Activity Plans and Sales Methods

This chapter contains information about activity plans, activity templates, sales methods, and sales stages. It includes the following topics:

About Activity Templates and Activity Plans

Activity templates are created by an administrator and are blueprints for sets of activities. Activity templates can be invoked by users to create activity plans. For information about creating activity templates for field service activities, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

You can select an appropriate activity template for the goal you want to achieve, which generates a list of activities associated with the activity template. This generated list of activities is an activity plan. An activity plan saves you from creating a new list of activities for each sales call, corporate visit, and special event. Typically, activity plans incorporate a company’s best practices. Using activity plans, you can locate, assign, schedule, and track the progress of related activities.

For example, the following list of activities can serve as an activity template for a corporate visit with clients for product demonstrations:

Book a conference room.
Set an agenda.
Confirm the date and time with the customer.
Make arrangements for presenters.

This set of tasks, when defined as a template and applied to create the activity plan, helps sales team members follow the steps your company recommends to prepare for a corporate visit. The list drives critical tasks and defines the recommended lead time for each activity within the template.

Each activity template is associated (through its Type value) with a certain business object. See Business Objects Associated with Activities for a list of business object and screens that use activity templates. In activity plans views, only activity templates that have been associated with the active business object can be invoked. For example, on the Opportunity screen, only templates for opportunity activities are visible. Selecting a template creates all the activities defined by that template.

About Sales Methods

A sales method is an approach used in the sales process. The administrator sets up sales methods and sales stages that represent the organization’s sales process. A method can encompass every stage associated with the sales process, from prospecting to forecasting to closing deals. You can set up as many methods and sales stages as your organization needs. Sales representatives can then use the method most appropriate for their opportunities.

Sales methods can differ even within one organization. For example, a sales method for dealing with complex multimillion dollar opportunities might include as many as fifteen stages, while a sales method of a low dollar opportunity might require only four.

Sales methods and stages are associated with only activity templates and assessment templates of type Opportunity.

About Activity Assignment

Activities created using activity templates can be automatically assigned to:

The employee who is specified in the template.
The employee who uses activity templates to create the activity. (This assignment is usual in a sales situation.)
No employee. (This assignment is recommended when Assignment Manager is used to assign the activity.)

The following table shows how the values in the Employee and Category fields of the activity record in the Activity Template Details list determine the assignment.

Table Employee and Category Values for Activity Assignment

If the Employee Is...	and the Category Is...	Then the Activity Is...
NOT NULL	Any value (NULL or NOT NULL)	Assigned to the employee who is specified in the Employee field of the template.
NULL	Field Engineer Activity Repair Activity, Preventive Maintenance, or Other	Not assigned. The Employee and Owner fields are blank in the created activity.
NULL	Not Field Engineer Activity, Repair Activity, Preventive Maintenance, or Other	Assigned to the employee who creates the activity (by applying the activity template).

Activities created directly in the Activities screen are similarly affected by the Category value. If the Category value is changed to Field Engineer Activity, Repair Activity, Preventive Maintenance, or Other, then the values of Owner and Category fields are deleted and set to NULL when the record is saved.

Scenario for Managing Activity Plans

This topic gives one example of how activity plan management might be used. You might use activity plan management differently, depending on your business model.

A sales organization has adopted a new sales methodology to improve the effectiveness of its salespeople. The business analyst has provided the administrator with a detailed document describing the sales method, the stages of the method, and the activities that each salesperson performs at each stage of the deal. The outline of the document looks as follows:

Our New Sales Method
> Stage 1, Prospecting, the lead discovery phase. (Status = Open)
> Stage 2, Qualification of the lead and working up the deal. (Status = Open)
> Stage 3, Closing the deal and entering the order. (Status = Won)
  > Activity 1, Prepare the quote within 2 days
  > Activity 2, Email the quote to manager for approval within 3 days
  > Activity 3, Create the contract within 1 week
> Stage 4, Lost deal. (Status = Lost)

The administrator creates a new sales method record (New Sales Method) and four associated sales stage records (Prospecting, Qualification, Closing, and Lost).

