Objectives

This chapter covers managing objectives using the Siebel Consumer Goods application. Topics include:

About Objectives

An objective is a sales goal that is established to introduce a new product, promote the sale of an existing product, or improve a product’s presence in the retail environment. You apply an objective to one or more retail store accounts. An objective includes one or more recommended activities that salespersons perform when they visit the stores belonging to the target accounts for the objective.

Organizations often create objectives to support a corporate promotion or merchandising strategy. When used with recommended activities, objectives help to coordinate your sales force. Salespersons benefit by knowing about objectives for their retail stores and activities their managers consider important to perform during their store visits.

Ideally, you implement objectives at the beginning of a planning cycle.

You can create objectives for the entire corporation, for example, to support a corporate promotion. In this case, the corporate objective is the parent objective, and regional, district, or account managers can create child objectives of this parent to support the goals of the corporate objective.

Alternatively, a retail sales manager can create an objective and activities for the retail sales representatives in a region to support specific sales goals for that region.

Scenario for Creating and Fulfilling Sales Objectives

Retail sales managers and sales representatives perform the process in this example scenario for creating and fulfilling sales objectives. Your company might follow a different process according to its business requirements.

A large food manufacturer develops a new beverage, and plans to test consumer appeal for the beverage by introducing it in southern France. One retail sales manager’s territory is the southern region of France. The sales manager is responsible for making sure that the sales representatives reporting to her take the actions necessary to successfully launch of this new beverage.

The retail sales manager begins by creating an objective named Southern France New Beverage Launch. Next, she adds three recommended activities that she wants each member of her sales force to complete to meet this objective:

Meet with a manager to make sure that the new beverage is properly priced.
Take a retail order to make sure that enough of the new beverage is in stock.
Perform a retail audit to verify the new beverage is correctly positioned on store shelves.

To communicate the importance of these activities to her sales force, she assigns the priority 1-ASAP to all three recommended activities. She also adds a product fact sheet to the objective as a literature item. Her sales representatives can use this fact sheet to find valuable information about the new beverage prior to visiting accounts. Finally, she adds every account in southern France to the objective so that the objective is available to the account team members for these accounts. The three activities are available to the representatives for association with the outlet visits they plan for the upcoming business cycle.

When the sales representatives for southern France check their calendars, they see that the retail sales manager scheduled a series of store visits for them. When they prepare for each of these visits, they can review the objective, the recommended activities that she created, and the product fact sheet that she added. Later, when the new beverage launch is in progress and the sales representatives perform store visits, the manager or sales representatives can review the objective and note if representatives completed the related recommended activities.

Process of Working with Objectives

This topic lists the tasks that administrators and end users typically perform to manage objectives. Your company might follow a different process according to its business requirements.

Administrator Setup Procedures

The following list shows tasks that administrators typically perform to manage objectives:

Creating Objectives
Creating Recommended Activities for Objectives
Targeting Accounts to Objectives
(Optional) Adding Literature to an Objective, as described in Siebel Fundamentals
(Optional) Associating Objectives with Account Promotions
(Optional) Creating Child Objectives
(Optional) Changing the Dates for Objectives
Applying Objectives
Scheduling Store Visits

End-User Procedures

The following list shows tasks that end users typically perform to access and use objectives:

In general, retail sales representatives do not create objectives, but instead use objectives to direct the activities that they perform during customer visits. They use the Objectives screen to review objectives, recommended activities, target accounts, and literature that applies to their retail stores and accounts. For more information about how retail sales representatives use the retail execution feature to complete recommended activities, see Process of Performing Retail Activities (End User).

Administrator and End-User Maintenance Procedures

During the campaign, retail sales managers and sales representatives check the status of the objectives and associated activities. For more information, see Checking the Status of Objectives (End User).

Creating Objectives

You must complete this task before performing the remaining tasks in this chapter.

