IIPM

Indian Institute of Planning and Management

Sales Management

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

Module Leader : Prof. Virat Bahri

Submitted by : Vishal Bhatia, 59

Kishore Singh, 25
M.K Vignesh, 56

Date : 5 February 2009

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We as a group would like to thank:

 Prof. Virat Bahri

Module Leader
IIPM

For providing us the appropriate guidance and vital information regarding various
aspects relating to sales management which has enhanced our knowledge on this
subject and will prove to be fruitful in the future.
 SUMMARY

The assignment covers various aspects relating to sales management. The

report focuses on a software company and it’s working especially focusing on
the sales department of the particular company. The company name is
“Nucleus Software” and is situated in Noida. In addition the report also
focuses on various actions which the company takes in order to obtain a
project from its customers.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Objectives.......................................................................................5
2 Scope..............................................................................................5
3 References......................................................................................5
4 Outstanding Issues.........................................................................6
5 Approvals........................................................................................6
6 Responsibilities...............................................................................6
7 Inputs............................................................................................10
8 Outputs.........................................................................................11
9 Control Mechanisms......................................................................11
10 Procedure Steps..........................................................................11
11 Notes...........................................................................................24
12. Associated Forms and Templates..............................................31
1 Objectives

This process defines the steps for:

1.1 Preparing and submitting a proposal to the Customer

1.2 Raising a project internally once the contract is bagged by Nucleus

It aims:

 To ensure that all commitments made to the customer are recorded

and are available to all internal stakeholders (BDG, Delivery team(s),
PMG, QA, MDO) so as to minimize the gaps and impart a common
understanding to all concerned.

 To ensure a smooth ‘handover’ and ‘commitment’ between BDG and

Delivery team(s), by defining various activities, responsibilities and
control mechanisms.

 To ensure creation of Project in Whizible and maintaining all changes

to the Proposal and Projects due to scope change.

2 Scope

1.3 This process applies to all proposals (including ATS, RFCs) sent to the
customer by Nucleus

1.4 This process covers all stages from the time of proposal making to the
time when the project is initiated on Whizible

1.5 This process does not apply to projects undertaken by Nucleus Software
for Shinsei Bank

1.6 This process does not apply to projects of Professional Services nature

3 References

1.7 Estimation and Scheduling Procedure

1.8 Configuration Management Procedure

1.9 Project Planning Process

1.10 PMG Procedure

4 Outstanding Issues

None

5 Approvals

SEPG Head

6 Responsibilities

1.11 SSG Member

 Call for and facilitate Proposal Kick-off Meeting with the internal
stakeholders

 Call for and facilitate Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting with the
internal stakeholders as soon as order from the Customer is received

 Call for and facilitate Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting with the
internal stakeholders as soon as Gaps Document is signed off with
the Customer

 Receive inputs, feedback and approvals on the proposal and Binders

from all concerned parties – Account Manager, Delivery, PMG,
Alliance Management, QA, Finance and MDO

 Liaison with vendor(s) for subcontracting any part of the project

 Draft the proposal after collating the technical, functional and

commercial information from various concerned groups / individuals

 Fill the Proposal Binder (Commercials Sheet, Account Summary

Sheet)

 Facilitate intervention meetings among internal Stakeholders to plug

out any differences and resolve any pending issues

 Escalate issues or delays as per the Escalation Matrix

 Take necessary approvals for any deviations from the process, from
Head Corporate Affairs / PMG Head / BDG Head / Global Delivery
Head / MDO and SEPG (as applicable)

 Ensure final proposal is baselined in the Corporate Library

 Prepare and publish the Weekly SSG Report for Proposals submitted
/ in pipeline, PIs raised, Temporary PIs raised
  Revise the proposal based on Account Manager’s directions and
take internal approvals

 Ensure that project is created on Whizible by the Project Initiation

Team after all internal approvals

 Share the Proposal Binders and Project Creation details with BDG,
Delivery, PMG, Finance and MDO

 Share the proposal and related documents (Binders, MoMs, Mails,

etc.) with the Project Manager once the project is created

1.12 Account Manager

 Administer Prospect Assessment Worksheet(PAW)

 Fill Sales Sheet of the Proposal Binder

 Fill sections of the proposal which act as inputs to the Kick-off

meetings

o Basis of Proposal, Pre-Sales Activities

o Customer’s Current Setup
o Business Case and Customer Value Proposition
o Risks and Assumptions

 Participate with SSG in finalizing the commercials for the proposal

 Communicate the commitments made to the Customer to all internal

stakeholders

 Handover all key information relevant for drafting the proposal to

SSG

 Participate in Intervention Meetings with Delivery to plug out any

differences identified during BDG-Delivery Handover

 Share all relevant interactions of negotiations with the Customer with

internal stakeholders in form of MoMs, Mails, etc.

 Organize Scope Vetting workshop with the customer

 Direct the SSG to revise the proposal based on changed

commitments to Customer and share the internally approved revised
proposal with the Customer

 Participate in Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting called by SSG and

convey all key commitments (scope, deliverables, delivery timelines,
 effort, freebies, commercials, etc.) made to the Customer to all
internal stakeholders
 Apprise the internal stakeholders of any specific customer
requirements, show-stoppers, risks and assumptions

 Coordinate with Project Manager (for project’s milestone

achievement) and Finance for raising invoice to the Customer at
agreed milestones (as per the Order Confirmatory Advice)

1.13 Member - PMG

 Participate in Proposal Kick-off meetings to analyze the feasibility of

customer requirements and commit on proposal timelines

 Participate in Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting called by SSG to

understand the customer commitments (in terms of project’s scope,
deliverables, delivery timelines, effort, etc.)

 Participate in Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting called by SSG and

convey key details of the Gap Study conducted with the Customer, to
internal stakeholders, as applicable

 Prepare responses to RFPs

 Provide size, effort and schedule estimates, as required, within

committed timelines

1.14 Project Manager - Technical Team

 Participate in Proposal Kick-off meetings to analyze the feasibility of

customer requirements and commit on proposal timelines

 Participate in Knowledge Sharing sessions called by SSG to

understand the customer commitments (in terms of project’s scope,
deliverables, delivery timelines, effort, etc.)

