The Proposal Pipeline board is where you keep track of your organization's proposals. Open Proposals in the sidebar to reach it. It shows each proposal as a card in the column for its status, and you move a proposal along by dragging its card.
To start a new proposal, select New Proposal at the top of the board. See Creating a Proposal.
The summary tiles
The tiles above the board count the proposals it is showing:
- Total on this board: every card on the board.
- Drafts: cards in the Draft column.
- In review / approval: cards in the In Review, Awaiting Approval and Final Review columns together.
- Submitted (awaiting outcome): cards in the Submitted column, which are submitted proposals with no win or loss recorded.
- Won: cards in the Won column.
These five follow the search box and category filter, so they change as you narrow the board.
Win rate (all time) is different. It is your organization's won proposals divided by won plus lost, over all time, and it ignores the search and filter. It shows "--" until at least one proposal is won or lost. A win rate from only a few decided proposals says little about your next bid; see How win rate is calculated.
Finding a proposal
- Type in Search proposals... to match a proposal's title or its RFP's client name.
- Choose a category in the category list to show only that category. All Categories shows everything again.
The two buttons at the right end of the search bar switch between the board and a list. The list shows the same proposals one per row, with the client, proposed value, category and status. Select View on a row to open the proposal.
The board columns
The columns are Draft, In Review, Awaiting Approval, Final Review, Approved, Submitted, Won and Lost. To change a proposal's status, drag its card to another column. If the change fails, the card goes back and the board shows the reason.
A few moves work differently:
- You cannot drop a card into Approved. Approval comes only from reviews; see Approval Workflow.
- Dropping a card into Won or Lost records the outcome and opens a form for the details. See Win/Loss Tracking.
- A proposal whose review ended in changes requested or rejected has no column on the board. Switch to the list to see it; its status shows on the right of its row.
Reading a card
Each card shows:
- the proposal's title
- the client name from its RFP, or the RFP's title when there is no client name
- its category, and up to two tags, with a count such as "+2" when there are more
- its proposed value and the RFP's submission deadline, when they are set
Select a card to open the proposal in the editor. See Editing and Refining Content.
Editing category, tags and value
Categories and tags are labels you choose. Use them to group proposals, for example by business area or contract vehicle. You can filter the board by category.
- Select Quick edit on the card, or the edit button on a row of the list.
- In Edit Proposal Details, choose a Category, or type a new name to create one.
- Add Tags, choosing existing ones or typing new ones.
- Enter the Proposed Value, the amount you are bidding.
- Select Save Changes.
Saving needs a role that can edit proposals: Admin, Manager, Proposal Lead or Contributor. See Roles and Permissions.
On a won or lost card, the button reads Edit outcome instead, and opens the outcome form rather than these details.
What the board does not do
The board has no delete, archive or duplicate action. It also does not send deadline reminders; the deadline on each card is for reference. When an active RFP's deadline has passed, the dashboard home shows a notice such as "2 active RFPs past deadline", and the RFPs list lets you record a submission, close the RFP or extend its deadline.