Product Administration & Account Purchases Overview

Objective

Provide an overview of the Product Administration and Account Purchases section in Outreach.

Applies To

• Outreach Admins

Overview

Product Administration & Account Purchases empower AEs, AMs, and CSMs to track purchased products at the account level in Outreach to drive customer retention and expansion. 

Syncing with Salesforce

Sync Product/Purchases with Salesforce 

The CRM Sync feature allows automatic synchronization of data between the Outreach Product/Purchase Object and the equivalent Standard/Custom object in CRM. 

Real-time sync ensures that any updates or changes made in the CRM are reflected in our system, providing users with the most current information and reducing manual data entry efforts.

This can be completed following the configuration guides

• Salesforce Sync with Outreach Products Configuration Guide
• Salesforce Sync with Outreach Purchases Configuration Guide

Permissions for Sync with Salesforce

Org Admins can set up the Sync between the Objects similar to other standard objects like Prospects or Accounts.

Product Administration

Product Administration enables administrators to provide detailed information about the product object as it relates to their organization, such as:

• Own Products: Products that your organization sells.
• Competitor Products: Products that your organization competes against.
• Complementary Products: Products that complement your offerings and can be used for "better together" messaging or co-selling initiatives. 

Standard Fields for Products 

The following standard fields are available for Products:

Note: 

1. Fields marked in *bold are mandatory in Outreach.
2. The default value for Product Classification for Products synced from the CRM is set to "Own." If your CRM uses different values for this field, you can configure them as picklist options in the Field Configuration tab within Outreach and map them appropriately during field mapping for the sync.
3. Product Family (e.g., Software, CRM, Marketing), Product Classification (Own, Competitor, Complimentary), and Unit of Measure (License, Seat, Subscription etc) are Standard Outreach fields that come with default options. These options can be configured by adding, removing, or rearranging them as "single-value picklist" field types by editing these fields within the Field Configuration Tab. However, if the field type is changed to "text field," the standard options in the list will be lost. When setting up the CRM sync, if your CRM contains different values for these fields, make sure to configure them as picklist values in Outreach.

Custom fields for Products

Custom fields can also be utilized to extend the schema to meet a customer’s specific needs. Admins can add up to 150 custom fields, ensuring all organizational needs are met with various validation and configuration options possible.

Note: Custom Fields for Products are exclusively available within the Product Object and can only be viewed or utilized directly from there.

Example: If the customer wants to capture additional details with respect to the product such as product color, product weight, trial period, API availability, etc. they can define these as custom fields and enter the corresponding values. 

Available data types for custom fields of Products

Custom Fields can be configured with different data types such as Percentage, Numerical, Text Field etc.

The following standard fields are available for Products:

Note:

• Fields marked in bold are mandatory in Outreach.
• The default value for Product Classification for Products synced from the CRM is set to "Own." If your CRM uses different values for this field, you can configure them as picklist options in the Field Configuration tab within Outreach and map them appropriately during field mapping for the sync.
• Product Family (e.g., Software, CRM, Marketing), Product Classification (Own, Competitor, Complimentary), and Unit of Measure (License, Seat, Subscription etc) are Standard Outreach fields that come with default options. These options can be configured by adding, removing, or rearranging them as "single-value picklist" field types by editing these fields within the Field Configuration Tab. However, if the field type is changed to "text field," the standard options in the list will be lost. When setting up the CRM sync, if your CRM contains different values for these fields, make sure to configure them as picklist values in Outreach.

Custom fields for Products

Custom fields can also be utilized to extend the schema to meet a customer’s specific needs. Admins can add up to 150 custom fields, ensuring all organizational needs are met with various validation and configuration options possible.

Example: If the customer wants to capture additional details with respect to the product such as product color, product weight, trial period, API availability, etc. they can define these as custom fields and enter the corresponding values. 

Can Custom fields have different data types

Yes Custom Fields can be configured with different data types such as Percentage, Numerical, Text Field etc.
Which standard product fields can be configured

Product family, Unit of Measure and Classification can be configured as “single value pick-lists”. 

