Marketing Information Systems

and The Sales Order Process

Sales and Distribution in ERP
Sales and Distribution Module treats the sales order process as a cycle
of events.
1. Presales activities
2. Sales order processing
3. Inventory Sourcing
4. Delivery
5. Billing
6. Payment
Presale Activities
• Customers can get pricing information about the company’s products,
either through an inquiry or a sales quotation.
• What is the difference between an inquiry and a quotation ?
• Presales activities also include marketing activities such as tracking
customer contacts—including sales calls, visits, and mailings.
• A company can maintain customer data in the ERP system and
generate mailing lists based on specific customer characteristics,
which enhances targeted marketing efforts.
Sales Order Processing
Sales order processing is the series of activities that must take place to
record a sales order
• Retrieve data from pre-sales event (customer data, inquiry/quotation)
• Recording items to be purchased
• Recording the order quantities
• Determining sales price
• Discount could be applied
• Checking customer's credit balance
• Make decision on the sales order (continue vs reject)
Inventory Sourcing
When recording an order, the SAP ERP system checks the company’s
inventory records and the production planning records to see whether
the requested material is available and can be delivered on the date
the customer desires.
• Check availability
• Notify production plan to avoid shortfall
• Keeping record of open orders
Delivery
• Release documents that the warehouse that the warehouse use to
pick, pack, and ship orders
• Transfer the documents to “Materials Management” modules, where
the warehouse activities are carried out
Billing
• Create invoice according to sales order data
• Send to accounting. Accounting send it to customer.
• Update accounting records i.e. accounts receivable increased,
customer’s credit decrease
Payment
• If the payment is made electronically, it records the payment as an
electronic sales order document, debits the cash account, and credits
(reduces) the customer’s account balance
• If the customer sends a check, a clerk must manually enter the
payment information, system updates all sales-related information.
• Time of input become very important
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT
Customer Relationship Management
In general, CRM software support following activities and tools
• One-to-one marketing - Once a customer is categorized, for example,
based on the products they buy and the volume in which they buy those
products, the company can tailor products, promotions, and pricing
accordingly. Customers can be offered products related to what they are
now buying (cross-selling), or the company could choose to promote
higher-margin products in the same lines (up-selling) to those customers.
• Sales force automation (SFA) - Using the CRM software, occurrences of
customer contacts are logged in the company’s database. The SFA feature
of CRM software can automatically route certain customers who contact
the company to a particular sales representative
Customer Relationship Management
• Sales campaign management - This software feature lets a company
organize a marketing campaign and compile its results automatically.
• Marketing encyclopedias - This feature serves as a database of
promotional literature about products. The material can be routed to
sales representatives or customers as needed.
• Call center automation
The Benefits of CRM
• Lower costs – CRM can lead to operational efficiencies, such as better
response times in call center operations and better use of sales force
time, which lower costs.
• Higher revenue - Segmenting customers leads to better selling
opportunities and revenue increases
• Improved strategy and performance measurement – Installing and
operating an ERP system requires management and staff to think of
the company as a whole.
SAP’s CRM Software
Contact Manager
Sales Activity Manager
SAP CRM System Landscape
Marketing and Campaign Planning