By now we’ve all heard that old adage- content is the king. In the context of sales proposals, it really is. The higher quality of your content the efficient your responses will be. 

Like many of us, you probably have reused old proposal content as a starting point for the new ones. Searching through the documents to find the content that “fits” is like finding a needle in a haystack. This process is though familiar and common but is never as quick and easy as we hope nor it is 100% reliable. 

In one of our previous articles, we shared the advantages of using proposal templates, like how proposal templates give you a pre-built structure and ensure that you don’t have to spend your time digging and designing another one from the top. All you need to do is enter your necessary business information, incorporate whatever details you need and you are good to go on a successful path.

Now let’s talk about the content library- the hub of your entire sales proposal process. 

What is a content library?

The content library is the heart and soul of your proposal process. Without one your team lacks quick access to key information that fuels the chaotic operation of sales proposal creation. 

It is the central place that everyone on your team can access to find everything they need to build a proposal; right from product or service descriptions to bios, fee tables, proposal sections, images, videos, snippets, or any other pieces of content that don’t really change from each proposal to proposal.

What type of content can you store in a content library?

The type of assets you store in your content library varies from organization to organization but there are common pieces that are worthy of considerations. Here’s a rundown of those common pieces,

Company description

You can store multiple versions of company descriptions and ensure consistency across all the sales proposals.

Proposal contents

Most of the content used in your proposal can be classified as long-term content although some may require regular attention such as product specifications.

Case studies

Case study is one of the most powerful content materials in the sales proposal. So you can store multiple evidence-based materials in the form of case studies and testimonials to suit all occasions. 

Product/service information

Storing this information in a centralized place makes the process of managing and updating far easier when necessary.

Proposal sections

Storing proposal sections gives you an opportunity to reuse the frequently used proposal sections such as about us/why us, fees/investment tables.

Fee table

Storing the fee table in the content library will spare you from building the new one each time when you send out a sales proposal.

Images and videos

Instead of digging through dozens of images and videos every time you need one, you can store and reuse images and videos in different proposals and templates.

Using Fresh Proposals Centralized Content Library

To access your content library in Fresh Proposals click the book button on the left side of the menu bar that says “Content Library”. 

From there you can upload your contents into any of five categories: section, fee, snippets, images, and videos.

Section Library

Sections Library is your centrally located, go-to place for managing proposal content. You can reuse sections in the content library in different proposals and templates.

To add a section to your library you can do the following:

1. To create a new section in the section library

• Go to the content library> section and click on the “+” button

• Name your section 

• Fill out the section with copy, images, infographics, or videos.
• Once done click on the green save button on the top left corner.

2. To save an existing section from the proposal or template to the section library

• Open a proposal or template
• Click on the desired section name in the list of sections (left side panel).
• By clicking on the section name in the left side panel will show you its details on the right-side panel. 
• You will also notice Save to library and Import from library buttons in the same panel. 
• Click on the “Save to library”

3. To import a section to a proposal from the section library

• Open a proposal or template
• Click on the desired section name in the list of sections (left side panel).
• By clicking on the section name in the left side panel will show you its details on the right-side panel. 
• You will also notice Save to library and Import from library buttons in the same panel. 
• Click on Import from the Section Library button to get content of the same section from the section library. This action will replace content in the current section with that available in the same section in the section library. 

Fees Library

Fees Library is your centrally located, go-to place for managing Fees you add/upload to your Fresh Proposals account. You can reuse Fee items in the Fees Library in different proposals and templates. 

There are two ways to manage Fees Library

• You can add/create Fee items directly in the Fees library
• In a given proposal or template, you can add fees tables, and fees added to the table can be saved/exported to the Fees library.

1. Add fees in the fees library

• Click on the Content Library left side menu bar and then click on the Fee tab on the top side of the page. 

• Click on the image to create a new fee
• Add title, description, price, quantity, and type

2. Import fees in a given proposal 

• Open a proposal or template
• Click on the desired section name “budget” in the list of sections (left side panel).
• Click on the fees table and now you will see the Fees table properties on the right-side panel.
• Click on any row of the pricing table and it will show options on its right side as shown below. 

• To import Fee items from the Fees Library hover your mouse and click on the third button “Import Fee”.
• It will start showing you a list of Fees items available in Fees Library (in the right-side panel)
• Click through the checkbox for the fees item you want to add to your current pricing table and click on the Add button seen on the same panel.

3. Export fees from a proposal

• Open a proposal or template
• Click on the desired section name “budget” in the list of sections (left side panel).
• Click on the fees table and now you will see the Fees table properties on the right-side panel.
• Click on any row of the pricing table and it will show options on its right side as shown below. 
• To export Fee items to the Fees Library hover your mouse and click on the fourth button “Export Fee”.
• Clicking on this button will save the current fee item to Fees Library. 

Snippets Library

This is a clipboard kind of a feature that allows you to save content block(s) that you’d like to reuse. It is a mini-version of page copy or section copy. 

The best part is, once a content block (shape, image, fees table, text box) is added to a snippet it can be used in the same proposal, or different proposal or same template or different templates; even by other team members.

1. Add elements to snippet

• Open a proposal or template
• Right-click on the textbox, shape, image and you will see an option to Add to Snippet.
• Once the content element is added to the snippet you will find it in the Snippet Gallery in the editor

2. Accessing snippet gallery/using the snippet from the gallery in a proposal

• Open a proposal or template
• You can drag-drop desired snippets to a given page in the proposal/template editor.

3. Manage Snippets Library

• Click on the Content Library left side menu bar and then click on the Snippets tab on the top side on the page.
• You can manage items in snippet library similar to Image/ Video Library

Images Library

Image Library is your centrally located, go-to place for managing images you upload to your Fresh Proposals account. You can reuse images in the image library in different proposals and templates. It gives you the opportunity to manage – upload, delete images.

There are two ways to manage Image Library

• You can upload an image directly to the image library
• In a given proposal or template, you can upload the desired image and it will be added to the image library.

1. Upload image in the Image Library

• Inside the proposal/template/ section library editor, once you click on the Image icon in the toolbar on the right side you will see a list of images and options to upload new images. 
• Once you upload a new image here, it will be automatically added to your image library. 

2. Delete/ View Images in Image Library

• To view or delete an image from your image library, hover the mouse on the image, you will see an option to view/ delete an image. View is basically to see the image bigger than thumbnail size.
• To delete multiple images, use the checkbox shown above the image thumbnail, you will see the Delete Multiple button on the top side.

Videos Library

Video Library is your centrally located, go-to place for managing videos you upload to your Fresh Proposals account. You can reuse videos in the videos library in different proposals and templates. It gives you the opportunity to manage – upload, delete videos.

There are two ways to manage video Library

• You can upload video directly in the video library
• In a given proposal or template, you can upload the desired video and it will be added to the video library.

1. Upload video in the Video Library

• Inside the proposal/template/ section library editor, once you click on the Video icon in the toolbar on the right side you can paste a URL of a video you want to upload.
• Once you upload a new video here, it will be automatically added to your Video library.

2. Delete/ View video in Video Library

• To view or delete a video from your video library, hover the mouse on the video, you will see an option to view/ delete a video. View is basically to see the video bigger than thumbnail size.