Implementing Deltek CRM and Proposals

Transcription

1 Implementing Deltek CRM and Proposals The Deltek CRM and Proposals system retrieves specified data from the Deltek CRM and Proposals database and tailors the data to meet your firm s or your client s unique requirements for client and opportunity management and private and governmental proposals. Additionally, Deltek CRM and Proposals tracks leads and prepares customized reports that meet your organization s specific needs. Getting Started with Deltek CRM and Proposals will help you organize all types of client-, employee-, and project-related data (with appropriate standards applied) into one centralized database. This document presents guidelines for developing a plan to specify data standards for your system and for creating a standards manual, phases of implementation, data-source analysis, data-entry procedures, graphics storage and usage, security arrangements, system maintenance, quality-control procedures, and development of templates and style sheets. 1

2 The Planning Session It is recommended that your firm conduct a planning session before any information is entered or transferred into Deltek CRM and Proposals. This planning session will set the stage for the design of your system by setting definitive goals. In the same way schematics are designed for a new project, you need a plan with definitive goals in order to achieve the best results. WHO SHOULD BE INCLUDED Marketing Managers and Key Principals Marketing Director and Coordinators Marketing Project Managers Business Development Staff Project Managers Data Entry Personnel Management Information System Staff Key Marketing Representatives from all Major Branch Offices Accounting and Human Resource Representatives Facilitator from Deltek Systems, Inc. Your firm will gain invaluable input from these key resources in designing the data standards and the implementation plan required. Involve your key people up front; you will Win their Buy-in and Commitment to the Deltek CRM and Proposals system! The size of your firm will dictate the size of your resource group. A smaller firm may contribute as few as two or three people, while a larger firm could contribute as many as fifteen or more. HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD YOU ALLOW FOR A PLANNING SESSION? The time dedicated to a planning session depends on the size of your firm and the scope of the implementation. For smaller firms/implementations, generally, 2 days will be adequate for the entire team. For larger firms, it may be a more extended planning process that involves 3 or more days of planning. Teams will develop action plans and appoint a long-term implementation committee. Depending on the current status of your Deltek CRM and Proposals data, the planning session may be an easy task, or for firms with 2

3 data located at multiple sites or where standards have not been agreed on the planning task may require more time in order to ensure the best possible implementation results. The planning group may choose to meet frequently for several weeks and then periodically to finalize and update the firm s requirements and standards and to check on target dates. SUGGESTED AGENDA FOR A PLANNING SESSION The following agenda is suggested; however, it can be modified to meet the needs of your firm. Please note that Deltek Systems, recommends that adequate time be given to all of the agenda items. Describe the nature of your firm, including firm type, size, number of branch offices, etc. Document your firm s configuration, including the number of marketing regions, the particular offices that generate proposals independently, the offices that depend on another office for proposal generation, and those offices that need assistance with gathering data in order to respond to proposals. How is the current configuration working? Is now the time to change to a more centralized or decentralized marketing system? Determine what kinds of proposals are currently being generated. Does your firm submit both SF254/255s and private-sector proposals? Are Statements of Qualification, letters, price-quote requests, and the like produced? Describe how lead, proposal, and client tracking is being handled. What system or method is currently used for follow-up on potential leads and proposal tracking? Is the system working? Does it need improvement? Determine where all current marketing information is stored. Is the information in word-processing files, databases, an accounting system, a human-resources system, file cabinets, the corporate office, past proposals, hard copies, or in the heads of your key people? Or in all of the above? Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current system. What works well and what does not? Is your marketing information written well and easy to modify for each proposal, or is information stored in numerous different systems and scattered about in different locations? Create a detailed list of pluses and minuses. For example, determine if your resume and project description histories are sufficient or need to be rewritten. Are the resumes and project descriptions organized so that you can easily respond to the relevant information clients are requesting? Can listings of similar projects that an individual worked on be easily retrieved? Can you easily determine how many proposals your firm submitted during the last 2 years? And how many of those prospective jobs were WON or LOST? Does 3

