Edit Workflow Step Screen - Sales data

Modified on Tue, 10 Jan 2023 at 07:58 PM

In the step actions section, you can choose what will happen as a user moves a matter to this step. For each switch that is displayed, there will be a number of options to choose what is created, what the user is prompted to do or what is allowed to happen on this step. 

 

Sales Data

For the sales data options to show please switch the sales data to "On".

Screen_Shot_2022-11-08_at_11.33.57_AM.png

The sales status section will appear at the bottom of your screen:

Screen_Shot_2022-11-08_at_2.58.29_PM.png


Sales data is the information that you can gather around the likelihood of a matter becoming a 'sale'. This is especially useful for firms who focus on and have a given process for attracting and engaging new clients. 

This works best when you are engaging a potential customer and want to track how likely they will engage your services. Each matter has fields that capture how much the matter will be worth if the client engages (how much they will pay you), the likelihood of them engaging with you, if they engage when you expect it to be and various others. You can access these fields on a matter by going to the Matter Sales and Marketing screen.


Screen_Shot_2022-11-09_at_2.31.14_PM.png



In this section, you can set some of those values automatically or prompt the user to update those values. The idea behind this is that if you are moving a matter to a new step, you are at a certain milestone so it would be worthwhile to update the details as you move to the next step.

There are seven switches which control what is displayed on the Step change screen. Two of these will cause other fields to display.

  • Show sale amount - When switched to "on", this will display a field where you can enter what the sales amount would be. This is the expected amount  that the firm would receive if the client engaged with you.
  • Default sale amount - This will only show when you switch the show sale amount to "on". Here, you can enter what you expect the sale amount to be. By using this you can reduce the data entry requirements for your users. For example, if you always charge a fixed amount of $1,000 for an estate planning matter, you could pre-populate this field with $1,000. If you have matter types where the amount will vary depending on the services the client needs, you can leave this blank for the Actionstep user to populate.

                 Sales_amount.gif           

  • Show Probability -  When switched to "on"  this will display two fields  where you can set the probability of the sale.
  • Minimum Probability -  This will only show when you switch the show probability option to "on".  This will set a lower limit on what probability the user can set as they move the matter to this step. You can use this to automatically increase the probability of a sale as you move to a step.        
  • Maximum Probability - Again, this will only sow when you switch the show probability option to "on" . This will set an upper limit on what probability the user can set as they move the matter to this step. You can use this to automatically decrease the probability of a sale as you move to a step. 

              Sales_probability.gif


 

EXAMPLE OF USING MIN. AND MAX. PROBABILITY

Mike has a Matter Type specifically for engaging with high-value clients. In the workflow of this Matter Type he has setup the following steps:

  • Initial contact
  • Scoping
  • Quote
  • Quote follow up
  • Engaged
  • Did not engage

As the matter moves from step to step, the likelihood of the client engaging goes up.

For the Initial contact step, Mike knows that he can get a broad range of contacts. Some are curious only some are very keen to engage but history has taught Mike that no matter how excited a prospect seems, they don't always work out. To reflect this, Mike sets the Minimum probability on this step to 0% and the Maximum probability to 60%. This means his users can select a probability of up to 60%.

For scoping, Mike has qualified the client better and is willing to invest more time into seeing what would be involved in engaging with this client. He is still not sure they will engage but he is more sure. To reflect this, Mike sets the Minimum probability on this step to 20% and the maximum probability stays at 60%. This change reflects that if his users are not at least 20% sure of the chance of a sale, they shouldn't bother moving to this step. They can only select between 20% to 60%.

For the Quote step, Mike normally has a pretty good idea of how things are going to shape up. He will be more confident that anyone who reaches this step will engage with him but only a little, However, he knows some of the prospects are much more likely to engage. To reflect this he makes the minimum probability 30% and 80%.

The Quote follow up stage can change the probability. If he has to follow up with the prospect then for some he might be less sure, some he might be more confident. Either way, the min and max probabilities will remain the same.

On the Engaged step, he has done it! the client is engaged, he sets the minimum to 100%.

On the Did not engage step, then he knows the client did not go with him. He will close off the matter at this step and chooses not to show the probability at all. He would like the probability to remain recorded on the matter as it was because Mike reviews lost matters each month to see if there are ways that he can improve his conversion rate and keeping the probability helps him do this.

 

  • Sale Date  - This is the date that you would expect the sale to happen, that the client would agree to engage with the firm and undertakes to pay any fees for the services the firm provides. By switching this on, a user who moves to this step will be prompted to enter in a date that they would expect the sale to happen, If already populated, the set date will be displayed and the user can change it.
  • Marketing Medium - This is related to Actionstep marketing where you can create matter types the track marketing events and campaigns. This field lets a user link the particular matter to the to a marketing event so that you can track the success of individual events.Marketing Campaigns - Introduction  
  • Payments - Payments allow you to create a schedule of billable fees for the matter. See the Fixed Fee section of the Matter Billing Options article for more details. 

    When you switch this on, a user is able to create a row for a scheduled fixed fee. 


TIP: Payments will only show on a step change if the matter that is having its step changed has the following fields set on the matter billing options:  1. Billing arrangement set to 'Fixed Fee' 2. Fixed fee bill frequency set to 'Custom schedule'.


 

  • Linked Quote/Estimate - If you are using sales quotes in your system, a user will be prompted to choose a sales quote to link to this sale as part of the step change when this field is switched on. The sales quotes that will be displayed under this field will be limited to those entered into the inbuilt Actionstep accounting and linked to the matter in question. If there are no quotes in the system linked to the matter, none will display in the dropdown.


WARNING: The quotes that are used in this section are Sales Quotes are a type of accounting transaction. As an accounting transaction, Sales quotes are seldom used by law firms and because of this, this function is only available on some Actionstep systems. Talk to Actionstep support if you would like to know if Sales Quotes as accounting transactions will be useful for you. The linked Quote/Estimate field will only show on a step change if the sales status of the matter is set to "Sales Pipeline".

 

  • Linked Sales Order - If you are using sales orders in your system, a user will be prompted to choose a sales order to link to this sale as part of the step change when this filed is switched on. The sales order that will be displayed under this field will be limited to those entered into the inbuilt Actionstep accounting and linked to the matter in question. If there are no sales orders in the system linked to the matter, none will display in the dropdown.


 Related Articles:


 

Was this article helpful?

That’s Great!

Thank you for your feedback

Sorry! We couldn't be helpful

Thank you for your feedback

Let us know how can we improve this article!

Select atleast one of the reasons
CAPTCHA verification is required.

Feedback sent

We appreciate your effort and will try to fix the article