Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Content
Customer Relationship Management
The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application for the Power System i Edition provides marketing and sales organizations with a set of tools to support the sales process, turning sales leads into customer orders.
Accounts are the companies, businesses, or other organizations with whom you conduct business, now or in the future. Account contacts are individuals in each account with whom you interact. Contacts are individuals associated with more than one account, such as independent professionals. Organization units (employees) are the individual units of your organization. Campaigns are groups of sales events with various activities. Venues are locations where events are held. Surveys are administered to gather feedback from prospective or existing customers. Control groups can be identified to test the effectiveness of a campaign. Activities are groups of tasks to be performed for campaigns, events, surveys, or opportunities. Activity tasks are subdivisions of activities, specific tasks targeted at specific accounts and contacts and assigned to particular people. Mailings are individual or mass communications to prospective and existing customers, as well as to employees. Leads are obtained from advertisements, web sites, mailing lists, and other sources of sales prospects. Opportunities are leads that have turned into opportunities to market to prospective customers. CRM code files are available to define the various values needed for CRM objects. CRM includes security for tasks, fields, and attribute classes. User fields extend the definitions of CRM objects.
Setting Up CRM Integration with Infor ERP CRM is integrated with other Infor ERP applications, to provide easy access to customer information.
CRM employees (organization units) linked to ERP sales representatives CRM accounts linked to ERP customers and ship-to addresses CRM quotes and orders linked to ERP quotes and orders.
For this integration to work, note the following:
The XA applications COM/CSM and IFM/Finance must be installed and interfacing with CRM. System 21 must be installed and interfacing with Order Capture. LX must be installed and interfacing with WebTop
Integration with Outlook With the integration of CRM and Microsoft® Outlook®, CRM contacts and tasks can be imported into Outlook, and Outlook contacts and tasks can be imported into CRM, improving sales staff productivity. Integration with Bluetooth The integration of CRM and Bluetooth provides a direct, one-click connection from telephone numbers in CRM application objects to make calls through your Bluetoothenabled device.
CRM User Fields User fields are attributes that you can use to extend the definition of an object. User fields can be defined as optional or mandatory. Types of user fields There are eight types of user fields. Each is either a value (VAL), a code (CDE), a date (DTE), a yes/no switch (STS), a quantity (QTY), or various lengths of text (TXT). The basic set has one field of each type. The list below displays the field name, its type, and its length in numbers or characters.
The basic set is provided for these objects and codes:
Accounts Account contacts Contacts
Example of usage Suppose that some of your accounts are multi-brand resellers and you want to keep track of the brands they sell. You could add a 40-character user text field called "Brands" to the Accounts object and then add "Brands" to the Account's Summary card as a maintainable field. You could also add it to the General view to display it in the list of Accounts. The displayed column heading would be "Brands." Now when users define your company's accounts, they can indicate which brands the Accounts sell.
Forecasting with CRM CRMi provides forecasting capabilities that compare sales quotas, forecasts, and actual sales for individual employees and employee groups. The forecast amounts appear on the Forecast card for employees, employee groups, and other organization units. The forecasting values are calculated from the estimated value for an opportunity and the probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale. CRMi calculates two forecast values, based on these estimates and probabilities. Type of forecast Estimate Probability Employee's estimate of the probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale for the estimated value. CRMi forecast calculation Employee estimated value x employee estimated probability. Employee estimated value x process probability.
Employee Employee's estimate of the total value for the opportunity.
Process
Employee's estimate of the total value for the opportunity.
Probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale for the estimated value, based on the stage in the sales cycle. The stages are defined in the process template assigned to the opportunity.
In addition to the opportunity values and probabilities for a successful sale, the forecast comparison includes quotas. An authorized user, such as a sales manager, can enter quota amounts for organization units, such as employees or sales departments. The quota is the target sales amount for the employee or organization unit. The authorized user can set individual quotas for different levels in the organization and for different levels in the sales calendar. For example, if a sales manager has a quota of one million dollars for his or her team for a particular month, the sales manager might set quotas for each subordinate on the sales team so that their total quota amount is $1.2 million for that month. The amounts used in the CRMi forecast can have different currencies. For example, the employee's estimated value for an opportunity uses the opportunity currency. Quota amounts are entered in the organization unit currency. To allow direct comparisons of forecast amounts for an organization unit, CRMi converts any amounts used in the forecast calculations to the organization unit currency and calculates the forecast amounts in that currency. CRMi also calculates forecast amounts in the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. These two currencies are specified in the Application Settings object for the Customer Relationship Management application and are used for the forecast amounts shown on the Default Currency tab of the Forecast card. CRMi
converts all amounts used in calculating the default currency forecast amounts to the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. Setting up values for forecast amounts in CRMi In order to calculate forecast amounts, CRMi requires the following information. This section describes where the required information is located and who normally provides the required values.
Application Settings In the Application Settings object, the system administrator or someone with authority to maintain application settings for the Customer Relationship Management application selects the currencies to use for the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. The statistics currencies are used as default currencies for calculating or converting quota amounts, forecast amounts, and actual sales amounts for all employees, employee groups, and organization units and for all organization unit period summaries. Amounts in the statistics currencies allow you to view and compare quotas, forecasts, and actual sales amounts from different organization units or among employees that have different organization unit currencies. The statistics currency amounts are shown on the Forecasts card in the Employees, Employee Groups, and Organization Unit objects. These amounts are also shown on the General card and General view of the Organization Unit Period Summary object. Employees In the Employees object, the employee or sales manager selects a currency from the available currencies to use for the employee. This selection becomes the organization unit currency. CRMi fills in the applicable exchange rate date for the selected currency. Also in the Employees object, the sales manager enters quota amounts for the employee in the employee's organization unit currency. The sales manager enters the quota amount for each applicable period in the sales calendar shown on the Quotas card. The sales manager can also enter quotas for employee groups, such as a sales department, in the Employee Groups object. . Opportunities In the Opportunities object, the employee or organization unit that owns the opportunity enters the currency for the opportunity. This currency becomes the opportunity currency. The employee or owning organization unit also enters two estimates for the opportunity.