Next, she creates four new activity templates, one template for each stage. The activity template describes the activities and milestones that the salespeople perform at that stage.

Because the salespeople enter their own opportunity records, the administrator sets up the activity template details so that the salesperson who enters the opportunity is automatically assigned ownership of the activities.

Salespeople set their user preferences to specify that their default sales methodology is the New Sales Method, so that this methodology is automatically populated when they create their opportunities.

When salespeople enter their opportunity records and specify a sales stage, the activity template for that stage automatically generates and assigns the activities appropriate for the stage. Because lead times were set up in the activity template details, the due dates for the activities are automatically calculated using the date for the opportunity sales stage.

Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans

To administer and use activity plans and sales methods, complete the following tasks:

Defining a Sales Methodology

Creating a sales methodology includes the following parts:

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, then you do not have to define a sales methodology.

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

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To create a sales method and associated sales stages

Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the Sales Methods view.
In the Sales Methods list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.

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	Select the value that best matches the stage you are currently adding. For example, the Prospecting stage best matches the lead discovery phase. This value is used for rolling up many different stages into phases. Phases simplify management and reporting of the sales cycle. 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	Select a status value. The choices in this drop-down list are configured by using the SALES_STAGE_STATUS type in the List of Values. The default choices are Open, Won, and Lost. For more information, see Working with Lists of Values
Quota Factor	Type the amount by which a sales representative’s quota is multiplied for that sales stage. As you move deals from one stage to another stage, some deals fall out of the pipeline. 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. Your quota factors in this case are 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 the revenue quota objectives on all of the representative’s active quota plans. The default value is 1.
Order	Type a number for the sales stage’s position in the list of values in the Opportunities screen.
Win Probability	Type a number for 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 is, because each stage brings the salesperson closer to winning the deal.
Duration	Type the number of days in a particular stage required for an average deal under average circumstances.
Stalled Deal Limit	Type the number of days that an opportunity can be in a particular sales stage. If the opportunity exceeds this limit, then 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 might need refreshing. For more information, see Clearing the Cache.

Creating an Activity Template

You use the Activity Templates view of the Administration - Data screen to create activity templates. For information about creating service activity templates using the Service Details view, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To create an activity template without grandchild records

Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the Activity Templates view.

In the Activity Templates list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.

Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Sales Stage	If you are creating a template of type Opportunity, then select the sales stage with which you want to associate the activity template. When the sales stage is selected, the Sales Method field is automatically populated. When this sales stage (and sales method) are specified for an opportunity and Auto Trigger is selected, the activity template is used to automatically populate the Activity Plan view for that opportunity. For information about creating sales stages and methods, see Defining a Sales Methodology.
Type	Select a value that specifies where you want the template to be available. For example, select Account if you want to use this template to create activity plans for accounts, or Milestone for TAS customer milestones. The choices in this drop-down list are configured by using the TEMPLATE_OBJECT_TYPE type in the List of Values. For more information, see Working with Lists of Values.
Sales Method	Displays a value when the sales stage is selected.
Public	Ignore this field. There is no logic associated with it. You might choose to use it in conjunction with workflows and search specifications.
Auto Trigger	If you are creating a template of type Opportunity, then select the check box to have the activity plan automatically generated for opportunities with this sales stage.

Navigate to the Activity Template Details view.

In the Activity Templates Details list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.

Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Type	Select a value for the type of activity template. The choices in this drop-down list are configured by using the TODO_TYPE type in the List of Values. For more information, see Working with Lists of Values.
Duration	Select the time needed to complete the activity. This field determines the end time for the activity.
Lead Time	Type the lead time for the activity.
Lead Units	Select the units of time to measure the lead time of the activity.
Employees	Select the user names of the people who are to perform the activity. For more information, see About Activity Assignment.
Alarm	Select the check box to indicate an alarm sounds when it is time for the activity.
Category	Select the category for the activity. For more information, see About Activity Assignment.
Lock Assignment	Select the check box to indicate the Employees field is locked so that assignment cannot be changed by Assignment Manager. (Assignment can still be manually changed, for example, by the administrator.)
Required	Select the check box to indicate that the activity must be completed. This field is for information only; there is no associated code.
Display In	Select a value to display the activity in the Calendar screen, the Activity screen, or in both screens.
Breakable	Select the check box to indicate breaks are permitted during the activity. This field is an input parameter to Siebel Scheduler. For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.
Lock Schedule	Select the check box to lock the schedule for the activity. This field is used for service activity templates. For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.
Work Time	Type the work time for the activity. This field is used for service activity templates. For more information, see Siebel Field Service Guide.

Create a new activity template detail record for each activity associated with the activity template.

Creating TAS Customer Milestone Templates in a Localized Application

The sample Target Account Selling (TAS) Customer Milestone activity template is available only in English. If you are running a localized version of the Siebel Sales application (a version in a language other than English), and are using the Target Account Selling module, then you must create an activity template of type Milestone, as outlined in the following procedure.

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To translate a TAS Customer Milestone template for a localized application

Navigate to the Application - Data screen, then the Activity Templates view.
In the Activity Templates list, query for records of Milestone type where Milestone is the translation of the English word in the localization language.

Note: For the translation, see the Interface Terminology Look-up manual for your language, or, in the List of Values, look for the Display Value that corresponds to the Language-Independent Code for Milestone. For more information about List of Values, see Working with Lists of Values.
The query finds the following six records:
- 1-Request Offering(s)
- 2-Evaluate Offering(s)
- 3-Approve / Select
- 4-Legal / Purchasing
- 5-Implement
- 6-Measure
For each of the six templates, complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to the Activity Templates Detail view.
2. Make sure that for each detail record, the Type is Recommended Activity where Recommended Activity is the translation of the English phrase in the localized language. (See note in Step 2.)
3. (Optional) Translate the Description of each detail record into the localized language.
Add a milestone, and make sure that the six Activity Templates appear in the Event field drop-down list.
For more information, see Adding Customer Milestones.

Deleting an Activity Template

You can delete an activity template.

Note: If you delete an activity template, then the activities associated with activity plans that reference the template are not deleted. However, the reference to the activity template from the activity is deleted.

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To delete an activity template

Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the Activity Templates view.
In the Activity Templates list, select and delete the activity template record.

Setting a Default Sales Methodology (End User)

Users can set a default sales methodology in their preferences so that each time they create a new opportunity, their default sales methodology is populated for the opportunity record.

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To set a default sales methodology

From the application-level menu, select Tools, then User Preferences.
Navigate to the Price List & Sales Methodology view.
In the Sales Methodology field, select the methodology that you want to have as the default.

Using an Activity Plan (End User)

An activity plan defines the activities needed to implement a project or goal, or to resolve issues that frequently occur. For example, if a service-oriented activity plan is associated with a service request, then the plan might include a standard set of activities required to resolve the SR.

Activity plans use activity templates that establish the list of activities to be completed. Activity templates, created by administrators, can have various levels of details pertinent to each member of a team, such as requisitioning parts and tools, steps involved in the service activities, or special directions or instructions.

After an agent selects an activity plan, the steps are in place to help diagnose and resolve the customer’s issues, and the agent can move to the next customer call. Either Assignment Manager or an administrator can assign the activities to the appropriate users.

This task is a step in Process of Administering and Using Activity Plans.

To create activities associated with an activity plan

Navigate to the Service Requests screen, then the Service Request List view.
In the Service Request list, select the service request, and drill down on the SR # (number) field.
Navigate to the Activity Plans view.

In the Activity Plans list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.

Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Planned Start	Select the start date and time for activities related to the service request.
Template	Select the appropriate activity template for the service request.

Save the activity plan.
Activities associated with the plan automatically appear in the Activities view.