Common supposition assumed is that once Opportunity is accomplished in Sales Journey - there will be another application which will process details and converted order would be bought back in Oracle Sales Cloud. Nonetheless there is something between the two which is not provisioned by Out of Box Oracle Sales Cloud platform and it is Quoting process. This article brings forth my take on how Oracle Sales Cloud capabilities can be leveraged in this façade. Impacted Audience includes SMBs to big enterprises, with intent to simplify architecture; where Sales Agents do not want to switch applications to get complete view on the Opportunity and Quote.
Solution involves using Oracle Sales Cloud architecture and creating an extensible object for Quote which is well linked with other Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Objects. In addition Oracle Sales Cloud provides initial insight in the Sales Journey with support of entities Lead, Deal and Opportunity. In fact one of the leading eCommerce major is evaluating Oracle Sales Cloud to careful capture and plan strategies for effective conversions. There are two scenarios where quoting solution can address business requirements.
|
S.No |
Scenarios |
Characteristics |
|
1 |
When Quoting process is simple and straightforward; this is further augmented by integration with some fulfillment system. |
Ø Basic configuration with selection of direct product/product groups suffice the purpose Ø Simple pricing necessities Ø Simple Proposal document requirements which can be handled through BI |
|
2 |
Involves complex quote management system already implemented by Business. This can be achieved by creating Quote object in Oracle Sales Cloud with external interface to Quoting tool. Solution has been provided by Infosys for one of its Sales Cloud Customer - a leading global provider of unified communications solutions where Business had complex quoting implemented on Enterprise Configurator tool. |
Ø Involves complex/hierarchical product structure Ø Complex price calculations involving discounts, manufacturing costs and competition's pricing. Ø Proposal documents with complex conditionals spanning over multiple pages |
BEST FIT SOLUTION SCENARIOS
Let's comprehend patterns when Enterprise should opt for quoting solutions within Oracle Sales Cloud
ØLinear Product structure: Solution will fit in for organizations not having hierarchical product structures. There is no requirement to maintain hierarchical structure of products to process for various calculations say discounts.
ØQuicker Conversion: There are scenarios when Sales Agent are in discussion with end customer and would like to have Quote created then and there for faster conversion. Quoting Solution within Oracle Sales Cloud surely enables it.
ØBest Utilization of Oracle Sales Cloud Analytics: Of course quoting within Oracle Sales Cloud solution provides complete view using its strong analytics capabilities through Dashboards, Actual versus Quotas Report and Pipeline Analytics. Unparalleled benefit is availability of all these reports on mobile/Ipads as well. Surely it helps in following business motives.
ØEasier Managed Security Aspects: Oracle Sales Cloud provides a detailed framework with Duty Roles, Abstract Roles, Job Roles and Resource Roles which will become all the more easier in upcoming Release 12.
ØEnable Modern Selling with Omni Channel devices: Enabling quoting solution across devices is an Out of Box capability. Mobile Quoting solution could be a transforming decision.
ØOSN enabled for Optimal Business Efficiency: Oracle Social Network enables real time topic based association with seniors, colleagues and team members. Not only Oracle Sales Cloud allows collaboration on business records but also enables reading, sharing and annotating documents. Where else you could find this feature for a quoting solution?
This section is what actually interests any organisation - Big question of WHY? Unless there are strong merits, any solution falls flat. Let's gauge through the ones for Quoting solution within Oracle Sales Cloud:
ØSimplified Architecture: Solution brings with it one of the greatest reason which is lower ownership costs. Important thing is to decide solution is the right proposition where smoother and optimal solutions become end target.
ØEnhanced Agent Effectiveness: Quoting Solution within Oracle Sales Cloud will provide one click Quote access.
ØUser Experience: No more swapping between applications; consistent UI feel is a definite deal grabber.
ØBest Exploited Analytics: Reports based on all Objects including the custom Objects provides cohesive picture with right security access to build visions for lattice analysis.
