Categories

Scenario for Managing Categories

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

A sales representative wants to track information to help manage relationships with current and potential customers. Categories, which can be designated as private or shared with the sales team, provide the sales representative with a way to organize information about an account, opportunity, or contact.

The sales representative can track the most active accounts by creating a Hot Accounts category, and then select that category for each account that she wants to add to her active list.

The sales representative also can view a list of all the opportunities she has closed over a period of time. If she sets up a Closed category, then she can see which opportunities she has closed during the previous year.

Sales professionals also can use categories to track personal information about contacts. For example, a sales representative can record hobbies, such as golf or tennis, and designate that category for contacts she plans to invite to her company-sponsored sporting events. In addition, she can track family names or add contacts to a Holiday List category that allows her to create a seasonal mailing list.

Note: The categories discussed in this chapter are not the same as the categories associated with Catalog administration which are used primarily for access control. For information about this other kind of category, see Siebel Order Management Guide.

Adding a Category

You can add categories to accounts, contacts, and opportunities. The procedure that follows explains how to add a category for accounts. You can add a category for contacts or opportunities by navigating to the appropriate screen. Category information can be shared with other members of the sales team or kept private.

To add an account category

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List.
Query the list for the account to which you want to add a category, and drill down on the Name field for that account.
Navigate to the Categories view.

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

Some fields are described in the following table.

Field	Comments
Category	Select an existing category or create a new category.
Category Rank	Type a numeric value that defines the category.
Value	Select a value or create a new value to assign to the category.
Private	Select the check box to restrict sales team members from seeing how you have categorized the account. When the check box is selected, the category is private. Clear the check box to designate the category as Public allowing access by team members.

Searching by Category

You can use the categories you and your team have defined to search for specific accounts, opportunities, and contacts. Sales professionals can track information about accounts, opportunities, and contacts using the Categories screen and associated views.

To search by category

Navigate to the Category screen, then the view that relates to the information that you require.
For example, if you want to find the accounts associated with a particular category, then navigate to the Account Categories view.
Query for the appropriate category.
The accounts, opportunities, or contacts associated with the category appear in the categories list.