 Participate in Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting called by SSG and

convey key details of the Gap Study conducted with the Customer, to
internal stakeholders

 Provide size, effort and schedule estimates, as required, within

committed timelines

 Provide the technical response to the proposal

 Verify the complete (Functional and Technical) RFP filled by PMG

 Identify the Risks and Assumptions for the proposal and plan for
contingencies and mitigation
  Provide size, effort and schedule estimates, as required, within
committed timelines
 Fill the Proposal Binder (Delivery section)

 Participate in Intervention Meetings with BDG to plug out any

differences on the HI and CI values

 Verify revisions to proposal and commitments made during

negotiations with Customer

 Seek clarifications from Account Manager on any customer

commitments made

 Follow up with SSG for project’s creation on Whizible and seek

details of the project (name, code, etc.) once it is created

 Share Project’s Progress Report with the Customer on agreed

frequency

 Follow up with Account Manager to ensure that invoice is raised to

the Customer at appropriate times

1.15 Member - Corporate Team (MDO)

 Generate and provide Proposal Reference Code to SSG member

1.16 Head - Business Development Group

 Review and approve the proposal before it is sent to the customer

 Review and approve the Proposal Binder including OI

 Review and approve raising of a temporary PI

1.17 Head – Delivery, or IBU Head

 Assign delivery resources for the Scope vetting workshop

 Review and approve the proposal including the Manpower Effort

against the Total Estimated Effort, size, schedule estimates and risk
analysis and assumptions

 Review and approve the Proposal Binder covering OI

 Review and approve raising of a temporary PI

1.18 Project Initiation (PI) Team

  Review the proposal for compliance with NSSP guidelines before it is
sent to the customer

 Check for completeness of information, supporting documents and

necessary approvals before initiating the project on Whizible

 Initiate project on Whizible

 Prepare and publish the PI Register

1.19 BDG QAR

 Audit the BDG & PI Team as per the Audit strategy.

1.20 Head - Corporate Affairs

 Approve initiation of project on WSEM by verifying completeness of

all necessary information, documents and approvals

1.21 CFO

 Review and approve the Operating Income calculations before the

proposal is sent to the customer, as per defined criteria

7 Inputs

1.22 RFP or any other Requirements Document

1.23 Template for proposal (specific to the category of the proposal, viz.
product, development project, enhancement project, etc.)

1.24 Base-lined Product Write-ups and other product documents (viz.

technology document, detailed functional write-up, etc.)

1.25 Base-lined Standard Product Price-list

1.26 Proposal Binder Templates

1.27 PAW updated with response from customer

1.28 First level Gap analysis (if any, as carried out by Customer)

1.29 All documents - MoMs, E-Mails, Faxes - containing customer

communications

1.30 Purchase Order / Work Order / Letter of Interest (LOI) - in case of project
initiation
1.31 Weekly SSG Report

8 Outputs

1.32 Proposal Document

1.33 Updated PAW
1.34 Workshop presentation (Final version)
1.35 Operating Income margins (Account Summary Sheet)
1.36 Project Initiation on Whizible
1.37 PI Register
1.38 SSG Report

9 Control Mechanisms

1.39 Project scope validated with customer by Delivery team during the
Scope Vetting workshop

1.40 Size, Effort, Schedule estimates and Risk Analysis (with Mitigation /
Contingency Plans) are validated and agreed upon by the Delivery Head
before the proposal is sent to the customer

1.41 Price estimates are approved by the BDG Head before the proposal is
sent to the customer

1.42 Operating Income calculations are approved by the CFO / MD (based on

criteria defined in the procedure) before the proposal is sent to the
customer

1.43 The proposal (along with the Proposal Binder) is reviewed and approved
by the PI Team before the proposal is sent to the customer

1.44 Any deviation from the process by the Delivery or BDG team is obtained
by the SSG Member as per the Project Lifecycle and Tailoring
Guidelines

10 Procedure Steps

1.45 Pre Sales

The activities to be performed during the initial stages of presales are

identified below:

1.45.1 BDG Head / Account Managers identify potential clients like Banks,
Financial Institutions, Mutual Funds, Insurance Co.’s, Depository
Participants, Software Co.’s as Business Alliance Partners etc.
1.45.2 The BDG System is updated with all customer interactions etc. The
Account Manager is responsible for obtaining the requirements of the
Product or Project or customizations/ enhancements, to start the
estimation and proposal cycle.

1.45.3 The Account Manager shares the Prospect Assessment Worksheet

(PAW) Questionnaire with the Customer and requests for a response
before Nucleus submits the proposal to the Customer. Alternatively, the
Account Manager, during his interactions with the Customer elicits
responses to various questions in the PAW Questionnaire, collates the
responses and shares the same with SSG. The concerned SSG
member shares this information with the stakeholders during the
proposal making process to use it while responding to the RFP and
compiling the proposal.

1.45.4 The Prospect Assessment Worksheet (PAW) is segregated into two

sections: Functional and Non-functional requirements. The objective of
PAW is to extract information from the customer on his current and
expected set up and requirements such as business functionality,
interfacing, reporting, security, performance, migration, architecture,
deliverables, training, change management, documentation, etc. This
information will help Nucleus in anticipating and understanding
customer’s requirements and appropriately responding to RFP.

1.45.5 Account Manager along with identified team member from

PMG/PDG/Delivery can record the customer Business requirements
using Understanding Document Template It is recommended to obtain
a sign off on the Understanding Document from customer. A mail
approval for the same is acceptable.

1.46 Proposal Making

The process of Proposal Making entails the following activities:

1.46.1 The Account Manager, after getting the customer requirements, in form
of RFP, Tender Document, Prospect Assessment Worksheet, etc.
sends the same to the SSG Member, by raising a request on SSG
Helpdesk on Whizible, to initiate the Proposal Kick-off Meeting. The
Account Manager also fills in the following information and sends the
same to the SSG Member along with the other set of documents.

