An opportunity is a business lead within the sales cycle that has the potential to generate revenue for the company. The opportunity master data in the opportunity card contains the information related to the sales cycle, such as the source of the opportunity, the planned and realized sales amount from that opportunity, and the probability of winning a business contract with the opportunity. Such information provides a detailed insight to a sales person who is currently involved in the sales cycle. The information is also useful for generating reports that present an overview of the current sales cycle progress.
To create an opportunity, go to Modules ➔ Customers ➔ Entry ➔ Entry ➔ Opportunity. After entering the information of the opportunity, click Save. After saving the opportunity information in Exact Synergy Enterprise, the first request linked to the sales cycle is created automatically. The workflow request is equivalent to a sales activity at a particular stage in the sales cycle. A sales cycle is always linked to the opportunity card because there is at least one sales activity involved when a business opportunity is being explored or developed further. Thus, there is at least one request generated when an opportunity is created.
After creating an opportunity, the sales cycle starts. Throughout the sales cycle there will be a need to update the opportunity card with the latest information. Information that is determined by the sales cycle is updated automatically, for example, the sales cycle stage and the opportunity status. Other information is updated manually, for example, the probability of winning the opportunity.
To modify the opportunity information, go to Modules ➔ Customers ➔ Report ➔ Opportunity management ➔ Search, and then click the relevant opportunity in the Opportunity: Description column. In the opportunity card, click Edit. The opportunity card holds important information, so only the users with the following access rights are allowed to modify and delete the opportunity card:
Everyone can create, modify, or delete opportunities.
Note:
The information in this document is applicable to product update 264 and higher. If you have versions lower than this, certain features explained here will not be applicable.
Keep in mind: All fields marked with the “!” icon are mandatory.
Click this to exit.
Click this to save the opportunity information.
Click this to save the opportunity information and create another opportunity.
Note: This button is available only if you are creating opportunities.
Click this to delete the opportunity. You will see a message "Confirm: Delete?" Click OK to delete or Cancel to cancel the deletion.
Note: This button is available only if you are modifying an existing opportunity.
Click Customise at the title bar to customize the fields, sections or columns. You can add or remove existing criteria based on your preferences by selecting or clearing the relevant check boxes. Click Save to save the settings, Reset to reset your selections to the default setting, or Close to exit without saving. To specify the mandatory fields in the new opportunity entry screen and function rights for the opportunity maintenance screen, click Advanced in the customization screen.
At the Level option, you can apply the customization to the whole corporation if you select Corporate or to a specific division if you select Division.
If you are customizing the advanced layout for the new opportunity screen, you can select the check boxes for the relevant fields that you require as mandatory data.
If you are customizing the advanced layout for opportunity maintenance screen, you can specify the mandatory fields for important information and the function rights that are allowed to modify the information in the field. For more information, see Overview of function rights.
This section defines the basic information that is important to describe the opportunity.
Type a unique alphanumeric code to identify the opportunity you want to create. You can type up to 20 characters. This information is mandatory. If you have enabled the automatic generation of opportunity codes in the opportunity settings, the opportunity code will automatically be generated. For more information, see Defining settings for opportunities and auto-generating opportunity codes.
Note: If you are modifying the opportunity information, this information cannot be edited.
Type a description for the opportunity. You can type up to 60 characters. This information is mandatory.
Type or select an account to link the opportunity to the relevant account. An opportunity is always tied to an account because the opportunity targets a specific account for the sales of a specific assortment or item. This information is mandatory.
Select a person to be the main contact person for the opportunity. The list of people available for selection are the contact people linked to the account selected at Account. This information is mandatory.
By default, the name of the creator is entered. You can also type or select an owner to link the opportunity to the person who is overall responsible for the opportunity. An opportunity is always linked to an opportunity owner because there need to be a person who is responsible for developing the lead or closing the deal on the opportunity. This information is mandatory.
Note: If you have the CRM role, you are the owner of the opportunity by default, whereby your name is filled in the Person field, and it cannot be modified.
