Managing Opportunities
There may be times when you have had contact with a customer which made you aware that the customer has a need. This need may be a new furnace or water tank, for better maintenance, a club membership or even a filter change. Successware allows you record this need on a customer's account as an Opportunity. The opportunities that you record for your customer can then be managed, followed up on and even converted to sales jobs through the Opportunity Manager.
What is an Opportunity?
In Successware, an opportunity is defined as an identified possibility to make a sale to a customer.
Creating an Opportunity
Opportunities can be created in Successware in a couple of different ways:
- Customer Manager – New Opportunities can be created by finding the customer, and selecting the Opportunities subtab.
- Call Handling – While fielding a call from the customer, you can select the Sales button to identify an Opportunity to quote a repair or new equipment installation.
What can I do with an Opportunity?
- The status of an Opportunity can be modified. Opportunities can be marked as Sold or Abandoned depending on the situation.
- Follow up dates can be identified and notes added to any opportunity.
Adding an Opportunity from the Call Handling Screen
- From the Customer Service module, select Call Handling.
- Search for the customer by Name, Address, or Phone Number.
- Select the Sales button as the reason for the call.
- Add as much information as possible about the opportunity and assign an Employee to respond to the Opportunity.
- Click the Create Opportunity button.
- Choose to create the Opportunity as a Job, or not.
- Click the Save Opportunity button to proceed.
Adding an Opportunity from the Customer Manager Profile
The Customer Manager screen permits you to keep track of customer needs. This can aid in the identification of possible future sales opportunities and the tracking of multiple sales opportunities for a single customer.
- From the Customer Manager form, search for the customer by Name, Address, or Phone Number.
- Click on the Customer name to bring up their profile. On their profile page, the Opportunities subtab will allow you to create a new Opportunity.
- This will bring you to the Call Handling screen, where a new call is created automatically for you so you can select the Sales button.
- Select the Sales button as the reason for the call.
- Add as much information as possible about the opportunity and assign an Employee to respond to the Opportunity.
- Click the Create Opportunity button.
- Choose to create the Opportunity as a Job, or not.
- Click the Save Opportunity button to proceed.
Using the Opportunity Manager
The Opportunity Manager can be accessed from the Marketing module. With this Manager you can review and follow up on all opportunities for all customers.
Opportunity Manager Views
By default, the Opportunity Manager will display all Opportunities that have been marked for follow up. The view can be changed by selecting the filter button for any of the header columns.
These include Follow Up Date, Sales Job Number, Customer Name, Opportunity Type, Quoted, Equipment Type, Created By, Assigned to, and Status.
Click on the filter icon shown on the screenshot below to access the filter options.
Opportunity Follow Up and History
The primary purpose of the Opportunity Manager is to allow for the viewing and editing of Opportunity information. Using the available tools in the Opportunity Manager will help to ensure that no Opportunity is missed and that each one is followed up on in a timely manner.
Selecting an Opportunity brings up the details around the Opportunity.
Recording Follow Up Information
At the bottom of the Opportunity Details subtab, the Follow Up Details follow up date and notes can be recorded or viewed.
Converting an Opportunity to a Sale
If you follow up on an Opportunity, you can update the Opportunity Details subtab to specify that the Opportunity is:
- New
- Pending
- Abandoned
- Sold
Customer Opportunity Report
Opportunities Report
The Opportunities Report allows you to report on customers that have had opportunities recorded in their Customer Opportunity Profile.
By running the report, you can display customers who have been marked with a particular opportunity or group the report to see which technician is making the most recommendations.
A Marketing List can be created based upon customers who appear in the results of the report.
To access the report, navigate to the Report Gallery from the Reporting Module. Under the Marketing section, the Opportunities report can be found.
Sales Lead Tracking
Sales lead tracking involves the process of creating sales calls, generating a quote and then tracking the results of the sale call. This process can also include the creation of commission wages based upon successful sales calls.
Sales lead tracking is set up to use the standard approaches to call taking, creating jobs and assignments. Use the same methods for maintaining the Sales Job progress (assigned, dispatched, completed, etc).
