When the sales processes are configured, you are ready to manage business decisions and transactions involved in selling goods to fulfill customers' demands. (The planning work involved in automatically creating purchase and production orders based on sales or production demand is described in Perform Material Requirements Planning.)
A sales quote with your offer to the customer will often precede the actual sale, such as when the product is new or very costly, when the customer is not stable, or when the customer requests a quote in order to negotiate a better price.
Apart from the quoting process, sales can involve many different tasks depending on the work flow and the method of supply that is agreed upon with the business partners. Some sales processes start from quotes or blanket orders, while others are tied to purchase orders for drop shipment from a vendor's location.
Sometimes, shipped goods are returned from the customer because they are defective, or because a different type or quantity is required. Managing sales returns can involve tasks, such as tracing the origin and usage of specific serial/lot numbers, creating return-related documents, and combining return shipments.
The following table describes a sequence of tasks, with links to the topics that describe them. These tasks are listed in the order in which they are generally performed.
| To | See |
|---|---|
Record a customer request in a sales quote and send it to the customer for acceptance. | |
Create sales orders for items or services as requested by customers. | |
Release sales orders for normal shipping from the company or for direct delivery to customers. | |
Investigate return reasons and manage order documents involved in receiving returned items from customers. |