This chapter covers the following topics:
You can use Oracle TeleSales to create an order for sending electronic or physical collateral to prospects or customers.
Electronic collateral consists of a cover letter and the electronic files of the collateral itself. Both are created within Oracle Marketing and sent to customers through Oracle Fulfillment, a module of the Oracle CRM eBusiness Suite. You can choose to send the cover letter, the collateral, or both. Electronic collateral can be sent by fax, by e-mail, or to print.
Physical collateral is tracked in Oracle Inventory and shipped through Oracle Order Management. It can be created either in Oracle Marketing or in Oracle Inventory.
Electronic collateral can be grouped into kits in Oracle Marketing. When an order containing a kit is processed, all items in the kit are sent.
You cannot use Oracle TeleSales to process payment for either type of collateral you send to customers.
The order you create in the Collateral tab of the eBusiness Center is executed through an e-mail server, a fax server, or a printer in the case of electronic collateral or through the shipment of one or more inventory items. You must check the Collateral History window available from the Actions menu to see whether the collateral has actually been sent out and delivered.
Sending collateral to prospects and customers is a two-step process. You use the Collateral Tab of the eBusiness Center to create the order and then confirm it in a separate window before it can be fulfilled.
Confirming the order requests the collateral to be sent. It is up to the different fulfillment services to ensure that collateral is actually delivered.
Information about the recipients and the collateral you want to send must already be in the database. For electronic collateral, the database must have the collateral file itself.
For example, before you can create an order for prospects to receive an e-mail about a new product, your database must already contain the e-mail and the recipient information, including e-mail addresses.
You can fax or e-mail a cover letter to a customer with or without soft collateral, or print it. You can also send soft collateral without a cover letter. Hard collateral is mailed to the customer. Use this procedure to prepare an order to send cover letters and collateral to consumers or organizational contacts related to the party in the eBusiness Center header.
While you can select multiple recipients for each piece of collateral in the order, the choice of recipients is restricted by the party you are viewing in the eBusiness Center header and the View Details you have selected:
If you request collateral to be sent to consumers, you can only select the consumer as the recipient.
If you send the collateral to contacts at an organization, then you can only select recipients who are contacts at that one organization.
If in View Details you selected a contact, then only that contact appears as a recipient.
If in View Details you selected the organization, then you can choose any organization contact as the recipient.
Prerequisites
Steps
If you are sending collateral or a cover letter to a consumer, then, in the View Details region, select the name of the consumer.
If you want to send collateral or a cover letter to one or more recipients at an organization, then, in the View Details region, select either the name of the organization or the organizational contact.
Note: You are restricted to sending collateral to one organization in any one order.
Select the Collateral tab.
If you are sending electronically, then optionally select a cover letter from the Cover Letter LOV. You can send a separate cover letter with each piece of collateral or send the cover letter without collateral. A cover letter is not required.
Making an entry in the Source Code field narrows down the list of collateral that appears in the Collateral Name LOV. By leaving this field blank you can access all collateral regardless of source code, but you must enter at least one source code before you can complete the order. You can order collateral associated with multiple source codes in the same order.
If you want to send collateral, then select the collateral by performing the following steps:
If you know the source code the collateral is associated with, then select a source code using the Source Code List of Values (LOV) in the Select Collateral region of the Collateral tab.
The source code is populated if you made an entry in the Overview tab.
Selecting a source code restricts the number of collateral available in the Collateral Name LOV.
If you know the name of the collateral that you want to send, then use the Collateral Name LOV to select it. If you select the collateral first, the related source code appears. Only collateral with the status Final Loaded display in the LOV.
If you do not know the collateral name you want to send, then click Search and search for it.
The Select Collateral region displays basic information about the collateral.
If the collateral is a kit, then Yes appears in the Kit field and you can review the items in the kit by clicking Review Kit.
A list of items in the kit appears.
Review the recipient name and optionally select a different recipient from the LOV.
Note: If the recipient is not listed in the LOV and you are viewing details for the organization, then create the contact by selecting New Contact from the Navigate To menu.
If you are sending physical collateral to this recipient, then enter the quantity you want to send. Your organization's preferred shipping method is filled in automatically. You can use the Shipping method LOV to select an alternate shipping method.