When Sales Jobs are completed the standard Invoice form becomes a Quote form in which you may enter the information quoted. The Quote form does not allow for entering cost items etc, but merely allows the listing of quoted items. The printed invoice becomes a printed Quote.
The Sales Tracking report will give you all of the flexibility needed to track your closing rates and average sales by any type of groupings.
Sales Tracking Setup
In order to make use of the Sales Lead Tracking functionality in Successware, there are a number of Reference Tables that must be properly set up. These Reference Tables will allow for sales jobs to occur as well as offer the drop-down list options which will be used in summarizing the results of the sales call.
Setting Up Job Classes, Job Types and Call Reasons for Sales Tracking
Before you can run a sales call, at least one of your Job Classes must have the IsSaleEst flag selected. Any job that is created using the IsSaleEst job class will behave differently than a normal service job.
You can set the Job Classes by navigating to the Reference Library under the Setup module.
If you do not create a Job Class that is flagged as IsSaleEst, you will not be able to create Sales Jobs. You may elect to have more than one Job Class that can be used for leads, such as Sales-Commercial and Sales-Residential. You should create Job Types to further identify the type of sales lead.
Once these Job Classes have been created/modified you need to examine your Job Type reference items to be sure that the appropriate Job Type (those that are for Sales Jobs) have the appropriate Job Class attached to them.
Additional Reference Table Setup for Sales Tracking
The following items need to be added to the Reference Library in order for you to fully use Sales Lead Tracking information:
- Equipment > Standard Equipment- Is used to identify the type of equipment quoted.
- Customer Service > Employee Types- Once you have added new Job Classes and Job Types, you will want to edit your employee setup and mark which employees perform the new Job Classes and Job Types.
Creating a Sales Quote
A Sales Quote, instead of an invoice, is created as the result of a Sales Job.
The total amount of the Quote will be carried over to the Sales Summary form.
The Sale as well as Job Costing information from the Sales Quote can be copied to the invoice that is created for a sold sales job.
Printing a Proposal
Once you have entered a Proposal in Successware, you also have the opportunity to print the proposal with introductory and closing paragraphs as well as acceptance text and a signature line. These paragraphs of information can be set as default quote print settings and can be modified on a quote-to-quote basis.
- In the Marketing module, select Opportunity Management.
- Below the list of Opportunities, you'll find the Proposals. Click the Proposals link to see a list of all proposals in the system.
- Hover over the ellipsis under the Actions column on the right side of the page to access the "View Proposal PDF Link".
- On this pop-up page, you can update the Introduction, Closing, and Acceptance text.
- When adding notes to the Introduction, Closing, or Acceptance areas, you can reuse the text by clicking the "+ Save this note" link. In future proposals, you can select these saved notes, rather than rewriting them.
Creating a Job from a Sales Call
When a Sales Call results in a sale, Successware allows for the conversion of the sold sales call to a new job. From Successware Mobile, the technician will create a proposal for the work involved. From a Signed Proposal, you can create a Job.
To Create a Job from a Proposal
- In the Marketing module, select Opportunity Management.
- The page will default to showing Opportunities. Click the option on the left for Proposals.
- Hover over the ellipsis under the Actions column on the right side of the page to access, "Create Job."
- From the Job Details screen, you can add in the job information.
- Click the Schedule button once you're ready to schedule the job.
Closing a Sales Job
Sales Jobs do not automatically close as a regular service job does in Successware. This is because there is no invoice to be posted for Sales Jobs. (A posted invoice is a normal requirement for a closed job.)
To Close a Sales Job:
- From the Marketing module, select the Opportunity Management option. In this screen, click on the sales call that you would like to close.
- In the Status drop-down, choose Sold or Abandoned to close out the sale.
The Job will be marked as closed and the indicator on the customer record will change from Open Job to History, which indicates the customer has past history.
Looking for a more interactive course on Opportunity Management? Check out our Learning Management System (LMS)! Our courses are available to all Successware users. If you don't have a sign-in for our LMS, contact us at training@successware.com for a free account.