Purpose: The Activity Management business scenario plays an essential role in optimizing your company's relationships with customers, managing their data, and thus ensuring your company's success in the market place.
Activity Management can be used for business scenario to create business activities and tasks in the CRM system or groupware, that is, in Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes. If an activity is created in the CRM system, the activity data is transferred to groupware, and vice versa. This enables to refer to the calendar from both systems, and maintain activities in both systems.
The different types of Sales Activities and Tasks that would be used are as follows:
1. Activity –Document Request .It will have Dates like Price request and receipt date, bid security request date and receipt date, power of attorney request and receipt dates.
2. Activity -PBG request, which will have text type PBG to capture its details.
3. Activity –Purchase Order Tracking. This Activity will have statuses like internal review, PO ok, PO Not ok Amendment Request sent to Customer, Received after amendment The receipt date of original / amended purchase order and also the EIL request date for Purchase order amendment is to be captured through date types PO receipt date, PO amendment request date, PO amendment receipt date.
4. Activity type -Bill & Document Tracking. The date of receipt of bill and other documents and the corresponding delivery date need to be captured in the system using this system. Will have date types Bill submission date (95%
&5%) and bill receipt date (95% & 5%) and will also have the following statuses: document dispatched from factory, documents received at the region/HO, documents sent to customer and will have Text types like Invoice, Inspection, Delivery to capture the relevant information.
5. Value adding activities like arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits etc. will be created as an Activity transaction in the system.
6. Activity-Drawing Request and Approval. The final drawing, GTP, QAP and BOM duly approved by R&D is sent to customer for approval. The status of the same should be captured e.g. sent to R&D for approval, received from R&D after approval, sent to customer for approval, approved by the customer
additional information will be keyed in the Text type Drawing inputs. It will also have dates like GTP & Layout Request and receipt dates.
7. Activities Meeting will be capture details of interaction with the customer.
8. Call cycle monitoring of Field Sales Officers: RSM will assign monthly sales call per branch /segment/FSO and would like to monitor its status on a monthly basis. These Sales Call activities will be created by the RSM in the system and they will be populated with relevant information by the FSOs.The status of these Sales Call activities will be open, in process and closed.
9. Direct Visit Activity -The FSO assigned to each dealer travels to dealers in his purview and asks them for the battery orders they need and captures the information in the visit activity. He consequently also places the order for those dealers as a follow up of the direct visit activity.
10. Phone Call Activity - If Dealers need to place orders they will call the Branch Office directly. The person picking up the call will enter the details of the order as a follow up of the phone call activity.
11. Dispatch tracking activity to track dispatch and proof of delivery details.
The Dispatch tracking activity will have the following user status Open, Dispatch details updated, tentative vessel details updated, confirmed vessel details updated, shipping documents dispatched. This activity will have the following details text types –Dispatch Information, Vessel Information, Shipping Document Dispatch Information, and payment details, POD information.
Intra Departmental Communications
Hierarchical
Broadcast (based on target group)
Selective
These communications will have the following subjects identified:
Market Prices, Customer Commitments, Pending Issues, and Receivables also to be managed through Text Types.
12. Planned
Visit & Call Cycles
Monthly Mailers (through target group)
13. Communication with institutional customers, OEMs and major dealers –
Mass mailing (through target group)
14. Record of all interactions and transactions with customers a) Interactions at each touch point to be classified as categories:
Telephone
Face-to-face / Verbal communication
E-mail (content to be copied to the text type Email)
Website
Letter / written communication
b) Communication may be regarding (Goal of the activity)
Product / service query
Purchase order
Breakdown / maintenance / Service request
Complaints
Hierarchical recording of the interactions to be managed through partner functions.
The following will be the components of the Activities relevant for Sales.
Partners (Supervisors, Managers, Competition, FSO) Status (Open, In Process, Close)
Date (Planned Start / Planned End / Actual Start / Follow Up Transactions (For Reference / For Actions) Categories Of Activities ()
Goals For Activities ()
Reasons (Market Price/Product Feedback)/Competitive Intelligence/Field Issue Escalation.
3.2 Opportunity Management:
Purpose: An opportunity is a recognized possibility for business. The opportunity describes the prospect, the prospect’s product or service requirements, the prospect’s budget, own potential sales revenue and the estimated order probability.
Opportunity Management thereby creates a framework for pursuing sales projects from the start, and as they progress, and provides the basis for a target-oriented analysis and optimization of sales processes.
Opportunity Management is recommended if:
Many sales representatives work together
They involve large order values
Sales cycles stretch over a longer period of time Process Flow:
3.2.1 Infrastructure - Power & Projects: New Projects Scenario:
A) Battery opportunity pursued by EIL.
B) Battery and charger opportunity pursued by EIL.
C) Battery and charger opportunity pursued by Charger Manufacturer.
