Introduction to Smart Lists

As an Admin for your Hub, you might have noticed a new menu option under “Manage” named “Smart Lists” and wondered what that was all about. Smart Lists are a way for you to manage data that’s used to power one or several features within your QorusDocs experience. Here are a few places where Smart List data is used:

• Lookup Smart Fields – This is a single or multi-select Smart Field that provides your Smart List data values as selection options.
• Smart Layouts Content Source – This Content Source enables you to find and insert professionally-formatted bios, experiences, CVs, credentials, etc. into your document with just a few clicks.
• Smart Layout Smart Fields – Connects your Smart Layout Content Source to a Smart Field. Add the Smart Field to your document template so you can select and insert your bios or experience as part of creating your new document.

Smart Lists can be added and edited only by someone with the QorusDocs Admin role. By managing your data in a Smart List, you can ensure that any application of that data in a Smart Field or Smart Layout will be using the most current and compliant data.

Another benefit of using Smart Lists is that if your data changes, it only has to be updated in one place. For example, if Jane Smith gets married and changes her name to Jane Jones, you only need to update her record in your Smart List, vs. every document that has a different version of her bio.

In this article, we will cover:

1. What are Smart Lists?
2. How are Smart Lists Used?
3. How are Smart Lists Created?

What are Smart Lists?

You can think of a Smart List as a list of records. For example, you could have a Smart List that stores team members' biographies, or experience descriptions ready for use when creating a pitch or proposal. 

Smart Lists can either be uploaded via CSV, or our Professional Services team can set up your Smart List to automatically pull data from another system such as your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or experience management tool.

Back to the top

How are Smart Lists used?

Smart Lists are used as the data source when utilizing Lookup Smart Fields or Smart Layouts. An example of using a Smart List to power your Lookup Smart Fields would be through an integration with your CRM. This integration could push, for example, your Salesforce Opportunity data into your Smart List. Then you set up a Lookup Smart Field to use the data from that list as options for users to choose from when creating a new Pursuit or a document from a template. When the user chooses the Opportunity, the other Smart Fields in that form can be auto-populated with the information from Salesforce so you don’t have to manually enter that data a second time. This greatly streamlines your Create process and ensures data accuracy, consistency, and compliance.

Smart Lists also serve as the data foundation for your Smart Layout experience. Think about those times when you want to include a nicely formatted section of your proposal to feature the most important experts from your team. Having all your bios in a Smart List makes it easy to find exactly the right personnel to feature (we have advanced filtering capabilities!), and then insert those selections from your Smart List via a pre-approved design template. This can take what was once an arduous process of finding and sorting through the latest bio information and make it easy. 

Now think about your process for creating a proposal. You might always have a section of your proposal that is going to feature your experience. By adding a Smart Layout type Smart Field to your proposal template (ideally in your Recommended Pursuit content), users will be prompted to select records from your Smart List as part of creating the proposal. These selections are then saved to the Pursuit, so any new Pursuit documents (such as your pitch) would automatically have the selections pre-populated, saving time as you create each document.

Back to the top

How are Smart Lists Created

Creating Smart Lists happens in two steps:

Step 1: Set up your Smart List fields (your column headers)

Step 2: Upload your Smart List data

Setting up your Smart List is one of the more complicated pieces of our product. If you would like our Professional Services team to assist you with this setup, or if you would like an integration to automatically populate your Smart List, contact your Customer Success Manager and we will schedule a call to discuss your needs. Alternatively, if you would like to create your Smart List yourself, check out our article on How to Create Smart Lists and Best Practices.

Back to the top