Introduction
Opportunity management is the process of handling new business, from the initial lead until its conclusion, resulting in either moving onto the next opportunity or an order from a customer. The process is subdivided into two areas – Leads and Opportunities
We have integrated the opportunity management process with our “Empower On-boarding” tool so that Risk Managers can perform the due diligence needed alongside the opportunity management process. Also, given that fee-earners often become involved in the Opportunity lifecycle, an additional integration with evergreen:Finance has been created so that a non-invoiceable matter can be used by them to record any time spent on the development of the opportunity. Once the Opportunity has been won and due diligence completed, the matter can be converted to an active matter, ready for chargeable work.
Key processes – Leads
Leads are typically generated via marketing communications or sales activity. Tracking them can mean that the success rate is improved. The functionality in evergreen sales enables these processes to be followed effectively and efficiently, using a core Dynamics 365 for Sales and new evergreen sales features. The primary objective with a Lead is to establish whether it is genuine or not; a process known as qualification.
Qualification of a Lead, when configured, prompts the creation of a matter for the prospective client in the Finance system. This enables all work done by members of the fee-earning part of the organisation to be recorded and accounted for. This is an important step which allows
| Process name | Sub-process name | Description |
| Create a lead | Receive direct lead | Handle the receipt of a Lead directly from the contact it relates to. it could have been via the firm’s public website, a direct contact to the Lead team or a colleague etc. The contact will be manually entered into evergreen sales as a new Lead |
| Obtain lead via a campaign response | Following a campaign, leads are often obtained from those who were contacted. This would usually mean that the contact (and their employer) is already known to the organisation | |
| Converting email activities to leads | Emails received by employees of the organisation may lead to Leads. If they do, a new Lead should be created, by whoever is responsible for doing that, informed by whoever received the email | |
| Obtain a lead via an event | Following an event, leads are often obtained from those who attended. This would usually mean that the contact (and their employer) is already known to the organisation | |
| Add incoming referral | Sometimes, leads for new work are obtained from existing partners who refer it to the organisation, either informally or via a formal arrangement. These can be recorded independently of the Lead or at the same time as creating it | |
| Manage a Lead | Capture additional lead information | During the course of tracking the Lead through its lifecycle, evergreen sales allows you to capture additional information about it, as shown in the list below:
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| View Leads | Being able to view the current content of a Lead and its status helps to prioritise actions in relation to it | |
| Progress a lead | Leads follow an established lifecycle: Lead to Opportunity to Closure | |
| Qualify Lead | In evergreen sales, qualification results in converting it from a Lead into an Opportunity. This has several other consequences in evergreen:FInance:
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| Disqualify Lead | Disqualifying a Lead will close it | |
| Reactivate a lead | This allows a previously disqualified Lead to be reopened | |
| Add activity to Lead | Activities are used by evergreen sales to record and assign tasks to the Lead team to help progress the Opportunity through to closure |
Key processes – Opportunities
| Process name | Sub-process name | Description |
| Progress an opportunity | Capture additional opportunity information | |
| Capture relationship intelligence | evergreen sales captures relationship intelligence by automatically capturing data from various sources, using relationship analytics to assess the strength of relationships, providing sales and social insights, and integrating with other applications to provide a more comprehensive view of customers and prospects. This information can be used to optimize the sales process and improve customer engagement. | |
| Capture opportunity team membership | This process captures who is working on the opportunity so that it is possible to create and assign tasks to them (known as Activities in evergreen sales). | |
| Prepare and submit proposal | Whilst, at present, this process is done outside the evergreen sales system, it is useful to be able to capture whether and when these tasks are being done | |
| Record opportunity status changes | The Opportunity is supported by a pre-determined business process, through which the opportunity passes. Doing so requires some tasks or date entry done at a particular stage. It will result in the closure of the Opportunity, won or lost. | |
| Refer opportunity | Capture outgoing referral details | Sometimes it is not possible to work with a particular client organisation or individual. IN these circumstances, it is desirable to be able to refer the work to a trusted external partner. This feature allows that decision to be recorded. |
| Closing an opportunity | Win an opportunity | Winning an opportunity means that you have been given the business by the client. In a law firm, this will also mean that the statutory due-diligence checks that are needed in relation to all clients, have also been passed. These can be implemented using our Empower Onboard application. |
| Decline an opportunity | Declining an opportunity is where the due-diligence process mandates that the work cannot be accepted. In some situations, it may be possible to refer the work to another, trusted, partner organisation | |
| Lose an opportunity | Obviously, not all new leads and opportunities result in new business. If that happens, the opportunity must be closed as lost, including the reason. |
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