Abstract:
The present invention presents systems and methods generating margin sensitive pricing quotation in an integrated price adjustment system including: a) selecting products in selected product sets; b) providing pricing data corresponding to the products in selected product sets; c) providing guidance elements for products in selected product sets wherein guidance elements are margin sensitive; d) calculating guidance prices for products based upon guidance elements; e) selecting one of either pricing data or guidance prices; and f) generating a quotation based upon selections made such that margin sensitive pricing adjustments are incorporated into quotations. In some example embodiments, the present invention further includes providing predetermined suggestions for modifying the quotation.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ filed on ______ by ______ entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR PRICING PRODUCTS”. The content of that application is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0002]     Application Ser. No. ______ to ______ is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ filed on Apr. 12, 2002 by ______, entitled “RULE-BASED SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING PRICE ADJUSTMENTS IN A PRODUCT CATALOG,” attorney docket number 10953-006-999. The content of that application is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0003]     Application Ser. No. ______ to ______ is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ filed on Apr. 12, 2002 by ______, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GROUPING PRODUCTS IN A CATALOG,” attorney docket number 10953-005-999. The content of that application is incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0004]     This application relates to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ filed on ______ by LEHRMAN, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MARGIN-SENSITIVE PRICE ADUSTMENTS IN AN INTEGRATED PRICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”. The content of that application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0005]     At least two goals of creating pricing models are to analyze price behavior and to apply that analysis to real time transactions in order to preserve what are increasingly becoming narrower profit margins in complex transactions. Systems like, for example, SAP™, attempt to manage and control business processes using objective data in order to gain enterprise efficiencies. By manipulating objective data, these systems offer consistent metrics upon which businesses may make informed decisions and policies regarding the viability and direction of their products and services. However, in many cases, the decisions and policies may be difficult to procure as a result of the volume and organization of relevant data and may be difficult to implement as both temporal restraints and approval processes may inhibit rapid deployment of valuable information.  
         [0006]     For example, referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 1  is a simplified graphical representation of an enterprise pricing environment. Several example databases ( 104 - 120 ) are illustrated to represent the various sources of working data. These might include, for example, Trade Promotion Management (TPM)  104 , Accounts Receivable (AR)  108 , Price Master (PM)  112 , Inventory  116 , and Sales Forecasts  120 . The data in those repositories may be utilized on an ad hoc basis by Customer Relationship Management (CRM)  124 , and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)  128  entities to produce and post sales transactions. The various connections  148  established between the repositories and the entities may supply information such as price lists as well as gather information such as invoices, rebates, freight, and cost information.  
         [0007]     The wealth of information contained in the various databases ( 104 - 120 ) however, is not “readable” by executive management teams due in part to accessibility and in part to volume. That is, even though data in the various repositories may be related through a Relational Database Management System (RDMS), the task of gathering data from disparate sources can be complex or impossible depending on the organization and integration of legacy systems upon which these systems may be created. In one instance, all of the various sources may be linked to a Data Warehouse  132  by various connections  144 . Typically, data from the various sources may be aggregated to reduce it to a manageable or human comprehensible size. Thus, price lists may contain average prices over some selected temporal interval. In this manner, data may be reduced. However, with data reduction, individual transactions may be lost. Thus, CRM  124  and ERP  128  connections to an aggregated data source may not be viable.  
         [0008]     Analysts  136 , on the other hand, may benefit from aggregated data from a data warehouse. Thus, an analyst  136  may compare average pricing across several regions within a desired temporal interval to develop, for example, future trends in pricing across many product lines. An analyst  136  may then generate a report for an executive committee  140  containing the findings. An executive committee  140  may then, in turn, develop policies that drive pricing guidance and product configuration suggestions based on the analysis returned from an analyst  136 . Those policies may then be returned to CRM  124  and ERP  128  entities to guide pricing activities via some communication channel  152  as determined by a particular enterprise.  
         [0009]     As can be appreciated, a number of complexities may adversely affect this type of management process. First, temporal setbacks exist at every step of the process. For example, a CRM  124  may make a sale. That sale may be entered into a sales database  120 , and INV database  116 , and an AR database  108 . The entry of that data may be automatic where sales occur at a network computer terminal, or may be entered in a weekly batch process thus introducing a temporal setback. Another example of a temporal setback is time-lag introduced by batch processing data stored to a data warehouse resulting in weeks-old data that may not be timely for real-time decision support. Still other temporal setbacks may occur at any or all of the transactions illustrated in  FIG. 1  that may ultimately render results untimely at best and irrelevant at worst. Thus, the relevance of an analyst&#39;s  136  original forecasts may expire by the time the forecasts reach the intended users. Still further, the usefulness of any pricing guidance and product configuration suggestions developed by an executive committee  140  may also have long since expired leaving a company exposed to lost margins.  