If you want to create recurring objectives, you can perform the following tasks:

Change the period of an existing objective (if no visits are scheduled).
Copy an existing objective and apply a new period to it.
Use a workflow to schedule monthly visits. For more information, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To create an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.
The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Objective	The name of the objective.
Parent Objective	The name of an objective’s parent objective, if applicable. The parent objective defines some of the criteria for its child objectives. For example, child objectives are restricted to the products, if any, that are associated with the parent objective. You can create parent objectives without completing the Parent Objective field. You must complete the Parent Objective field when creating child objectives. You can view parent-child relationships between objectives in the Objectives Explorer view.
Type	The type of objective, for example, a corporate promotion or a marketing type of objective.
Description	The purpose of the objective.
Period	The period of time during which the objective must be completed.
Product	The product or products that you want to associate with this objective.
Organization	The organization restricts the target accounts you can associate with the objective.
Start Date	The beginning date of an objective. This date must be in the objective’s time period.
End Date	The ending date of an objective. This date must be in the objective’s time period.

Creating Recommended Activities for Objectives

You can add one or more recommended activities to an objective. Recommended activities:

Are associated with every target account that is added to the objective.
Are not assigned to individuals because they are used when planning visits to all of the targeted accounts.
Can optionally be associated with individual products if certain activities apply to specific products.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To add a recommended activity to an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for the record to which you want to add an activity.
Click the Activities view tab, create a new record in the Activities list, and complete the necessary fields.
The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Activity Type	The type of activity to perform, for example, a retail assessment or presentation.
Earliest Start	The suggested date the recommended activity begins; the default is the objective period start date. If you choose to edit this field, the date must be in the period assigned to the parent objective.
Latest Finish	The suggested date the recommended activity ends; the default is the objective period end date. If you choose to edit this field, the date must come after the earliest start date for the recommended activity and must be in the period assigned to the parent objective.
Products	Each activity can have one or more products associated with it. The choice of products is restricted to products that are associated with the objective.
Assessment Template	The name of the assessment template that is assigned to the recommended activity. If the recommended activity requires an assessment completion, you can associate the relevant assessment template with the recommended activity. For information about assessment templates, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.
Required	Select this field to indicate that the representative must complete or reschedule the activity before the representative completes a visit.
Routine	Select this field to indicate that the activity applies to every retail visit. For example, even after a representative completes the activity on a visit, the activity appears on every subsequent visit that is planned between the activity’s earliest start and latest completion dates. Clear this field to indicate that the activity is nonroutine. When the activity is completed or when the date of the visit is greater than the activity’s Latest Completion date, the activity is no longer available for visits.
Role	If you are using Territory Management, use this field to assign the activity to only positions that have this role. For more information about Territory Management, see Siebel Territory Management Guide.
Category	If you are using Territory Management, use this field to assign the activity to only positions that are associated with this category.
Assign To All	If you select this field, the activity is created for each member of the account team. If you do not select this field, the activity is created for only the primary member of the account team. Do not select this field if you use the Role and Category fields.

Targeting Accounts to Objectives

You need to associate one or more accounts to an objective. Accounts associated with objectives are referred to as target accounts. When you apply the objective, the objective’s activities are used as templates to create activities for each of the target accounts.

The accounts that are available as targets are those accounts that belong to the organization for which the user is an account team member.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To add a target account to an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for the record to which you want to add a target account.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
In the Target Accounts list, query for and select the account that you want to add.
Click Commit.
The account is added to the Accounts list and becomes a target account for the objective.

After you add a target account to an objective, you can delete the account if it no longer is associated with the objective. For information about target lists, see information about global target list management in Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

To delete a target account from an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for the record from which you want to delete a target account.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
In the Accounts list, select the account that you want to delete.
Click Uncommit.
The account is deleted from the Accounts list and is no longer a target account for the objective.

Creating Child Objectives

You can associate smaller objectives with a larger objective. The parent objective restricts the associated products of the child objective.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To make one objective the child of another

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, select the objective record.
In the Parent Objective field, select a parent objective.

Changing the Dates for Objectives

During the planning stages for an objective, you can change the objective start date and end date. You can apply date changes that you make to an objective to its recommended activities by manually changing the dates for each activity. You can also apply date changes that you make to an objective to its recommended activities.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To change the dates for an objective

Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the Objectives view.
Select the Objective record for which you want to change the start date or end date.
Select a new start date or end date for the objective by using one of the following methods:
- In the More Info form, select a new start date or end date for the objective.
- In the Period field, select a new time period for the objective.
The start date and end date are automatically set to the first and last dates in the period.
The start and end dates must be in the date period of the parent objective.
In the More Info form, click Apply Period.
The earliest start and latest completion dates of all recommended activities for the objective are reset to the earliest start and latest completion dates of the objective.

