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Tracking Visits (Sales Calls) to Customers

NOTE: This feature is available in Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences Edition only.

You can do the following in the Call Detail page:

• Track visits (sales calls) to customers, recording information such as the products you discussed, the samples, promotional or educational items you left, solutions you discussed, and related contacts.
• Save the information as a template, called a Smart Call. The Smart Call template is helpful when you are visiting multiple customers for the same purpose, such as enrolling clinical investigators. You can keep the template private or make it available for others to use (public).

  When you apply the Smart Call template to a new call, most information from the smart call automatically populates the new record, including the products detailed, promotional items dropped, and samples dropped information related to the call. However, other fields, such as Lot Numbers for the samples dropped, are not saved as part of the template.

  After you apply the Smart Call template to a call, you can then update the remaining fields to track the details of this visit.

  If your company administrator included the Last Call Date field on your Account or Contact Edit page, that field is automatically updated on the linked account and all linked contacts. The update occurs when you change the call record’s status to Completed and save the record. The field reflects the start time and date of the call.

  For more information on Smart Calls, see Managing Smart Calls.

• Submit the call information for use in the reconciliation process for inventory periods.

  Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences Edition does the following once call detail information is submitted:

  • Sets the Call Activity status to Submitted.
  • Locks any Call Detail records with a status set to Submitted to prevent any changes or deletions of those records. For information about record locking for call activity records, see Configuration Guide for Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences Edition.
  • Creates a disbursement transaction that is used in the reconciliation process for the Inventory Period. For more information, see Reconciling an Inventory Period, Process of Reconciling the Inventory, Viewing Disbursement Transactions.

To track a visit (sales call) to a customer

1. Go to the Accounts or Contacts Homepage.
2. Select the account or contact for your visit.

   For instructions on selecting records, see Finding Records.

   NOTE: You can plan a visit (sales call) for up to twenty five customers at one time by using the mass call planning feature in Oracle CRM On Demand. For more information about creating a planned call for multiple customers, see Mass Call Planning.

3. On the Account Detail or Contact Detail page, scroll down to the Calls section, and click New Call or Auto Call to create a new call record.

   NOTE: If the Calls section is not visible on your Details page, click the Edit Layout link in the upper-right corner of the page, and add the Calls section to your page layout. If the section is not available to add to your page layout, contact your company administrator.

   • Clicking New Call brings you to the Call Edit page where you must enter most information manually for the new call record.

     Make sure that you specify Call in the Type field. Otherwise, the following related items will not be available to you: Samples Dropped, Promotional Items, Products Detailed.

   • Clicking Auto Call brings you to the Call Detail page where the following field data is filled automatically in for the new call record:
     • The Status field has a value of Planned.
     • The End Date field has a value equal to the Start Date plus 30 minutes.
     • The Subject field has a value of Automated Call, and it shows the Account or Contact name.
     • The Type field has a value of Call.

       WARNING: Oracle CRM On Demand Life Sciences customers must not attempt to disable or customize Type=Call.

4. On the Call Edit or Call Detail page, do the following:

   To populate the new call record with information from an existing smart call template, click the Lookup icon next to the Smart Call field, and select the smart call.

   1. Enter or update the information.

      The following table provides additional information regarding some fields.

      NOTE: Company administrators can customize Oracle CRM On Demand in a variety of ways, such as changing the names for record types, fields, and options in lists. So, the information you see might differ from the standard information described in the online help. Custom fields that your company administrator defined are saved in the Smart Call template.