         [0010]     As such, methods of displaying and using predictive structured data, integrating that data into coherent and relevant business policies such as pricing guidance and product configuration suggestions, and deploying those policies in a timely and efficient manner may be desirable to achieve price modeling efficiency and accuracy.  
         [0011]     In view of the foregoing, Systems and Methods for Margin-Sensitive Price Adjustments in an Integrated Price Management System are disclosed.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0012]     The present invention presents systems and methods generating margin sensitive pricing quotation in an integrated price adjustment system including: a) selecting products in selected product sets; b) providing pricing data corresponding to the products in selected product sets; c) providing guidance elements for products in selected product sets wherein guidance elements are margin sensitive; d) calculating guidance prices for products based upon guidance elements; e) selecting one of either pricing data or guidance prices; and f) generating a quotation based upon selections made such that margin sensitive pricing adjustments are incorporated into quotations. In some example embodiments, the present invention further includes providing predetermined suggestions for modifying the quotation.  
         [0013]     In other embodiments, a computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system for generating margin sensitive pricing quotation in an integrated price adjustment system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program product including: a) instructions for selecting products in selected product sets; b) instructions for providing pricing data corresponding to the products in selected product sets; c) instructions for providing guidance elements for products in selected product sets wherein guidance elements are margin sensitive; d) instructions for calculating guidance prices for products based upon guidance elements; e) instructions for selecting one of either pricing data or guidance prices; and f) instructions for generating a quotation based upon selections made such that margin sensitive pricing adjustments are incorporated into quotations. In some example embodiments, the present invention further includes providing predetermined suggestions for modifying the quotation are presented. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]     Embodiments of the invention may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a simplified graphical representation of an enterprise level pricing environment;  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a simplified graphical representation of a price modeling environment where an embodiment of the present invention may be utilized;  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a client side flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention for generating a quotation;  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is further illustrative of a step  302  (i.e. Generate Vendor Proposal) of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying guidance;  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying configuration suggestion;  
         [0021]      FIG. 7  illustrates an example vendor proposal in an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 8  is further illustrative of a step  318  (i.e. Generate Approved Proposal) of  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 9  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying forecast data;  
         [0024]      FIG. 10  is an illustrative example of backside guidance hierarchy in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 11  is a back-side example embodiment of configuring an upsell configuration suggestion; and  
         [0026]      FIG. 12  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying a bundle suggestion. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0027]     As pertains to the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a simplified graphical representation of a price modeling environment where an embodiment of the present invention may be utilized. A historical database  204 , under the present invention may contain any of a number of records. In one embodiment of the present invention, a historical database may include sales transactions. In other embodiments of the present invention, a historical database may include waterfall records.  
         [0028]     An analysis of a historical data may then be used to generate a transaction and policy database  208 . For example, analysis of a selected group of transactions residing in a historical database may generate a policy that requires or suggests a rebate for any sale in a given region. In this example, some kind of logical conclusion or best guess forecast may determine that a rebate in a given region tends to stimulate more and better sales. A generated policy may thus be guided by historical sales transactions over a desired metric—in this case, sales by region. A policy may then be used to generate logic that will then generate a transaction item.  
         [0029]     In this manner, a price list of one or many items reflecting a calculated rebate may be automatically conformed to a given policy and stored for use by a sales force, for example. In this example, a rebate may be considered as providing guidance to a sales force. Other guidance factors may be implemented and will be discussed in further detail below for  FIG. 5 . Furthermore, historical data may be used to generate configuration suggestions. Configuration suggestions will be discussed in further detail below for  FIG. 6 .  
         [0030]     In some embodiments, policies are derived strictly from historical data. In other embodiments, policies may be generated ad hoc in order to test effects on pricing based hypothetical scenarios. In still other examples, executive committee(s)  220 , who implements policies, may manually enter any number of policies relevant to a going concern. For example, an executive committee(s)  220  may incorporate forecast data from external sources  224  or from historical data stored in a historical database in one embodiment. Forecast data may comprise, in some examples, forward looking price estimations for a product or product set, which may be stored in a transaction and policy database. Forecast data may be used to generate sales policies such as guidance and suggestion as noted above. Still further, forecast data may be utilized by management teams to analyze a given deal to determine whether a margin corresponding to a deal may be preserved over a given period of time. In this manner, an objective measure for deal approval may be implemented. Thus forecast data, in some examples, may be used either to generate sales policy, to guide deal analysis, or both. Thus, in this manner, policies may be both generated and incorporated into the system.  
