Examples for Forecasting Partner Revenue

Forecasting lets you monitor the sales pipeline to predict future sales. When salespeople enter opportunities, they specify the total possible revenue and probability of success for that opportunity, which is the basis of forecasting.

By using the forecasting module, analysts at the brand owner company can define a forecast series covering virtually any example. They can specify the partners, accounts, products, opportunities, and other data to be included in the forecast series. Then, both brand owners and partners can use the predefined forecasting series to create forecasts of future revenues. For more information about forecasting, see Siebel Forecasting Guide.

Partner Forecasting lets you give forecasting credit to partners in multiple ways. You can give credit to a partner if that partner is the primary organization in the Organization field using the [Opportunity Primary Organization] search specification. You can also give credit to a partner if a partner employee is the primary on the opportunity sales team by using the [Sales Rep Organization] search specification. If you want to give credit to all partner organizations, you can give credit to partners who are the primary organization in the Organization field by using the [Opportunity Primary Organization Partner Flag] search specification. Alternatively, you can give credit to the partner organizations in which the primary sales representative works for a partner organization by using the [Partner] search specification. To support the last alternative, the Partner field must be completed on revenue line items to be included in the forecast.

The following topics provide examples that are specific to partner forecasting. Brand owners can forecast partner revenue and partners can forecast their own revenue. Administrators at the brand owner company can set up forecast series in different ways to automate forecasts, limit visibility, and allow modifications of forecasts at each level of the forecast.

The following topics provide examples of different ways in which the brand owner can forecast partner revenue:

• "Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Direct Annual Forecast of Revenue for One Partner Organization"

• "Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Rollup Forecast of Annual Revenue for a Partner Organization"

• "Example of the Brand Owner Forecasting Revenue for All Partners that a Partner Manager Oversees"

• "Example of the Brand Owner Forecasting Revenue for All Partners that a Partner Manager Oversees"

Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Direct Quarterly Forecast of All Partner Revenue

This topic gives one example of how the brand owner forecasts partner revenue. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model

In this example, only one person at the brand owner company, typically the channel manager, creates a forecast.

The forecast series in this example covers quarterly revenues that have been committed where a partner employee is the primary on the sales team or the partner organization is the primary in the Organization field. Forecasts would be run once every month.

This example consists of the following tasks:

• "Creating the Forecast Series"

• "Creating the Forecast"

Creating the Forecast Series

Before running a forecast, you must create the forecast series. The forecast series defines forecasts covering all committed, quarterly partner revenue.

To create the forecast series 

1. Navigate to the Administration - Forecast screen.

2. In the Forecast Series list, add a new record.

3. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Series Name	A name for the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Quarterly Partner Forecast.
   Auto Forecast Search Spec	([Partner] is not NULL or [Opportunity Primary Organization Partner Flag] = 'Y') and [Committed] = 'Y' and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'Y'
   Active	checked
   Description	A description of the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Quarterly Partner Forecast - Committed.
   Detail Depth	Summary Only
   View Mode	All Across Organizations
   Interval Period Type	Month
   Interval	1
   Base Period Type	Quarter

   
   

4. Click the Forecasts Series Dates tab.

5. In the Forecast Series Dates list, add a new record.

6. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Forecast Date	The date when you want to begin running forecasts. This can be today's date.
   Description	A description, such as Q1 Partner Forecast.
   Start Date	The start date for the forecast period, such as 1/1/05.
   End Date	The end date for the forecast period, such as 3/31/05.

   
   

7. To create additional forecast dates, you can select the record you just created, click the menu button, and then click Copy Record. By default, the new forecast date is one month later and the rest of the fields are the same as in the original record. Repeat this step as many times as you want; as you repeatedly copy records, the Forecast Date continues to change to later dates. Therefore, you might want to change the Start Date and End Date periods to reflect the time frames of the forecasts you want to generate.

8. Click the Forecast Series Participants view tab, and in the Forecast Series Participants list, add a new record.

   The Add Participants dialog box appears.

9. In the Add Participants dialog box, use a query to find the channel manager, select the channel manager's record, and click OK.

Creating the Forecast

Once the forecast series has been set up, you can run the forecast.

To create the forecast 

1. Navigate to the Forecasts screen.

2. In the Forecast list, add a new record.

3. In the Forecast Series field of the new record, select the forecast series you want to use, such as Channel Manager's Quarterly Partner Forecast.