Type or select a project ID to define a main project for the opportunity.
Type a value in percentage to indicate the probability of successfully winning the opportunity.
Type an amount for the planned amount that is expected to be gained from the opportunity.
Type or select a date starting from which the opportunity is open. The start date cannot be later than the end date. The start date indicates when the sales cycle activities for the opportunity are planned to start or has started.
Type or select a date ending from which the opportunity is closed. The end date cannot be earlier than the start date. The end date indicates when the sales cycle activities for the opportunity are planned to be finalized.
Type or select a date to record when the business follow-up activity is to be carried out. The follow-up date serves only as a reference or additional information to the existing sales opportunities. The system does not validate the information, hence the follow-up date can be from the past or future.
Select a source to indicate where the opportunity was found or how the opportunity was created. For more information on sources, see Overview of sources for opportunities.
Type or select a sales cycle for the opportunity. An opportunity is always linked to a sales cycle because the sales cycle defines the necessary steps to convert an opportunity into a deal. This information is mandatory. For more information, see Overview of sales cycles.
Select a reason code to define the reason the opportunity was lost during the sales cycle process. For more information on maintaining the reasons for losing opportunities, see Overview of reasons for losing opportunities.
Note: This information is only available if you are modifying the opportunity information. It is only applicable if the deal status is set to Lost.
Type or select a competitor if you lost a deal to the competitor. In Exact Synergy Enterprise, a competitor is defined as an account. You can define competitors at Modules ➔ Customers ➔ Entry ➔ Entry ➔ Account. For more information, see Creating and modifying company accounts.
By default, the value defined is 10. You can also type a security level needed to gain access to the opportunity. Users with a security level higher than or equal to the security level defined are able to access the opportunity card. This information is mandatory. For more information on security level, see Details on security levels.
By default, the division of the creator is entered. To modify this information, type or select a division for the opportunity. This information is mandatory. Specifying the division for the opportunity card will help to correctly present the opportunity information in the reports for a specific division. This will enable accuracy of reporting the revenue forecast from opportunities that are in the sales cycle process and the revenue realized from the winning the opportunities. For more information about divisions, see Creating and modifying divisions.
By default, the cost center of the creator is entered. To modify this information, type or select a cost center for the opportunity. This information is mandatory. Specifying the cost center for the opportunity card will help to correctly present the opportunity information in the reports for a specific division and the respective cost center. This will enable accuracy of reporting the cost allocated to sales activities carried out to win the opportunities. For more information, see Creating and modifying cost centers.
This section defines the sales information of the opportunity, such as the targeted assortment, the realized amount, and the currency.
By default, the currency is automatically filled based on the currency defined in the account linked to the opportunity card. If the currency is not defined in the account card, the field is automatically filled based on the currency defined in the country of the account after you click Save. You can also manually type or select a currency for the opportunity card. This information is mandatory.
Type or select an assortment to indicate the assortment for which the opportunity is targeting.
Type an amount for the actual amount if you win the deal.
Note: This information is only available after you have created the opportunity card. For more information, see Viewing opportunity cards.
Type any additional information for the opportunity. Click Timestamp to indicate the date and time the information was added. Click Full screen to see the content of the remarks in a separate full screen.
This section displays the additional remarks for the opportunity. By default, this section is not displayed.
The free fields are additional information that the user can define and add to the opportunity card. This section is available only if you have set up one free field or more for the opportunities. For more information on setting up of free fields, see Overview of free fields for opportunities.
Type a name for the date field you want to use to contain additional date information. The field will be available when you label it in the opportunity set up for free fields.
Type a name for the amount field you want to use to contain additional amount information. The field will be available when you label it in the opportunity set up for free fields.
Type a name for the text field you want to use to contain additional text information. This field will be available when you label it in the opportunity set up for free fields.
Type a name for the logical field you can set to Yes or No. This field will be available when you label it in the opportunity set up for free fields.
Type a name for the numeric field you want to use for additional numeric information. This field will be available when you label it in the opportunity set up for free fields.