For some sales trajectories, you're almost certain they will go through, but since you don’t have a signed contract yet, you can’t create a project. Simplicate allows you to tentatively reserve capacity “in pencil” so that you're not caught off guard when the project actually starts.
To make it as easy as possible, you schedule your sales trajectories without selecting a service or type of hours. This way, you can reserve capacity very quickly. Only when you reach the project phase and the project becomes final can you make the reservations more specific.
Note: This feature is only available for subscriptions that have the resource planner module.
How does it work?
Step 1: Activate the feature in the settings
Activate the setting: Settings > General settings capacity planning
Step 2: Indicate on the sales trajectory that you want to schedule it
On the sales trajectory, you will now find a Planning tab. Indicate there that you want to schedule it, and enter a start and end date.
The expected start date and expected end date refer to the anticipated duration of the final project.
Step 3: Schedule your sales trajectories
You schedule in the same way you're used to, but now you select a sales trajectory instead of a project. Also: you don't need to specify an hour type or service.
Sales trajectories are recognizable by the dashed shading. This makes it clear that this is tentative planning “in pencil.”
This dashed shading is also clearly visible within the planning itself:
Why plan on sales?
Scheduling on sales gives you early insight into your future capacity. By reserving capacity in advance for trajectories you expect to go through, you can better anticipate potential bottlenecks. This helps you avoid surprises when projects actually begin and ensures your team is optimally prepared. It makes planning more efficient, employee allocation more targeted, and the transition from sales to project smoother.
Good to know:
Sales trajectories do not appear in the '
to be scheduled' sidebar.Scheduled reservations on sales trajectories currently do not show up on your sales trajectory itself. Creating, editing, and deleting is done from Capacity Planning. Because you're planning at a higher level, you’ll need to create fewer reservations than you might be used to in your project planning.
Transferring reservations from sales trajectories to a project is a manual action. Delete the sales reservation and create a project reservation.