Introduction

Sales KnowledgeSite Lite is a sales and marketing knowledge management system. "Knowledge" is defined as any file an organization wants to store on a server, for targeted sharing across the organization. This information may be refined constantly, and becomes "knowledge" by putting it in the context of the sales process. In addition to storing Knowledge, the system allows users to store descriptive information regarding each file to provide additional context. Files can be standard formats such as spreadsheets, word processing document, etc.


Technical Support

The software provided via the Netscape WebSite is delivered as is, without promise of support.

See Netscape End User License Agreement


Company and Contact Information

Sage Solutions, Inc.
353 Sacramento Street, Suite 1360
San Francisco, California 94111
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CONTACT: David Sonnenschein
PHONE: (415) 392-7243 x517
FAX: (415) 392-4030
EMAIL: sales@sagesoln.com

Sage Solutions is an information technology firm committed to setting the standard for the delivery of the next generation of information technology solutions, including products and services.

We partner with our customers to devise and implement innovative solutions to their business challenges that enable them to compete more effectively in their chosen marketplace.

By combining leading edge processes, exceptionally talented people and productivity enhancing products, Sage Solutions is leading the way in delivering information technology value.


How to Use this Application

Sales KnowledgeSite Lite is a sales and marketing knowledge management system. "Knowledge" is defined as any file an organization wants to store on a server, for targeted sharing across the organization. This information may be refined constantly, and becomes "knowledge" by putting it in the context of the sales process. In addition to storing Knowledge, the system allows users to store descriptive information regarding each file to provide additional context. Files can be standard formats such as spreadsheets, word processing document, etc.

Knowledge is organized by Phase and Interest Group. Phase is defined as a step within the sales process/life cycle.

Phases of the Sales Cycle and Interest Groups

The Phases are defined as:
Generating Leads
The first phase of any sales process. Knowledge shared could be example seminar and informational mailing plans as well as tele-marketing scripts.

Preparing the Proposal
This phase involves qualifying leads and addressing customer concerns. Knowledge shared may be proposal templates and cost estimates.

Gaining Commitment
This phase involves solidifying issues such as contract verbiage or assessing concerns. Knowledge shared may be previous contracts and documented "best practices".

Delivering Value
After commitment, pulling everything together to ensure the gets what they purchased can be difficult. Knowledge shared may be lists of internal company contacts, order forms, etc.

Gathering Feedback
Existing clients are usually the easiest future sales. Knowledge shared such as customer surveys and detailed client reports can help facilitate future sales.

Knowledge, or files, are organized within one of these five Phases.

Interest Groups
Sub-organizations which the users of the system belong to. The Interest Groups could be geographic, product in nature, or anything the administrator defines. For the test data that comes with KnowledgeSite Lite, the Interest Groups are defined as North America, Europe and Asia. There is no limit to the number of Interest Groups that can be defined. A way that KnowledgeSite Lite could be used to reach people outside of the Corporate Intranet is to create Interest Groups for Partners and Customers. Outside users can then be defined with these interest groups to filter the information that is made available to them.

These two defining attributes, Phase and Interest Group, are the basis by which all knowledge is organized and accessed.

Knowledge is also date sensitive. All knowledge is created with beginning and ending effective dates. After knowledge has expired, it can be reactivated via a System Administration function.


Options within KnowledgeSite Lite

After logging on to the system, the user views the main option frame on the left. The option chosen is always displayed in the main frame on the right. The following are the key functional aspects of the system.

Company Bulletins

After logging on, users of the system will see a list of current bulletins. Bulletins are "news flashes" that are of interest to the organization. This is an effective way to deliver timely sales bulletins.

Bulletins are defined as either belonging to one of the specific Interest Groups, or belonging to all Interest Groups. Therefore, the bulletins displayed to the user will be relevant to the user's Interest Group or relevant to all Interest Groups. When created, bulletins contain a beginning and ending effective date. Bulletins will only appear to the users during this period of validity.

Once a bulletin has expired, it can be accessed via the Search option which is available in the left hand frame or via the Sys Admin function.


Working with User Profiles

Users are created with a password, userid and access level. Access level is defined as either Administrator or User. Administrators have the ability to edit, view or change all data within the system. Users can only edit data they personally created, such as a bulletin, and only view information relevant to their own Interest Group.

Information in the Knowledge Library

As mentioned above, Knowledge is any file of interest to the organization. Users access this knowledge in a variety of methods.

I. Accessing Knowledge within the context of the Sales Process

The main entry point for the user is to access the Knowledge Library via the name of the Sales Phase to which it belongs. An image map has a graphic containing each of the five phases listed above. Choosing one of the phases brings up a list of folders within that phase. Folders are categories of files or knowledge. For example, within the Proposal Phase folders such as Presentations, Previous Proposals and Cost Models may exist. Each of these folders would then contain files that could be spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, images, etc. Clicking on the folder names will bring up the list of files within that folder.

These files visible to the user will only be those that have been designated as belonging to the user's Interest Group. However, a user with System Admin authority will see all Interest Group files.

Only files valid for today's date will be visible. When a file is uploaded, the user specifies activation and expiration dates. Once inactive, the user must use a System Administration function to reactivate the file.

