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AccountManager Sample Requests
AccountManager provides the ability to create and manage Sample Requests from the time they are requested through the evaluation process at the end customer. While Sample Requests can be shared by all the users of an AccountManager database, your AccountManager Administrator may have set certain restrictions in place, such as allowing field sales people to only see their own Sample Requests.
Sample Requests are part of a group of documents in AccountManager referred to as Business Documents, or “BizDocs.” Other BizDocs include Opportunities, RFQ’s, Quotes, Registrations, and Design Wins. BizDocs can be used to “Copy Into” other BizDocs to save time, and link documents from one program or project together.
Creating Sample Requests
1. Open the AccountManager database and go to any of the “Samples” views. Click the “New Sample” button on the action bar.
2. A Sample Request form will be displayed pre-populated with a system-generated Sample Number, your name as the Owner (can be manually changed), and the current date as the Request Date.
3. In the Header area, select the Principal and End Customer this sample is associated with. (You may also select a Distributor and/or CEM if appropriate).
4. Select a Sample Status by clicking the hyperlink (choices populated by your AccountManager administrator).
5. On the “Main” tab / “Program” sub-tab, fill in the basic information such as Program, Application, Annual Units, and Shipping information.
6. Add part numbers to this sample request by clicking the “Line Item” button and the “Add Line Item” choice under that. Fill in the pertinent information for that line item, click OK, and repeat as needed.
7. You may now “Save” and “Close” the Sample Request at this point, or continue adding additional information on the Detail Tabs defined below.
8. To email the sample request to your Principal, make sure there is a contact listed in the “Contact 1” field of the “Principal” detail tab. Clicking the “Email” action button will generate a new email pre-addressed to that contact with an attached copy of the sample request in Microsoft Excel format.
“Copying Into” Sample Requests from Other BizDocs
Another method for creating Sample Requests, is to use an existing BizDoc (such as an Opportunity, Quote or RFQ) pertaining to this sales project, to “copy into” a Sample Request. This saves time and links the two documents together.
9. Open one of the existing BizDocs you already have for this sales project.
10. Click the “Copy Into” button, and then on the “Sample” choice underneath.
11. A Sample Request will open pre-populated with the common information from the original BizDoc.
12. Fill in any additional details on the Sample as desired.
13. “Save” and “Close” or Email the Sample Request.
Sample Request Field Descriptions
(Note: The content and/or arrangement of fields on your Sample Requests may vary depending upon your company’s configuration. See your AccountManager administrator with questions).
[Sample Requests Screenshot 1]
Action Buttons:
(Note: The dropdown choices on your Action Buttons may vary depending upon your company’s configuration. See your AccountManager administrator with any questions).
|
Button Name |
Usage |
|
Close |
Closes the Sample Request. |
|
Edit / Save (toggles between) |
Edit – Enables the ability to edit Sample Request. No changes can be made until the Edit button is clicked. Save – Saves the Sample Request. |
|
Print Preview |
Prepares a Microsoft Excel version of the sample request. |
|
|
Generates the Microsoft Excel version of this sample request, saves it and attaches it to the body of an email address to the person listed as “Contact 1” on the Principal detail tab. |
|
Line item |
Add Line Item – Opens a new Line Item. Repeat as needed for each additional part number. Insert Line Item – Opens a new Line Item after prompting the user for the point of insertion into the list of previously generated line items. Delete Line Item – Deletes a Line Item after prompting the user to select the corresponding line item number. |
|
New |
Account – Opens a new, blank Account profile. Contact – Opens a new, blank Contact profile. Opportunity – Opens a new, blank Opportunity profile. Sample – Opens a new, blank Sample request. Quote > Quote – Opens a new, blank Quotation. > Quick Quote – Opens a new, blank Quick Quote. RFQ – Opens a new, blank Request For Quotation. Registration – Opens a new, blank Registration. Design Win / Split Request – Opens a new, blank Design Win. |
|
Copy Into |
Your AccountManager administrator can set a configuration option to copy Line Item “Notes” into other BizDocs along with the default information noted below. Opportunity – Opens a new Opportunity pre-populated with common fields and information from the Sample request. Sample – Opens a new Sample request pre-populated with common fields and information from the Sample request. Quote – Opens a new Quote pre-populated with common fields/information from the Sample request. Quick Quote – Opens a new Quick Quote pre-populated with common fields/information from the Sample request. RFQ – Opens a new Request for Quote pre-populated with common fields/information from the Sample Request. Design Win / Split Request – Opens a new Design Win pre-populated with common fields/information from the Sample request. Registration – Opens a new Registration pre-populated with common fields/information from the Sample request. Sample (New Principal) – Opens a new Sample request pre-populated with common fields/information from the original Sample Request. The “Principal” and Line Items are left blank so new ones may be added. |
|
Link to Opportunity |
Allows you to link this Sample request to an existing opportunity. (Click the hyperlink to select from a list). |
|
View |
Emailed Items – In the embedded view, displays the emails created and sent by using the “Email” button described above. Line Items – Returns the embedded view to displaying the line items. |
Header Section:
(Note: The Account (company) links displayed in the header section may vary depending upon your company’s configuration. See your AccountManager administrator with any questions)
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Sample Number |
System-generated sample number. (This cannot be modified). |
|
Status |
Status of sample (Open, Closed, On Hold). |
|
End Customer |
End Customer associated with this sample. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices are a list of your End Customer account profiles). |
|
Distributor |
Distributor associated with this sample. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices are a list of your Distributor account profiles). |
|
Program |
End Customer’s program name. (This field is automatically populated after entering the program information on the Main/Program tab) |
|
Request Date |
Date the sample request was entered. (Defaults to current date when creating the sample request. This can be modified). |
|
Sample Status |
Status of this sample request. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices populated by your AccountManager administrator). |
|
Principal |
Principal associated with this sample. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices are a list of your Principal account profiles). |
|
CEM |
CEM associated with this sample. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices are a list of your CEM account profiles). |
|
Owner |
Person currently responsible for updating this sample. (This field can be disabled if your organization does not routinely pass responsibility between users and/or departments). |
|
Opportunity Profile (hyperlink) |
If displayed, this hyperlink will open the linked opportunity profile when clicked on. |
“Main” Detail Tab / “Program” Sub-Tab:
(Note: The content and/or arrangement of fields on this tab may vary depending upon your company’s configuration. See your AccountManager administrator with questions).
