your Siebel database.

NOTE:  The only type of section that can be included in the Proposal Library is of the File section type. Other section types (Charts, Reports, and so on) can be included only in the template as described in Defining Proposal Template Sections.

Adding Sections to the Proposal Library

Sections are used to organize documents in the Proposal Library. For example, if some of the documents in the Proposal Library are white papers and others are specifications, you may want to create a section for each of these. Then the users will be able to browse through the white papers and through the specifications separately. You must add at least one section to the Proposal Library. For more information about adding sections, see Defining Proposal Template Sections.

To add sections to the Proposal Library

1. Navigate to the Administration - Document screen > Proposal Library view.
2. In the Library Explorer, in the left frame, click the plus sign (+) next to the Library folder, if that folder is not already open.
3. Click the plus sign (+) next to the Proposal Library.

   The Sections folder appears under it.

4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the Sections folder.
5. Add sections to this folder just as you added sections for the proposal.

Adding Components to the Proposal Library

After adding sections to the Proposal Library, you add components to them.

To add components to the Proposal Library

1. Navigate to the Administration - Document screen > Proposal Library view.
2. Use the Library Explorer to navigate to the section to which you want to associate a component.
3. Add the component to the library just as you would add a component to a proposal.

Recommending Content for a Proposal

As the administrator, you can simplify the process of creating a quick proposal by associating recommended content with the proposal template.

To associate recommended content with a proposal

1. Navigate to the Administration - Document screen > Proposal Library view.
2. Use the Library Explorer to navigate to the section to which you want to add recommended content.
3. Open the selected section folder.
4. Click the plus sign (+) next to the Components folder.
5. Select a component.
6. In the Components record, click the Recommended Templates field.
7. Add a Recommended Template to the Component record. You can recommend a component to one template or to many templates. For example, a legal clause might be required in all templates.
8. Repeat Step 5, Step 6, and Step 7 for each component that needs recommended content.

   NOTE:  Recommended contents are displayed when a proposal is edited using the Edit Layout command and the Show Recommended Only check box is selected.