Sales Classification 

Use

The sales classification indicates how a business partner is used in SAP CRM. The sales classification is set implicitly by the system based on the role assigned to the business partner and is not visible on the UI. For more information, see Business Partner Roles.

The sales classification plays an important role in the data exchange of business partner data. During the distribution of business partner master data between SAP CRM and SAP ECC, the classification is used to:

●      Assign the relevant account group in the ERP system to the new customer master record created from the distributed business partner master data.

●      Indicate how the new business partner, created from the distributed customer master data, is used in the CRM system.

Integration

You can make the necessary settings for the distribution of business partner master data in the plug-in using the transaction PIDE.

Features

Assignment of Classification According to Business Partner Role

When you create master records for business partners, the system sets the classification indicators as follows based on the business partner role category to which the role is assigned in Customizing:

Business Partner Roles with Corresponding Classification

BP Role Category	Customer	Consumer	Prospect	Competitor
Sold-to party	x
Ship-to party	x
Bill-to party	x
Payer	x
Consumer		x
Prospect			x
Competitor				x

If a role of one of the above role categories (except consumer) is assigned at a later point in time, such as Sold-to party, the appropriate classification indicator is set.

 

Use of Classification During Data Exchange

For the distribution of business partner master data from SAP CRM to SAP ECC, a business partner can have one or more of the following classifications:

●      Consumer

●      Customer

●      Prospect

●      Competitors

Since a business partner can have several classifications at the same time, it has to be clearly defined which account group is assigned to the business partner in SAP ECC. The following hierarchy is applied:

Consumer > Customer > Prospect > Competitor

When the ERP account group is assigned to the classification Consumer, a distinction is made as to whether the business partner was created as a company (referred to below as Consumer: Organization) or as an individual (referred to below as Consumer: Person) in SAP CRM:

●      A company with the classification Consumer is created in SAP ECC as a customer and is assigned in accordance with the ERP account group for a customer (sold-to-party).

●      An individual with the classification Consumer is created in SAP ECC as a consumer and is assigned to the ERP account group for consumers.

The account group that corresponds to the highest classification in SAP CRM is the one that is chosen in SAP ECC. The following table shows which account group is assigned in SAP ECC:

Assignment of Classification to ERP Account Group

Classification in CRM Consumer Person	Classification in CRM Consumer Organization	Classification in CRM Customer	Classification in CRM Prospect	Classification in CRM Competitor	Account Group Assigned in ERP
x					Consumer
x		x			Consumer
x			x		Consumer
x				x	Consumer
x		x	x		Consumer
x		x		x	Consumer
x			x	x	Consumer
x		x	x	x	Consumer
	x				Customer
	x	x			Customer
	x		x		Customer
	x			x	Customer
	x	x	x		Customer
	x	x		x	Customer
	x		x	x	Customer
	x	x	x	x	Customer
		x			Customer
		x	x		Customer
		x		x	Customer
		x	x	x	Customer
			x		Prospect
			x	x	Prospect
				x	Competitors