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Program |
End Customer’s program name. |
|
Application |
Brief description of the application. |
|
Competition |
Competitors that are also trying to win this opportunity. |
|
Reference Number |
Any additional reference number your organization wants to include. |
|
Annual Units |
The annual number of units (of the end product) to be produced by the customer. (Note: This is not necessarily the Estimated Annual Usage (EAU) of any one component). |
|
Ship To |
Who the sample request should be shipped to (Click the hyperlink to select End Customer, Distributor, CEM, Representative or “Other”). When specifying “Other”, be sure to note the address in the “Comments” field of the sample. |
|
Ship Via |
Freight company or delivery method to be used on this sample request. (Click the hyperlink to select. Choices populated by your AccountManager Administrator). |
|
Shipping Acct. # |
Account number for above-listed freight company (if needed). |
|
Date Required |
Date the customer must have samples in hand in order to be able to qualify them in time. |
“Main” Detail Tab / “Follow Up” Sub-Tab:
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Enable Follow Up |
Checking this box includes the sample in the appropriate Activities views, as well as on the daily follow up emails if you have enabled that feature on your AccountManager user profile. |
|
Follow up Date |
Date follow up is required on this sample. Displays in the appropriate Activities views, and includes the sample on the daily follow up emails on and after this date, until the document is updated, and the follow-up date is moved forward. (This field auto-populates to the number of days forward specified on your AccountManager user profile when creating the sample. Once the date has passed, and upon editing the sample request, you will be asked if you’d like to move the date forward that default number of days again. This date can be modified at any time). |
|
Scheduled For |
Users responsible for following up on the sample (defaults to the creator of the document). This field can be modified to include other users as well. The people listed here will see the sample request in the appropriate Activities views, as well as receive daily follow up emails including this sample as indicated above. |
“Main” Tab / “Misc” Sub-Tab:
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Internal Comments |
Additional comments for internal use only. Will not display on any sample reports. |
|
Attachments |
Files attached to this sample request. Can also be used to store “live” web site addresses relative to the sample (make sure to include “http://”). |
Account Detail Tabs (i.e. “End Customer”, “Principal”, “Distributor”, and “CEM”):
(Note: The existence, content, and arrangement of these tabs may vary depending upon your company’s configuration. See your AccountManager administrator with questions).
The account detail tabs allow you to store additional details about each company involved in this Sample Request. Each tab auto-populates with the company name when those companies are selected in the Header area. The field names and structure of each tab is identical as described below:
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Company (labeled by Account Type) |
Auto populates with selection made on Header (i.e. End Customer company name is populated on “End Customer” tab, Distributor company name is populated on “Distributor” tab, etc). Account’s address and phone information is displayed to the right. |
|
Account Manager |
Field/Outside salesperson/people assigned to this account. |
|
Contact 1 |
Primary contact at this account associated with the sample. Click the hyperlink to select. Contact’s phone and email information displays to the right. |
|
Contact 2 |
Secondary contact at this account associated with the sample. Click the hyperlink to select. Contact’s phone and email information displays to the right. |
|
Territory |
Auto-populates with the Territory specified on this company’s Account profile. |
|
Category |
Auto-populates with the Category specified on this company’s Account profile. |
“Representative” Detail Tab
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Representative |
Auto-populates with your company’s information. Phone and address information displays to the right. |
|
Prepared By |
Auto-populates to the user creating the sample request. Phone and email information displays to the right. (This field can be changed to another user, if desired). |
Sample Request “Line Items”:
[Sample Requests Screenshot 2]
|
Field Name |
Description |
|
Mfr Part Number |
Manufacturer’s part number. (If your company uses the Part Number Lookup database, this could be a clickable hyperlink, allowing you to select the part number from a list, and populate the Product Line and Description fields. See your AccountManager administrator with questions). |
|
Product Line |
Product Line or category. |
|
Description |
Description (often technical) of this part number. |
|
Qty |
Quantity of this component requested for sample/evaluation. |
|
Customer Part Number |
End customer’s internal part number for this component. |
|
EAU |
Estimated Annual Usage for this component. |
|
Status |
Status of this line item. (Click to select from dropdown menu. Choices populated by your AccountManager administrator). |
|
Notes |
Additional notes pertaining to this line item. These do display on the Sample when printed. (Your AccountManager administrator can enable a configuration option to copy these notes into other BizDocs using the “Copy Into” button). |
Embedded View:
The embedded view displays either the line items for this sample request or the emails that have been sent from the sample request (using the “Email” action button). Use the “View” action button to switch between Emailed Items and Line Items.