Database Reference
In-Depth Information
SAP CRM leverages the SAP Internet Pricing and Configurator (IPC) tool for pricing; the
IPC consists of the Sales Pricing Engine (SPE), Configuration Engine (SCE), and product-model-
ing environment (PME). The SPE manages pricing, including variant pricing; the SCE supports
configurable products and variant configuration; and the PME is used for master data mainte-
nance of product configuration-related data.
For product configuration, SAP CRM provides for the following:
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During the first phase of the customer contract, the configurator records a description of the
customer problem (for which a solutions is required) in a standardized format and uses it to
determine the optimal product or solution.
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The product configurator helps the user to find the most suitable product; it supports adapta-
tion of a product by presenting the end user with the range of available product options in
a dialog and then checks the selected product configuration against a predefined set of rules
for completeness and consistency.
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The integrated pricing functionality calculates the price for the requested product variant.
The total price of the product is always kept up to date, depending on the chosen options
and on the basis of other established pricing rules.
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The result of a configuration can be forwarded to downstream systems through standard-
ized interfaces so that downstream processes receive the necessary data entries for order
processing.
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The configurator enables an availability check so that the customer can know immediately
when the requested product configuration can be delivered.
◾
SAP IPC ensures the integration between the sale itself and order processing to that exactly
what was ordered is also delivered and billed for.
8.2.2.8 Billing and Contract Management
SAP CRM supports two types of billing scenarios: transaction-related billing and delivery-related
billing. Transaction-related billing includes billing options such as usage-based billing and transac-
tion-related billing after completion. External billing and nonbilling (for nonbilling-related trans-
actions) are also supported. In contrast, delivery-based billing generates a billing document in SAP
CRM only after a delivery is created in SAP ERP based on a goods issue. With this billing option,
the billing documents are always created in reference to specific deliveries.
Using the SAP CRM contract management functionality, a company can create long-term
purchasing agreements and sales contracts with customers that allow customers to buy prod-
ucts and services at special prices and with favorable delivery terms over a predetermined period.
A contract typically specifies the exact terms and conditions, pricing agreements, specific releas-
able products, authorized customer companies, and completion rules.
SAP CRM allows companies to develop and manage long-term customer contracts, incor-
porate customer agreements into ongoing process, monitor the sales process from inquiry to
completion, and seamlessly integrate these activities with back-end financial and accounts receiv-
able process. It allows companies to manage value-based and quantity-based contracts, sales
agreements, collaborative contract negotiation, release-order handling, cancelation processing,
credit management, invoicing, and payment processing.
For contract management, SAP CRM provides for
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Creating long-term agreement with price and product agreements for a customer
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Monitoring the sales process from inquiry through the contract completion