 Sales Sheet of the Proposal Binder

 Proposal Basis
 Pre-Sales Activities (attaching those Minutes of Meetings
and Customer interaction mails, which impact any key
items in the proposal, viz. Scope, Schedule, Effort,
Commercials, etc.)
  Customer’s Business Process and Current Setup as
captured in PAW
 Business Case
 Customer Value Proposition

The last five items in the above list are sections in the standard
proposal template.

• For any kind of support provided by Nucleus on third party tool (eg.
Oracle), the proposal is submitted as per Template - Third Party
Product Sale Proposal. This proposal is to be reviewed approved by
the ISS Head (if ISS team is providing the support) along with the
Delivery IBU.

• In case of support projects Annual Technical Support (ATS)

Template is used.

1.46.2 The SSG Member, in order to uniquely identify a proposal sent to the
Customer, shares information about the proposal (Customer Name,
Region) with Corporate team and gets a unique Proposal Reference
Number. For any addendum/additional document sent to the customer
for an existing proposal, the SSG member updates the original
Proposal Reference Number as per the nomenclature explained under
“Notes - Point No: 20”

1.46.3 The SSG Member calls for a Proposal Kick-off meeting to initiate work
on responding to an RFP / Tender or preparing a proposal. S/he shares
all the documents and information received from the Account Manager
with all the desired attendees while calling them for the meeting. Apart
from this, the SSG Member also collects MoM and Customer Feedback
pertaining to any Product Demonstrations / Proof of Concept held with
the Customer by WTC/BDG members. These documents also form
inputs to the Proposal Kick-off meeting.

1.46.4 Attendees for the Proposal Kick-off meeting are:

 PMG Member
 Delivery IBU Head(s) (or in their absence, the Project
Manager(s)) (Refer to “Notes - No. 19” to identify the
Delivery IBU responsible for filling in the RFP)
 PI Team Member
 Technology Office Representative
 Account Manager (if present locally, else on call)

1.46.5 Agenda for the Proposal Kick-off Meeting:

 Presentation of the items listed under section 10.1.1,

10.1.2, and MoM and Customer Feedback pertaining to
 Product Demonstrations / Proof of Concept, by the SSG
Member
 Conveying priority of the proposal to the attendees
 Analyzing the feasibility of delivering the customer
requirements, jointly by the PMG Member and the Project
Manager, and, if applicable, listing down all products and
modules with their versions
 Working out an approach and gaining commitment on the
timelines for various activities involved in submitting the
proposal
 Identifying inter-group and external dependencies to be
met for submitting the proposal
 Identifying liasoning with any third party (to act as a Joint
Venture or member of a Consortium, etc.) for any kind of
sub-contracting on the scope of work pertaining to the
customer requirements
 Any other items relevant to submission of the proposal
within the given timelines

1.46.6 After completion of the Proposal Kick-off meeting, the SSG member
circulates the Minutes of the Meeting to all the stakeholders:

 Attendees and absentees (PMG Member, Account

Manager, Project Manager(s), PI Team , Technology
Office Representative)
 BDG Head
 PMG Head
 IBU Head(s)
 Head Corporate Affairs
 MDO

The minutes must cover items, including but not limited to the ones
mentioned under section 10.2.5.

NOTE: Having agreed to attend the meeting, if a certain group is not

represented in the Proposal Kick-off, their commitments on the items
discussed and agreed in the meeting would be deemed by the other
attendees.

1.46.7 The SSG Member sends the Proposal Binder to the Technical Team to
fill in the Delivery Sheet / section.

NOTE: No changes in this Sales sheet of the Binder which may impact
delivery commitments must be made, once it is sent to the Delivery.
Any changes required can be made only after prior information to the
Technical Team.

1.46.8 Simultaneously, the SSG Manager (in consultation with the Account
Manager) starts liasoning with other Vendor(s) or Partners for any kind
 of sub-contracting to be done on the proposal (along with defining the
roles that would be played by the vendor / partner / Nucleus in the
contract), and ensures timely receipt of all required information from
them for the proposal.

1.46.9The PMG member engages one or more resources on the proposal to

draft the functional part of the response, where the updated PAW from
Account Manager becomes one of the major inputs. The PMG Member
also prepares an estimate of size, effort, schedule and resource as per
Estimation and Scheduling Procedure (in consultation of the Delivery
team, if required)

1.46.10The IBU Head similarly engages resource(s) to work on the technical

part of the proposal and ensures its delivery to the SSG Member within
the agreed timelines. For responding to the technical part of the
proposal, technical resource refers to the PAW shared by the Account
Manager

1.46.11The Project Manager (technical team) also fills in the ‘Delivery’ part of
the Proposal Binder and sends the same to the SSG Member.

1.46.12The SSG Member, after getting inputs from the Technical Team and
PMG, prepares the commercial part (price and cost estimates) of the
proposal, based on estimates and standard price list, if applicable
(consulting the Account Manager and the BDG Head as required). In
case of product implementation the Standard Product Price List is used
as a standard for quoting.

NOTE: The Account Manager can give a maximum discount of 5% on

the estimated price. For any further discounts up to a maximum of 50%
the approval of BDG Head is required. Beyond 50% the approval of
Managing Director is required. Unlimited User License Proposals
requires Managing Director approval

1.46.13The SSG Member collates all information received from various

parties (technical team, PMG, third party - whichever applicable) and
drafts the proposal following the relevant NSSP templates (product
proposal template, project proposal template, etc.) and NSSP
guidelines.

1.46.14The SSG Member also fills in the ‘Commercials’ part of the Proposal
Binder and the Account Summary Sheet, in order to determine the
Operating Income for the proposal.

1.46.15The SSG Member sends a copy of the proposal drafted along with the
Proposal Binder to the Delivery IBU Head(s), BDG Head and PMG
Head (in case of any PMG investments), keeping the PI Team in the
loop, for their reviews and approvals. The review comments are sent to
the SSG Member on mail based on which the SSG Member makes
necessary modifications and takes a final approval from them.
1.46.16The SSG Member also gets the Operating Income figures reviewed
and validated by various stakeholders before sending the proposal to
the PI Team for review, following the criteria defined under “Notes -
Point number 16”.

