Sales Cycle – LSI

A sales cycle defines a time period during which a specific item is sold and/or during which specific targets (KPI) should be achieved for a specific target group.

A sales cycle can consist of several phases. For example, a rep may first prepare outlets for the sale of an item, then the item is promoted during the marketing phase before the item is put on display and made available for sale in the final phase.

Example:An ice cream manufacturer offers single ice creams, multipacks, tubs and desserts throughout the year. The target group for multipacks is the same throughout the year, but the target group for single ice creams varies. During the summer months, more single ice creams are sold by supermarkets and kiosks and more promotional material is available during this time. Two sales cycles are thus defined (summer and winter) with different target groups, KPIs and requirements.

The sales manager of back office staff define a sales cycle, including targets for reps, special offers that apply to items etc. Sales cycles can overlap.

Marketing activities can be assigned to a sales cycle. Each marketing activity includes the target group for a specific activity in the sales cycle (e.g. sending brochures). Special offers including items (and possible conditions) that are relevant to the sales cycle can be linked to each marketing activity. Items are defined in the item master info area, and can then be added as special offer items. The quick add flags (e.g. Order) need to be enabled in the item master. For further details, see Special Offers.

A campaign can consist of several marketing activities, and thus may include multiple sales cycles. Individual marketing activities in a campaign can target different audiences at different times, but still be related to the same sales cycle. Marketing objectives generated within the scope of a sales cycle are assigned to marketing activities.

Adding and Editing Sales Cycles

To add a sales cycle:

  1. Select (Sales) > Sales Cycles.
  2. Click on (New).
  3. Enter a Start Date, End Date and Priority.
  4. Enter additional information, such as the Title (name of the sales cycle) and Business area.
  5. Save the record.

  • When opening a sales cycle, all records related to the sales cycle (activities, special offers, expense budget) are displayed. Sales cycles are divided into three sections (planning, execution and analysis).
  • You can enter a Sales cycle in targets (e.g. global KPI, KPI, expense budgets, account plant, marketing activities). These targets then apply to that specific sales cycle. If you add a details plan to an account plan, the sales plan entered in the account plan is automatically transferred to the details plan.
  • If you add POS monitoring items, order items, POS material items, samples, activities and marketing objectives during a sales cycle’s validity period, the currently valid sales cycle is entered automatically, >> Assigning Sales Cycles.
  • Click on Timeline under Execution in the tree to display the sales cycle’s timeline, including information on activities, special offers, POS material items etc., >> Timeline.
  • You can access an analyses from the Marketing Objectives and Orders nodes (Analysis tab), >> Analyses.
    • Marketing objectives: open and completed marketing objectives
    • Orders: Number of orders, number of order item and sum total of the net order value grouped by item type
Note: If CRM.intelligence is installed, you can also access it from a node in the sales cycle tree.

Assigning Sales Cycles

If you enter a sales cycle in a marketing activity or special offer, the sales cycle is automatically linked to records that are linked to the marketing activity or special offer (e.g. activities, order items).

Your administrator can determine that a sales cycle is automatically entered in new records based on the date and business area in the new record.

  • If a marketing activity is assigned to a sales cycle, and linked to a special offer, activity or marketing objective, the sales cycle entered in the marketing activity is entered in the linked record.
    Note: The sales cycle’s duration is transferred to special offers, but can be edited. If a special offer is added to a sales cycle and linked to a marketing activity, the sales cycle entered in the marketing activity is entered in the special offer.
  • If a sample, POS material item, listing item, POS monitoring item or order item is linked to a special offer, the sales cycle entered in the special offer is transferred to the linked record.
Note: If the link to the marketing activity or special offer is changed, the sales cycle entered in the linked records is overwritten (or deleted if the newly linked marketing activity or special offer is not linked to a sales cycle). If the sales cycle in the marketing activity or special offer is changed, this change is not applied to linked records.
  • When adding POS monitoring items, order item, POS material items, samples, activities and marketing objectives, these records are linked to a sales cycle (if present) based on the date and business area.
    • The date entered in the record must be within the sale cycle’s validity period and the business area (of the rep) must match the business area entered in the sales cycle. If the rep is not assigned to a business area, the system searches for sales drives that are not assigned to a business area.
    • If several sales drives are active, the system searches for the sales drive with the latest start date. If several sales drives begin on the latest start date, the sales drive with the highest priority is used.
    Note: The business area is determined based on the business area assigned to the rep entered in the record (and defined in the Rep Additional Info area). Your administrator can determine that sales cycles are not linked automatically. For further information contact your administrator. When merging accounts and persons, sales cycles are not updated in linked records. When defining recurring activities, the sales cycle is not copied from the main activity, but is calculated for each activity based on the activity’s date.

    If a sample, POS monitoring item or order item is entered in the quick add area (Special Offer filter), the sales cycle entered in the special offer is transferred to the linked record.

    Note: The quick add area is available for orders where a special offer has been entered that is linked to a sales cycle, for example. If configured by your administrator, the Special Offer filter is displayed in the quick add area. All items and their prices and discounts entered in the sales cycle are listed.