Chapter 1: The Basics of Renewal Architecture
Chapter 3: Mid Term Contract Changes
This chapter explores the core themes mentioned in the introduction, showing how they can be integrated to build a renewal management system in Salesforce. It will specifically focus on configuring the Opportunity object, Flows and Reports to streamline and automate the renewal process.
To effectively manage renewals in Salesforce, adjustments to the standard Opportunity object are needed. The out of the box Opportunity object is designed for standard sales processes, but renewal Opportunities have unique needs that require additional fields, relationships, and logic.
The first step is to create a Record Type specifically for renewals. This allows for differentiation between new booking and renewal Opportunities, giving control over fields, page layouts, and workflows that are unique to Customer Success or renewal management teams.
<aside>
Object Reference:
Opportunities: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.opportunities.htm&type=5
Record Types: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sfdo.SFDO_Create_Record_Type.htm&type=5
</aside>
Next, to track the full lifecycle of a customer’s contract, the Opportunity object will need [self-referential fields](https://www.yopa.page/blog/2023-05-04-what-is-a-record-with-self-referencing-in-salesforce-why-and-when-we-need-it.html#:~:text=A self-referencing field is,child relationships%2C and lookup relationships.). These fields allow an Opportunity record to reference both the originating sales Opportunity and any subsequent renewals, creating a clear, traceable chain of events for each contract renewal.
Contract management fields will also be added to the data model to manage varying terms. Contract Term, Contract Start Date, Contract End Date, and Amount ****will be used to calculate ****Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) ****or Monthly Recurring Revenue ****(MRR ), standardizing contract values for easier comparison.
ARR = (Total Contract Amount / Contract Term) * 12
As changes are made to the standard Opportunity object, a walk-through will be provided along with [Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs)](https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/entity-relationship-diagram-ERD#:~:text=An entity relationship diagram (ERD)%2C also known as an,information technology (IT) system.) to visually represent the relationships between fields and objects.
Before making changes, review the default Opportunity object in Salesforce. The diagram below outlines the key fields in the standard setup:
Figure 2: Base Opportunity
Record Types, while stored as a separate object in Salesforce, allow the customization of processes like page layouts and opportunity stages. Creating a specific Record Type for renewals ensures the system is tailored to manage them efficiently.