4 the marketing staff have adequate time to spend on the parts of the proposal that really do win jobs such as your unique approach to the proposed project? Prepare a requirements document. Write a requirements document that outlines the major deliverables and goals for Deltek CRM and Proposals. The document should be based on the list of strengths and weaknesses and include a comprehensive review of your firm s proposal, searching, and reporting requirements. Items to Consider: What is lacking in the SF254/255s and Custom Proposals that should be considered when implementing Deltek CRM and Proposals? What kinds of information are commonly looked for using the search feature? What are your firm s standard reporting requirements? What are your firm s lead-tracking reporting requirements? In short, consider what data you need to retrieve from Deltek CRM and Proposals. These questions need to be answered first, in order to determine what data goes in to Deltek CRM and Proposals. Establish priorities for implementation. What is your firm s biggest shortcoming in submitting proposals? What types of contracts will your firm be seeking during the next 6 months? How soon does lead tracking need to be implemented? Where can you start in order to get results from Deltek CRM and Proposals as soon as possible? Start designing your plan for Phase I only after you have answered all of these questions. The following is a list of examples of how some Deltek CRM and Proposals users got started in Phase I. Organize and rewrite data for the SF254/255s. Assemble all lead and proposal data into Deltek CRM and Proposal s leadtracking module. Rewrite and design the entire resume system. Organize and document all key projects for the past 2 to 3 years with wellwritten project descriptions, profile codes attached, dates of completion, 4

5 and client information. Enter the data directly into Deltek CRM and Proposal s Database. Perform Data Source Analysis. This involves a field-by-field analysis of each data source in the system. A standards document will be developed detailing the items below and assigning phases and target dates to each element. Which data sources will be used? Review your proposal and marketing material requirements and determine which Deltek CRM and Proposals data sources your firm will be using. Which fields within the data sources will be used? Print all of Deltek CRM and Proposal s summary reports for a listing of the fields contained in each data source. What custom fields will need to be added? Phase I may be entering all employee data. It might be decided that it is necessary to know which languages are spoken in the firm. Therefore, a custom field titled Languages will need to be added to the Employee Data Source. Determine standards for each field. Develop a system of consistency for data entry of all information used to create Custom Proposals, SF254/255s, Reports, and mail-merge letters, etc. Consider whether information entered into Deltek CRM and Proposals will be in all caps or initial caps, if abbreviations can be used or not, are periods used with abbreviations, the phone number formats, etc. For text fields, consider how common items can be abbreviated and give style guidance for items such as comma series, bullets, etc. Some fields can have data attached to them via a user-populated pick list from Deltek CRM and Proposal s Code Tables. Setting standards for the code lists is part of this task. For example, for educational degrees in the Employee Data Source, will the degrees be spelled out or abbreviated? Which abbreviations will be used B.S. or BS for Bachelor of Science? Special attention needs to be given to certain fields and areas within the Deltek CRM and Proposals data sources. In the Employee Data Source, Resumes is such an area. 5

6 STRATEGY FOR RESUMES Before developing a strategy for resumes, it is necessary to understand how resumes are assembled within Deltek CRM and Proposals. In addition to the basic employee data used in resumes (name, title, degrees, registrations), you may insert any number of pieces of text (introduction and background, publications, affiliation, etc.) using the Resume by Category option. Project experience can be added to the resume by using the Resume by Category or Resume by Query options. Building Resumes by Category assembles text specific to projects such as hospitals, bridges, environmental-impact studies, etc. Projects are entered for each individual, along with the individual s title, project responsibility, and any other data desired. It might be desirable to include a category titled Introduction for each employee that would present general information about the employee. Each time a resume is created, an unlimited number of categories can be selected and attached in any order or combination. The resume text in each category will also be attached. Carefully developed categories will facilitate inserting, for example, a style sheet entry of [hospitals] and all selected employees hospital text pieces will be inserted into the final document. Building Resumes by Query is another method of assembling resumes that allows resume experience to be dynamically assembled from any project data in your system. For example, you could search the Projects Data Source for all bridge projects completed in the last 5 years, in the state of Maryland, that the employee has worked on. From the search results, select the most relevant projects. Then attach only that project data most appropriate (project name, employee project title, employee project responsibility, completion date, etc.) and insert those data in any order and any format. Using this method requires that projects be attached to each employee record under the Projects Tab in the Employees Data Source, or each employee be attached to project records under Project Team Tab in the Projects Data Source. Attachment in one data source transfers data to the other data source automatically. Once a project name is attached to an employee, the employee s title and responsibility is also attached to the project name. 6