         [0031]     After transactions are generated based on policies, a transactional portion of the database may be used to generate sales quotes by a sales force  216  in SAP  212 , for example. SAP  212  may then generate a sales invoice which may then, in turn, be used to further populate a historical database  204 . In some embodiments, sales invoices may be constrained to sales quotes generated by a transaction and policy database. That is, as an example, a sales quote formulated by a sales force  216  may require one or several levels of approval based on variance (or some other criteria) from policies (e.g. guidance and suggestion) stored in a transaction and policy database  208 . In other embodiments, sales invoices are not constrained to sales quotes generated by a transaction and policy database.  
         [0000]     Client-Side Operations  
         [0032]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example method utilizing the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 3  is a client side flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention for generating a quotation. Thus, for example, at a step  302 , a vendor proposal may be generated. A vendor proposal represents an initial step in a negotiation process that may encompass many transactions. A sample vendor proposal is illustrated in  FIG. 7  and will be discussed in further detail below for  FIG. 7 . A vendor proposal generally may contain enough relevant information for the proposal to be properly evaluated by a prospective buyer. Relevant information may include without limitation, account name, user name, general terms, shipping terms, bid type, bid date, pricing, product descriptions, and other generally known terms well known in the art. If a proposal is not accepted at a step  306 , then a vendor may continue to generate vendor proposals at a step  302  until an accord is reached or until negotiation is terminated.  
         [0033]     If a vendor proposal is accepted at a step  306 , the method evaluates whether approval is necessary at a step  310 . That is, for at least some vendor proposals, an approval process may be necessary depending on the terms of a deal both at a product level and at a product set level for a given time period. If it is determined that approval is not necessary, then the method generates a quote at a step  326  based upon a vendor proposal accepted at a step  306  whereupon the method ends. If approval is determined to be necessary at a step  310 , the method determines whether a vendor proposal is approved at a step  314 . Approval may be made at any of a number of administrative levels depending on the organizational structure of the business. Approval will be discussed in further detail for  FIG. 8  below.  
         [0034]     If a vendor proposal is approved, the method generates a quote at a step  326  based upon an approved vendor proposal generated at a step  306 , whereupon the method ends. If a vendor proposal is not approved, an approved proposal may be generated at a step  318 . As with a vendor proposal, an approved proposal may be accepted by a buyer at a step  322 . If an approved proposal is accepted at a step  322 , the method generates a quote at a step  326  based upon the approved proposal accepted at a step  322  whereupon the method ends. If an approved proposal is not accepted at a step  322 , the method may continue to generate a vendor proposal at a step  302  whereupon the method continues until a quote is generated or negotiations are terminated.  
         [0000]     Step  302 —Generate Vendor Proposal  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  is a client side flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention of generating a vendor proposal. In particular,  FIG. 4  is further illustrative of a step  302  (i.e. Generate Vendor Proposal) of  FIG. 3 . An account proposal may be opened at a step  404 . Product configuration information may be entered at a step  408  in accordance with buyer choices. As configuration information is entered, pricing models may be applied to a proposal. In particular, at a step  412 , pricing guidance and configuration suggestion may be utilized to compare or adjust pricing.  
         [0036]     Turning to  FIG. 5 ,  FIG. 5  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 5  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying guidance. A list price may be entered in section  504 . A list price may be manually entered by a user or may be automatically entered corresponding to a given configuration and shop keeping unit (SKU) number. Guidance is displayed section  508 . In displayed section  508 , guidance may be displayed either as a dollar amount or as a percent of total or both. In this example, guidance is automatically generated from a series of back-side decisions that will be discussed in further detail below for  FIG. 10 .  
         [0037]     A guidance price may then be calculated and displayed in section  512 . In order to flexibly meet user needs, an actual selling price may be overridden as displayed in section  516 . A user may have options of using the calculated guidance price  524 ; an override price  528 ; an override discount  532 ; or an override margin  540 . An override selling price may be displayed when an override is selected. In this example, an override discount  532  has been selected and an override selling price has been calculated and displayed in accordance with that selection.  