1.46.17The SSG Member sends the approved copy of the proposal along with
the PAW to the PI Team along with the following documents for review:
Proposal Binder, all approval e-mails (if any) and any customer
communication documented. All such documents are also marked to
the other parties (viz. Technical Team, PMG) who may revert to the
SSG Member in case they find any discrepancies.

1.46.18The PI Team member reviews the proposal for compliance with NSSP
guidelines as well as the Proposal Binder to ensure adequacy,
coverage against the PAW and consistency of data in the two
(Proposal & Proposal Binder). The PI Team member sends the
feedback on the Proposal and Proposal Binder to the SSG Member
who incorporates the necessary changes as per the feedback received
(and wherever required seeks inputs from the Technical Team and
PMG) and gets the final approval from the PI Team member.

1.46.19The SSG Member sends the internally approved proposal to the

Account Manager and one of the two (as instructed by the Account
Manager), send it to the Customer, as per the customer’s prescribed
mailing formats / guidelines, if any, keeping Head Corporate Affairs in
loop. In case Head Corporate Affairs is not kept in loop Account
Manager needs to forward the mail separately to Head Corporate
Affairs or PI Team member for Baselining.

1.46.20The PI Team member checks-in the following documents (with all

approvals) into the Corporate Library:

 Approved Proposal sent to the customer

 Approved Proposal Binder

This will be treated as the final proposal, which was sent to the
customer at the end of the proposal-making stage.

1.46.21If there are any requirement changes before the proposal is baselined
then these are maintained in proposal revisions in the BDG system. No
specific list of changes is maintained.

1.46.22If the changes are received after the proposal is baselined, Account
Manager through SSG coordinates with relevant stakeholders and
handles these changes in the requirements as per the Configuration
Management Procedure. The Account Manager handles all billing and
chargeable issues with the client.

1.46.23Updated Proposal is baselined by PI Team member

1.47 Customer Feedback on Proposal Acceptance

Once the proposal has been accepted by the customer the

following activities may take place:

1.47.1 The Account Manager follows-up with the Customer for obtaining a
feedback on the proposal sent.

1.47.2 The Customer conveys his feedback on the proposal (may be based
on the above analysis) via e-mail, fax, personal meeting, etc.

1.47.3 For those cases where the probability of bagging the order from
Customer is high (based on the assessment made by the Account
Manager), the Account Manager schedules a workshop with the
Customer

1.48 Customer Workshop

Objective and process involved in conducting the workshop are

detailed below:

1.48.1 The objective of the workshop is to convey Nucleus’ understanding of

Customer requirements to the Customer. The outcome of the workshop
is a mutual agreement between Nucleus and Customer on scope,
schedule, effort and any other key parameter of the potential contract
that the customer may offer to Nucleus in the near future. Commercial
implications, if any, due to revision to scope, schedule, effort etc. are
discussed by the Account Manager post the workshop. Based on the
agreements reached, the Account Manager updates the Workshop
Presentation and shares it with all stakeholders including the
Customer.

1.48.2 The workshop is conducted at an appropriate stage before Customer

has given the contract to Nucleus. The timing of the workshop is based
such that it is neither too early in the sales cycle wherein scope and
commitments of the potential contract may vary substantially after the
workshop, nor is it too late such that all commitments have already
been made to the customer and cannot be discussed for any change.

1.48.3 The workshop is attended by the Account Manager, representatives

from Delivery team, PMG, ISS, PI, and QA (on need basis).

1.48.4 Prospect Assessment Worksheet filled in by the Customer at earlier

stages forms an input to the workshop. Any questions left unanswered
 in the worksheet are taken up for discussion by Nucleus team during
the workshop.

1.48.5 If the workshop uncovers any change in scope which impacts key
parameters (Scope, Schedule, Commercials, etc.), the Account
Manager prepares minutes of the meeting, gets the same reviewed by
the Project Manager or PMG member (as required), and publishes the
minutes to all concerned parties including the Customer. For recording
and tracking the minutes of the meeting, the Template - Minutes of
Meeting is used.

1.48.6 Meanwhile, on instructions of the Account Manager, the SSG Member

asks the Technical Team for any revised estimates (of schedule, effort,
etc.) in line with the discussions held with the Customer.

1.48.7 The SSG Member documents all such revisions to the original
proposal, in consultation with various parties (Delivery, PMG) and takes
approvals from the Delivery Head, BDG Head and PMG (if necessary)
on this revised proposal.

1.48.8 The SSG Member or the Account Manager sends the above revised
proposal along with the original proposal to the Customer for his final
approval and requests for a formal letter of contract.

1.48.9 Simultaneously, the SSG Member sends a copy of the revised proposal
and the Proposal Binder (with all approvals) to the PI Team member to
be base-lined in the Corporate Library. This would act as the final
proposal which was sent to the Customer based on which the order
was bagged.

1.49 Internal Workshop

Prior to holding the Customer Workshop, the Account Manager calls for
an internal workshop:

1.49.1 The objective of this internal workshop is to achieve a common

understanding of Nucleus’ commitments to customer among all internal
stakeholders by jointly ratifying all key parameters (response to RFP,
scope, schedule, effort, etc.)

1.49.2 Attendees of this workshop apart from the Account Manager are:
representatives from Delivery team (IBU Head / Project Manager),
PMG, ISS, PI Team, and HR

1.49.3 Inputs to the workshop are: any key minutes of customer interaction,
latest response to RFP and updated PAW

1.49.4 Outputs of the workshop are: joint ratification of response to RFP,

scope, schedule and effort by all stakeholders
1.50 Proposal Signoff and Project Initiation

Once the proposal has been accepted by the customer the following
activities may take place:

1.50.1 The Customer may chose to perform a high level gap analysis based
on his requirements, Scope vetting workshop conducted and the
proposal received from Nucleus

1.50.2 The Account Manager, on receiving the formal Contract Letter /

Purchase Order (PO) from the Customer, reconciles the contents of the
PO with those of the final proposal (revised proposal, if any) on which
the order was bagged. For this, he would refer to the copy of the
proposal base-lined in the Corporate Library (mentioned in section
10.4.9). If there is any mis-match found between the two, the Account
Manager records the points of mis-match and clarifies and resolves the
same with the Customer (in consultation with the BDG Head and
Delivery Head if required, by sharing the document containing the
points of mis-match) before initiating the process of Project Initiation
(PI).

