Proposal solution

The proposal solution forms the majority of the content of the proposal document that will be submitted to the client. It outlines what you will be delivering to your client, when, how, by whom, at what cost, and how you will manage risks.

Responses to questions/requirements

When a client creates a tender, a request for proposal (RFP) or a request for quote (RFQ) they may add specific requirements to be addressed in your response. Use the responses to questions/ requirements section in the proposal module to address these requirements. The questions and answers provided here will be included in the proposal document. You can also download these as an excel file from the files tab.

Click on the +Add button to manually add and answer a client question. If there are a large number of questions, you can also use the Download button to download an excel template. Enter the client questions and responses in the template then use the Upload button to import them into the proposal.

Hover over the i icon for any requirement to view the detailed requirement and response without the need to open the record.

Manually add a requirement then complete the details.

When adding a requirement, assign a category to each question. This can help you filter through the questions and ensure that each one is addressed appropriately. Some categories you may consider using are:

• Technical questions
• Logistical questions
• Financial questions

Assigning an owner maintains accountability for providing a response to the question or requirement.

When responding to client questions, it's important to keep your response clear and concise. Provide a brief and accurate response to their question. Ensure that your proposal covers all relevant areas that are highlighted by the questions.

Select a status for the question to indicate if your proposals is Compliant, Part-compliant, or Non-compliant with the question. This can assist internal decision makers in understanding how closely the proposed solution meets the client requests.

Our approach

Click the Edit button to summarize your approach to the engagement.

When submitting a client proposal, it's important to clearly define the engagement approach you will use to provide your professional services. It outlines the specific steps, processes, and methodologies that you will follow to address the client's needs or challenges effectively. This approach is typically tailored to the unique requirements of each client and their particular project or situation.

In addition to summarising your engagement approach, you may also want to attach a diagram of the engagement model. This can provide a visual representation of how your company will work with the client and what each stage of the engagement will look like.

The diagram can include:

• The stages of the engagement
• The activities that will take place in each stage
• The deliverables that will be provided to the client at each stage

By providing a visual representation of the engagement model, you can help the client understand the process and feel more comfortable with working with your company.

Services

Scope the services that you will deliver.

Click on the +Add button to add a new services to the proposal.

Import a standard service

Services are defined in the strategy module. Wherever possible, advaise.app suggests creating standard services in the strategy module and using them in your client proposals and engagements. This streamlines the processes and ensures services are standardised. Importing a standard service will bring the service and it's activities and details into the proposal or engagement. The deliverables and activities will be added to the schedule. The deliverables will also be added to the Deliverables section.

To import a service, select it from the dropdown list.

Once you have selected the service, hit the Save button.

Create a service

If the service you are offering is a one-off, you can create a service directly for the proposal or engagement. This service will not be available anywhere else in advaise.app.

Provide a clear name and description of the service.

When outlining your services, it's important to describe the benefits of the service to the client. This will help the client understand why they should choose your company over other competitors. Some key benefits to highlight are:

• The value the service will bring to the client's business
• The specific problems the service will solve for the client
• The expertise your company has in delivering the service

After creating the service for the proposal or engagement, you will need to add any deliverables directly in the Deliverables section. This will automatically add the deliverable to the schedule. You will also need to add any activities directly to the schedule.

For services imported from the services catalogue, you can update the deliverables in the deliverables section and the activities in the schedule.

To tailor a service for the proposal, click anywhere on the Service description or benefits to open the update service popup screen.

Deliverables

Deliverables are a crucial component of any service offering. They help define the work that will be performed and provide a clear picture of what the client can expect to receive upon completion of the project. Deliverables can be anything from documents and reports to software prototypes and other tangible outputs.

Where a standard service is imported into a proposal, the deliverables for that service are automatically added to the proposal.

Click anywhere on a deliverable to open the popup screen to manage the deliverable.

Where a service is created directly in a proposal, you will need to create a new deliverable by clicking the +Add button.