         [0038]     Each of the override fields ( 528 - 536 ) may also contain, for example, an approval field  540 . An approval field indicates whether an override parameter may be flagged for approval (see Step  310 ,  FIG. 3 ). In this example, an approval flag is displayed for an override margin  540 . In one example, a user may enter a value into any of the three override fields namely override price, override discount, or override margin. Upon entering a value into any of those fields, the remaining fields may be calculated and displayed. If a margin rule has been violated by the field values (which are different representations of the same value), then a flag may be displayed triggering an approval. Thus, in the example illustrated, an override margin  540  has violated a margin rule triggering a requirement that a quote must be approved before it may be presented to a buyer.  
         [0039]      FIG. 6  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 6  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying configuration suggestion. A list of configuration suggestions  604  for a selected configuration may be displayed to further enhance proposal generations processes. Each line item of suggestions  604  may correspond to a different configuration described by several descriptors including, but not limited to: a source description  608  that describes a selected configured product; an upsell SKU  612  assigned to a product; an upsell description  616  that describes a product assigned to an upsell SKU; a list price  620  that is the list price of the upsell product; a margin  624  that indicates a margin available for a product; an optional message  628  that gives the user any optional details; an add to configuration checkbox  632  that indicates whether a given product has or will be added to a configuration; an add as option checkbox  636  that indicates whether a given product will be added to an individual line item as an option; and a group field  640  indicating to which group (e.g., a product group) a new line item may be added.  
         [0040]     As can be appreciated by one skilled in the art any number of configuration suggestions may be displayed in a resized window depending on user selections. In the described embodiment, an upsell suggestion is illustrated. In other examples, a bundled suggestion may be displayed. In bundled suggestions, additional products may be available as a part of a bundled product for a given configuration. In this manner, sales staff may be easily and efficiently informed with respect to various options offered by a retailer. Other types of configuration suggestions that may be utilized under the present invention may include without limitation downsell related suggestions, collateral or in kind related suggestions, client related suggestions, demographic related suggestions, or regional related suggestions.  
         [0041]     Returning to  FIG. 4 , after pricing has been compared or adjusted to pricing guidance and configuration suggestion, pricing may be selected at a next step  416  whereupon a vendor proposal may be generated at a step  420 . An example embodiment of a vendor proposal as contemplated by the present invention is illustrated at  FIG. 7 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 7  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 7  illustrates an example vendor proposal in an embodiment of the present invention. A vendor proposal contains sufficient information to enable a user to generate a quotation. Various data sections are included in the present example including, but not limited to: account data  704 ; proposal indicia data  712 ; configuration data  716 ; and margin data  720 . In addition, navigation buttons  708  may be utilized to assist a user in accessing relevant information. Account data  704  may contain any number of fields well known in the art to allow sufficient identification of a potential client along with any relevant terms in association with a potential client. Proposal indicia data  712  contains any number of fields well known in the art necessary for internal auditing of a proposal. Configuration data  716  contains any number of fields well known in the art necessary to sufficiently indicate a selected configuration. Configuration data  716  may also contain prospective data where a proposal spans one or more months, quarters, or years.  
         [0000]     Step  318 —Generate Approved Proposal  
         [0043]      FIG. 8  is a client-side flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention of generating an approved proposal. In particular,  FIG. 8  is further illustrative of a step  318  (i.e. Generate Approved Proposal) of  FIG. 3 . As noted above, a parameter may be flagged for approval. Flagging may be configured to respond in any number of ways including, but not limited to, a value or a Boolean expression. For example, a flag may occur if a selected parameter falls outside of a desired range of values. A margin, in one example, may be input by a user that falls outside of a specified range of values established by management. That margin may then be flagged to be further examined by supervisory staff. In another example, a flag may occur if a selected parameter is indicated by a Boolean expression. For example, it may occur that a certain geographic area may not be sold certain configurations according to a current licensing agreement. In this manner, sales for a selected geographic are may be triggered by a simple Boolean expression as is well known in the art.  
         [0044]     Thus, in a step  804 , a flagged proposal may be received. All flagged parameters may then be inspected at a step  808 . That is, an entire proposal history may be examined to determine the nature and type of proposal parameters have been entered. In inspecting flagged proposal items at a step  808 , a user may compare and subsequently adjust pricing using guidance, suggestion, and forecasting at a step  812 . Guidance and suggestion have been discussed at length above for  FIGS. 5-6 . As discussed above, pricing guidance and configuration suggestions readily displays relevant proposal information and may assist a user to determine a proposal that may protect sales margins. Forecasting is discussed in further detail below for  FIG. 9 .  