      Field	Description
      Key Call Information
      Subject	Limited to 100 characters. The name of the Smart Call template.
      Primary Contact	Automatically populated and read-only. If this call is linked to both an account and contact, the call record appears as related information on both the Account and Contact Detail pages. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Account	Automatically populated and read-only. If this call is linked to both an account and contact, the call record appears as related information on both the Account and Contact Detail pages. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Address	Displays the full address, which is taken from the individual address fields for the account or contact record. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Smart Call	If your user role includes the privilege, you can select a Smart Call template. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Status	Status of visit (call), which can be one of the following: Assigned, Completed, Deferred, In Call, In Chat, In Progress, Not Started, Planned, Signed, Submitted, Waiting for Someone Else. When the status is Planned, the call appears on the Calendar highlighted in red font, and in the Planned Calls section on the Calendar pages. To see planned calls on the Calendar and in the Planned Calls section on the Calendar page, your user role must include the Calls: Calendar Planned Calls privilege. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Activity Currency	You can select a different currency to convert the price to another currency, if your company administrator set that feature up.
      Objective	Limit of 1,500 characters
      Start Time	Date and time the call starts. Defaults to today’s date and 12:00 p.m. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Duration	Calculated field (in minutes) based on start time and end time. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      End Time	Defaults to start time plus 30 minutes. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Type	Call, Correspondence, Demonstration, Email, Event, Fax, Meeting, Personal, Presentation, Other, or To Do. To perform samples management, you must choose Call.
      Call Type	Displays Account Call, Professional Call, or General Call, depending on the type of call. Read-only. To perform samples management, the call type must be either Account Call or Professional Call.
      Ref #	Text field that can be used to store the reference number of a related item such as a signed document. NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Additional Information
      Cost	NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Paper Sign	NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Private	NOTE: This field is not copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.
      Description	Limit of 16,350 characters.
      Next Call	Limit of 1,500 characters. NOTE: This field is not copied over to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.

5. Save the record and, if required, add line items to the call record.
   • On the Call Edit page, click Save, then add line items to the call on the Call Detail page.
   • On the Call Detail page, add line items to the call, and then click either Save as a Private Smart Call or Save as a Public Smart Call.

     For more information about adding line items to a call record and about saving call information, see the tasks that follow.

The following procedure describes how to link product detailed information to a call record.

To link product detailed information to a call record

1. On the Call Detail page, scroll down to either the Available Products for Detailing section or the Products Detailed section.

   NOTE: If the section that you want is not visible on the Call Detail page, click the Edit Layout link in the upper-right corner of the page, and add the section to your page layout. If the section is not available to add to your page layout, contact your company administrator.

   1. In the Available Products for Detailing section, enter the required information in the Indication, Priority (optional), and Issues (optional) fields.

      Only products of category type Products Detailed, which have been allocated to the sales representative and are active on the current date, are visible in the available products list to link to the call record.

   2. In the Products Detailed section, click New and enter the required information on the Product Detailed Edit page.

      NOTE: Product Detailed fields are copied over to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.

      Field	Description
      Key Product Detailed Information
      Product Category	The product category, as defined by the product administrator at the company. (View only.) For example, it can be one of the following: Samples Dropped Promotional Item Dropped Products Detailed
      Product	The name of the product (for example, a medical device), discussed or demonstrated to the customer. Select the item using the Lookup selector. (Required.) NOTE: Only products of the category type Samples Dropped, Promotional Item Dropped, or Products Detailed, which have been allocated to the sales representative, are present in the sales representative's inventory (in the case of samples and promotional items), and are active on the current call date can be linked to a call record. For information on setting up products, see Setting Up Company Products and Product Fields.
      Priority	Optional field for customer use.
      Indication	The condition that the product addresses. Examples are: Allergy, Asthma, Arrhythmia, Heart Failure, and so on. Use the drop-down list to select an indication. (Required.)
      Issues	Optional field for customer use. Examples include: Side Effects, Efficacy, Cost versus Generics, Price, and so on. Use the drop-down list to select an issue.

2. Save the record.

Repeat these steps, as required, to add more Product Detailed line items to the call record.

The following procedure describes how to link samples dropped information to a call record.

To link samples dropped information to a call record

1. On the Call Detail page, scroll down to either the Available Samples for Drop section or the Samples Dropped section.

   NOTE: If the section that you want is not visible on the Call Detail page, click the Edit Layout link in the upper-right corner of the page, and add the section to your page layout. If the section is not available to add to your page layout, contact your company administrator.

   1. In the Available Samples for Drop section, enter the required information in the Quantity field.

      Only products of category type Samples Dropped, which have been allocated to and are present in the sales representative's inventory, are visible in the available samples list to link to the call record.

