Preview & Send Proposals to Customers

Learn to preview & send new Proposals to customers in either Invoice view or Approval view.

Preview Before Sending

When you are ready to email your Proposal to the customer, you will be given the choice of sending it as an Invoice or as an Approval for the customer experience.

To preview the Proposal in either of these customer views:

1. Open the Proposal details by clicking on the Proposal ID number
2. Click on the 3 dot options menu icon in the top right
3. Choose "Customer View"

Preview as Invoice

Invoice view will display the Proposal as a simple, yet modern-looking invoice that the customer can make a payment on right away. The customer can see the $ amounts that are due for the Proposal at the top, they can see all of the line items clearly listed below, and finally they can see the Proposal summary at the bottom. With Invoice view, the customer also has an option to download the Proposal as a PDF or Print the Proposal for their records.

Invoice view does not require approval from the customer. The Proposal has the appearance of a standard invoice that is ready for payment:

Preview as Quote

The Quote will offer the same functionality as an Invoice, but will replace all instances of the term 'Invoice' with 'Quote'.

Preview as Approval

Approval view requires that the customer approve the Proposal first. They can also add a payment if you are requiring it at this time. Approval view gives the customer an option to comment on the Proposal, and the salesperson can comment back and have an ongoing communication with the customer. The Proposal appearance in Approval view is also enhanced and is better suited for pitching and presenting the job to potential clients.

When the customer first clicks on the link to the Proposal, they will see a page showing the basic Proposal info on the left with an option to "View Proposal". On the right, they will see a tiled image showing the art or first product in the Proposal, and the dominant color for the art or product will be sampled to be used as an overlay - This is a nice visual element that gives the customer experience a special touch from the very start!

The customer can click on the phone icon or send icon to call or email their salesperson if they need to - but then they can click on "View Proposal" to view all of the Proposal details and take further action.

The next screen will show them the Proposal info, along with options to Comment, Call, Email, and "APPROVE & PAY". Below they can see a list of all the line items, with options to view more details for each one - and finally, they will see the Proposal summary and another option to Approve & Pay. This view is also enhanced so it's visually more appealing and a better option for presenting the job in your Proposal:

View Details

Your customer will also be able to click "View Details", which will take them to a product page. Here they can see more of the product info, and they will also have the ability to zoom in on the product and design:

NOTE: When using the Customer View in either Invoice or Approval view, you can choose to copy the url or web address for that Proposal(from the top of the browser page). This will be a customer-facing web address that you can then send manually in an email outside of InkSoft if needed!

You can also grab the shareable link from within the admin view of the proposal. Click on the 3-dot options menu to see this option:

Send the Proposal

Once you are done previewing the Proposal, you can send it to the customer:

1. Click on the send icon in the top right part of the Proposal
2. Choose "Send as Approval", "Send as Quote", or "Send as Invoice"
3. You can choose to customize the Email Subject and Body before sending (the email will also contain a link to the Proposal itself)
4. You can now cc additional email addresses when sending the Approval/Invoice 

Note: This email can be customized every time you are sending a Proposal, but you can also set up a default email message in the Preferences view.

Approving & Paying for the Proposal

When the customer clicks on Approve & Pay, they will be taken step-by-step through the process of making a credit card payment on the Proposal, then typing in their name in order to e-sign and approve the Proposal and approval terms. After entering all of their information, they will click on "Submit Approval":

After submitting the approval, the customer will receive a Thank You message screen as well as an email confirming their approval and payment of the Proposal.

The Proposal will then automatically move from the "In Progress" stage to the "Done" stage, and an Order for that Proposal will be generated in your Order Manager. The Proposal's journey is now complete!

Note: If the Proposal's Payment Terms are set up to require payment at a later time, the customer email that is received after approving the Proposal will have information about this and an option to add that payment when due. That payment would then show up on the newly generated Order, not the Proposal.