Overview of quotes

The Quote feature in Sterling™ Order Management System provides a seller with the capability to create a sales opportunity for a customer, and to present one or more quotes to the customer for a potential sale.

For example, a Field Sales Representative of ABC Corporation may see an opportunity to sell computers to a customer, XYZ Corporation, and present several quotes to XYZ Corporation.

The Quote feature comprises the following components:

• A sales opportunity

  An opportunity is a container for holding one or more related quotes presented to a customer. Related, alternative quotes are a set of quotes that are separate from each other, but are associated with a single sales opportunity. Negotiations can be performed for all these quotes, but a customer can accept only one quote, thereby abandoning all the other quotes. In such a scenario, when an order is created from a quote, the opportunity is closed with the status of Won. If the quotes either expire or are abandoned by the customer, the Field Sales Representative closes the opportunity with the status of Lost.

• One or more quotes that are related to a single sales opportunity

  A quote represents a legally binding agreement between a seller and a customer for the purchase of a predetermined set of items and the quantities of these items, at a predetermined price, with delivery on a specific date. A quote is created by a Field Sales Representative, and can be rejected by a customer, expire after the quote expiration date, or, if a customer accepts the quote, result in a single order.

A quote document consists of a header and line items, and contains additional attributes that support the quote process. For example, the quote header contains an attribute that enables a quote to be linked to its associated opportunity. Information entered in the quote includes, for example, the name of the quote, a description of the quote, the name of the quote owner, customer information, shipping information, and items with their applicable quantities and prices. A quote also contains an expiration date, which is either computed by the system when order APIs are called, or is entered or overridden by a Field Sales Representative.

The quote process involves a seller foreseeing a sales opportunity and presenting one or more quotes to a customer to initiate the execution of a potential sale. The seller and the customer can negotiate the terms of a quote, and a quote approval process ensues. A quote can be accepted, rejected, or abandoned by the customer. When a quote is accepted by the customer, an order is created for the corresponding quote and, subsequently, all the alternative quotes are terminated, with the status as Abandoned. Quotes can also be abandoned at the customer's request or when a quote expires. After an order is created from a quote, the quotes and their associated opportunity are purged, and the order is fulfilled through the Order Fulfillment pipeline.

For example, a Field Sales Representative of ABC Corporation may see an opportunity to sell computers to a software company, XYZ Corporation, and may offer the following alternative quotes to this customer:

• Quote A: Buy two laptop computers and receive a 5% discount off the list price.
• Quote B: Buy one laptop computer and one desktop computer and receive a 6% discount off the list price.
• Quote C: Buy two desktop computers and receive a 7% discount off the list price.

XYZ Corporation is offered a choice between Quote A, Quote B, and Quote C, and negotiates the terms of each of these options with the Field Sales Representative. When XYZ Corporation decides to accept
Quote A, an order is created from that quote, Quote B and Quote C are automatically abandoned, and the sales opportunity is Won. The order created from Quote A is then fulfilled in the Order Fulfillment pipeline.