In my last blog, I gave a simple example of how the escalation service can be used to automate business processes. Here I'm going to give a further example to demonstrate how it could be used - in conjunction with Sage CRM's Self Service functionality - to automate the processing of customer requests.
Sage CRM Self Service provides customers with access to Sage CRM, enabling them to perform functions such as viewing their account information, reporting problems or requesting product information. As with almost every other area of Sage CRM, this can be customised to suit your business needs.
In this example, I want to create a process where a customer requesting product information has their request dealt with immediately by the escalation service, as well as registering and assigning the sales opportunity to a member of the sales team.
First thing I'll do is to set up my Self Service site. The Sage CRM Demo Self Service site comes set up with the facility for customers to log in and request product information. I'm going to use this existing facility on the demo site and extend it so that any request for product information coming from the site gets flagged as a Self Service request.
To do this I'm going to create a flag on the opportunity table oppo_ssrequest. When a customer requests product information from the Self Service website, an opportunity will be created in Sage CRM with the flag checked. The opportunity will also be automatically assigned to a sales representative. These default values for the opportunity can be set in ASP or include files on the Self Service server.
Once saved, the opportunity can be viewed in Sage CRM by the Account Manager.
Now that the opportunity is flagged as a Self Service request, the next thing is to create the escalation rule to process it. To create the SQL trigger I'm specifying the product name "oppo_product = 'ExpenseCheck'" as well as the Self Service request flag "oppo_ssrequest = 'Y'". So any opportunity that is raised in Self Service requesting product information on the Expense Check product will get processed by the escalation service.
* I've used a view here that selects from the Opportunity and Person tables, as I'll want to reference information from these entities in the e-mails I'm sending from the rule.
In order to notify the sales representative that they have been assigned a new sales opportunity, I'll set up a Send Email action on the escalation rule.
To perform the customer's requested action, I set up a second Send Email action attaching the brochure and add a personalised message. The customer will automatically be sent the requested information, by the escalation service.
The last action I include on the escalation rule is a Set Column Value action to mark this Self Service request as complete.