Note: Each of these standard fields—Product Family (e.g., Software, CRM, Marketing), Classification (Own, Competitor, Complimentary), and Unit of Measure (License, Seat, Subscription etc)—comes with default options. These options can be configured by adding, removing, or rearranging them as "single-value picklist" field types. However, if the field type is changed to "text field," the standard options in the list will be lost.

How product data can be entered

There are three possible methods for entering product information

1. Manually via the “Add product” experience as part of the list view in Records.
2. Using Import CSV from computer functionality for products to bring in the data from external sources.
3. Programatically by using the Outreach public API’s for products.

Adding products manually

Admins can manually add products by navigating to ‘Products’ within ‘Records’ and clicking the ‘Add Product’ button in the General Tab. In the form, they can enter details such as Product Classification, Name, and Code. By selecting "Add full details," they can fill in additional information for custom fields. Once all details are entered, they can click "Add" to save the new product.

Adding products via CSV

Admins can navigate to Imports within System Activity, click on Import, and choose the option to import a CSV file from the computer for Products. They can then upload the file, map the fields in the CSV to the corresponding Outreach fields, and decide how to handle duplicates. Once these selections are made, they can begin the import process.

Here is sample data for Products.

Note: Validations for Product Family and Unit of Measure are case-sensitive. When importing products, please ensure the values match those configured in the "single-value picklist”.
For Status, Use “True” for Active Products and “False” for Inactive one’s.

Adding products using public APIs

Users can create, read, update, and delete using HTTP ReST-based APIs. The necessary request and response data structures are detailed in the public API documentation here. These APIs can also be utilized for automated integration processes to integrate and bring in data from external sources.

Account Purchases

Account Purchases enables AEs, AMs, and CSMs to track purchases at the account level for all of their own products, competing products, and complementary products including:

• Which products have been purchased by the account
• Total value and quantity of each purchase
• Potential value and quantity of future purchases (upsell)
• Contract start/end dates

The following standard fields are available for Purchases:

Note: 

1. Fields marked in *bold are mandatory in Outreach.
2. Account, though not a standard field visible in the Purchases UI, is necessary to establish a relationship when syncing data from CRM or importing purchases via CSV.
3. Total Quantity refers to the net amount of a product purchased by the account, while Potential Quantity represents the maximum quantity the account could potentially purchase. Likewise, Total Value indicates the actual purchase value, and Potential Value signifies the estimated future value. Thus, Total Quantity and Total Value should always be less than or equal to Potential Quantity and Potential Value.

Custom fields for Purchases

Custom Fields within Purchases can be also utilized to capture additional information related to Purchases. Admins can add up to 150 custom fields for Purchases.

Can Custom fields have different data types

Yes Custom Fields can be configured with different data types such as Percentage, Numerical, Text Field etc.

How purchases can be entered

There are two supported methods for adding for purchase information: 

1. Manually: Users can manually enter purchase details for their own products, competitor products, and complementary products.
2. Public APIs: Users can use APIs to integrate and populate purchase data from other systems.

Adding purchased products manually

Reps can manually add purchased products for an account by navigating to the “Purchases” tab within the relevant account. They can then click on the "Add Product" option to input the purchased product details. In the form, they can select the Product from the list defined by the admin (Own, Complimentary, or Competitor) and enter details such as Start date, End date, potential quantity, total quantity, and status etc. To add additional details for custom fields, they can click on "Add full details." Once all information is entered, they can click "Add" to save the purchased product details.

Adding purchased products using Public APIs

Users can create, read, update, and delete using HTTP ReST-based APIs. The necessary request and response data structures are detailed in the public API documentation here. These APIs can also be utilized for automated integration processes to integrate and bring in data from external sources.

Permissions for adding purchase information

Data can be added into Purchases by Outreach users that have the required access permissions to do so, and can be configured within the Profile Level Permissions.

Note: Permissions for the Purchase object are managed through profile-level governance. Administrators have the authority to define and manage these permissions. This can be done within the profile settings in the system where administrators can set who can view, edit, delete, and create entries for Purchases.