7 PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS Deltek CRM and Proposals stores unlimited project descriptions for each project. This feature facilitates retrieval of all project descriptions equal to one category, and the flexibility to break down large and complex projects with different project descriptions for each major element or phase. Each project description contains two fields description category (a code table item) and the text. A plan must be developed for these description categories. Decide if there will be more than one description used for projects (for example, descriptions for each major phase or element of the project.) Decide if there will be a general description that may be inserted in resumes. This is not an inclusive list. Ask how the descriptions will be used, and then develop your list of descriptions. 7

8 CODE TABLE DEVELOPMENT Code tables are user-populated drop-down lists from which values can be selected. The code tables in Deltek CRM and Proposals are listed below. A brief description of each code table is provided, along with some sample values. Remember that you need to develop your own values for these code tables, based on your data source analysis. Code Table Titles Suffix Employee Degree Resume Category Project Description Category Employee Project Title Project Type Client Type Code Table Description Title for employees in your firm, client contacts, and consultant contacts. Suffix to appear after employee, client contact, and consultant name (AIA, P.E., CIH, and Ph.D.). Type of degree held by an employee (Ph.D., Masters Degree, B.S.) Associated categories for each resume (Introduction, Affiliations, Publications, Health Care Experience, Bridges). Associated categories for each project (Hospitals, Bridges, Environmental-Impact Studies). Specific titles that are used to describe an employee s role on a project. When employees are assigned as team members to projects, you can enter a title that describes their role on the project team. General description of the project (Renovation, New Construction, Transportation, Residential, Public- Sector) Type of client. While Deltek CRM and Proposals has four default values as examples (Federal, State, Local, and Private), you will want to develop a list that categorizes your clients based on your firm s requirements. You can add or delete items on this list. 8

9 Code Table Activity Subject Project/Proposal Status Proposal Source Code Table Description Specifically used in Deltek CRM and Proposal s lead-tracking module to describe the subject of an activity (phone call, meeting, to-do item) associated with a client contact or prospect project (Preproposal Conference, Cold Call, Site Visit, Discuss Project, Send Corporate Brochure). Specifically used in Deltek CRM and Proposal s lead-tracking module to describe the status of a Prospect Project or Proposal being tracked (Pending, Interviewed/Pending Decision, Short Listed/No Interview, Won, Lost). Specifically used in Deltek CRM and Proposal s lead-tracking module to describe the source of a proposal (Commerce Business Daily, Washington Post, Engineering News Record, Deltek CRM and Proposals, Client Requested). 9

10 DEVELOP A DATA ENTRY PLAN Determine if your data entry approach will be centralized or decentralized and who will be responsible for the data. Remember that different approaches can be established for Deltek CRM and Proposals data and lead-tracking data. Centralized Approach: All data is entered and maintained by a central source that controls the flow of information into the system. Decentralized Approach: Key users are trained and responsible for entering and updating data in the system. This approach requires establishing strict controls and coordination of user responsibility. Deltek CRM and Proposals is designed to help you maintain those controls through its security system (see the Security Chapter in this manual and the Deltek CRM and Proposals Web Interface Manual.) STORING AND USING GRAPHICS Implementing a plan for graphics requires examination of the following questions: Where are the graphics currently stored? In what format are the graphics currently stored? Are graphics needed which do not exist? Who is responsible for arranging for new graphics (currently and in the future)? How will graphic files be shared across the LAN/WAN? Identify which data sources (Employees, Projects, Boiler Plate) will have related graphics and develop standards for cataloging the graphics in Deltek CRM and Proposals. Modify SF255 templates and custom proposal style sheets to accommodate the importation of graphics. ATTACHING FILES TO RECORDS Deltek CRM and Proposals allows you to attach external files to database records. This powerful feature allows you to associate external files that might provide additional information to Deltek CRM and Proposals users. For example, you may want to link a detailed cost spread sheet to a project in Deltek CRM and Proposals so that Deltek CRM and Proposals users can have access to this detailed information without having to store it in one or more of Deltek CRM and Proposal s database fields. Or, you may want to link a fullcolor, professionally produced project sheet to a project so that users can quickly access it from within Deltek CRM and Proposals and print the document using the native application it was designed in. Or you may want to attach a PowerPoint presentation to a prospect project record. Linked documents allow you to store the name of a file associated with a particular Deltek CRM and Proposals record and the name of the application 10