Link to a service

Select the service the deliverable relates to. You can only choose from services that have been added to this engagement in the Solution tab. You will not be able to save the deliverable if a service is not selected.

Add details

Enter a name for the deliverable and a deliverable type. Examples of deliverable types include document, software, workshop. Enter a meaningful description of the deliverable. It's important to provide a clear and concise description of what the client can expect to receive upon completion of the project.

You can upload a template that will be used for the deliverable.

Schedule the deliverable

Choose the due date for the deliverable. This will add the deliverable to the schedule. To see the deliverable on the schedule, click on the dropdown arrow against the service.

Milestone

You can link the deliverable to a milestone. This is particularly important for fixed price engagements, where the milestone payments are tied to deliverables. Milestones are managed in the Commercials tab of the engagement.

Schedule

The schedule is automatically created based on the activities and deliverables in the proposal.

Use the +Add button to add a new activity to the schedule or click on an activity or deliverable name to update the details.

Activities are individual tasks or steps that need to be completed in order to deliver a service. They provide a detailed breakdown of the work that needs to be performed, and help you to manage the project more effectively by breaking it down into manageable chunks.

Link to a service

Select the service the activity relates to. You can only choose from services that have been added to this engagement. You will not be able to save the activity if a service is not selected.

Add details

Enter a name for the activity and enter a meaningful description. It's important to provide a clear and concise description of what the activity involves and how it contributes to the overall service.

Schedule the activity

Choose the start and end dates for the activity. This will add the activity to the schedule. To see the activity on the schedule, click on the dropdown arrow against the service.

There are a number of icons surrounding the schedule that allow control over how it is displayed.

1. Toggle the name and dates of the Services/Activities between being displayed in table format to the left of the schedule or embedded in or to the right of the timeline.

2. Expand/collapse the detail to display by service or by activities and deliverables.

3. Display resources on the timeline.

4. Zoom in to display the timeline at a more granular level. The default setting displays the timeline at a week level.

Zoom in to display the timeline by day. When the zoom in icon is greyed out, you have zoomed in as far as possible.

5. Zoom out to display timeline at a less granular level. Display at a month level.

Zoom out further to display the timeline by year. When the zoom out icon is greyed out, you have zoomed out as far as possible.

6. The picture icon takes a snapshot of the schedule as it is currently displayed and updates this in the proposal document.

7. Display the schedule in a pop-up window.

Key personnel

When creating a client proposal, it's important to showcase the staff members who will be involved in delivering the services.

Use the +Add button to add key personnel to the proposal.

Complete all sections of the add staff pop-up windown.

Staff

Select the staff member from the dropdown list. Your staff members should already be created in the people module. This ensures that relevant information such as competencies are already captured and assessed.

Role

Enter the role this staff member will undertake on this proposal. It doesn't necessarily have to align with their role in the people module. For example, a programme manager may act as an engagement manager for a specific proposal.

Responsibilities

Describe the responsibilities as they relate to this proposal. This helps the client understand what each staff member's role will be in delivering the services outlined in the proposal. It also helps you ensure that the staff members you showcase are the most relevant to the client's needs.

Areas of expertise

Summarise the staff member's credentials by highlighting the top 3 relevant areas of expertise. This helps the client understand the value that each staff member brings to the engagement. Details of the staff members experience will not be brought through from the people module as you may want to highlight expertise relevant to their role in this module. You can always refer to their staff profile in the people module to find details of their areas of expertise.

Relevant experience

Outlining the staff member's relevant experience helps the client understand the staff member's background and how it relates to the services outlined in the proposal.

The information entered on this page will be reflected in the staff profile in the client proposal, so it's important to ensure this information is accurate and complete. By selecting from staff and roles, describing the responsibilities as they relate to this proposal, summarising the staff's credentials as the top 3 areas of expertise and highlighting relevant experience, you can help the client understand the value that your team will bring to the engagement.

Labour expenses

The information entered in this section drives a number of elements for the proposal:

• Adds costs and markup to the proposal financials
• Adds revenue to the proposal document for the client
• If a staff member is selected, a tentative booking is created

Use the +Add button to add a labour expense to the proposal.