1.50.3 On reconciliation of the PO with the final proposal (as explained

above), the Account Manager asks the SSG Member to call for a
Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting. As an input to this meeting, the
Account Manager updates the Sales sheet of the Proposal Binder and
sends the same to the SSG Member.

1.50.4The SSG Member calls for a Project Initiation Kick-off meeting (by
inviting the attendees on e-mail) to initiate work on raising the project
internally and shares the following document with Delivery IBU Head
and Project Manager before the meeting.

 Copy of the original proposal sent to the customer

 Revised proposal sent to the customer
 All necessary internal approvals
 Approved Proposal Binder - Proposal Making stage
 Approved Proposal Binder - PO Sign-off stage
 Approved Estimation Sheet
 Copy of the first level gap analysis (if any)
 Records of all communication (E-Mails, Faxes, MoMs)
held with the customer (including MoM and Customer
Feedback from Product Demonstrations/Proof of
Concept)
 Contract Letter / Purchase Order from Customer
 License Agreement (Signed by the Customer)

1.50.5Attendees for the Project Initiation Kick-off meeting are:

 Account Manager
  PMG Member
 Delivery IBU Head(s)
 Project Manager
 PI Team Member
 Technology Office Representative
Any of the above individuals, if not present physically, must participate
over the phone / video-conference, as applicable.

1.50.6Agenda for the Project Initiation Kick-off Meeting:

 Handover of the understanding of Customer Requirements by the

Account Manager (Scope, Deliverables, Schedule, etc.) to all
Stakeholders; this includes sharing of MoM and Customer feedback
for various Product Demonstrations/Proof of Concept held with the
Customer

 Discussion on PO and final proposal by Account Manager with the

Delivery Project Manager where Account Manager discusses the
scope of work, risks involved and T&C of the final proposal
document

 Gaining a consensus on the Scope and Deliverables by all

Stakeholders

 Working out an approach and gaining commitment on the project

delivery from all Stakeholders

 Identifying inter-group and external dependencies to be met for

initiating the project

 Identifying liasoning with any third party for any kind of sub-
contracting on the scope of work pertaining to the customer
requirements

 Any other items relevant to delivery of the project within the given
scope and timelines

1.50.7After completion of the Project Initiation Kick-off meeting, the SSG

member circulates the Minutes of the Meeting to all the stakeholders:

 Attendees and absentees (Account Manager, PMG

Member, Project Manager(s), PI Team Member,
Technology Office Representative)
 BDG Head
 PMG Head
 IBU Head(s)
 MDO
 The minutes must cover items, including but not limited to the ones
mentioned under section 10.6.6.

NOTE: Having agreed to attend the meeting, if a certain group is not

represented in the Project Initiation Kick-off, their commitments on the
items discussed and agreed in the meeting would be deemed by the
other attendees.

1.50.8 The SSG Member sends the Proposal Binder to the Technical Team to
update the Delivery Sheet section.

1.50.9 The SSG Member then updates the Commercials section of the
Proposal Binder and the Account Summary Sheet.

1.50.10The SSG Member then takes the approvals on the Proposal Binders
from all concerned Heads (BDG, Delivery and PMG (for any PMG
investments). The SSG Member also takes the approval from CFO /
MDO in case there is a change in the Operating Income (in accordance
with the Operating Income validation criteria defined under “Notes” -
point # 16). Temp PI can be raised by IBU Head on account of
incomplete information as per SLA defined under “Notes” - point # 9

1.50.11To initiate the project, the SSG Member sends the following
documents to the PI Team member

 Copy of the original proposal sent to the customer

 Revised proposal sent to the customer
 All necessary internal approvals
 Approved Proposal Binder - Proposal Making stage
 Approved Proposal Binder - PO Sign-off stage
 Approved Estimation Sheet
 Copy of the first level gap analysis (if any)
 Records of all communication (E-Mails, Faxes, MoMs)
held with the customer (including MoM and Customer
Feedback from Product Demonstrations/Proof of
Concept)
 Contract Letter / Purchase Order from Customer
 License Agreement (Signed by the Customer)

1.50.12The PI Team member checks for completeness of information,

supporting documents and necessary approvals. He also reviews the
information in Proposal Binder to ensure their consistency with the
information present in the supporting documents. He sends the review
comments to the SSG Member via e-mail.

1.50.13The SSG Member co-ordinates with the Account Manager for

obtaining any missing information or document as per the feedback
received from the PI Team, and sends the same to the PI Team
member.
1.50.14The PI Team Member gets the set of documents along with the
Proposal Binder reviewed by the Head Corporate Affairs. The Head
Corporate Affairs after verifying all necessary information and
documents approves the initiation of the project on Whizible.

1.50.15Project Manager simultaneously requests QA Manager to allocate a

QAR for the project and stores the document shared by SSG in the
project VOB

1.50.16The PI Team member generates the project code and project number
and enters the project details into Whizible. Then s/he enters the
project name, code and number on the Proposal Binder and sends the
same to the concerned SSG Member. The SSG Member then sends a
copy of the entire set of documents (mentioned in 10.6.11) to the PI
Team member, Account Manager, Finance Representative, Project
Manager and Delivery IBU Head.

1.50.17The PI Team member ‘checks in’ and ‘baselines’ the above final set of
documents (list mentioned in 10.6.11) in the Corporate Library for any
future reference.

NOTE: The SSG Member has a Read-only access to the Corporate

Library containing the proposal and all related documents listed above.

1.50.18The Customer may chose to perform a high level gap analysis based
on his requirements, Scope vetting workshop conducted and the
proposal received from Nucleus

1.51 Pre Gap readiness

On choosing Nucleus to perform the gap analysis, following

preparations take place:

1.51.1 Once the Purchase Order for a product implementation is received

from the Customer, the IBU Head allocates a Project Manager to
ensure readiness for undertaking the Gap Analysis exercise.

