Request approval for a quote

About this task

You can present a quote to a customer only if the quote is in the Approved status. You can place a request for a quote to be approved. However, you can place the request for approval only if all the products in the quote have been validated. If any of the products in the quote fails validation, you must modify the quote appropriately before you request approval for the quote.

After you place a request for approval of a quote, the quote will be automatically approved if the quote does not require any approval. If the quote requires approval, the quote must be approved by all the approvers before it can be presented to a customer.

An approval is required for a quote if any or all of the following conditions are met:

  • Any of the products in a quote violates an approval rule. For example, let us suppose that an approval rule has been configured such that the quote requires approval every time the expiration date of the quote is modified. In such a scenario, if you modify the expiration date of the quote, the quote must be approved by an approver before you can present it to a customer.
  • The adjustments applied to a quote or any of the products in a quote under a manual pricing rule exceed the maximum discount limit configured for a rule. For example, if the maximum discount limit configured for a 32'' LCD television under a manual pricing rule is 5%, and you offer a discount of 7% to a customer, the quote must be approved before you can present it to the customer.

If any of the products in a quote requires approval, the Pricing Rule Violation icon is displayed under the Product column in the Quote Details screen, with the tooltip indicating the reason why approval is required for the line. For example, let us suppose that the maximum discount that can be applied to an LCD television under a pricing rule is 5%. During the process of negotiations with a customer, you may offer a 7% discount. In such a scenario, you must send the quote for approval to your approver.

Note: Ensure that you have made all the necessary modifications to the quote before sending the quote for approval. After a quote is sent for approval, you cannot perform any modifications to the quote.

To request approval for a quote:

Procedure

  1. Log in to Sterling™ Field Sales.
  2. The application home page is displayed. Perform one of the following steps:
    • Click the Find Quote hyperlink.
    • Click the Opportunities tab. In the Opportunity home page, click the Find Quote hyperlink.
    • Click the Quotes tab. In the Quote home page, click the Find Quote hyperlink.
    • Navigate to the Opportunity Details screen, and then click the Quote Name hyperlink in the Quotes panel. In this scenario, ignore steps 3 and 4, and proceed to step 5.
    • Under the Navigation panel, click Search..., enter the name of the quote as the search criteria, and then click the Search icon. The Quick Search Results screen displays a maximum of 10 quotes and 10 opportunities matching the search criteria.
      Note: The Navigation panel is displayed only if you have not selected the Hide Navigation Panel user preference.

      If the quote that you are searching for is displayed in the Matches on Quotes panel, click the corresponding Quote Name hyperlink or double-click the corresponding row. The Quote Summary screen is displayed. In this scenario, ignore steps 3 and 4, and proceed to step 5.

      However, if the quote that you are searching for is not displayed in the Matches on Quotes panel, click Advanced Quote Search.

  3. The Quote Search screen is displayed. Enter the appropriate search criteria and click Search.
  4. The quotes matching the search criteria are displayed in the Search Results panel. Click the corresponding Quote Name hyperlink or double-click the corresponding row.
    Note: If only one quote matches the search criteria, the details of the corresponding quote are automatically displayed.
  5. The Quote Summary screen is displayed. Under the Tasks panel, click Request Approval.
    • If the quote has any product lines that have failed validation, the Validate Quote screen is displayed. You can view the quote lines and recommended lines that have failed validation. You must modify the quote appropriately before you can request approval of the quote.
    • If the quote does not require approval, the status of the quote is changed to Approved.
    • If the quote requires approval, the Approvals screen is displayed. The Pending Approval icon is displayed adjacent to the Status field to indicate that the quote is pending approval.