Siebel Deal Management Administration Guide > Setting Up Siebel Deal Management > Process of Creating Pricing Strategies >

Creating Guideline Plans

Guideline plans determine the pricing adjustments that sales representatives are allowed to negotiate when creating quotes and orders. The pricing for a guideline plan can apply to a line item in a quote, to a line item in an order, or to the entire quote or order. A deal is an entire quote or order. You select guideline plans and other elements when you define a pricing strategy. The pricing in a guideline plan applies to waterfalls. For more information, see About Waterfalls.

NOTE:  After the pricing strategy that contains a guideline plan is associated with quotes and orders, do not change the data in that guideline plan. If you change this data, the pricing policies for open quotes and orders might change. Instead of changing this data, you can copy and modify the guideline plan, and include the new guideline plan in a new pricing strategy. Sales representatives then select the new pricing strategy in the new quotes and orders.

This task is a step in Process of Creating Pricing Strategies.

To create a guideline plan

1. Navigate to the Administration - Deal Management screen > Guideline Plan view.

   The Guideline Plan list appears, and a terms list appears below the Guideline Plan list.

2. In the Guideline Plan list, create a guideline plan, and complete the fields as appropriate. The following table describes a field.

   Field	Description
   Type	Select the type of guideline plan. If you select the Product type, the Line Item Terms list appears below the Guideline Plan list. If you select the Deal type, the Deal Terms list appears below the Guideline Plan list.

3. If the Line Item Terms list appears below the Guideline Plan list, create the pricing terms for the line item guideline plan, and complete the fields as appropriate. The following table describes some fields.

   Field	Description
   Sequence	The sequence number for the line item term. If multiple terms that apply to a quote or an order are found, then the term with the lowest sequence number determines the pricing adjustment that the sales representative can negotiate for that quote or order. For more information about term selection logic, see Term Selection Logic.
   Role	The role of the user who can negotiate pricing for a quote and order. If you select no value, the pricing term for the line item applies to all users.
   Territory	The geographic area for the customer account on the quote or order. The values that you can select for this field are the same values that you can select for the Region field (not the Territories field) in the Accounts screen > More Info view. If you select no value, the pricing term for the line item applies to all territories.
   Constraint Type	The nature of a price exception for the pricing term: If you select Constraining, the sales representative sees a red square in the GL field after entering a price for a quote or an order that is lower than or equal to the minimum price that is associated with the pricing term for the line item. If you select Recommended, the sales representative sees a yellow square in the GL field after entering a price for a quote or an order that is lower than or equal to the minimum price that is associated with the pricing term for the line item. If a quote line item has a red square, the sales representative cannot convert the quote to an order until a price approver handles the price exception. A red square indicates that the sales representative violated a pricing policy. A yellow square is a cautionary indicator and does not prevent the sales representative from further processing the quote or order.
   Product	The product for the pricing term. If you select no value, the pricing term for the line item applies to all products.
   Product Line	The product line for the product. If you select no value, the pricing term for the line item applies to all products lines.
   Product Class	The product class for the product. If you select no value, the pricing term for the line item applies to all product classes.
   Reference Waterfall Segment	The waterfall segment to which the pricing term applies. The price that is associated with the pricing term for this waterfall segment is compared to the price for the impacted waterfall segment on a quote or an order. If the price that is associated with the pricing term for this waterfall segment is higher than or equal to the price for the impacted waterfall segment, a price exception results. For example, assume the Reference Waterfall Segment is Ceiling, the pricing term is a 15% discount, and the Impacted Waterfall Segment is Invoice. Also, assume that the pricing engine calculates the ceiling price for a quote as $100 and the invoice price as $90. If a sales representative adjusts the invoice price on that quote to $80, a price exception results because $80 is less than $85 ($100 less a 15% discount). By default, the values in this field include Ceiling and Segment. When price administrators configure waterfall segments, they can configure other values. For information about configuring waterfall segments, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.
   Impacted Waterfall Segment	The price on this waterfall segment on a quote or an order price is compared to the price that is associated with the pricing term for the reference waterfall segment. By default, the values for this field include Invoice, Pocket, and Pocket Margin. When price administrators configure waterfall segments, they can configure other values. For information about configuring waterfall segments, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.
   Start Date	The date and time the pricing term begins.
   End Date	The date and time the pricing term ends.
   Adjustment Type	The nature of the adjustment for the pricing term. Values include: % Discount and Price Override.
   Term	The value that is associated with the adjustment.