4. Click the Forecast Series Dates view tab.

5. In the Forecast Date field, click the Single Select button.

6. In the Pick Forecast Series Date dialog box, select the record with the forecast date you want and click OK.

   The forecast runs.

Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Direct Annual Forecast of Revenue for One Partner Organization

This topic gives one example of how the brand owner forecasts partner revenue. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model

In this example, only one person at the brand owner company, typically the channel manager, creates a forecast.

For this forecast, the forecast series defines forecasts that would cover annual revenue of one specific partner (Partner X) and be run once every quarter. The forecast results would provide a running total of forecasted revenues for the year.

You create this forecast series and forecast in the same way that you do in the example "Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Direct Quarterly Forecast of All Partner Revenue", with these exceptions:

• Because this is an annual forecast that is run on a quarterly basis, you need to set up the Forecast Series Dates accordingly.

• You enter the values in the following table in the fields of the Forecast Series record.

  Field	Description
  Series Name	A name for the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Annual Partner X Forecast.
  Auto Forecast Search Spec	([Sales Rep Organization] = ’Partner X' or [Opportunity Primary Organization] = 'Partner X') and [Committed] = 'Y' and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'Y'
  Description	A description of the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Annual Partner X Forecast - Committed.
  Active	checked
  Detail Depth	Summary Only
  View Mode	All Across Organizations
  Interval Period Type	Quarter
  Interval	1
  Base Period Type	Year

  
  

Example of the Brand Owner Creating a Rollup Forecast of Annual Revenue for a Partner Organization

This topic gives one example of how the brand owner forecasts partner revenue. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model

In this example, partner employees whose revenues are included in the forecast can run the forecast. In the previous examples, only the channel manager could run the forecasts.

This example consists of the following tasks:

• "Setting Up the Reporting Hierarchy"

• "Creating the Forecast Series"

• "Creating the Forecast"

Setting Up the Reporting Hierarchy

In this example, forecasts are rolled up through the position hierarchy to the channel manager at the brand owner company. You must set up the position hierarchy so all partner employees whose revenue is included in the forecast report directly or indirectly to the channel manager at the brand owner company.

The position at the top of the partner company reporting hierarchy, the partner relationship manager, reports to the channel manager at the brand owner company. Partner sales agents whose revenue is included in the forecast report directly or indirectly to the partner relationship manager.

You can set up the positions hierarchy using the Administration - Partner Screen, Positions view. For more information about setting up the positions hierarchy, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

Creating the Forecast Series

The channel manager creates a forecast series that defines forecasts that covers annual revenue of one specific partner (Partner X) and be run once every month. If you have set up the reporting hierarchy correctly, you can create this forecast series to do a rollup forecast.

To create the forecast series 

1. Navigate to the Administration - Forecast screen.

2. In the Forecast Series list, add a new record.

3. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Series Name	A name for the forecast, such as Rollup Forecast of Annual Partner X Revenue.
   Auto Forecast Search Spec	[Sales Rep Organization] = 'Partner X' and [Committed] = 'Y' and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'Y'
   Description	A description of the forecast, such as Rollup Forecast of Annual Partner X Revenue - Committed.
   Active	checked
   Detail Depth	Summary Only
   View Mode	My Revenues
   Interval Period Type	Month
   Interval	1
   Base Period Type	Year

   
   

4. Click the Forecasts Series Dates tab.

5. In the Forecast Series Dates list, add a new record.

6. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Forecast Date	The date when you want to begin running forecasts. This can be today's date.
   Description	A description, such as June Rollup Forecast of Annual Partner X Revenue.
   Start Date	The start date for the forecast period, such as 1/1/05.
   End Date	The end date for the forecast period, such as 12/31/05.

   
   

7. If you want create additional forecast dates, you can select the record you just created, click the menu button, and then click Copy Record. By default, the new forecast date is one month later, and the rest of the fields are the same as in the original record.

8. Click the Forecast Series Participants view tab, and in the Forecast Series Participants list, add a new record.

   The Add Participants dialog box appears.

9. In the Add Participants dialog box, query for the people in the brand owner and partner organization who would run the forecast, select these people, and then click OK.

   The positions of these people would include Channel Manager, Partner Sales Representative, Partner Sales Manager, and Partner Relationship Manager.

Creating the Forecast

Either the channel manager at the brand owner company, or any employee in the partner company who is below the channel manager in the reporting hierarchy, can run the forecast.

In order for the rollup forecast to run logically and to give employees the ability to adjust their forecasts, employees run and roll up forecasts in an order that is inversely related to their rank. The sales representative runs the forecast first, then the sales manager, then the partner relationship manager, and finally, the channel manager.