A. Battery opportunity pursued by EIL.
Master Opportunity
There will be a master opportunity created by EIL central for the project (end customer) and a mail should be sent to the concerned FSOs through action. This master opportunity will have identification phase, go no go phase, value addition phase. Also there will be a source of the opportunity like journals, print advertisements, magazines, and Caldyne. Each of the phases will have defined activities like Meeting, request to R&D etc suggested through Sales Assistant functionality of SAP CRM.
Identification Phase: During the initial stage additional information about the opportunity is gathered by either meeting the end customer or over the phone. At the same time contact information of the consultant for the project is captured.
Interaction details will be captured as an activity of the type Meeting linked with this phase. At this point in time Buying Center information will also be captured.
Go No Go Phase & Value Addition Phase will be populated if applicable.
Sub Opportunity 1: The sub opportunity for the consultant will also have identification, go no go phase, value addition phase. This will be to capture the interactions with the consultant. Contact information of the consultant for the project is captured. Interaction details will be captured as an activity of the type Meeting linked with this phase. At this point in time Buying Center information will also be captured.
Identification Phase: The consultant is visited to find out the battery specification if it is already decided or else EIL proposes the right battery for the application in terms of sizing, type (catalog), and layout, GTP etc. The interaction with the consultant will be captured as one of the activities (Meeting) of this phase. Layout and GTP approved by R&D should be managed within the system. This is possible to be managed as a Drawing request &approval, which will have statuses like request, sent to R&D, received from R&D, sent to customer, approved by customer and additional information will be keyed in the Text type drawing inputs. The system should capture the sizing, layout, GTP request made to R&D and date of receipt of the same. If required the drawing and other details can be scanned and attached to either the opportunity or request activity transaction.
Go No Go Phase: The decision to pursue such cases will be taken internally depending upon the value, resource availability etc. In such cases when EIL is unable to change the specification the opportunity is treated to be lost and the reason for not being able to get the desired specification should be captured in the system through User status and reason option.
Information regarding the basis of decision can be captured through Text type – opportunity decision.
Value Addition Phase - At this point in time it is important to impress/incorporate upon EIL’s model specification to the consultant for the required battery.
In cases where the initial specification is for Ni-Cd batteries then also EIL will try to convert it into a favorable specification by value adding activities like arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits etc. Each of these value-adding activities will be created as an Activity transaction in the system.
Sub Opportunity 2 to ‘n’: These would be the sub- opportunities with the EPC contractors (n= No. of EPC Contractor) which will also have the three phases of identification, go no go phase and value addition phase.
Identification Phase and Go & No Go phase will be same as mentioned above and will be used if applicable.
Value Addition: In case the decision is taken to pursue the opportunity and in scenarios where the requirements are open and general involving competitors, EIL needs to impress upon EPC contractors to include its specification.
For competitive specifications EIL follows up with buyer to find the list of EPC contractors who will be participating in the tendering process. Once they are identified the employees responsible (FSO) will visit all of them to highlight EIL’s credentials and check the status of the tendering process and create
sub-opportunities for each of the EPC Contractor. The interactions with each of the concerned EPC Contractors will be captured through Activity transactions like meeting, phone call, visit to EPC office et, attached to each of the respective sub opportunities.
The system should be able to capture all value adding activities conducted right through from making the first call to the buyer to meeting the consultant and the EPC contractors .The value adding activities could be arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits etc.
On being able to convince the EPC Contractor about EIL’s product credentials through value adding activities the status of the Opportunity transaction will be changed to WON.
All these sub opportunities will be linked with the master opportunity through opportunity hierarchy functionality.
B. Battery and charger opportunity pursued by EIL- Same as above and in this case EIL takes a quote from Caldyne and then quotes to different EPC contractors.
C.Battery & charger opportunity pursued by Charger Manufacturer- This will be same as 1 and in this case sub –opportunity will also have sub-opportunity. e.g.-opportunity with a EPC contractor (short listed) is a sub –e.g.-opportunity which in turn will have sub –opportunities with different charger manufacturers to whom EIL will quote .
3.2.2 Infrastructure - Power & Projects: Replacement
Upon identification of a hot lead the employee responsible (FSO) will approach the buyer and convince the customer to go for a capacity test of the battery. The same will be captured through the Opportunity transaction in SAP CRM which will have the following phases: Identification phase, Go /No Go phase, Value Addition phase and each of the phases will have defined activities like Meeting, drawing request &
approval etc suggested through Sales Assistant functionality of SAP CRM.
Identification Phase: If the capacity of the battery comes out to be less than 80% then the customer is advised to go for a replacement of the same. The requirement for charger also if any needs to be tracked by the system. Details of interaction with the customer will be captured as an activity of the type Meeting linked with this phase .At this point in time Buying Center information will also be captured.
Go/No Go Phase: The decision to pursue such cases will be taken internally depending upon the value, resource availability etc. In such cases when EIL is unable to change the specification the opportunity is treated to be lost and the reason for not being able to get the desired specification should be captured in the system through status reason option.
Information regarding the basis of decision can be captured through Text type – opportunity decision.