The Value estimate is the potential total sales amount that the owning organization unit expects the opportunity to provide. This amount is entered in the opportunity currency.
The Owner Probability estimate is the owning organization unit's estimate of the likelihood for a sale from this opportunity. This likelihood is entered as a percentage.
Calculating forecast amounts in CRMi In order to calculate forecast amounts, CRMi requires the following information. This section describes where the required information is located and who normally provides the required values. Converting amounts to forecast currencies To allow an accurate comparison of all of the amounts in a forecast, CRMi converts the amounts from the source currencies, which can vary, to the organization unit currency, the statistics default currency, and the statistics alternate currency. CRMi uses the organization unit currency for the forecast amounts on the Employee Currency tab on the Forecast card for an employee and on the Organization Unit Currency tab on the Forecast card for an employee group. CRMi uses the statistics default currency and statistics alternate currency for forecast amounts on the Default Currency tab on the Forecast card.
The currency conversion in CRMi uses the exchange rates in effect on a specified date to convert amounts among currencies. The same date is used for converting amounts from all periods in the forecast. The Summary Exchange Rate object contains the exchange rates used for these conversions. In an Infor ERP XA environment, IFM automatically updates the Summary Exchange Rate object. CRMi performs these conversions for amounts used in forecasts.
For the Value estimate in the opportunity, the source currency is the opportunity currency. CRMi converts this amount to the organization unit currency, statistics default currency, and statistics alternate currency. For customer orders used in calculating the Opportunity sales amount, the source currency is the order currency. CRMi converts this amount to the organization unit currency, statistics default currency, and statistics alternate currency. For quotas, the source currency is the organization unit currency. CRMi converts these amounts to the statistics default currency and statistics alternate currency.
Converted amounts are also available using historical exchange rates. For example, actual order totals for the Opportunity sales amount can be converted using the exchange rates that were in effect on the date that each order was closed. Calculating forecast amounts CRMi calculates forecast and opportunity sales amounts from the converted amounts so that the amounts shown on the Forecasts card for employees, employee groups, or organization units and in organization unit period summaries are all shown in either the
organization unit currency or in the statistics default currency. You can also choose to view the amounts on the Forecasts card in the statistics alternate currency. Owner or employee forecast amount The Owner forecast or Employee forecast amount for a period is the total value of all employee estimates for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period multiplied by the employee estimate of the probability of sale. The owner of the opportunity enters the estimate amount and probability of sale estimate for an opportunity. The calculation for an employee forecast amount for an individual opportunity is: Employee estimated value (organization unit currency) x Employee estimated probability. CRMi calculates this amount for each opportunity. The calculation for the employee forecast amount for a period is: Sum of all Employee forecast amounts for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period. This amount is shown on the Forecasts card for an employee, employee group, organization unit, and in an organization unit period summary. The currency for this amount is the currency of the owning organization unit. If the currency for the employee forecast amount for an individual opportunity is not the owning organization unit currency, CRMi converts the individual employee forecast amount to the owning organization unit currency before calculating the sum. Process forecast amount The Process forecast amount for a period is the total value of all employee estimates for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period multiplied by the process probability of sale. The owner of the opportunity enters the estimate amount. The process probability is based on the process template used for the opportunity and the activities entered for the opportunity. The calculation for a Process forecast amount for an individual opportunity is: Employee estimated value (organization unit currency) x Process probability. CRMi calculates this amount for each opportunity. The calculation for the Process forecast amount for a period is: Sum of all Process forecast amounts for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period. This amount is shown on the Forecasts card for an employee, employee group, organization unit, and in the organization unit period summary. The currency for this amount is the currency of the owning organization unit. If the currency for the process forecast amount for an individual opportunity is not the owning organization unit currency, CRMi converts the individual process forecast amount to the owning organization unit currency before calculating the sum. Opportunity sales amount For opportunities that have been won during the period, the Opportunity sales actual amount is the total net sales for line items on customer orders created in that period
from those opportunities. The net sales amounts are in the order currencies. CRMi converts these amounts to the owning organization unit currency and calculates the sum. Percent of quota CRMi updates quota percentages whenever a quota is changed, the sales amounts are changed, or the forecast amounts are changed. The currency for a quota is the organization unit currency. For the quota percentages shown on the Forecasts card, CRMi performs these calculations.
Employee forecast: Total employee forecast amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency). Process forecast: Total process forecast amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency). Opportunity sales: Total opportunity sales amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency).
The quota percentages provide a gauge for how closely the estimated values and total sales are matching the goal amounts for the period.
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Integration with ERP applications CRM can be set up with Infor ERP customer and finance applications to provide integration between:
CRM accounts and ERP customers CRM organization units (employees) and ERP sales representatives CRM account orders or quotes and opportunity orders or quotes and ERP customer orders and quotes.
For example, if you are using Infor ERP XA, release 7.8 or higher, and you have International Financial Management (IFM) and Customer Order Management (COM)/Customer Service Management (CSM) installed and interfacing, you can synchronize information from XA to CRM, and vice versa. The steps to set up this relationship vary with the Infor ERP application (XA, System 21, or LX).
Setting up CRM Accounts from XA You can set up CRM accounts from XA by running special actions from XA Customers or Customer Ship-tos.
After you link the account to a customer or customer ship-to, any changes to company, currency, or address information (name, address, city, state, postal code, country, telephone, fax, email, or web address) must be made in the ERP customer service application. Setting up CRM Employees from XA You can set up CRM employees from XA by running special actions from XA Sales Representatives.
Setting up CRM Quotes and Orders from XA You can set up CRM account quotes from XA by running special actions from XA customer orders and quotes. A sales representative (CRM employee) sets up a CRM sales opportunity and CRM prospect account. Within CSM, the sale representative also sets up Prospect Quote Settings to represent the prospective customer. When the sales representative creates a CSM quote, the CRM address and contact information from the prospective account is copied into CSM as the override Sold-to and Ship-to addresses. The quote for the prosective customer is then copied back to the Account as an Account Quote. The same quote, seen from the Opportunity, is known as an Opportunity Quote.
