SAP Business Workflow for Lead Processing by Channel Partners 

Use

A lead is a business transaction that describes, stores, updates, and manages the potential business interests of a business partner, and the interactions based on this, over a period of time. The goal is to provide the “sales” area with the information gained in the lead, in order that it can be used as a basis for deciding whether to create an opportunity.

The workflow “Lead Processing by Channel Partners” supports the transfer of the lead to a sales partner. Workflow sends a work item to the responsible sales partner. After checking the lead data, the sales partner can either reject or accept this lead. If the lead is accepted, it is then passed on to the partner manager’s work list for further processing.

Workflow is started automatically, if the processor has set the Distributed to Sales Partner status. If a sales partner has not been entered, or if the lead has not been saved without errors, the status of the lead is set back to In Process.

The sales partner entered in the lead is the one taken to process the lead further. This partner can be determined automatically using partner determination depending on the sales prospect in the lead.

The sales partner has to be assigned to a standard contact person. The log-on user must have a business partner with the role Employee. This business partner who is assigned to the contact person is called partner employee.

Prerequisites

·        The event linkage for the event DistributedToSalespartner for workflow WS13100008 is deactivated as a standard procedure, and, if you wish to start the workflow template, it has to first be activated again in Customizing. The workflow task processors must also be maintained. In Customizing, choose Customer Relationship Management ®Basic Functions  ® SAP Business Workflow ® Perform Task-Specific Customizing.

·        The workflow template uses the user status SPAC (accepted by sales partner), and SPRE (rejected by sales partner) of the status profile CRMLEADP. If you have defined several user statuses, the data flow for task TS10008154 (set status) must be adapted accordingly. 

Workflow Process WS13100008 (Lead Processing by Channel Partners)

The workflow “Lead Processing by Channel Partners” is started when a lead is saved with the status Distributed to Sales Partner. First, the system checks for the following:

·        Whether the lead has been saved without errors

·        Whether a sales partner has been entered

·        Whether  a work item receiver exists

A work item receiver is either the Responsible at Partner entered in the lead, or  - if the partner function is empty – the main contact person of the sales partner.

If the conditions have not been fulfilled, the status of the lead in set back to In process, and the processor of the lead is informed accordingly.

If the lead data has been maintained completely, a message is sent to the partner manager’s inbox to accept the lead for processing. When the lead is accepted, the status is set to Accepted by the sales partner, and the work item processor is then entered as the responsible employee at partner for this lead. In this way, the lead reaches the partner employee’s work list. If the lead is rejected, its status is set to Rejected by sales partner, and the respective lead employee informed.

The deadline monitoring for deadlines ensures that the work item is removed from the partner employee after the deadline specified in the lead has passed, and the lead status is set back to In process.

The following checks related to manual changes in the lead are executed consistently as long as a decision on the work item is deferred:

·        If the deadline changes, the work item is removed and set up again with the right deadline.

·        If the sales prospect changes, the workflow is ended and the status of the lead reset to In Process.

·        If no sales partner or sales partner employee is assigned to the lead, the workflow is ended and the status of the lead reset to In Process.

• If the status Distributed to Sales Partner is removed, the workflow is ended.

If the brand owner changes any partner during processing, the event PartnerChanged in the workflow basic data ensures that the recipient of all work items that have not been completed is determined again. The initiator receives a notification in the case the sales partner is changed.  

Technical Execution

The following information is of technical nature. You need this information if the implementation details are relevant for you, or if you wish to make your own enhancements.

Workflow template

The actual procedure is implemented in the workflow template WS13100008 (CRM_LEADPORT).

Events for the workflow template

The event DistributedToSalesPartner is entered for the object category BUS2000108 (LEAD CRM) as a triggering event for the workflow template. However, this event can also terminate the workflow, so that if the event is triggered all possibly existing workflows working on this specific lead are canceled and a new workflow started. The event DistributedToSalesPartner is triggered, if the system status DistributedToSalesPartner is set. The event AttributeChanged is triggered if one of the lead-specific attributes is changed. The event PartnerChanged is triggered if changes in the CRMA_PARTNER table are logged via change documents.

Object types

·        BUS2000108 (LEAD CRM)