For competitive specifications EIL follows up with the buyer and the responsible (FSO) will visit the prospect to highlight EIL’s credentials and check the status of the tendering process if any. This information will be captured through a Meeting activity transaction.
Value addition Phase- At this point in time it is important to ensure that if the existing battery is of EIL make the customer adheres to the same type of battery and try to impress/incorporate upon EIL’s model specification to the buyer for the required battery.
In cases where the customer tries to go for a different kind of battery or the existing battery is of different make then also EIL will try to convert it into a favorable specification by value adding activities like arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits along with the revised battery sizing if applicable. Each of these value-adding activities will be created as an Activity transaction in the system.
Updated layout and GTP approved by R&D should be managed within the system.
Request for such activities will be made to R&D as and when required. This is possible to be managed as a request activity to R&D, which will have statuses like request, sent to R&D, received from R&D and additional information will be keyed in the Text type Drawing inputs.
The system should be able to capture all value adding activities conducted right through from making the first call to the buyer to the present state. The value adding activities could be arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits, mapping the decision makers and their corresponding relationship with EIL etc. with the help of Buying Center functionality in the system.
On being able to convince the customer (buyer) about EIL’s product credentials through value adding activities the status of the Opportunity transaction will be changed to WON.
3.2.3 Telecom: Supply to Government Customers/ Service Providers (BSNL, MTNL and DOT) through Switch Manufacturers like Nokia, Ericsson
Master Opportunity
There will be a master opportunity created by EIL central for the project (end customer) and a mail should be sent to the concerned FSOs through action. This master opportunity will have identification phase, go no go phase, value addition phase. Also there will be a source of the opportunity like journals, print advertisements, and magazines. Each of the phases will have defined activities like Meeting, drawing request & approval etc suggested through Sales Assistant functionality of SAP CRM.
Go/No Go Phase: The decision to pursue such cases will be taken internally depending upon the value, resource availability etc. In such cases when EIL is unable to change the specification the opportunity is treated to be lost and the reason for not being able to get the desired specification should be captured in the system through User status and reason option. Information regarding the basis of decision can be captured through Text type –opportunity decision.
Value Addition Phase: At this point in time it is important to impress/incorporate upon EIL’s model specification to the Switch Manufacturer/technical wing for the required battery. In cases where the initial specification calls for other make of batteries then also EIL will try to convert it into a favorable specification by value adding activities like arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits etc.
Each of these value-adding activities will be created as an Activity transaction in the system.
Sub –Opportunity (with different Switch Manufacturers) Identification Phase:
The Technical wing of the Switch Manufacturer is visited to find out the battery specification if it is already decided or else EIL proposes the right battery for the application in terms of sizing, type (catalog), and layout, GTP etc. The interaction with the Switch Manufacturer will be captured, as one of the activities (Meeting) of this phase, Battery sizing, layout and GTP approved by R&D should be managed within the system. This is possible to be managed as a request activity to R&D, which will have statuses like request, sent to R&D, received from R&D and additional information will be keyed in the Text type drawing inputs. It will also have dates like GTP & Layout Request and receipt dates. The system should capture the sizing, layout, GTP request made to R&D and date of receipt of the same. If
required the drawing and other details can be scanned and attached to either the opportunity or request activity transaction.
Go No Go phase if applicable will be used to capture the activities conducted to arrive at a decision to pursue /not pursue the opportunity.
Value Addition: In case the decision is taken to pursue the opportunity and in scenarios where the requirements are open and general involving competitors, EIL needs to impress upon switch manufacturer to include its specification.
For competitive specifications EIL follows up with buyer to find the list of switch manufacturers who all will be participating in the tendering process. Once they are identified the employee responsible (FSO) will visit all of them to highlight EIL ’s credentials and check the status of the tendering process. The interactions with the concerned Switch Manufacturer will be captured through Activity transactions like meeting, phone call, visit to Switch Manufacturer’s office etc.
The system should be able to capture all value adding activities conducted right through from making the first call to the buyer to meeting the decision makers of Switch Manufacturer .The value adding activities could be arranging for seminars, sharing company and product credentials (user performance certificate), coordinating factory visits, site visits etc.
On being able to convince the Switch Manufacturer about EIL ’s product credentials through value adding activities the status of the Opportunity transaction will be changed to WON.
3.2.4 Telecom: Supply To Private Service Providers (Airtel, Hutch, Reliance)
Upon identification of a hot lead the employee responsible (FSO) will approach the service provider and convince the customer to go for EIL make battery. The same will be captured through the Opportunity (Telecom) transaction in SAP CRM which will have the following phases: Identification phase, Go /No Go phase, Value
Addition. Each of the phases will have defined activities like Meeting, drawing request & approval etc suggested through Sales Assistant functionality of SAP CRM.
Identification Phase: Details of interaction with the customer will be captured as an activity of the type Meeting linked with this phase. At this point in time Buying Center information will also be captured.