4. If the Deal Terms list appears below the Guideline Plan list, create pricing terms for the deal guideline plan, and complete the fields as appropriate. The following table describes some fields.

   Field	Description
   Sequence	The sequence number for the deal term. If multiple terms that apply to a quote or an order are found, then the term with the lowest sequence number determines the pricing adjustment that the sales representative can negotiate for that quote or order. For more information about term selection logic, see Term Selection Logic.
   Role	The role of the user who can negotiate pricing for a quote and order. If you select no value, the pricing term for the deal applies to all users.
   Territory	The geographic area for the customer account on the quote or order. The values that you can select for this field are the same values that you can select for the Region field (not the Territories field) in the Accounts screen > More Info view. If you select no value, the pricing term for the deal applies to all territories.
   Constraint Type	The nature of a price exception for the pricing term: If you select Constraining, the sales representative sees a red square in the GL field after entering a price for a quote or an order that is lower than or equal to the minimum price that is associated with the pricing term for the deal. If you select Recommended, the sales representative sees a yellow square in the GL field after entering a price for a quote or an order that is lower than or equal to the minimum price that is associated with the pricing term for the deal. If a quote line item has a red square, the sales representative cannot convert the quote to an order until a price approver handles the price exception. A red square indicates that the sales representative violated a pricing policy. A yellow square is a cautionary indicator and does not prevent the sales representative from further processing the quote or order.
   Reference Waterfall Segment	The waterfall segment to which the pricing term applies. The price that is associated with the pricing term for this waterfall segment is compared to the price for the impacted waterfall segment on a quote or an order. If the price that is associated with the pricing term for this waterfall segment is higher than or equal to the price for the impacted waterfall segment, a price exception results. For example, assume the Reference Waterfall Segment is Ceiling, the pricing term is a 15% discount, and the Impacted Waterfall Segment is Invoice. Also, assume that the pricing engine calculates the ceiling price for a quote as $100 and the invoice price as $90. If a sales representative adjusts the invoice price on that quote to $80, a price exception results because $80 is less than $85 ($100 less a 15% discount). By default, the values in this field include Ceiling and Segment. When price administrators configure waterfall segments, they can configure other values. For information about configuring waterfall segments, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.
   Impacted Waterfall Segment	The price on this waterfall segment on a quote or an order price is compared to the price that is associated with the pricing term for the reference waterfall segment. By default, the values for this field include Invoice, Pocket, and Pocket Margin. When price administrators configure waterfall segments, they can configure other values. For information about configuring waterfall segments, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.
   Start Date	The date and time the pricing term begins.
   End Date	The date and time the pricing term ends.
   Deal Min	The lowest value in the deal value range.
   Deal Max	The highest value in the deal value range.
   Term	The percentage that is associated with the deal value range.

About Waterfalls

A waterfall is a list of the adjustments that are used to calculate the final price for a quote or an order line item. These adjustments can consist of adjustments that the pricing engine calculates and adjustments that the sales representative enters. The sales representative displays a waterfall by clicking the Invoice Price field for a line item in a quote or an order. A window appears with information about the adjustments that are applicable to each segment in the waterfall.