Applying Objectives

After you add all the necessary information to an objective, you must apply the objective. Before you apply an objective, you can modify and update it before end users see its contents.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To apply an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
In the Objectives list, drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for the record.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.

Caution: Before you click Apply, make sure that all objective information is correct. You can apply an objective only once. This restriction prevents creating multiple iterations of activities that might miscommunicate requirements to end users.
In the Objective form, click Apply.

Scheduling Store Visits

After completing the preceding tasks, you can schedule store visits for each account that is added to the objective. The method you use to schedule store visits depends on the feature your organization uses:

If your organization uses the Routes feature, see Using Routes to Schedule Visits (End User).
If your organization uses the Retail Execution feature, see Planning Retail Visits (End User).

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

Reviewing Objectives (End User)

When end users navigate to the Objectives screen, the default filter on the Objectives list is My Objectives. The remaining view tabs and fields available to the end users in the Objectives screen are identical to those available to the administrator.

For more information about navigating the standard Siebel interface, including using the Explorer tree, see Siebel Fundamentals.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To review an objective

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
The default filter on the Objectives view and the additional filters available depend on the end user’s responsibilities.
From the visibility filter, select one of the following values:
- My Objectives. Objectives for which the user is assigned to the team.
- My Team’s Objectives. All Objectives in a manager’s team, including the manager’s.
- All Objectives. All Objectives for the user’s organization.
- All Objectives Across Organizations. All Objectives across all organizations in the implementation.
In the Objectives list, drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for a record.
Click the view tabs to review activities, target accounts, and other information about the objective.

Changing the Status of Activities (End User)

After performing the recommended activities, you can change the status of the activities. Changing the status of activities allows you to communicate to others that the activity is in progress, completed, or rescheduled.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To change the status of an activity associated with an objective

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink in the account record, and click the Outlet Visits view tab.
In the Outlet Visits list, drill down on the Description field hyperlink for a visit.
In the Activities list, change the Status field of the activity.

Note: You can view the status of Activities by navigating to the Administration - Data screen, Objectives view, Account Status view, and then the Recommended Activities list. This view is read-only; you cannot change an activity’s status in this view.

Checking the Status of Objectives (End User)

You can use the Account Status view or a graphical chart to check objectives and the status of your recommended activities or the recommended activities of your employees.

This task is a step in Process of Working with Objectives.

To check the status of an objective and its activities

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Retail Objective List view.
Select the objective record for which you want to review the status.
Drill down on the Objective field hyperlink for the record, and click the Account Status view tab.
Select the account record for which you want to review the status.
The recommended activities associated with the account appear in the Recommended Activities list. You can review the status of each recommended activity.

Use the following procedure to check the status of an objective on a chart.

To check the status of an objective on a chart

Navigate to the Objectives screen, then the Charts view.
Select the objective record for which you want to review the status.
From the Charts visibility filter, select a chart.

About Configuring Objectives

This topic contains information that might be useful when configuring the objective features.

The procedures documented in this chapter include buttons that invoke specialized methods, as described in the following table.

Button	Method	Description	Supported On
Apply	ScheduleVisits	For all the recommended activities in the objective, copies the activities and associates them with each account in the objective. The assignment of the activities depends on the way the recommended activities are set up. (See the following table.)	Applet Layer
Commit	CommitAccnt	Writes account names from temporary targeting tables to permanent tables where objectives are stored.	Applet Layer

If you use Territory Management, you must flag each recommended activity as Assign to All or define a role or category to which the activity is assigned. The following table shows the ways to assign activities if you use Territory Management.

Assign To All	Role or Category	Routine	Result
Y	N	Y	Creates one activity record for each team member, and marks each record as a routine activity.
Y	N	N	Creates one activity record and assigns all team members to the same activity.
N	Y	Y	Creates one activity record and assigns a specific team member based on the member’s role-category match and marks the activity as a routine activity.
N	Y	N	Creates one activity record and assigns primary and specific team members based on the member’s role-category match.