Setting up CRM Orders from XA Once the sales representative makes the sale, he or she converts the prospect-type account to a customer account, creating a new customer or ship-to in XA. The sales representative copies the account quote to a CSM customer order. The system then creates a corresponding account order and opportunity order in CRM.
Integration with Microsoft Outlook The CRMi application provides an integration with Microsoft® Outlook®, which gives you the flexibility to manage your contacts and tasks in either CRMi or Outlook. The integration starts when you import contacts and tasks from CRMi into your Outlook contacts and tasks. After the CRMi contacts and tasks have been imported to Outlook, contacts and tasks information can be refreshed from Outlook to CRMi or from CRMi to Outlook. If any contacts or tasks have been updated in both CRMi and Outlook, this function allows you to choose to update the contacts or tasks in CRMi, update the contacts or tasks in Outlook, or make no updates. This synchronization of the contact and tasks in both CRMi and Outlook allows you to handle updates in the manner most convenient for you. Additionally, this function can make e-mail messages created in Outlook available within CRMi. The function saves a selected e-mail from Outlook into the IDF Media Files object. When the message has been saved, CRMi creates a record in the Activity Tasks object for the contact specified in the From or To address of the Outlook e-mail message. Installing the CRMi Outlook integration The Outlook integration function is available for either Microsoft Outlook version 2003 or 2007. During the installation of Infor ERP XA Release 9, download the correct, corresponding MS Outlook Integration for CRMi Installation for the version of Outlook you have installed. To perform the installation, follow these steps. 1. Be sure that Microsoft Outlook already is installed on the PC where you are installing the integration for CRMi and that you are installing the correct CRMi integration for the version of Outlook. 2. From the MS Outlook Integration for CRMi Installation download, run the setup.exe file. This step starts the installation program. You must accept the licensing information to proceed with the installation. 3. On the Welcome to the Infor CRMi Edition Outlook Add-In Setup Wizard dialog, select Next to continue the installation. 4. On the Select Installation Folder dialog, either accept the default folder location for the installation or use the Browse button to find the folder you want to use. You can also use the Disk Cost button to see how much space is available on the PC for this installation. 5. On the Confirm Installation dialog, click Next to continue with the installation. 6. The installation process status bar shows you the progress of the installation. When the installation is complete, click Close to exit from the installation process.
CRMi Outlook functions When the installation has completed, you have new options available in Outlook and in CRMi. This section describes the options available in Outlook that allow you to import and work with information from CRMi. From the Contacts folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Import CRMi Contacts: This option imports CRMi account contacts or contacts. You can import a selected group of contacts by using IDF subsets with the selection criteria you specify. Refresh CRMi Contacts: This option updates imported contacts in Outlook with any changes you make to the associated contacts in CRMi. Display CRMi Contact: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed information in CRMi for a contact selected in Outlook. Display CRMi Account: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed account information in CRMi for the associated contact selected in Outlook. From the Tasks folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Import CRMi Tasks: This option imports CRMi activity tasks. You can import a selected group of tasks by using IDF subsets with the selection criteria you specify. Refresh CRMi Tasks: This option updates imported tasks in Outlook with any changes you make to the associated tasks in CRMi. Display CRMi Task: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed information in CRMi for a task selected in Outlook. From the Inbox or Sent Items folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Copy to CRMi: This option copies a selected e-mail message in Outlook to the Media Files object in Power-Link or Net-Link. Connecting to CRMi from Outlook To use the CRMi options in Outlook, you must be connected to an IDF environment. When you click either the Import CRMi Contacts or Import CRMi Tasks options in Outlook, an Infor Login dialog appears. If you are logged in to an active Power-Link session, this dialog displays the IDF environments for the Power-Link sessions you are logged in to and these options for connecting to that session from Outlook:
Continue: Select this option to connect to the environment displayed in Environments Found. If you are logged in to more than one IDF environment, you can select the specific environment you want to use from the Environments Found drop-down list. New: Select this option to open another logon dialog where you can log on to a different environment. Cancel: Select this option to stop the connection process. When the connection has been established, you can then use the Import CRMi Contacts and Import CRMi Tasks options in Outlook. Importing CRMi Account Contacts or Contacts To import contact information into Outlook from CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Import CRMi Contacts option. 2. On the Import CRMi Contacts dialog, make the following selections. Source: Choose either to import contact information for account contacts or contacts. Subset: Choose the subset you want to use to select the group of account contacts or contacts to be imported. If no subset is selected, all account contacts or contacts in CRMi will be imported. 3. Click Continue. If you selected a subset that requires you to enter specific values, such as the user ID of the user who created the contacts, you enter that information at this point and click Continue again. 4. A status dialog shows you the progress of the import. When the import is complete, the contact information from CRMi has been loaded into the default Contacts folder in Outlook. You can access the imported contacts from that folder. The import function also loads any comments that are part of the contact information in CRMi into the contact records in Outlook. Refreshing CRMi Account Contacts or Contacts To refresh contact information imported into Outlook with updates made in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Refresh CRMi Contacts option. 2. The refresh process determines if any contacts in Outlook have been changed in CRMi. If yes, then the Refresh CRMi Contacts dialog indicates how many CRMi contacts in Outlook have changes in CRMi. 3. Click Continue to proceed. The refresh process will update the following attributes in the Outlook record, based on changes in the CRMi record.