However, when managers run forecasts, Siebel PRM automatically runs their reports' forecasts, if the report has not already run the forecast.

To create the forecast 

1. In the Siebel PRM Portal, partner sales representatives (employees with no reports) navigate to the My Forecasts view.

2. The partner sales representative clicks New to create a new forecast.

3. The partner sales representative selects Rollup Forecast of Annual Partner X Revenue as the forecast series name.

4. The partner sales representative selects June Rollup Forecast of Annual Partner X Revenue as the forecast series date.

5. If the partner sales representative wants to adjust any of the revenue amounts that comprise the forecast, the partner sales representative clicks the Details view tab and modifies the revenue amounts.

6. When the partner sales representative is satisfied with the forecast details, the partner sales representative clicks the rollup button.

   The forecast is rolled up to the partner sales representative's manager, the sales manager.

7. In the Siebel PRM Portal, the sales manager repeats through Step 6, rolling up the forecast to the partner relationship manager.

8. In the Siebel PRM Portal, the partner relationship manager repeats through Step 6, rolling up the forecast to the channel manager at the brand owner company.

9. In the Siebel PRM Manager, the channel manager at the brand owner company repeats through Step 5.

   The channel manager's final rollup forecast includes information from all of the employees whose revenues contributed to the forecast.

Example of the Brand Owner Forecasting Revenue for All Partners that a Partner Manager Oversees

This topic gives one example of how the brand owner forecasts revenue for multiple partners. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model

In this example, there are multiple channel managers at the brand owner organization. Each channel manager oversees partnerships with a distinct group of partner organizations.

A channel manager at a brand owner organization wants to track the revenues associated with his or her own partners, but does not want other channel managers to be able to view these forecasts. In this example, only the channel manager can see the forecast.

This example consists of the following tasks:

• "Creating the Forecast Series"

• "Creating the Forecast"

Creating the Forecast Series

The channel manager creates a forecast series that defines forecasts that would cover the annual revenue of three specific partners (Partner X, Partner Y, and Partner Z) and be run once every quarter.

To create the forecast series 

1. Navigate to the Administration - Forecast screen.

2. In the Forecast Series list, add a new record.

3. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Series Name	A name for the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Annual Forecast of Partners X, Y, and Z.
   Auto Forecast Search Spec	([Sales Rep Organization] = 'Partner X' or [Sales Rep Organization] = 'Partner Y' or [Sales Rep Organization] = 'Partner Z') and [Committed] = 'Y' and [Calculated Primary Flag] = 'Y'
   Description	A description of the forecast, such as Channel Manager's Annual Forecast of Partners X, Y, and Z - Committed.
   Active	checked
   Detail Depth	Summary Only
   View Mode	All Across Organizations
   Interval Period Type	Quarter
   Interval	1
   Base Period Type	Year

   
   

4. Click the Forecasts Series Dates tab.

5. In the Forecast Series Dates list, add a new record.

6. Enter the values in the following table in the fields of the new record.

   Field	Description
   Forecast Date	The date when you want to begin running forecasts. This can be today's date.
   Description	A description, such as Q1 Partner X, Partner Y, and Partner Z Forecast.
   Start Date	The start date for the forecast period, such as 1/1/05.
   End Date	The end date for the forecast period, such as 12/31/05.

   
   

7. If you want to create additional forecast dates, you can select the record you just created, click the menu button, and then click Copy Record. By default, the new forecast date is one quarter later, and the rest of the fields are the same as in the original record. You then edit the record, for example, to change the description so it refers to the new quarter.

8. Click the Forecast Series Participants view tab, and in the Forecast Series Participants list, add a new record.

   The Add Participants dialog box appears.

9. In the Add Participants dialog box, use a query to find the brand owner's channel manager, select this record, and click OK. In the Forecast Series form, click Save.

   Only the channel manager who was selected is able to run a forecast based on this forecast series.

Creating the Forecast

Only the channel manager at the brand owner organization can run the forecasts based on this forecast series.

After the forecast series has been set up, the channel manager can run the forecast.

To create the forecast 

1. The channel manager navigates to the Forecasts screen.

2. In the Forecast list, click New.

3. In the Forecast Series field of the new record, the channel manager selects the forecast series to be used, such as Channel Manager's Annual Forecast of Partners X, Y, and Z.

4. In the Forecast Date field, select the forecast date.