1.51.2 Simultaneously, the Business Analyst / Tech Lead administers the

Business Analysis Questionnaire to the Customer to take inputs which
would help in undertaking an effective Gap Analysis.

1.51.3 The Project Manager, using the Gap Pre-requisites Binder (checklist),
ensures that all items mentioned in the binder are taken care of.

1.51.4 The Project Manager also defines a Gap Study Project Plan (including
Scope, Schedule, Resources, Approach and Expectations from /
Dependencies on Customer) and shares the same with the Customer.
1.51.5 Having met all the pre-requisites for the Gap Analysis exercise, the
Project Manager takes an approval on the Pre-Requisites Binder from
the Delivery Head and Head Corporate Affairs.

1.51.6 Post this approval, the Gap Analysis team commences the gap study
exercise.

1.52 Project Kick-off

1.52.1The Project Manager conducts the Project Kick-off meeting as

described in the Project Kick-off procedure
11 Notes

1. Updating the Proposal Binder and Account Summary Sheet: Apart

from the Proposal Making and PO Sign-off stages, the Proposal Binder
sheet(s) and the Account Summary Sheet (applicable for Development
and Implementation sales) must be updated by the SSG Member and the
Project Manager respectively post Gap Sign-off with the Customer.

2. Multi-product Sale: In case where more than one product is being

proposed / sold, separate Proposal Binder is filled in for each product
separately. However, only one Account Summary Sheet is filled in to
reflect the information of all the product sales at the Account level.

3. Operating Income validation: At any stage (viz. Work Order initiation)

during the course of the project, if there is a change in commercials
resulting in a change in Operating Income for the contract, the Account
Manager needs to take an approval on the same from the CFO / MD (in
accordance with the criteria defined under “Notes” - point # 16), apart from
the BDG Head.

4. Escalation of issues for resolution: Issues which do not get resolved in

defined timelines must be taken up for escalation as per the Escalation
Matrices below:

i. Escalation Matrix to be used by BDG:

Escalated Escalation Matrix - for BDG

Levels By
Global
Level Sales Cc To
6 Head

Global Cc:
Level Sales Cc Cc Cc To Regional
5 Head Sales Head

Global Cc:
Level Sales Cc Cc To Cc Regional
4 Head Sales Head

Global Cc: Cc:

Level Sales Cc Cc To Regional Account
3 Head Sales Head Manager

Regional Cc: Cc:

Level Sales Cc To Global Account
2 Head Sales Head Manager

Account Cc:
Level Manager Cc To Regional
1 Sales Head

Account
Level Manager To
0

Project Delivery Regional Global MD Board of

Escalated To Manager IBU Head Delivery Delivery Directors
Head Head
ii. Escalation Matrix to be used by Delivery:

Levels Escalated Escalation Matrix - for Delivery

By
5. Proposal Binder templates for various categories and sizes of
Global
projects:
Level Delivery Cc To
6 Head

Global
S. Level
Project
Delivery Size CcStage Delivery Cc:
Proposal
IBU Cc
BinderToTemplate Cc:
Name
Regional Del.
No. Category
5 Head Head Head

1 Product Global Any ProposalCc: Template - Proposal BinderCc:- Dev, Imp -

Delivery
Development
Level
4 Head or Cc(Pre- Delivery
Head
Proposal
IBU To Stage, Cc AND Del. Regional
Head
Implementation sales) Template - Account Level Summary
Regional Cc:
2 Level
Product
Delivery Cc
Any CcProject To Template Cc:
- Proposal
Global Del. Delivery IBUBinder - Dev, Imp -
Development
3 Head
or Initiation PI Stage, Head
AND Head
Implementation Cc: Template Cc: - Account Level Summary
Level Delivery Cc To Regional Del. Project
3 Enhancement
2 IBU Head <= 5 Any Head Template
Manager - Proposal Binder - RFC or
(RFC) or Project MM Cc:
Project Sale - Upto 5 MM
4 Level
Enhancement
Project Cc > 5 ToAny Template - Proposal Binder - RFC or
Delivery IBU
1 Manager Head
(RFC) or Project MM Project Sale - GT 5 MM
Project
5 Level Support / To Any
ATS /Manager Any Template - Proposal Binder - ATS
Maintenance
0

6 ATS for Oracle Any Any Template - Proposal Binder - ATS

Sale
Escalated To
Account Regional Global(Oracle)Global MD Board of
Manager
AnySales Any
Head Sales Head Sales Head Directors
7 Third Party Project Initiation Template (a Word
Software Document)
Professional Project Initiation Template (a Word
8 Any Any
Services Document)

6. Contract bagged without a proposal: For cases where no proposal is

sent to the customer, one or more of the following documents (signed with
the customer) need to be submitted by the SSG Member to the PI Team
member for check-in into the Corporate Library, at the time of Project
Initiation:

a. Contract Document
b. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
c. Technical Services Schedule document

7. Customer-specific proposal formats: For cases where a proposal (for

an ATS, Product, Project, etc.) is sent as per any customer-specific format
instead of the standard NSSP formats, the SSG Member needs to take a
deviation signed-off by:

a. Head - Corporate Affairs and Head - BDG: for process

compliance
b. CFO / Legal Advisor: for legal compliance

8. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Proposal Submission: The table

below recommends SLAs for various activities to be undertaken for
submitting a proposal to the customer. This is based on the assumption
 that there are 6 working days available to respond to the customer. Any
change in this duration would have a proportionate change in the SLAs.