CRMi attribute contactFirstName contactLastName contactInitials nickname primaryIM contactURL Gender PhoneNumber2 Home Number Mobile1 Fax Email AccountContact.Manager Spouse Comments Firstname Lastname Initials Nickname IM Address
Outlook attribute
Business home page Gender Other Telephone Number Home Telephone Number Mobile Number Business Fax Email1Address Manager Name Spouse Text entered below the marker in any existing comments is appended to the existing comment
If the refresh process determines that both the contact record in Outlook and the contact record in CRMi have been updated, the refresh process displays a Conflict dialog. You must then choose how to handle the contact information. Select one of the available options and click Continue: Update Outlook: Select this option to update the contact information in Outlook with changes from the contact information in CRMi. Update CRMi: Select this option to update the contact information in CRMi with the changes from the contact information in Outlook. Ignore: Select this option to make no updates. When you select this option, the contact information in Outlook and contact information in CRMi remain different.
When the last contact selected for refresh is complete, the contact information in Outlook has been updated.
Displaying CRMi Contacts To view or work with detailed information for a contact in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the contact you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Contacts option. 3. If the selected contact has a corresponding record in Outlook, the detailed contact information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed contact information is displayed in Net-Link. Displaying CRMi Accounts To view or work with detailed information for an account contact in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the contact whose account you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Account option. 3. If the selected contact has a corresponding account record in Outlook, the detailed account information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed account information is displayed in NetLink. Importing CRMi Tasks To import contact information into Outlook from CRMi, follow these steps. Note that a connection must first be established to CRMi from Outlook. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Import CRMi Tasks option. 2. On the Import CRMi Tasks dialog, make the following selections. Note that you can only import tasks for the user ID used to establish the connection to CRMi. Subset: Choose the subset you want to use to select the group of tasks to be imported. If no subset is selected, all tasks in CRMi will be imported. Create missing contact: Select this option if you want to import contacts from CRMi for any tasks that do not have contacts already in Outlook. 3. Click Continue. If you selected to create missing contacts, all imported tasks should have an associated contact in Outlook. 4. When you view an imported task in Outlook, you also see the associated contact, which could have been imported separately using the Import CRMi Contacts option or imported along with the task if the Create missing contact option was selected. In addition, the Activities tab for the contact also displays the imported task information. If you import an activity task that does not have an associated account contact or contact in Outlook, the task is still imported.
Refreshing CRMi Tasks To refresh task information imported into Outlook with updates made in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Refresh CRMi Tasks option. 2. The refresh process determines if any tasks in Outlook have been changed in CRMi. If yes, then the Refresh CRMi Tasks dialog indicates how many CRMi tasks in Outlook have changes in CRMi. 3. Click Continue to proceed. The refresh process will update the following attributes in the Outlook record, based on changes in the CRMi record. CRMi attribute Subject Status Priority Current Target Date Start Date Comments Subject Status Priority Due Date Start Date Comments are replaced with the text entered in Outlook Outlook attribute
If the refresh process determines that both the contact record in Outlook and the contact record in CRMi have been updated, the refresh process displays a Conflict dialog. You must then choose how to handle the contact information. Select one of the available options and click Continue: Update Outlook: Select this option to update the contact information in Outlook with changes from the contact information in CRMi. Update CRMi: Select this option to update the contact information in CRMi with the changes from the contact information in Outlook. Ignore: Select this option to make no updates. When you select this option, the contact information in Outlook and contact information in CRMi remain different.
When the last contact selected for refresh is complete, the contact information in Outlook has been updated.
Displaying CRMi Task To view or work with detailed information for a task in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the task you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Task option. 3. If the selected task has a corresponding record in Outlook, the detailed task information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed task information is displayed in Net-Link. Copying to CRMi This option requires a connection to CRMi from Outlook. If a connection is not currently available, any e-mails selected for copy are marked to be sent when a connection is established and the Copy to CRMi is selected at another time. If a connection is established, the Copy to CRMi identifies all selected e-mails for copy and any e-mails that have been marked for copy. You are prompted to confirm the copy action. The e-mail messages are copied to the location specified in the Media file path for client attribute in the Cross Application Support section of the Application Settings object in Power-Link or Net-Link. The files are saved as *.msg files. Note that you should have write access to this location. To copy an Outlook e-mail to CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the e-mail you want to copy to CRMi. 2. Click the Copy to CRMi option. 3. On the Copy E-mail to CRMi prompt dialog, click Continue. The copy process looks for any account contacts in CRMi that have an e-mail address that matches the e-mail address in the Outlook e-mail. If none is found, the process looks for a match within the contacts in CRMi. If a matching CRMi account contact or contact is found, the e-mail is saved to the media file location specified in the Application Settings object. Associated records for the copied e-mail are created in the Media Files, Attachments, and Activity Tasks objects in Power-Link or Net-Link. The e-mail is visible in the contact record as an external e-mail. It is also available as an attachment to any associated activity task. If you choose to view the e-mail from an attachment to an activity task, the e-mail is displayed in Outlook because Outlook is the known program for the extension type *.msg.
Setting Up CRM To set up CRM, you define your business information and processes by defining a number of CRM objects. These objects are organized for you on various application cards: Core, Campaigns, Sales, and Codes. Setting up people First, you define the various internal and external organizations in your business. For example, you'll want to set up the organization units internal to your business by defining your employees and the groups of employees, such as the teams that work on accounts and opportunities. For your external customers and contacts, you'll set up accounts and account contacts, as well as any independent contacts with whom you conduct business. You can also set up various codes used to define each of these entities, such as marketing regions and vertical markets.
Setting up marketing campaigns Next, you'll want to define your current marketing campaigns, including their various activities, tasks, and mailings. You'll also want to set up any related marketing events or surveys and the people who are their targets. Various codes are used to define these objects, such as the types of activities, events, and responses to surveys.
Setting up sales opportunities You'll want to record your sales leads and opportunities, linking them to the objects you've already set up. Several codes help you define the sources that introduced you to leads and the templates that define the stages in securing sales from an opportunity.
Winning sales Finally, with all this information in place, you can go about the job of winning sales from your accounts and contacts. Integration with other Infor ERP applications helps you view information about customers, sales representatives, and orders and quotes within CRM.
The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application for the Power System i Edition provides marketing and sales organizations with a set of tools to support the sales process, turning sales leads into customer orders.
