Configuring opportunity templates

Opportunity templates define the types of opportunities that users can identify in NexJ CRM. The following templates are supported by NexJ CRM:

• Parent opportunity
  Parent opportunities are used to create initial lists of products for potential sale to clients. In general practice, a single parent opportunity will have multiple products associated with it. As users engage with their clients, they use the products in a parent opportunity to create and track the progress of individual product opportunities.
• Product opportunity
  Each product opportunity represents an engagement with a client around the potential sale of a specific product.

An opportunity template consists of:

• Entity type
  The type of entity that an opportunity is for, which can be a company, contact, or household.
• Stages
  The steps in the life cycle of an opportunity, for example, an opportunity for life insurance might progress through the stages: qualification, application, underwriting, present policy, and closed.

Create and manage opportunity templates in the Templates subtab in the Opportunity Management tab on the Customize workspace. After you have created and activated an opportunity template, users can create opportunities from the template on the Opportunities workspace and the Contacts workspace. The data table in the Templates subtab displays the opportunity templates that are available in NexJ CRM.

For information about sorting the data table and selecting columns to display in the data table, see Navigating the NexJ CRM user interface.

Creating and modifying opportunity templates

Create an opportunity template when you want to provide users with a new type of opportunity that they can add to NexJ CRM.

Before you create opportunity templates, you can search for specific templates by entering a full or partial name in the text search field in the Templates subtab. Also, you can filter the information in the data table to show only those templates that meet specific criteria. For information about searching, see Searching and filtering in NexJ CRM.

To create an opportunity template, navigate to the Templates subtab, and click the Add button

Tab	Fields, checkboxes, and table	Description	Required field
Details	Active	If you want the opportunity to be available to users immediately after you create it, ensure that the Active checkbox is selected. If you do not select the Active checkbox now, you can activate the opportunity template later by clicking the Activate button for the record in the data table. If you selected the Active checkbox, users can select this template as an opportunity type when they add a new opportunity in NexJ CRM.	Yes
	Target Entity Type	The type of contact that this opportunity will be for. For example, select Company, or Contact, or Household.	Yes
Stages	Stages table	The stages that you have added in a sequential order. It also displays a percentage in the Probability field if you have entered the percent chance that the opportunity will be won at this stage in the Add an opportunity stage template dialog. You can choose which table columns display by clicking the Select columns button . You can perform the following actions: To add stages, click the Add button  . For more information, see Adding and modifying stages. To edit stages, click the Edit button  . To delete stages, click the Delete button . To changes the order of the stages, move stages up or down from the More Actions menu.	Yes

Editing opportunity templates

Edit an opportunity template when you want to make changes to its details.

To edit an opportunity template, click the Edit button 

Editing an opportunity template allows you to make changes only to details such as its name and description. If you want to make changes to its stages, you do this from the Stages tab.

When you create an opportunity template, captions are created for it for both English and French locales in the system. If you update the template (for example, you change the name of the template) only the English caption is updated in the system. If you then attempt to create a new template with the template name you used originally, an invalid opportunity template error is generated due to a violation of the uniqueness requirement, and because the French caption for the original template already exists in the system. Update your French caption to resolve the error.

Deleting opportunity templates

Delete an opportunity template when you want to remove it completely from NexJ CRM.

If you want to only temporarily remove an opportunity template so that users can no longer create opportunities with it, you should instead deactivate it.  For more information, see Activating and deactivating opportunity templates.

You cannot delete an opportunity template if it has previously been used to create an opportunity in NexJ CRM.

To delete an opportunity template, select the template in the data table and click the Delete button

If you choose to delete a template, this action cannot be undone.

Activating and deactivating opportunity templates

You can activate and deactivate opportunity templates. Activate an opportunity template when you want to make it available to users when they create new opportunities in NexJ CRM. Deactivate an opportunity template when you no longer want users to create opportunities based on it.

When an opportunity template is deactivated, opportunities created using the template will still remain in the system.

To deactivate an opportunity template, select the template in the data table in the Opportunity Management tab, and click the Deactivate button

Adding and modifying stages

As an opportunity is pursued, it progresses through defined stages. Stages are steps in the life cycle of an opportunity. For example, an opportunity for life insurance might progress through the following stages: qualification, application, underwriting, present policy, and closed.

A stage consists of a type and a probability. The type indicates what is or should be happening at this point in the opportunity's life cycle. For example, a type called investment prospectus can indicate that a prospectus should be drafted at this stage. The probability indicates the percent chance that the opportunity will be won at this stage.

You create and manage stages from the Stages tab in an opportunity template.

Add stages to an opportunity template to create the states that the opportunity moves through as it is pursued.

To add a stage to an opportunity template, you can perform the following actions in the Opportunity Management tab on the Customize workspace:

• When adding a new template, select the Stages tab in the New Opportunity Template dialog, click the Add button

  

  , and make the required changes to the fields in the Add an opportunity stage template dialog.
• When editing a selected template, click the Edit button

  

  , select the Stages tab in the Edit Opportunity Template dialog, click the Add button, and make the required changes to the fields.

The Add an opportunity stage template dialog contains the following fields:

Field name	Description	Required field
Probability	A number between 0 and 100 that represents the percent chance that the opportunity will be won at this stage. For example, in an opportunity's first stage, the probability that the opportunity will be won might be 10%, so you enter 10 in the field. By the last stage, the probability might have increased to 95%, so you enter 95 for the stage. Users can override a stage's probability when they add an opportunity. This is useful when there are unique circumstances surrounding an opportunity. For example, if there is only one competitor for an opportunity, the chance that you will win the opportunity might be higher.	No
Stage	The type for a stage. The type indicates what is being done with the opportunity at this stage in the process. You can include each stage type only once in an opportunity template. You might want to create a stage that does not currently appear in the list of stage types. To do this, you must add values to the SOPPTSTAGE enumeration in NexJ Admin Console.	Yes

Your fields selections are displayed in the Stages tab in the Stages table in the Opportunity Template dialog.

Modifying stages

Modify stages in an opportunity template when you want to edit their details, rearrange stages, or delete stages.

If the opportunity template has been used to create an opportunity in NexJ CRM, you can no longer modify its existing stages.

To modify stages in an opportunity template, select a template in the data table in the Templates tab, click the Edit button

• Edit a stage by clicking the corresponding Edit button for the stage. Editing a stage allows you to make changes only to its details.

• Change the order in which stages occur by moving stages up or down in the More Actions

  

  menu. The order of stages in the list is the order in which they occur as the opportunity progresses.

• Delete a stage by clicking the corresponding Delete button

  

  for the stage.
  

  If you choose to delete a stage, this action cannot be undone.

You can also change the table columns that are displayed in the Stages tab in the Opportunity Template dialog, by clicking the Select columns button