11 used to manipulate or display the file. When a document file is linked with Deltek CRM and Proposals, you can launch directly into the application and load the linked file with one operation. Document links allow you to store virtually any type of information with Deltek CRM and Proposals records. Using document links, you can store forms, spreadsheets relating to projects, incoming facsimile images, voic messages, presentations, proposal documents, desktop publishing documents, or documents created with a word processor directly with the appropriate Deltek CRM and Proposals record. When you need to view or edit the linked file, Deltek CRM and Proposals will automatically load both the application and the file in one operation. Implementing a plan for file attachments requires examination of the following questions: Where are the files currently stored? Who is responsible for attaching files to records in Deltek CRM and Proposals? What type of files do you plan to attach to Deltek CRM and Proposals records? Are the files you are attaching accessible to other users on the local- or wide-area-network? Will users who access these files be able to modify them? USER SECURITY Creating user security requires the determination of access rights for each employee that will be using Deltek CRM and Proposals. (See the Security chapter of this manual.) Deltek CRM and Proposals includes various levels of security that offer complete control over who will access the program, what fields and tabs they will be able to see on their screen, and what records in the database they will have rights to view or update. The areas of the Deltek CRM and Proposals Security System include: User Security For establishing user accounts and roles that determine the level of access rights that a user will have; Group Security For establishing groups of users that can be provided with access rights to records, reports, and style sheets; Record Association Allows an administrator to associate records in the Deltek CRM and Proposals database to users or groups; Report Association Allows an administrator to associate reports stored in the Deltek CRM and Proposals database to users or groups; and 11

12 Style-Sheet Association Allows an administrator to associate style sheets stored in the Deltek CRM and Proposals database to users or groups. Using a list of employees and a list of Deltek CRM and Proposals fields, identify the type of Deltek CRM and Proposals access for each employee. Full rights (ADM) are typically assigned to only one or two individuals. These rights allow full access to every Deltek CRM and Proposals function, including security, system configuration, and data maintenance functions. Report-Only rights (RPT) are typically assigned to those individuals who use look-up functions, assemble proposals, use report writing and data browsing. Someone with Report Only access cannot edit any information in the database. Other rights (USR) are typically assigned to data-entry personnel, marketing directors, and marketing coordinators. These users can add to or modify all data sources, except security and maintenance. Access rights may be assigned for individuals by data source. For example, a user could have Report/Modify rights for the Employees Data Source only, but Report-Only rights for all other data sources. In addition, Deltek CRM and Proposal s record security allows you to restrict access for each user to groups of records in the database. For example, you may want to restrict access for a specific user to only those client records where the client type field equals Health Care. Rights can be modified in the Security Utility to reflect the exact requirements of your company. CREATING CUSTOM TABS AND FIELDS Deltek CRM and Proposals includes a feature that allows you to create your own tabs and add custom fields in any area of the database without having to do any programming. The new Tab Wizard guides you through the process and lets you define your own set of custom fields for each tab that you create. Tabs can include individual custom fields or grid-style columns of fields for entry of unlimited rows of information for each record. During your planning process, you will need to determine what type of additional information you may need to store in Deltek CRM and Proposal s database and how those additional pieces of information should be grouped within the program. 12