Accounts are the companies, businesses, or other organizations with whom you conduct business, now or in the future. Account contacts are individuals in each account with whom you interact. Contacts are individuals associated with more than one account, such as independent professionals. Organization units (employees) are the individual units of your organization. Campaigns are groups of sales events with various activities. Venues are locations where events are held. Surveys are administered to gather feedback from prospective or existing customers. Control groups can be identified to test the effectiveness of a campaign. Activities are groups of tasks to be performed for campaigns, events, surveys, or opportunities. Activity tasks are subdivisions of activities, specific tasks targeted at specific accounts and contacts and assigned to particular people. Mailings are individual or mass communications to prospective and existing customers, as well as to employees. Leads are obtained from advertisements, web sites, mailing lists, and other sources of sales prospects. Opportunities are leads that have turned into opportunities to market to prospective customers. CRM code files are available to define the various values needed for CRM objects. CRM includes security for tasks, fields, and attribute classes. User fields extend the definitions of CRM objects.
Setting Up CRM Integration with Infor ERP CRM is integrated with other Infor ERP applications, to provide easy access to customer information.
CRM employees (organization units) linked to ERP sales representatives CRM accounts linked to ERP customers and ship-to addresses CRM quotes and orders linked to ERP quotes and orders.
For this integration to work, note the following:
The XA applications COM/CSM and IFM/Finance must be installed and interfacing with CRM. System 21 must be installed and interfacing with Order Capture. LX must be installed and interfacing with WebTop
Integration with Outlook With the integration of CRM and Microsoft® Outlook®, CRM contacts and tasks can be imported into Outlook, and Outlook contacts and tasks can be imported into CRM, improving sales staff productivity. Integration with Bluetooth The integration of CRM and Bluetooth provides a direct, one-click connection from telephone numbers in CRM application objects to make calls through your Bluetoothenabled device.
CRM User Fields User fields are attributes that you can use to extend the definition of an object. User fields can be defined as optional or mandatory. Types of user fields There are eight types of user fields. Each is either a value (VAL), a code (CDE), a date (DTE), a yes/no switch (STS), a quantity (QTY), or various lengths of text (TXT). The basic set has one field of each type. The list below displays the field name, its type, and its length in numbers or characters.
The basic set is provided for these objects and codes:
Accounts Account contacts Contacts
Example of usage Suppose that some of your accounts are multi-brand resellers and you want to keep track of the brands they sell. You could add a 40-character user text field called "Brands" to the Accounts object and then add "Brands" to the Account's Summary card as a maintainable field. You could also add it to the General view to display it in the list of Accounts. The displayed column heading would be "Brands." Now when users define your company's accounts, they can indicate which brands the Accounts sell.
Forecasting with CRM CRMi provides forecasting capabilities that compare sales quotas, forecasts, and actual sales for individual employees and employee groups. The forecast amounts appear on the Forecast card for employees, employee groups, and other organization units. The forecasting values are calculated from the estimated value for an opportunity and the probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale. CRMi calculates two forecast values, based on these estimates and probabilities. Type of forecast Estimate Probability Employee's estimate of the probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale for the estimated value. CRMi forecast calculation Employee estimated value x employee estimated probability. Employee estimated value x process probability.
Employee Employee's estimate of the total value for the opportunity.
Process
Employee's estimate of the total value for the opportunity.
Probability that the opportunity will result in a successful sale for the estimated value, based on the stage in the sales cycle. The stages are defined in the process template assigned to the opportunity.
In addition to the opportunity values and probabilities for a successful sale, the forecast comparison includes quotas. An authorized user, such as a sales manager, can enter quota amounts for organization units, such as employees or sales departments. The quota is the target sales amount for the employee or organization unit. The authorized user can set individual quotas for different levels in the organization and for different levels in the sales calendar. For example, if a sales manager has a quota of one million dollars for his or her team for a particular month, the sales manager might set quotas for each subordinate on the sales team so that their total quota amount is $1.2 million for that month. The amounts used in the CRMi forecast can have different currencies. For example, the employee's estimated value for an opportunity uses the opportunity currency. Quota amounts are entered in the organization unit currency. To allow direct comparisons of forecast amounts for an organization unit, CRMi converts any amounts used in the forecast calculations to the organization unit currency and calculates the forecast amounts in that currency. CRMi also calculates forecast amounts in the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. These two currencies are specified in the Application Settings object for the Customer Relationship Management application and are used for the forecast amounts shown on the Default Currency tab of the Forecast card. CRMi
converts all amounts used in calculating the default currency forecast amounts to the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. Setting up values for forecast amounts in CRMi In order to calculate forecast amounts, CRMi requires the following information. This section describes where the required information is located and who normally provides the required values.
Application Settings In the Application Settings object, the system administrator or someone with authority to maintain application settings for the Customer Relationship Management application selects the currencies to use for the statistics default currency and the statistics alternate currency. The statistics currencies are used as default currencies for calculating or converting quota amounts, forecast amounts, and actual sales amounts for all employees, employee groups, and organization units and for all organization unit period summaries. Amounts in the statistics currencies allow you to view and compare quotas, forecasts, and actual sales amounts from different organization units or among employees that have different organization unit currencies. The statistics currency amounts are shown on the Forecasts card in the Employees, Employee Groups, and Organization Unit objects. These amounts are also shown on the General card and General view of the Organization Unit Period Summary object. Employees In the Employees object, the employee or sales manager selects a currency from the available currencies to use for the employee. This selection becomes the organization unit currency. CRMi fills in the applicable exchange rate date for the selected currency. Also in the Employees object, the sales manager enters quota amounts for the employee in the employee's organization unit currency. The sales manager enters the quota amount for each applicable period in the sales calendar shown on the Quotas card. The sales manager can also enter quotas for employee groups, such as a sales department, in the Employee Groups object. . Opportunities In the Opportunities object, the employee or organization unit that owns the opportunity enters the currency for the opportunity. This currency becomes the opportunity currency. The employee or owning organization unit also enters two estimates for the opportunity.