Headings at the top of each page remind the user of which Phase and Folder they are in at all times. When the user finds a file they want, they click on it, and it is down loaded to their system, or a helper app is launched to view the file.

This is the area where users Submit Knowledge as well. Submit Knowledge is the term used to describe the act of adding a file as well as cataloging information about the file to be uploaded.

II. Accessing Knowledge by Searching the KnowledgeSite Repository

If a user is not sure of the name of file they are interested in, the Search feature can be used. The Search feature can search Knowledge Files, Bulletins, and Competitor Links(defined below). The search is based on a user entered text string. Searches are done of the descriptions of each file or the content of the bulletins. A list of matches is returned to the user.

III. Accessing Knowledge via the Knowledge Index

The Knowledge Index is an alphabetic list of file names. For instance, if the user knows the knowledge file they are interested in begins with the letter W, they can bring up an alphabetic list of files that begin with this letter. From the resulting list, they can select the appropriate file.


Maintaining External Links of Interest

A list of external Web links is maintained. This area is intended to contain links of competitors and other sites of interest to the organization. It facilitates keeping your staff up on the latest changes in your industry. Again, the links can be specific to an Interest Group, or belong to Interest Group, "All" and be viewable to all users of the system.

Only links valid for today's date will be visible from the display page. When a link is created, the user specifies activation and expiration dates. Once inactive, the user must use the System Administration function to reactivate the link.


System Administration Information

The following Sys Admin areas are available to all users.

Scrolling Within Sys Admin

Each system admin page contains a maximum of ten entries. Page Up, Page Down, and Top buttons are created as needed to allow the administrator to more easily navigate through the lists.

Note: Since scrolling is keyed by userid, multiple users logging on with the same ID will negatively affect the scrolling functionality.

The User Profile option allows the System Administrator to add new users. Non-Administrator users of the system can use this option to change their own password, or other info about themselves such as phone number, etc.

The Bulletin admin area allows the System Administrator to Add/Delete/Modify bulletins. Effective dates can be changed, Interest Groups assignment can be changed, as well other options. Non-Administrator users of the system can add bulletins as well, and can edit only the bulletins which they personally created.

The Folder/File Maintenance section allows the System Administrator to create modify/delete or add new folders. The can also download knowledge from this point, just as they can from the Knowledge Repository. Only the Administrator(s) can modify folders, but the user can still use this feature to download knowledge.

The External Links Maintenance area allows the administrator to add, modify or delete links to other Web sites. Users can also use the feature to add links, and can edit existing links that they specifically created, but not those created by other users. Both inactive and active links are visible within this Sys Admin function. Users can reactivate an expired link.

The following Sys Admin options can only be accessed by someone with System Administrator authority.

The Interest Group area allows the administrator to create, edit or delete existing interest groups.

The System Configuration area allows the administrator to modify server name, subdirectories for each of the five phases, and the install directory.


Troubleshooting and Known Problems

If logon is not working, the default userids/passwords are User/User and Admin/Admin. The User id has user authority, and of course the Admin id has administrator authority. Multiple users logging on with the same userid will negatively affect various areas of the application. Assign ids for each users. Using a UNIX based FTP server has proved inconsistent results during the Knowledge upload and download procedures. Using an NT FTP server has proven more reliable.


How to Upload Knowledge

To successfully upload knowledge, the user clicks the Submit Knowledge button from within the Sales Process section of KnowledgeSite Lite. There are then two main steps to completing the upload: copying the file to the FTP server, and registering information about the file to upload,

Step 1 - Copying the File to the FTP Server

Windows/Mac Instructions
When the user clicks the Submit Knowledge Button, a window will open showing the directory for that sales phase on the FTP server. Each directory name is defined in System Configuration within System Administration.

The user should then open a "File Manager" window, click on the file they want to upload, and drag & drop it onto the FTP server window. The user will then get a confirmation dialogue box, confirming that they do indeed want to upload the file.

UNIX Instructions
The only difference for UNIX clients, is with the drag and drop portion of the process. After choosing the file they want to upload, UNIX users must then choose the File pull down menu on their browser, and then choose the File Upload option.

Step 2 - Registering Information About the File

The following fields are required:

File Name: Required to exactly match the name of the file uploaded via the FTP window. The file name is case sensitive (i.e. Contract.TXT). The file extension will be interpreted by the Navigator Helper functions to automatically load applications that have been configured for use by Netscape Navigator. The file name should not include special operating system characters such as "?" or "*".

Description: This is a large text box to enter descriptive information about the file. This is important because other users may search for the file based on this descriptive information.

Format: This is the MIME type(i.e. Bitmap, Text Only -This is for informational purposes only).

Folder: A pull down pick list giving the available folders within the particular sales phase will be shown. For the non-administrator, these folders are either in the user's interest group, or they belong to interest group = "All". If the desired folder does not exist, a user with Administrator authority must create it.

Activation Date: The file will not be visible in the Sales Process area until this date.

Expiration Date:The file no longer be visible in the Sales Process area after this date.

Note: The user who initially uploaded the file (Owner ID), or a system administrator can edit any of this information once it has been created.