November 16th, 2009 by Brian Cors
Last month, with the renaming of our document automation software from PriceQuote to SalesDoc Architect (SDA), one of the great features that we added was the ability to create an unlimited number of document types (or “DocTypes”) that you can use to categorize document sections in the document library. When document outputs are generated, SDA uses the DocType you’ve selected for the particular output to filter the document sections that are included in the final output Word document.
Let’s say you want to generate a proposal. By choosing to output only doc sections with DocType = “Proposal”, SDA will filter the output to include only those doc sections in the final output document. This makes it very easy to create new types of outputs simply by creating a new DocType, then tagging the doc sections you want to include in the new output with the new DocType.
Unlimited DocTypes become even more helpful when they are used in combination with other means of configuring the document sections that will appear on the outputs. For example, let’s assume that you have associated part numbers with doc sections in the SalesDoc Architect database as follows… Read the rest of this entry »
September 5th, 2009 by Brian Cors
SalesDoc Architect has always been a great tool for handling configuration, pricing and document generation for service and support solutions. Whether you base service and support pricing on the new solution equipment that you sell, or you create separate “support part numbers” for the items you support – which works especially great for sites with existing equipment – SalesDoc Architect handles it well.
For those who base service and support pricing on the list or sell price of the new equipment that you sell, SalesDoc Architect now offers the ability to automatically create a schedule of supported parts that shows your customer or prospect the precise list of parts that are covered under your support plan.
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July 2nd, 2009 by Brian Cors
SalesDoc Architect’s new options functionality enables users to easily handle the pricing and presentation of one or more options to prospects and customers. SalesDoc Architect handles at least three types of options:
- Options “packages” that can be added on to a core solution.
- A la carte options that are presented as a series of line-item pricing (such as a price list)
- A series of core solutions from which the prospect or customer can select, such as when you might propose solutions from multiple vendors and the prospect can select only one of the core solutions.
SalesDoc Architect’s new Options button handles the first two types of optioning (the third type of optioning is best handled by creating a new quote for each core solution, then using SalesDoc Architect’s multi-quote consolidation feature to present the options in a combined proposal). With just a few clicks, SalesDoc Architect users can associate items with up to five options “packages.” When schedules of equipment and services are generated, the options will appear after the core solution as separately priced options packages.
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June 19th, 2009 by Brian Cors
Several months ago, we added the ability to import contact (and other) data into SalesDoc Architect from any CRM or contact management application that can generate a mail-merged Word document. This capability eliminates the need to re-key data, saving time and reducing re-keying errors.
Together with Tigerpaw Software, we are pleased to announce the joint development of functionality that enables you to push configuration data (part numbers, quantities, pricing, etc.) from SalesDoc Architect into Tigerpaw’s CRM+ business management software application. Now you can use the combination of CorsPro’s SalesDoc Architect and Tigerpaw’s CRM+ solutions to…
- Manage customer relationships with CRM+
- Configure turnkey solutions with SalesDoc Architect Generate customized proposals, statements of work and other documents with SalesDoc Architect.
- Generate sales orders, initiate billing, manage inventory, schedule service orders (and more!) with CRM+
…all without having to re-key any data back and forth between the two applications.
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June 6th, 2009 by Brian Cors
You’ve been able to use SalesDoc Architect™ to win more deals by producing customized, differentiated proposals with just a few mouse clicks. You’ve also been able to increase your margins by generating statements of work that set clear expectations with customers and prevent “scope creep”.
Now, with just a few more mouse clicks, SalesDoc Architect can generate internal documents such as implementation procedures, manuals and checklists that can help you increase profitability by increasing efficiencies and reducing implementation errors.
For the SalesDoc Architect end-user, the process is very simple: configure your solution of hardware, software and services as normal. Next, generate your proposal and/or statement of work by clicking the Outputs button, then “Generate Proposal” (or “Generate Statement of Work”). Within seconds, a proposal or statement of work will be produced that exactly matches your configured solution and is customized to the particular prospective customer.
When your company is ready to implement the solution, open up the SalesDoc Architect file for the solution and click the Outputs button, then “Generate implementation doc” (the name will vary depending how your administrator has set up this output option). Voila! Within seconds, a customized implementation document is generated that your operations team can use as their guidebook for the implementation.
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May 24th, 2009 by Brian Cors
Proposal content for Avaya and Cisco telephony solutions are now available, complementing the vendor content that is already available for Mitel, Inter-Tel, Nortel and ShoreTel solutions.
Of course, this ready-made vendor content complements your own content (via CorsPro’s content merge function), enabling you to create proposals, statements of work and other outputs that differentiate you from your competition.
For further information on this vendor content, please contact us at contact@corspro.com.
April 2nd, 2009 by Brian Cors
For all of the new SalesDoc Architect user types that are “network-connected” in some fashion (see “New SalesDoc Architect User Types and Deployment Options” for further information), SalesDoc Architect automates the process of checking for and installing application and data updates.
On occasion, SalesDoc Architect will reach out to the shared network drive to determine if updates are available and, if so, will prompt the user to download and install them. End users no longer need to close SalesDoc Architect to install the updates; they can install them while SalesDoc Architect is still running (although SalesDoc Architect Manager, which the SalesDoc Architect admin uses, must be closed).
The most accurate update checking process occurs for network and combo users who are accessing data from the network drive (whereas stand-alone users with network access only access the update files, not the actual data files). When they check for updates, network and combo users actually compare the data files themselves, rather than just the update files.
Users can also manually check for updates by clicking the SalesDoc Architect button, then Setup, then “Install SalesDoc Architect updates.”
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March 20th, 2009 by Brian Cors
SalesDoc Architect has the capability to consolidate multiple SalesDoc Architect files into a single Excel-based schedule of equipment and services or into a single Word-based proposal or statement of work. This capability can be used for at least two purposes: 1) to consolidate multiple SalesDoc Architect files that each represent a different site or location or 2) to consolidate multiple SalesDoc Architect files that each represent a different option that you would like to show to your customer or prospect.
Creating a separate SalesDoc Architect file for each site or option is the most accurate way to configure and quote multi-site or multi-option solutions, since each SalesDoc Architect file calculates labor, peripheral products and other elements as if each is a stand-alone site or option (versus combining multiple sites or options into a single SalesDoc Architect file, which treats all of the sites/options as if they are part of a single large implementation, which might underestimate labor and peripheral product requirements).
You can access the multi-SalesDoc Architect consolidation feature by clicking the SalesDoc Architect button, then “Multi-SalesDoc Architect Functions”, then “Consolidate Multiple Quotes”.
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