The Value estimate is the potential total sales amount that the owning organization unit expects the opportunity to provide. This amount is entered in the opportunity currency.
The Owner Probability estimate is the owning organization unit's estimate of the likelihood for a sale from this opportunity. This likelihood is entered as a percentage.
Calculating forecast amounts in CRMi In order to calculate forecast amounts, CRMi requires the following information. This section describes where the required information is located and who normally provides the required values. Converting amounts to forecast currencies To allow an accurate comparison of all of the amounts in a forecast, CRMi converts the amounts from the source currencies, which can vary, to the organization unit currency, the statistics default currency, and the statistics alternate currency. CRMi uses the organization unit currency for the forecast amounts on the Employee Currency tab on the Forecast card for an employee and on the Organization Unit Currency tab on the Forecast card for an employee group. CRMi uses the statistics default currency and statistics alternate currency for forecast amounts on the Default Currency tab on the Forecast card.
The currency conversion in CRMi uses the exchange rates in effect on a specified date to convert amounts among currencies. The same date is used for converting amounts from all periods in the forecast. The Summary Exchange Rate object contains the exchange rates used for these conversions. In an Infor ERP XA environment, IFM automatically updates the Summary Exchange Rate object. CRMi performs these conversions for amounts used in forecasts.
For the Value estimate in the opportunity, the source currency is the opportunity currency. CRMi converts this amount to the organization unit currency, statistics default currency, and statistics alternate currency. For customer orders used in calculating the Opportunity sales amount, the source currency is the order currency. CRMi converts this amount to the organization unit currency, statistics default currency, and statistics alternate currency. For quotas, the source currency is the organization unit currency. CRMi converts these amounts to the statistics default currency and statistics alternate currency.
Converted amounts are also available using historical exchange rates. For example, actual order totals for the Opportunity sales amount can be converted using the exchange rates that were in effect on the date that each order was closed. Calculating forecast amounts CRMi calculates forecast and opportunity sales amounts from the converted amounts so that the amounts shown on the Forecasts card for employees, employee groups, or organization units and in organization unit period summaries are all shown in either the
organization unit currency or in the statistics default currency. You can also choose to view the amounts on the Forecasts card in the statistics alternate currency. Owner or employee forecast amount The Owner forecast or Employee forecast amount for a period is the total value of all employee estimates for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period multiplied by the employee estimate of the probability of sale. The owner of the opportunity enters the estimate amount and probability of sale estimate for an opportunity. The calculation for an employee forecast amount for an individual opportunity is: Employee estimated value (organization unit currency) x Employee estimated probability. CRMi calculates this amount for each opportunity. The calculation for the employee forecast amount for a period is: Sum of all Employee forecast amounts for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period. This amount is shown on the Forecasts card for an employee, employee group, organization unit, and in an organization unit period summary. The currency for this amount is the currency of the owning organization unit. If the currency for the employee forecast amount for an individual opportunity is not the owning organization unit currency, CRMi converts the individual employee forecast amount to the owning organization unit currency before calculating the sum. Process forecast amount The Process forecast amount for a period is the total value of all employee estimates for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period multiplied by the process probability of sale. The owner of the opportunity enters the estimate amount. The process probability is based on the process template used for the opportunity and the activities entered for the opportunity. The calculation for a Process forecast amount for an individual opportunity is: Employee estimated value (organization unit currency) x Process probability. CRMi calculates this amount for each opportunity. The calculation for the Process forecast amount for a period is: Sum of all Process forecast amounts for all opportunities that are expected to close in that period. This amount is shown on the Forecasts card for an employee, employee group, organization unit, and in the organization unit period summary. The currency for this amount is the currency of the owning organization unit. If the currency for the process forecast amount for an individual opportunity is not the owning organization unit currency, CRMi converts the individual process forecast amount to the owning organization unit currency before calculating the sum. Opportunity sales amount For opportunities that have been won during the period, the Opportunity sales actual amount is the total net sales for line items on customer orders created in that period
from those opportunities. The net sales amounts are in the order currencies. CRMi converts these amounts to the owning organization unit currency and calculates the sum. Percent of quota CRMi updates quota percentages whenever a quota is changed, the sales amounts are changed, or the forecast amounts are changed. The currency for a quota is the organization unit currency. For the quota percentages shown on the Forecasts card, CRMi performs these calculations.
Employee forecast: Total employee forecast amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency). Process forecast: Total process forecast amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency). Opportunity sales: Total opportunity sales amount (organization unit currency) x 100/Quota amount (organization unit currency).
The quota percentages provide a gauge for how closely the estimated values and total sales are matching the goal amounts for the period.
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Integration with ERP applications CRM can be set up with Infor ERP customer and finance applications to provide integration between:
CRM accounts and ERP customers CRM organization units (employees) and ERP sales representatives CRM account orders or quotes and opportunity orders or quotes and ERP customer orders and quotes.
For example, if you are using Infor ERP XA, release 7.8 or higher, and you have International Financial Management (IFM) and Customer Order Management (COM)/Customer Service Management (CSM) installed and interfacing, you can synchronize information from XA to CRM, and vice versa. The steps to set up this relationship vary with the Infor ERP application (XA, System 21, or LX).
Setting up CRM Accounts from XA You can set up CRM accounts from XA by running special actions from XA Customers or Customer Ship-tos.
After you link the account to a customer or customer ship-to, any changes to company, currency, or address information (name, address, city, state, postal code, country, telephone, fax, email, or web address) must be made in the ERP customer service application. Setting up CRM Employees from XA You can set up CRM employees from XA by running special actions from XA Sales Representatives.
Setting up CRM Quotes and Orders from XA You can set up CRM account quotes from XA by running special actions from XA customer orders and quotes. A sales representative (CRM employee) sets up a CRM sales opportunity and CRM prospect account. Within CSM, the sale representative also sets up Prospect Quote Settings to represent the prospective customer. When the sales representative creates a CSM quote, the CRM address and contact information from the prospective account is copied into CSM as the override Sold-to and Ship-to addresses. The quote for the prosective customer is then copied back to the Account as an Account Quote. The same quote, seen from the Opportunity, is known as an Opportunity Quote.