13 GLOBAL SCREEN SETTINGS AND VIEW MANAGER The new View Manager provides the Deltek CRM and Proposals administrator with the power to create custom views of each Deltek CRM and Proposals database screen, including hiding fields and tabs from end users, relabeling fields and tabs, and reordering tabs on the screen. This feature allows you to create a database environment in which you have complete control over the way users view information in Deltek CRM and Proposals. The View Manager will be a critical feature that needs to be addressed in your Deltek CRM and Proposals implementation and planning process. Discuss each Deltek CRM and Proposals database areas and make decisions on how the database should look to your end users, including examining the following questions: Which of the Deltek CRM and Proposals fields/tabs will not be used? Which fields/tabs need to be relabeled in order to make the use of the field more clear to your users? In what order should the tabs on the database screen appear? RESOURCES AVAILABLE OR NEEDED FOR IMPLEMENTATION Is there a person available to be the Deltek CRM and Proposals Enforcer (the individual responsible for enforcing standards, seeing that target dates are met, collecting information from other firm members, organizing data, etc.)? Who are the contacts from Accounting and Human Resources? Who is available for data entry? What role will key managers play? Who is the Lead-Tracking Enforcer? Are you planning to populate the Deltek CRM and Proposals database using the Deltek CRM and Proposals Web Interface? Will new staff need to be added to the marketing department in order to implement Deltek CRM and Proposals? Will temporary help be added? Who will supervise temporaries? Will implementation be accomplished with your current staff? If so, how much time can they dedicate to Deltek CRM and Proposal s implementation? These staffing questions need to be addressed before you can establish a phased plan for implementation. DEVELOP A PHASING PLAN How will the program be implemented? There are several approaches to implementation that are based on data requirements, proposal requirements, or office requirements. What are the immediate, near-term, and long-term goals of the system? Which data sources will be included in Phase I, II, III, etc.? Which office(s) will be included in Phase I, II, and III? When will Lead Tracking be incorporated? What level of records will be included in each Phase? What level of detail for each record will be included in each Phase? 13

14 Develop a Phasing Plan (including schedule and personnel responsible), and identify Phase Deliverables. Establish a Style and Standards Manual. Based on the forgoing, develop a style and standards guide that will detail how the system is being used and maintained. This manual should include Standards and Conventions for Data Sources; Code Table Values; Style Guidelines for Fields and Text; Data-Entry Plan; Phasing Plan; Maintenance Plan; Quality-Control Procedures. Essentially, record everything discussed, and document the results. This will ensure that guidelines for every step of the process are available to anyone at any time. Establish Target Dates for Phase I and II. Develop a System Maintenance Plan. Which users will be assigned to the update and maintenance tasks? Establish a maintenance schedule for each data source. Develop standards for archiving or deleting or de-activating records. Who is responsible for backing up the data, and how often will it be backed up? (THIS MAY BE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT DECISION. In the beginning when large volumes of data are being entered, backup may be scheduled hourly.) Establish Quality-Control Procedures. Who will be responsible for validating the data to be entered and data once it is entered? Develop a schedule for validating data entered into the system. Develop reports for checking data entry for consistency and accuracy. Who will be responsible for enforcing standards for lead-tracking data? Develop Templates, Style Sheets, and Reports. Identify what modifications need to be made to the SF255/254 templates to meet your unique needs (adding graphics, formats for Item 8, etc.). Identify the requirements for stylesheet designs based on the firm s unique image for private-sector proposals. Decide on standard reports for information review and analysis and lead tracking. Assign these tasks and put target dates on them. 14

15 Getting Started with Data Entry The following suggestions are a recommended order for data entry. By following this plan, the data entry will be streamlined. However, it is not imperative that this outline be followed. Begin wherever you prefer; however, extra work may be created by so doing. Before you begin you should learn to use the on-line context-sensitive help. You may wish to supplement (annotate) the on-line help to include your firm s unique style and formatting standards. Data-Entry Priorities: Following previously developed standards: Set up the security system. Populate the code tables. Enter the firm s locations in the Company Data Source. Enter and/or import existing and prospective clients with contacts in the Clients Data Source. Enter and/or import employee names, location, and primary discipline in the Employees Data Source. Populate the balance of your data for Phase I in any order your prefer. 15