Depending on the type of shipping method you select, the individual's address appears automatically in the Sent to field. You can select an alternate destination using the Sent to LOV.
Note: If the LOV contains incorrect information or no address or e-mail appears, then you must enter the correct information on other tabs of the eBusiness Center.
If you are viewing details for the organization, then optionally select any additional recipients and, for physical collateral, the number of copies they are to receive.
Click Add to Order.
If you want to add additional items to the collateral order, then select New from the File menu and repeat from step 4.
When you complete adding collateral items, cover letters, and recipients, click Review Order and complete the order creation procedure by clicking Send Request. You must complete this last step for your order to be processed.
The collateral order is processed on a schedule set up by your organization.
You can check if the collateral order is fulfilled by choosing Collateral History from the Navigate To menu.
Note: If more than one collateral item is sent to a customer from Oracle TeleSales, then a sales order is created for each collateral item.
Quantity Available and Back Order fields in the Select Collateral region are reserved for future functionality.
After you confirm an order by clicking the Send Request button on the Collateral Request Confirmation window, you cannot modify it.
You can send collateral to multiple recipients in one order, but all recipients must be entered in the database and have established relationships with the individual displayed in the eBusiness Center header.
This means that in any single order you can only send collateral to contacts at the same organization or, if you are sending collateral to consumers, you can send collateral only to individuals who have established relationships with the consumer displayed in the eBusiness Center header.
For example, if John Smith calls in and wants five company brochures sent to five friends, these five friends must be entered into the database first and have relationships to John Smith recorded using the Relationship tab.
Use this procedure to modify an order you have created.
Prerequisites
Steps
If you want to modify individual items in the order, then:
Navigate to the item you want to modify using the Added to Order arrow buttons located at the top left hand side of the Collateral tab.
If you want to replace this item with another, then:
If you know the name of the new item, then select it using the Collateral Name List of Values (LOV).
Changing the source code in the Source Code field will give you a different list of collateral to select from. Deleting any entry in the Source Code field displays all available collateral in Collateral Name LOV. Only collateral with the statuses Final Loaded or Expired display in the LOV.
If you do not know the name, use the search function to search for it.
For physical collateral, you can modify the quantity you want to send to any recipient by entering a different quantity.
You can modify the shipping method for any recipient.
If you want to remove a recipient from the order, then place your cursor in the recipient's name and click Clear Record in the toolbar.
Add any additional recipients and, for physical collateral, the number of copies they are to receive.
Click Update Order.
When you have completed modifying the order, click Review Order.
Complete the order creation procedure by clicking Send Request. You must complete this last step for your order to be processed.
The collateral order is processed on a schedule set up by your organization.
You can check if the collateral order has been fulfilled by choosing Collateral History from the Navigate To menu.
Use this procedure to view the status of individual collateral items in collateral orders that have been submitted for delivery.
Prerequisites
Steps
Choose Collateral History from the Navigate To menu.
The Collateral History window appears.
If you are viewing consumer collateral orders, then the Customer field displays the name of the consumer and the Recipient LOV contains the names of all of the individuals in the database that have an established relation with that consumer.
If you are viewing collateral orders for an organization or contacts at an organization, then the Customer field displays the name of the organization and the Recipient LOV allows you to select all contacts at that organization.
If you want to view all of the collateral orders for an organization then make sure the Recipient field is blank.
If you want to view collateral orders for a contact at an organization, then select the contact using the Recipient LOV.
If you want to view collateral orders for a consumer, then select the name of the consumer using the Recipient LOV.
Click Display.
The window displays a history of collateral orders made for the party.
Each line represents one collateral item and one recipient. This means that if you are sending the same item to five different individuals, this item appears listed five times with each recipient's name.
The Primary Contact field displays the party which was displayed in the eBusiness Center header at the time the order was made.
Select a collateral item to view more details about it in the Request Information region.
If an item has the Request Status of delivered, this means that the item was sent out to the recipient.
If the collateral is a kit, then Yes appears in the Kit field and you can review the items in the kit by clicking Review Kit.
A list of items in the kit appears.
Click OK to close the window.