Fill out the relevant sections on the add labour expenses popup screen.

1. Select role

Select from roles already approved in the people module.

2. Select services

Enter labour expenses for your client proposal by selecting from services that are already approved in the strategy module. The only services that will appear on the dropdown are approved services that have been included in the solution section of this proposal.

3. Estimated effort

Make an accurate estimate based on previous experience of offering this service.

4. Margin

The gross margin ratio represents the percentage of a company's revenue retained as gross profit, expressed on a per-dollar basis. For example, a 20% gross margin implies that for each dollar of revenue generated, the company retains $0.20, while $0.80 is attributable to the incurred cost of goods sold (COGS), in this case resourcing costs.

As a worked example, if the cost for a role is $8,000 and a 20% gross margin applies, the fees will be $10,000 and gross margin will be $2,000.

To use the organization's default margin, leave this field blank.

5. Notes

The notes field allows you to capture any details to explain the estimates and assumptions. This is for internal purposes only and is not included in the proposal document.

Intelligent resource finder

Finding staff with the right skillset and availability for a proposal is a crucial activity. advaise.app has an intelligent resource finder to streamline this task.

6. Select the type of employment

To find staff based on availability, ensure the 'Filter staff based on these dates' slider is blue. Select employment type from the dropdown list.

7. Select by location

To only view staff based in a certain location, ensure the "Filter staff based on this location' slider is blue then select a location from the dropdown list.

8. Filter by skills

To find staff with certain skills, ensure the 'Filter staff based on these competencies' slider is blue. The competencies assigned to the selected role are automatically populated. You can change the skill level by moving the slider up or down, and remove a competency by clicking on the bin icon. To add another competency to your search criteria, select it from the dropdown and click the + Add button. Then, use the slider to increase or decrease the competency level.

9. Search by availability

To find staff with availability for the project, set the "Filter staff based on these dates" slider to on. Select the start and end dates for the project.

advaise.app will find all staff who meet the selected criteria. If no staff are found, adjust the search parameters.

Create a resource booking

When a suitable staff member is found, select them from the dropdown list. Click on the information icon beside the staff name to view their profile, bookings and manager . Click on 'email staff member' to send an email or click on the managers email address to email them. When a staff member is assigned to a labour expense on a proposal, a tentative booking is created against a booking holding code. When the proposal is won, go to the staff record to change this to a booking code for the proposal or engagement and change the booking to confirmed.

10. Customise days

The customise days slider is found to the right of the start and finish dates. It only becomes available to use when dates are entered and a staff member is selected.

11. Select workdays 

Tick the days that this booking will be allocated to. This is particularly useful for part-time employees or staff who are working on another engagement for set days.

12. Scheduling method 

This field determines how the hours are allocated across the period selected.

• Distribute - The distribute method will equally distribute the effort hours across the time between the start and end dates. This does not take into account existing bookings and may result in a person being over-booked on some days and under-booked on other days. For example, someone has an existing booking of 6 hours per day for the first week of a 4 week engagement that requires 100 hours of effort. The distribute method would result in 11 hours per day booked for the first week (existing 6 hours plus 5 hours per day from this booking), then 5 hours per day for the remaining 3 weeks.
• Level - The level method will distribute the effort hours so the person has an even number of hours booked every day for the selected period. For example, someone has an existing booking of 6 hours per day for the first week of a 4 week engagement that requires 100 hours of effort. The level method would result in 6 hours 30 minutes per day booked for the first week (existing 6 hours plus 30 minutes from this booking), then 6 hours 30 minutes per day for the remaining 3 weeks.

13. Review availability

Each day displays the free time for the staff member (standard work hours minus already booked time). Requested shows the number of hours and minutes requested in this booking.

Selecting a staff member and hitting the save button will create a tentative resource booking against the project holding booking code. To confirm this booking, the staff manager must go to the people module and change the staff booking to confirmed and select the booking code for the engagement.