Activity Responsibility SLA

- Proposal / RFP Kick-off
- Sales Sheet (Proposal SSG Day 01
Binder)
- Response to RFP
PMG, Delivery, ISS,
- Delivery Sheet (Proposal End of Day 03
QA, Other
Binder)
- Proposal / RFP Review
Delivery, BDG End of Day 05
- Proposal Binder Review
- Proposal / RFP Review - PI Team
- Proposal Binder Review - PI Team Day 06
- Closure of all feedback - SSG
End of Day 06 /
Account Manager /
Submission to Customer Beginning of
SSG
Day 07

SLA for Project Initiation and Temporary Project Initiation: A PI must get
raised within 3 working days of the first written request from the Account
Manager for initiating the project on Whizible. Failing this, the Delivery IBU
Head, after getting the approval from the Sales & Marketing Head, may send
an explicit written request, for project initiation to the PI team (keeping the
Account Manager, BDG Head, Global Delivery Head and Project Manager in
the loop), with the following basic details (along with a copy of Customer’s
formal approval for the project):

a. Project Name
b. Project Category (practice)
c. Delivery IBU
d. Project Manager
e. Lead time to start the project (weeks)
f. Project Start Date
g. Project End Date (including warranty)
h. Project Delivery Date
i. Estimated Effort (MM)

The temporary project will be created based on the above information in order
to facilitate timely commencement of work by the Delivery team. However, this
is only a Temporary PI valid for a maximum period of 1 month thereafter
extended every 15 Days, and the Account Manager needs to initiate the PI
following the normal process within 10 working days from the Temporary PI
raised date. Failing this, the BDG QAR will mark an NC (Non-Compliance)
against BDG during the Audit.

In cases where customer approval is awaited, the Delivery IBU head can raise
a request through mail for creation of temporary PI without waiting for account
manager to initiate temporary PI request, following the process as detailed
above. All temporary such PI will have the same validity as mentioned above.

All such temporary PIs will be created within 4 working hours of the request
being received.

NOTE: To further extend the duration of all Temporary PI beyond 1 Month, the
SSG Member needs to take a deviation signed-off by the MD Office, with an
end date for extension. All Temp PIs not converted into permanent PIs within
one month will be presented on a monthly basis to MTM for their decision of
continuance or closure of temp PIs.

9. Temporary ATS Project initiation and creation: In case of delay in

customer sign-off on ATS agreement, Temp ATS project can be requested
to be created in WSEM. BDG Head approval, Delivery Head Approval and
a RFC template is filled and attached with request in Whizible. This temp
ATS project will be valid for a maximum period of 3 months and extended
for 3 months thereafter.

10. End date and effort extension in a project: In case schedule slippage
and effort overrun, end date and efforts respectively can be requested to
be increased of a project. Delivery Head approval and filled RFC sheet is
filled and attached with request in Whizible. QAR needs to be informed
whenever any such request is made to PI team

11. Status change of the project: The change in status (Active, Suspended
Reopened and Closed) of the project can be requested. Delivery Head
approval and QAR approval and RFC template is filled and attached with
the request in Whizible. For any change in the type of project, project QAR
will be informed.

12. Weekly Report: The SSG Member sends a weekly update of all the
proposals sent to the customer latest by 12 noon every Wednesday -
using the Template - Weekly SSG Report - to MIS@Nucleussoftware.com,
keeping the BDG QAR & PI Team in the loop. The QAR or PI Team
member reports any discrepancies that s/he may find in the report to the
same e-mail ID. The SSG Member also reports all temporary Project
Initiations and the TAT for all Project Initiations to the MDO on a weekly
basis. SSG member will mark a copy of this report to Process SME ( to
update project database) and PI team for validation.

13. Standard Product Price List and ATS pricing guidelines: The SSG
Member baselines the Standard Product Price list and the ATS pricing
guidelines along with the discounting policy, into the Corporate Library, as
and when any change to the last base-lined documents is made.

14. Change in Contract Value: For any change in the value of a contract to
take place, a Project Initiation (PI) needs to be carried out by the SSG
Member following the defined process.
15. Raising Invoice / Work Order: A PI forms the basis for raising any
invoice / Work Order for a contract.

16. Process Deviation: Any deviation from the process needs to be taken
from the concerned Head using the Deviation Approval Form

17. PI Register: The PI Team Member maintains a log of all the Project
Initiation requests received by PI Team, using the Template - PI Register.
Further, the PI Team Member publishes the register every week to
MIS@Nucleussoftware.com, keeping the CFO in the loop. Details on how
to maintain the register have been explained in the template itself.

18. Criteria for validation of Operating Income (OI), License Revenue and
ATS Revenue:

A.PRODUCT IMPLEMENTATIONS (VANILLA, CUSTOMIZED) / PROJECTS

1. Operating Income:

Implementation OI will be evaluated

% Implementation OI = [ Implementation Revenue - Net Implementation

Cost ] / Implementation Revenue

 Implementation Revenue [for T & M Bids] = Billable Effort * Billing Rates

 Implementation Revenue [for Fixed Price Bids] = Fixed Price Proposed
 Net Implementation Cost = Total Cost (Manpower+Travel+Other) -
Warranty & Training Cost - PMG's Investment

OI Approval Criteria

S.
No OI Value Approvers
.
BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO
A > 40 %
(only for Orders bagged)
> 20 and <= 40
B BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO
%
BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO,
C <= 20 %
MD

Note: For Domestic Sale (In India)

 For existing Customers, (C) will not apply. However, a mail notification
from SSG to go to the MD for information
 For new Customers (any new projects initiated post August 2006), all A, B
and C will apply
2. License Revenue:

Apart from the above Operating Income validation, in case of a product sale,
the License Price of the product is also validated. The validation is meant to
check if the License Price is in line with the Standard Product Price List and
the discounting guidelines defined below.

Total Discounts given on Product List Price will be evaluated

Total Discounts comprise of:

 List Price - Proposed License Price (as per PO)
 Debits to License: Software/Tools/Hardware Procurement cost, FOC
(based on unbillable effort), FOC (based on Extended Warranty beyond 3
months)

License Revenue Approval Criteria

S. Total Discount on List

Approvers
No. Price
BDG Head, Head Corporate
A <= 50 %
Affairs
BDG Head, Head Corporate
B > 50 %
Affairs, MD

B. ANNUAL TECHNICAL SUPPORT

1. Operating Income:

Operating Income for the ATS will be evaluated

% ATS OI = [ATS Revenue - ATS Cost ] / ATS Revenue

ATS Cost = Total Cost (Manpower + Travel + Other)

OI Approval Criteria

S.
No OI Value Approvers
.
BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO
A > 40 %
(only for Orders bagged)
> 20 and <= 40
B BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO
%
BDG Head, Delivery IBU Head, Head Corporate Affairs, CFO,
C <= 20 %
MD

2. ATS Revenue:
 Apart from the above Operating Income validation, in case of an ATS,
the Sale Price of the ATS will be validated. The validation is meant to
check if the ATS Sale Price is in line with the standard ATS pricing
guidelines and the discounting guidelines defined below.

