Proposals Overview
Project proposals are the principal tools you use to sell your firm's services and win new business. They bring together information about your firm, your employees, and your previous work — everything a prospective client needs before awarding a contract.
The Proposals application streamlines the entire production process so you can:
- Create custom proposals tailored to individual customers and business opportunities.
- Build and share templates that centralize layout decisions and speed up data retrieval.
- Pull hub records (employees, projects, contacts) directly into proposals to ensure accuracy and consistency.
- Export to PDF for quick delivery to clients.
Where Proposals Live in Vantagepoint
You access Proposals from the main navigation pane. There are three key areas:
| Area | What you do here |
|---|---|
| Proposals > Custom Proposals | Create, edit, and finalize individual proposals using the Proposal Builder. |
| Proposals > Templates | Create and maintain reusable proposal templates and element groups. |
| Hubs > Projects | Optionally start a proposal directly from a project record when you decide to pursue an opportunity. |
Key Concepts for New Users
Before you create your first proposal, it helps to understand a few building blocks:
- Proposal Builder — A drag-and-drop canvas where you assemble pages, text, images, and hub records into a finished proposal.
- Hub Records — Live data pulled from the Projects, Employees, or other hubs. Records in a proposal start as drafts (still connected to the hub) and become finalized (disconnected, individually editable) when you merge them.
- Templates — Pre-formatted proposals you can reuse. Templates save layout, style, and record placeholders. (Requires CRM Plus — confirm with your administrator.)
- Element Groups — Sets of elements (text boxes, images, records) saved as a named group for drag-and-drop reuse across proposals and templates.
Getting Started Checklist
- Confirm your role has access to Proposals > Custom Proposals.
- Ask your administrator whether Proposal Templates are available (requires CRM Plus).
- Review your firm's data entry standards so hub data is proposal-ready before you begin.
- Decide whether to create a proposal from scratch or start from a project in the Projects hub.
What's in This Guide
- Create a Proposal — Step-by-step task guide, including starting from Custom Proposals or from the Projects hub.
- Templates and Element Groups — How to build, save, and reuse templates and element groups.
- Concepts and Setup — Data entry standards, FileStream, Edit Record Layout mode, and role considerations.