Opportunities

Opportunities in the sales process are the logical successors of Leads. Opportunities are created by converting leads and all information available for the Lead is transfered to the Opportunities. In addition, Opportunity can also be created directly. Opportunity is characterized by the fact that an obvious interest of a potential customer in an offer of your company exists.

See the Convert leads chapter for information on how to generate Opportunity from leads.

When converting Lead to Opportunity all data are transferred and can be changed and completed.

On the Opportunities tab all Opportunities can be seen. Opportunity list view is shown on the picture below.

Click New Opportunity on entry section to create a new Opportunity. A new window opens (see page below).

Enter the Opportunity information. Only information, relevant to you or to your business should be entered. Non relevant entry fields can remain empty or just give us a call and we will remove them. If several users have writing access to the same entry fields, it makes a lot of sense to agree on a common standard for making such entries. In this way all the entered data are unified. Note the obligatory fields as they are marked by a [*] sign.

Most of the fields are simple and do not need to be explained in details. Let us mention a few of them:

• Opportunity Name

Every Opportunity has to be named by a unique name. Opportunity Name should be selected as an association to a specific Opportunity. For a better overview it is recommended to include the Account name.

• Amount

Set an Amount of the expected business. This amount will be used by the Produs IO to decide automatically whether this Opportunity has to be listed at My Upcoming and Pending Activities on the Home page.

• Account Name

Select an Account name already stored in Produs IT by clicking on the yellow folder at the end of this line. Note that a direct entry is not possible.

• Expected Close Date

Expected Close Date of sale or implementation at Account can be entered into this field.

• Sales Stage

Select a Sales Stage. The stage definition can be configured freely by system administrator. Every time a progress is made in selling this entry should be updated.

• Next Milestone

Enter Next Milestone in order to come closer to successful deal conclusion.

• Probability(%)

Enter the probability of the success of the selling activities. All numbers from 0 to 99 can be entered. 100 should be reserved for a closed deal.

If your version of PIT has the advanced Sales Information fields enabled, the information that needs to be entered is not as trivial as above. Below you can find some questions that help and guide you to enter the right content into those fields.

Problem and Pain are similar but different. Problem is an objective, critical business issue and pain is personal feeling when somebody does not do well what he is responsible for. Sometimes we can get buyers to talk about problem(s) but have not reached the level of conversation where their personal pain is admitted. If the pain has been admitted it is more valuable to the seller than knowing the problem.

If your field allows you to enter either of them, enter the pain if you have it otherwise enter the problem.

• Problem

What is the critical business issue in the organisation the (Power) Sponsor is supposed to take care of? What is seriously wrong in the area of his responsibility? What important issue does he need to get fixed urgently?

This is a critical project for our company and we cannot afford to not finish it in time

• Pain

What is (Power) Sponsor's main concern? What is his responsibility in the company that he cannot fulfill? What is expected of him that he does not deliver? What makes him awake at night?

I cannot ensure the success of this critical project in time

• Reasons

What are the reasons that he cannot fulfill his responsibility? What causes him not to be able to do what he'd need to?

* the project is more complex than what we are used to manage * my existing suppliers will have difficulties with issues new to them * we have a tight deadline that doesn't allow for unplanned delays

• Impacts

Who else in the organisation is affected by his inability to do what is expected of him? How is his superior impacted? How does he look at this?

The VP Sales needs the new product line to start with production in four moths to deliver sales results. The CEO needs this product line this year to improve our market share. …

• Capabilities

What will we allow him to do in order to solve the problem? What will we provide to his organisation that will enable them to fix the critical issue or situation? Optimally, write three of them.

* have a partner that has the skills and experience to handle such a complex project * have the partner that masters the new technology and know-how to handle issues related to it * the supplier has a proven track record with a team that is used to react quickly and work extra hours to finish on time

A list of Accounts can be imported and exported at any time. Please see the Import and export data chapter for more detailed instructions on how to import and export Accounts.