Setting up CRM Orders from XA Once the sales representative makes the sale, he or she converts the prospect-type account to a customer account, creating a new customer or ship-to in XA. The sales representative copies the account quote to a CSM customer order. The system then creates a corresponding account order and opportunity order in CRM.
Integration with Microsoft Outlook The CRMi application provides an integration with Microsoft® Outlook®, which gives you the flexibility to manage your contacts and tasks in either CRMi or Outlook. The integration starts when you import contacts and tasks from CRMi into your Outlook contacts and tasks. After the CRMi contacts and tasks have been imported to Outlook, contacts and tasks information can be refreshed from Outlook to CRMi or from CRMi to Outlook. If any contacts or tasks have been updated in both CRMi and Outlook, this function allows you to choose to update the contacts or tasks in CRMi, update the contacts or tasks in Outlook, or make no updates. This synchronization of the contact and tasks in both CRMi and Outlook allows you to handle updates in the manner most convenient for you. Additionally, this function can make e-mail messages created in Outlook available within CRMi. The function saves a selected e-mail from Outlook into the IDF Media Files object. When the message has been saved, CRMi creates a record in the Activity Tasks object for the contact specified in the From or To address of the Outlook e-mail message. Installing the CRMi Outlook integration The Outlook integration function is available for either Microsoft Outlook version 2003 or 2007. During the installation of Infor ERP XA Release 9, download the correct, corresponding MS Outlook Integration for CRMi Installation for the version of Outlook you have installed. To perform the installation, follow these steps. 1. Be sure that Microsoft Outlook already is installed on the PC where you are installing the integration for CRMi and that you are installing the correct CRMi integration for the version of Outlook. 2. From the MS Outlook Integration for CRMi Installation download, run the setup.exe file. This step starts the installation program. You must accept the licensing information to proceed with the installation. 3. On the Welcome to the Infor CRMi Edition Outlook Add-In Setup Wizard dialog, select Next to continue the installation. 4. On the Select Installation Folder dialog, either accept the default folder location for the installation or use the Browse button to find the folder you want to use. You can also use the Disk Cost button to see how much space is available on the PC for this installation. 5. On the Confirm Installation dialog, click Next to continue with the installation. 6. The installation process status bar shows you the progress of the installation. When the installation is complete, click Close to exit from the installation process.
CRMi Outlook functions When the installation has completed, you have new options available in Outlook and in CRMi. This section describes the options available in Outlook that allow you to import and work with information from CRMi. From the Contacts folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Import CRMi Contacts: This option imports CRMi account contacts or contacts. You can import a selected group of contacts by using IDF subsets with the selection criteria you specify. Refresh CRMi Contacts: This option updates imported contacts in Outlook with any changes you make to the associated contacts in CRMi. Display CRMi Contact: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed information in CRMi for a contact selected in Outlook. Display CRMi Account: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed account information in CRMi for the associated contact selected in Outlook. From the Tasks folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Import CRMi Tasks: This option imports CRMi activity tasks. You can import a selected group of tasks by using IDF subsets with the selection criteria you specify. Refresh CRMi Tasks: This option updates imported tasks in Outlook with any changes you make to the associated tasks in CRMi. Display CRMi Task: This option allows you to view or work with the detailed information in CRMi for a task selected in Outlook. From the Inbox or Sent Items folder in Microsoft Outlook, these CRMi options are shown on the Outlook task bar: Copy to CRMi: This option copies a selected e-mail message in Outlook to the Media Files object in Power-Link or Net-Link. Connecting to CRMi from Outlook To use the CRMi options in Outlook, you must be connected to an IDF environment. When you click either the Import CRMi Contacts or Import CRMi Tasks options in Outlook, an Infor Login dialog appears. If you are logged in to an active Power-Link session, this dialog displays the IDF environments for the Power-Link sessions you are logged in to and these options for connecting to that session from Outlook:
Continue: Select this option to connect to the environment displayed in Environments Found. If you are logged in to more than one IDF environment, you can select the specific environment you want to use from the Environments Found drop-down list. New: Select this option to open another logon dialog where you can log on to a different environment. Cancel: Select this option to stop the connection process. When the connection has been established, you can then use the Import CRMi Contacts and Import CRMi Tasks options in Outlook. Importing CRMi Account Contacts or Contacts To import contact information into Outlook from CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Import CRMi Contacts option. 2. On the Import CRMi Contacts dialog, make the following selections. Source: Choose either to import contact information for account contacts or contacts. Subset: Choose the subset you want to use to select the group of account contacts or contacts to be imported. If no subset is selected, all account contacts or contacts in CRMi will be imported. 3. Click Continue. If you selected a subset that requires you to enter specific values, such as the user ID of the user who created the contacts, you enter that information at this point and click Continue again. 4. A status dialog shows you the progress of the import. When the import is complete, the contact information from CRMi has been loaded into the default Contacts folder in Outlook. You can access the imported contacts from that folder. The import function also loads any comments that are part of the contact information in CRMi into the contact records in Outlook. Refreshing CRMi Account Contacts or Contacts To refresh contact information imported into Outlook with updates made in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Refresh CRMi Contacts option. 2. The refresh process determines if any contacts in Outlook have been changed in CRMi. If yes, then the Refresh CRMi Contacts dialog indicates how many CRMi contacts in Outlook have changes in CRMi. 3. Click Continue to proceed. The refresh process will update the following attributes in the Outlook record, based on changes in the CRMi record.