Cost

You can view the cost for this service and role after you have saved the record. The labour expenses list displays the effort in hours, hourly rate and cost for each service and role combination. The hourly cost rate is calculated in the roles section of the people module.

The fees on the proposal document will be split into labour and expenses for each service.

Non-labour expenses

Non-labour expenses are costs associated with a project that don't involve paying for staff time. They could be anything from travel expenses to equipment rentals, and it's important to capture them accurately in your proposal.

Click on the +Add button to create a new non-labour expense for a proposal.

Enter the details on the Add non-labour expense pop-up window.

Category

Select a category from the dropdown list. Expense categories are managed by your system administrator or organization owner in the organizations module, under the financials tab.

Select Approved Services

Enter non-labour expenses for your client proposal by selecting from services that are already approved in the strategy module. The only services that will appear on the dropdown are approved services that have been included in the solution section of this proposal.

Cost

Enter the expense amount, this could be a fixed amount, such as the cost of a specific piece of equipment, or it could be an estimate, such as the expected cost of travel. If it's an estimate that is subject to change, ensure this is detailed in the estimating assumptions. The currency is set at an organization level, however this can be changed on a proposal. To update the currency for this proposal, go to the fee notes in the commercials section.

Margin

Enter the margin to be applied to this cost. Leave the field blank to use the default organization margin. If you want to enter a passthrough amount that won't be marked up, enter 0 in the Margin field.

Assumptions

To ensure that your proposal is as accurate as possible, it's important to capture your estimating assumptions. This might include details on how you arrived at the expense amount, any assumptions you made about the cost, and any factors that could affect the expense in the future. If the amount is an estimate only and is subject to change, ensure this is clearly stated in this section. You can also use this section to enter more details to allow someone else to understand or verify the expense. These notes are for internal purposes only and will not be included in the proposal document.

Amount in proposal document

The costs displayed in the proposal document will include the default margin for your organization or the margin for this service entered in the pricing model for this proposal.

The fees on the proposal document can be split into labour and expenses for each service by selecting Yes on the "Include fee breakdown" slider.

Risk management strategy

Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks that could negatively impact a project's success. Developing a risk management strategy for your proposal can help you avoid potential pitfalls and increase your chances of delivering a successful project.

Click on the +Add button to add a new risk and management strategy to a proposal.

Complete the details on the Add risk pop-up window.

Title

Give the risk a clear title.

Category

Select a category from the dropdown list:

• Information: Data privacy, confidentiality, or security concerns.
• Partners: Performance or reliability of third-party vendors.
• Process: Project management, delivery timelines, or regulatory compliance risks.
• Team: Team dynamics, skills, or resource availability.
• Technology: System reliability, compatibility, or scalability.
• Other: Risks specific to your organization or the client project.

Risk

Provide a detailed description of the risk. Risks can come in many forms, such as:

• Information security breaches
• Partner non-performance
• Inefficient or ineffective processes
• Team conflicts or turnover
• Technology failures or inadequacies
• Other unforeseen events

Impact

Assess the impact, selecting from the dropdown list:

• Low: Minimal project impact, minor delays, or financial losses.
• Medium: Moderate project impact, significant delays, or moderate financial losses.
• High: Severe project impact, major delays, or significant financial losses.

Likelihood

Assess the probability of the risk occurring, selecting from the dropdown list:

• Low: Unlikely to occur.
• Medium: Possible but not probable.
• High: Likely to occur.

Owner

Assign a person responsible for managing the risk.

Status

Keep the status update as the proposal progresses. Select open or closed from the dropdown list.

Strategy

Develop a risk management strategy that outlines how you plan to avoid or mitigate the identified risk to reduce their impact on the project. Your risk management strategy may include:

• Create contingency plans for high-risk items.
• Implement security measures for data protection.
• Establish clear expectations and communication plans with partners.

Keep in mind, these risks are for internal use only and won't appear in the client proposal. Prioritize risk management for a successful project outcome!

Now that you have completed the Solution tab, move on to the commercials.