ATS Revenue will be evaluated

ATS Revenue is X % of (License + Enhancements) Revenue

[ X is 15% for Bronze, 20% for Silver and 25% for Gold ]

ATS Revenue Approval Criteria

ATS Revenue
S.
(% of License Approvers
No.
+ Enhancements)
A1 Bronze: > =15 % BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs
BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs,
A2 Bronze: < 15 %
CFO, MD
B1 Silver: > = 20 % BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs
BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs,
B2 Silver: < 20 %
CFO, MD
C1 Gold: > = 25 % BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs
BDG Head, Head Corporate Affairs,
C2 Gold: < 25 %
CFO, MD

19. Use of Helpdesks on Whizible: For submission of any Proposals or

RFPs or for any Project Initiations, the Account Manager raises relevant
requests on SSG Helpdesk on Whizible. Similarly, to hold a Kick-off or to
get any inputs/ reviews/ approvals from internal Stakeholders (Delivery or
Support IBUs), the SSG member raises relevant requests on the Helpdesk
of the concerned IBUs.

20. Product Demonstration, Proof of Concept (POC) & Customer

Meetings: After every product demo and POC given to customers, WTC
(Window-To-Customer) team publishes the minutes of the meetings to all
stakeholders. It also takes feedback from the Customer on each
demo/POC given in the standard feedback form. WTC shares all such
MOMs and Customer Feedback with the PI Team Member for baselining
into Corporate Library. SSG also carries these documents as inputs into
the Project Initiation Kick-off meetings held after an order is bagged from
the Customer.

21. Alignment of IBUs to Regions for RFP responses: In order to ensure

quicker response timelines for RFP filling, the following mapping is to be
adhered to:

S.
IBU Region
No.
1 FinnOne Middle East & India
 2 ETG South East Asia & Australia
3 Europe Africa

22. Nomenclature for Proposal Reference Number: The Corporate team

employs the following convention for generating a reference number for
any proposal:

[Master Serial No.] / [Region Code] / [Customer Code] / [Country Code] - [Document
Serial No.]

 Master Serial Number - A 4-digit serial number of the master proposal sent
to Customer (since 01-Aug-2007), assuming the first master proposal was
numbered 1001 and each subsequent master proposal’s serial number is
incremented by 1

 Master proposal - The first proposal sent to a customer for any product /
application. If a subsequent proposal to the same Customer contains a
modified list of product/s or application/s, it is to be treated as a different
master proposal and so to have a different Serial Number. However, any
additional document (viz. commercials, schedule, etc.) sent in reference
with the original master proposal will carry the same Master Serial Number
but an incremented Document Serial Number.

 Region Code - Every region catered to by Nucleus to be assigned a

unique 3-digit code
 Customer Code - Every existing / potential customer to be assigned a
unique 4-digit code

 Country Code - Every Country to be assigned a unique 2-digit code (in line
with internet domain codes followed internationally)

 Document Serial Number - A 2-digit serial number of the document to be

sent to the customer assuming the first document sent to the same
customer was numbered 01 and every subsequent document’s serial
number was incremented by 1

For example: For a proposal sent to GMAC Italy (Europe), the proposal
reference code could be: 1040/EUR/GMAC/IT-0001 (assuming it is the 40th
proposal sent to a customer by Nucleus since 01-Aug-07)

Now, if a second document (viz. Commercials, Schedule, Revised Scope,

etc.) is sent to the Customer in reference with the original document, the code
for the new document could be: 1040/EUR/GMAC/IT-0002

NOTE: All the relevant reference numbers pertaining to a contract won from
customer need to be mentioned in the document on which the contract is
signed-off between Nucleus and Customer.

12. Associated Forms and Templates

1. Template - Proposal Binder - Dev, Imp - Proposal Stage
2. Template - Proposal Binder - Dev, Imp - PI Stage
3. Template - Proposal Binder - RFC or Project Sale - Upto 5 MM
4. Template - Proposal Binder - RFC or Project Sale - GT 5 MM
5. Template - Proposal Binder - ATS
6. Template - Proposal Binder - ATS (Oracle)
7. Template - Account Level Summary
8. Template - Product Proposal
9. Template - Project Proposal
10. Template - Enhancement Proposal
11. Template - ATS Agreement
12. Template - Weekly SSG Report
13. Template - PI Register
14. Form - Deviation Approval
15. Template - Minutes of Meeting

CONCLUSION

In order to be successful in sales there must be extensive planning and

an ongoing commitment to the client. Selling is far more than just
describing features and benefits. Good sales people follow a process
that leads from prospecting to closing. Great sales people combine this
process with a personal drive to close the sale. The key is following a
professionally structured tried and true course of action. A major
component is time and territory management. It is critical to prospect
intelligently, meet prudently and plan face to face meetings carefully.
How we talk to a prospect, how we relate to a client, how we continue
to nurture relationships becomes as important – if not more important –
as actual product and service knowledge. There must be confidence,
enthusiasm and, above all, trust.

Theoretically, sales and marketing work hand in hand to win business

and grow revenue. We know that this is not the case in most
organizations. Too often the marketing team and the sales team act
independently, each pursuing revenue growth from different
perspectives, usually with uncoordinated approaches. In order for sales
and marketing to coordinate their efforts for maximum performance,
communications must be integrated and effective.

Selling is an art and a profession which touches every aspect of the

entire organization. Often the hardest sale is internal, to organize the
team and build a team approach to sales. Unlimited Priorities will help
you grow your top line, motivate your staff, energize your clients, create
urgency, build value and perform.