CRMi attribute contactFirstName contactLastName contactInitials nickname primaryIM contactURL Gender PhoneNumber2 Home Number Mobile1 Fax Email AccountContact.Manager Spouse Comments Firstname Lastname Initials Nickname IM Address
Outlook attribute
Business home page Gender Other Telephone Number Home Telephone Number Mobile Number Business Fax Email1Address Manager Name Spouse Text entered below the marker in any existing comments is appended to the existing comment
If the refresh process determines that both the contact record in Outlook and the contact record in CRMi have been updated, the refresh process displays a Conflict dialog. You must then choose how to handle the contact information. Select one of the available options and click Continue: Update Outlook: Select this option to update the contact information in Outlook with changes from the contact information in CRMi. Update CRMi: Select this option to update the contact information in CRMi with the changes from the contact information in Outlook. Ignore: Select this option to make no updates. When you select this option, the contact information in Outlook and contact information in CRMi remain different.
When the last contact selected for refresh is complete, the contact information in Outlook has been updated.
Displaying CRMi Contacts To view or work with detailed information for a contact in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the contact you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Contacts option. 3. If the selected contact has a corresponding record in Outlook, the detailed contact information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed contact information is displayed in Net-Link. Displaying CRMi Accounts To view or work with detailed information for an account contact in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the contact whose account you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Account option. 3. If the selected contact has a corresponding account record in Outlook, the detailed account information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed account information is displayed in NetLink. Importing CRMi Tasks To import contact information into Outlook from CRMi, follow these steps. Note that a connection must first be established to CRMi from Outlook. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Import CRMi Tasks option. 2. On the Import CRMi Tasks dialog, make the following selections. Note that you can only import tasks for the user ID used to establish the connection to CRMi. Subset: Choose the subset you want to use to select the group of tasks to be imported. If no subset is selected, all tasks in CRMi will be imported. Create missing contact: Select this option if you want to import contacts from CRMi for any tasks that do not have contacts already in Outlook. 3. Click Continue. If you selected to create missing contacts, all imported tasks should have an associated contact in Outlook. 4. When you view an imported task in Outlook, you also see the associated contact, which could have been imported separately using the Import CRMi Contacts option or imported along with the task if the Create missing contact option was selected. In addition, the Activities tab for the contact also displays the imported task information. If you import an activity task that does not have an associated account contact or contact in Outlook, the task is still imported.
Refreshing CRMi Tasks To refresh task information imported into Outlook with updates made in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, click the Refresh CRMi Tasks option. 2. The refresh process determines if any tasks in Outlook have been changed in CRMi. If yes, then the Refresh CRMi Tasks dialog indicates how many CRMi tasks in Outlook have changes in CRMi. 3. Click Continue to proceed. The refresh process will update the following attributes in the Outlook record, based on changes in the CRMi record. CRMi attribute Subject Status Priority Current Target Date Start Date Comments Subject Status Priority Due Date Start Date Comments are replaced with the text entered in Outlook Outlook attribute
If the refresh process determines that both the contact record in Outlook and the contact record in CRMi have been updated, the refresh process displays a Conflict dialog. You must then choose how to handle the contact information. Select one of the available options and click Continue: Update Outlook: Select this option to update the contact information in Outlook with changes from the contact information in CRMi. Update CRMi: Select this option to update the contact information in CRMi with the changes from the contact information in Outlook. Ignore: Select this option to make no updates. When you select this option, the contact information in Outlook and contact information in CRMi remain different.
When the last contact selected for refresh is complete, the contact information in Outlook has been updated.
Displaying CRMi Task To view or work with detailed information for a task in CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the task you want to work with in CRMi. 2. Click the Display CRMi Task option. 3. If the selected task has a corresponding record in Outlook, the detailed task information is displayed in Power-Link. If a Power-Link session is not available, the detailed task information is displayed in Net-Link. Copying to CRMi This option requires a connection to CRMi from Outlook. If a connection is not currently available, any e-mails selected for copy are marked to be sent when a connection is established and the Copy to CRMi is selected at another time. If a connection is established, the Copy to CRMi identifies all selected e-mails for copy and any e-mails that have been marked for copy. You are prompted to confirm the copy action. The e-mail messages are copied to the location specified in the Media file path for client attribute in the Cross Application Support section of the Application Settings object in Power-Link or Net-Link. The files are saved as *.msg files. Note that you should have write access to this location. To copy an Outlook e-mail to CRMi, follow these steps. 1. In Microsoft Outlook, select the e-mail you want to copy to CRMi. 2. Click the Copy to CRMi option. 3. On the Copy E-mail to CRMi prompt dialog, click Continue. The copy process looks for any account contacts in CRMi that have an e-mail address that matches the e-mail address in the Outlook e-mail. If none is found, the process looks for a match within the contacts in CRMi. If a matching CRMi account contact or contact is found, the e-mail is saved to the media file location specified in the Application Settings object. Associated records for the copied e-mail are created in the Media Files, Attachments, and Activity Tasks objects in Power-Link or Net-Link. The e-mail is visible in the contact record as an external e-mail. It is also available as an attachment to any associated activity task. If you choose to view the e-mail from an attachment to an activity task, the e-mail is displayed in Outlook because Outlook is the known program for the extension type *.msg.
Setting Up CRM To set up CRM, you define your business information and processes by defining a number of CRM objects. These objects are organized for you on various application cards: Core, Campaigns, Sales, and Codes. Setting up people First, you define the various internal and external organizations in your business. For example, you'll want to set up the organization units internal to your business by defining your employees and the groups of employees, such as the teams that work on accounts and opportunities. For your external customers and contacts, you'll set up accounts and account contacts, as well as any independent contacts with whom you conduct business. You can also set up various codes used to define each of these entities, such as marketing regions and vertical markets.
Setting up marketing campaigns Next, you'll want to define your current marketing campaigns, including their various activities, tasks, and mailings. You'll also want to set up any related marketing events or surveys and the people who are their targets. Various codes are used to define these objects, such as the types of activities, events, and responses to surveys.
Setting up sales opportunities You'll want to record your sales leads and opportunities, linking them to the objects you've already set up. Several codes help you define the sources that introduced you to leads and the templates that define the stages in securing sales from an opportunity.
Winning sales Finally, with all this information in place, you can go about the job of winning sales from your accounts and contacts. Integration with other Infor ERP applications helps you view information about customers, sales representatives, and orders and quotes within CRM.