   2. In the Samples Dropped section, click New and enter the required information on the Samples Dropped Edit page.

      NOTE: Samples dropped fields are copied over to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template except for Lot #.

      Field	Description
      Key Sample Dropped Information
      Product Category	The product category, as defined by the product administrator at the company. (View only.) For example, it can be one of the following: Samples Dropped Promotional Item Dropped Products Detailed
      Product	The name of the product sample dropped (for example, a new drug that has come on the market), dropped off to the contact. Select the item using the Lookup selector. (Required.) NOTE: Only products of the category type Samples Dropped, Promotional Item Dropped, or Products Detailed, which have been allocated to the sales representative, are present in the sales representative's inventory (in the case of samples and promotional items), and are active on the current call date can be linked to a call record. For information on setting up products, see Setting Up Company Products and Product Fields.
      Lot #	The lot number for the sample product selected. NOTE: This is relevant only if using lot numbers to track samples in the inventory. When adding or updating a sample drop record, only sample lots that have the Inventory by Lot check box selected can be entered in this field. For more information, see Sample Lots and Sample Lot Fields.
      Quantity	The number of sample items dropped off to the contact. The quantity must be a number from 1 to 9998.

2. Save the record.

Repeat these steps, as required, to add more Samples Dropped line items to the call record. For additional information on samples dropped, see Dropping Samples During a Sales Call.

The following procedure describes how to link promotional items, educational items, or other marketing items to a call record.

To link promotional items, educational items, or other marketing items to a call record

1. On the Call Detail page, scroll down to either the Available Promotional Items for Drop section or the Promotional Items section.

   NOTE: If the section that you want is not visible on the Call Detail page, click the Edit Layout link in the upper-right corner of the page, and add the section to your page layout. If the section is not available to add to your page layout, contact your company administrator.

   1. In the Available Promotional Items for Drop section, enter the required information in the Quantity field.

      Only products of category type Promotional Item Dropped, which have been allocated to and are present in the sales representative's inventory, are visible in the available promotional items list to link to the call record.

   2. In the Promotional Items section, click new and enter the required information on the Promotional Item Dropped Edit page.

      NOTE: Promotional Item fields are copied to the new record when you create a new call record from a smart call template.

      Field	Description
      Key Promotional Items Dropped Information
      Product	The name of the promotional item (for example, a pen or golf ball) or educational item (for example, a white paper or a manual), dropped off to the contact. Select the item using the Lookup selector. (Required.) NOTE: Only products of the category type Samples Dropped, Promotional Item Dropped, or Products Detailed, which have been allocated to the sales representative, are present in the sales representative's inventory (in the case of samples and promotional items), and are active on the current call date can be linked to a call record. For information on setting up products, see Setting Up Company Products and Product Fields.
      Quantity	The number of promotional or educational items dropped off to the contact. The quantity must be a number from 1 to 9998.
      Max Per Allocation	The maximum quantity of promotional items allowed to drop during the allocation period.
      Product Category	The product category, as defined by the product administrator at the company. (View only.) For example, it can be one of the following: Samples Dropped Promotional Item Dropped Products Detailed
      Call Date	The date of the customer call. (View only.)
      Max per Call	The maximum quantity of promotional items allowed to drop for a call. (View only.)
      Calculated Sum of Quantity Allocation	The total quantity of promotional items dropped (so far) during the allocation period. (View only.)

2. Save the record.

Repeat these steps, as required, to add more Promotional Items line items to the call record.

The following procedure describes how to save call information as a template.

To save the call information as a template

• On the Call Detail page, click the appropriate button:
  • Save as Private Smart Call. Restricts the template for your use only.
  • Save as Public Smart Call. Adds the template to the list for others to use.

    NOTE: Each time you click the button, the record is saved as a separate smart call. The application remains open on this page.

The following procedure describes how to submit call detail information for inventory tracking.

To submit the Call Detail information for inventory tracking

• When all of the information has been entered and saved on the Call Detail page, click Submit (at the top of the Call Detail page) to submit the information as a disbursement transaction used in the samples management processing.