Applications Administration Guide > Activity Plans and Sales Methods >

Defining a Sales Methodology

There are two parts to creating a sales methodology:

• Creating the sales method record
• Creating a sales stage record for each stage in the methodology

NOTE:  Sales methods and stages are associated with activity templates and assessment templates of type Opportunity. If you are not intending to create a template of this type, you do not need to define a sales methodology.

You use the Sales Methods view of the Applications Administration screen to define sales methods and to create and associate sales stages with each of those methods.

To create a sales method and associated sales stages

1. Navigate to the Administration - Data screen > Sales Methods view.
2. In the Sales Methods list, create a new record and complete the necessary fields.
3. In the Sales Stages list, create a new record and complete the necessary fields.

   Some fields are described in the following table.

   Field	Comments
   Phase	This value is used for rolling up many different stages into phases. Phases simplify management and reporting of the sales cycle. Select the one that best matches the stage you are currently adding. For example, a stage called Prospecting would best match the lead discovery phase. The choices in this drop-down list are configured by using the SALES_STAGE_PHASE_TYPE type in the List of Values. For more information, see Working with Lists of Values. The default choices are: A - Lead Discovery B - Working the Deal C - Closing D - Lost Deal
   Status	The choices in this drop-down list are configured by using the SALES_STAGE_STATUS type in the List of Values. For more information, see Working with Lists of Values. The default choices are Open, Won, and Lost.
   Quota Factor	The amount by which a sales representative's quota is multiplied by for that sales stage. As you move deals from one stage to another, some deals fall out of the pipeline. In order to eventually close $1,000,000 in revenues, you might need $10,000,000 worth of stage 01 deals, or $5,000,000 worth of stage 04 deals, or $1,500,000 of stage 08 deals. This means your quota factors in this case is 10 for stage 01, 5 for stage 04, and 1.5 for stage 08. In your Siebel application, a sales representative's quota is the sum total of his or her revenue quota objectives on all of his or her active quota plans. The default value is 1.
   Order	The sales stage's position in the list of values in the Opportunities screen.
   Win Probability	The probability or likelihood (out of 100) that, after successfully completing this stage, the deal is eventually won. In theory, the later the stage, the higher the win probability should be, because each stage brings the salesperson closer to winning the deal.
   Duration	The number of days in a particular stage required for an average deal under average circumstances.
   Stalled Deal Limit	The number of days that an opportunity can be in a particular sales stage. If the opportunity exceeds this limit, you can consider the deal to be stalled. There is no effect on the sales stage or any other aspect of the opportunity.

Before the Sales Method and Sales Stage can be used, the cache may need to be refreshed. For more information, see Clearing the Cache.