Use Cases for Account Purchases

The ability to track purchases at the Account level opens up a number of new use cases in Outreach such as:

• Building target whitespace account lists based on products used or not used by customers
• Creating triggers based on purchase data 

Build a Target Whitespace List on Account Views

Users will also be able to utilize new filters at the account level for each of the purchase fields.  This empowers users to create more precise and targeted account lists. 

The additional filters introduced in the Account View include:

• Product Classification
• Product Name
• Purchase Start Date
• Purchase End Date
• Potential Quantity
• Potential Value
• Total Value
• Total Quantity
• Saturation
• Purchase Status (Active, Inactive)

These enhancements will enable proactive renewal planning, targeted upselling, and comprehensive insights into accounts, driving greater efficiency and effectiveness in account management, and accelerating their retention and expansion efforts.

Some examples of target lists include:

1. Accounts with high expansion potential:

• Filter Criteria: Potential Quantity/ Potential Value.
• Use Case: Identify accounts that have purchased your products but have high potential for additional quantities or higher value purchases. Create a list of these accounts to target for upsell campaigns.

 2. Accounts approaching renewal:

• Filter Criteria: Purchase End Date.
• Use Case: Create a list of accounts with products nearing their end dates to prepare for renewal discussions. This allows for proactive engagement to secure renewals before the contract expires.

3. Accounts using complementary or competitor products

• Filter Criteria: Product Name.
• Use Case: Identify accounts already using complementary products to pitch better together solutions. This can help in cross-selling additional products that work well with their existing purchases. Also identify accounts using competitor products  to strategically pitch your own products as replacements.

4. Accounts requiring onboarding effort

• Filter Criteria: Purchase Start Date
• Use Case: Create a list of new accounts that have Purchase Start Date coming up for your Products. Target these accounts for onboarding and initial engagement strategies to ensure a positive start and high adoption rates.

5. Accounts with upsell potential

• Search Criteria: product_name:product A AND -product_name:product B
• Filter Criteria: Saturation 
• Use Case: Create a list of accounts that have purchased some of your own products but not the other products. Or Filter by Saturation where it is less than desired and  Target them to upsell other product offerings.

How can these lists be utilized in sales workflows? 

Once a target list has been created using the filters, they can be saved as smart views. Customers can then select the accounts they wish to engage with, choose the prospects within those accounts, and add them to a sequence relevant to the target list. 

Triggers for Purchases

Users will also be able to automate workflows through triggers by creating triggers for Purchases around use cases such as renewal efforts, upsell opportunities, competitor product renewals, onboarding efforts and periodic account reviews etc. 

Some examples of possible triggers include:

Renewal Efforts: 90 days before the end date of a product's contract, a trigger creates a task for the CSM to start renewal efforts. This ensures proactive communication and planning for contract renewals.

Upsell Opportunity: 120 days after the start date of a product's contract, a trigger identifies accounts with low saturation (e.g., 50%) and creates a task for the AM to upsell additional seats or features. This maximizes revenue by targeting underutilized potential.

Competitor Product Renewal: 120 days before a competitor product's contract end date, a trigger creates a task for the AE to pitch a similar product. This strategy aims to win over accounts currently using competitor solutions.

Onboarding Effort: 90 days before the start date of a new contract, a trigger creates a task for the CSM to initiate onboarding efforts. This ensures that the customer is well-prepared and supported from the start of their contract.

Cross-Sell Opportunity: When a complementary product is detected in an account without a corresponding product, a trigger creates a task to pitch the related offerings. This leverages existing products to promote additional sales.

Periodic Account Review: 30 days after the start date of a contract, a trigger sets up tasks for monthly check-ins or quarterly business reviews (QBRs). This maintains regular communication and ensures ongoing customer satisfaction and engagement.

How do users configure triggers for Purchases?

Users can access the existing trigger configuration settings within the platform's Admin interface. From there, they can specify the Source Object as “Purchase”  and define the event for which they want to create the Trigger from the options available.  Based on the selection they can then choose between the target options for: Purchase or Account, and accordingly define the Conditions as well as the Actions available for the same.