A waterfall consists of waterfall segments. Waterfall segments include:

• Ceiling. The highest published price for a quote, an order, or line item in a quote or an order. A company offers this price to all customers. The ceiling flag in a price list identifies the ceiling prices. For information about setting up ceiling prices, see Setting Up Ceiling Prices.
• Segment. The price that a company offers to the customers in a pricing segment for a quote, an order, or line item in a quote or an order. These customers are sometimes referred to as preferred customers. A segment price is sometimes referred to as a customer list price or a start price. The segment price is obtained from the price list.
• Invoice. The price that the customer pays for a quote, an order, or line item in a quote or an order. The invoice price is calculated by subtracting the negotiated discounts, volume discounts, and other on-invoice discounts from the segment price.
• Pocket price. The final price that a company realizes for a quote, an order, or line item in a quote or an order. A company pockets this price. The pocket price is calculated by subtracting off-invoice adjustments (for example, volume rebates, channel rebates, warranty costs, price protection plans, and marketing funds) from the invoice price.
• Pocket margin. The price that is associated with the profit that the company realizes for a quote, an order, or line item in a quote or an order. The pocket margin is calculated by subtracting the cost from the pocket price. For more information about cost prices, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

Administrators can configure the waterfall segments that are appropriate for their business. Administrators must associate waterfall segments with the waterfall calculation logic in the pricing procedure. For information about configuring waterfall segments and about pricing in general, see Siebel Pricing Administration Guide.

Setting Up Ceiling Prices

Price administrators can set up ceiling prices by designating a price list for ceiling prices.

NOTE:  Do not set up ceiling prices for more than one price list.

To set up ceiling prices

1. Navigate to the Administration Pricing screen > Price Lists view.
2. Select the price list for which you want to designate ceiling prices.
3. Select the Ceiling Price field to place a check mark in the check box.

Term Selection Logic

When a guideline plan contains multiple terms, Siebel Deal Management uses the following logic to select the line item term or the deal term that is applicable to a quote or an order:

1. For line item terms, select the terms with a product that is the same as the product on the quote or order:
   1. If no such product terms exists, select the terms with the product line for the product on the quote or order.
   2. If no such product line terms exists, select the terms with the product class for the product on the quote or order.
2. For deal terms, select the terms for which the term value range includes the deal value for the quote or order.
3. From the line item terms or deal terms that are selected in the previous steps, select the term for which:
   1. The role and territory are the same as the role and territory for the quote or order.
   2. The start date is before the effective date for the quote or order.
4. If no term is selected in the previous step, select the term for which:
   1. The role is the same as the role for the quote or order.
   2. The start date is before the effective date for the quote or order.
5. If no term is selected in the previous step, select the term for which:
   1. The territory is the same as the territory for the quote or order.
   2. The start date is before the effective date for the quote or order.
6. If no term is selected in the previous step, select the term for which the start date is before the effective date for the quote or order.
7. If the previous steps in this logic result in the selection of more than one term, then select the term with the lowest sequence number.

Configuring Term Selection Logic

Price administrators can configure the term selection logic. For information about the logic that Siebel Deal Management uses to select terms, see Term Selection Logic.

To configure term selection logic

1. Log in to Siebel Tools as an administrator.
2. In Object Explorer, navigate to Workflow Process, select the Dynamic Pricing Procedure - Deal Management workflow, and lock the workflow.
3. Navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step.
4. To configure term selection logic for line items:
   1. Select the DM Set Line Item Guideline step, navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step > WF Step I/O Argument, select the Search Specification input argument, and change the expression in the Value field.
   2. Navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step, select the DM Load Guideline step, navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step > WF Step I/O Argument, select the Sort Specification input argument, and change the expression in the Value field.
5. To configure term selection logic for deals:
   1. Select the DM Set Deal Guideline Status step, navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step > WF Step I/O Argument, select the Search Specification input argument, and change the expression in the Value field.
   2. Navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step, select the DM Load Guideline step, navigate to Workflow Process > WF Step > WF Step I/O Argument, select the Sort Specification input argument, and change the expression in the Value field.
6. Compile the object for your changes into the Siebel Repository file (SRF).
7. Unlock the object.