         [0045]      FIG. 9  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 9  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying forecast data. As noted above, forecast data may comprise, in some examples, forward looking price estimations for a product or product set, which may be stored in a transaction and policy database. Forecast data may be used to generate sales policies such as guidance and suggestion as noted above. Still further, forecast data may be utilized by management teams to analyze a given deal to determine whether a margin corresponding to a deal may be preserved over a given period of time. In this manner, an objective measure for deal approval may be implemented. As shown in  FIG. 9 , a number of components may be listed  904  according to any listing criteria including, but not limited to: SKU number, alphanumeric order, component hierarchy, price, quantity, or any other indicator. A forecast portion  900  of a user interface may be displayed as shown. Further, forecast data may be displayed using colors. In this example, an upward change in a forecast cost  908  may be displayed using a first color (e.g., red). In other words, the next value for a given time interval may be colored to indicated the direction of the forecast cost (i.e. upward, stable, and downward). In likewise manner, a stable forecast cost  912  may be displayed using a second color and a downward change in a forecast cost  916  may be displayed using a third color. In this manner a user may readily and visually ascertain any trends in pricing over a given period of time. In some embodiments, one or more months may be displayed. In still other embodiments, only prospective data is displayed.  
         [0046]     As can be appreciated, by displaying forecast data in graphic fashion, margins may be examined over longer periods of time. By examining forecast data in this manner, concessions in pricing may be made at the time of proposal generation that may not appear to preserve sales margins, but will, in fact, result in a quality deal over time. In the past, this kind of information was not readily available in a price adjustment system as noted above. Further, although the embodiment described displays forecast data only to supervisory staff, forecast data may be further displayed to general sales users under the present invention as contemplated.  
         [0047]     Returning to  FIG. 8 , after pricing has been compared or adjusted to pricing guidance, configuration suggestion, and forecast data, pricing may be selected at a next step  816  whereupon an approved proposal may be generated at a step  820 . An example embodiment of an approved proposal as contemplated by the present invention is illustrated at  FIG. 7  and is discussed in further detail above.  
         [0000]     Back-Side Operations: Pricing Guidance and Configuration Suggestion  
         [0048]     The utility of any pricing system is at least partially dependent on the rationale of the underlying logic. As can be appreciated, a logical schema must be flexibly implemented in order to achieve broad efficiencies. Pricing guidance and configuration suggestion examples for users has been described above. Underlying logic for pricing guidance and configuration suggestion is now described.  
         [0049]      FIG. 10  is an illustrative example of backside guidance hierarchy in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, RAD guidance  1002  may describe guidance impact to an account in terms of business stage development by line of business (LOB). For example, businesses may typically be categorized in various states of development by LOB including acquisition  1004  development  1006 , retention  1008 , and unknown  1010 . By LOB refers to the concept that a client may be in one stage of development for one category of products (e.g., laptops) and in another stage of development for a different product line (e.g., servers). An adjustment may be made for each of the relationships depending on business objectives of a company. For example, the following adjustments may be made for a given account group along a given product line: acquisition adjustment −60%; development adjustment −40%; retention adjustment=10%; and unknown adjustment 10%. In this example, adjustments to pricing may be established to reflect a given business objective. That is, acquiring business and new business may be encouraged to buy where pricing is offered at a deep discount (60% and 40% respectively) while retained business and unknown business may be maintained at a lower discount (10% and 10% respectively). Adjustments may be made upward or downward without limitation depending on business objectives. These adjustments may then form the basis for pricing guidance as described in  FIG. 5  above.  
         [0050]     Richness guidance  1012  represents another top level guidance element. Richness guidance  1012  describes guidance impact to an account in terms of configuration richness. That is, a configuration that is rich generally may have more features or may feature more current technology. For example, a rich computer system may contain a current chip set along with extended memory, a large display, large disk capacity, and high video capability while a thin computer system may contain an older, more limited chip set, more limited memory, a small display, small disk capacity, and low video capability. In one embodiment, richness may be subdivided into rich  1014 , mainstream  1016 , and thin  1018 . As noted above, an adjustment may be made for each of the relationships depending on business objectives of a company. Further, as noted above, adjustments may be made upward or downward without limitation depending on the business objectives.  
         [0051]     Deal size guidance  1020  represents another example top level guidance element. Deal size guidance  1020  describes guidance impact to an account in terms of the size of a particular deal. Deal size may generally be related to a dollar value and may be adjusted by magnitude without limitation depending on a particular buyer. In one embodiment, deal size may be subdivided into small  1022 , medium  1024 , and large  1026 . In one example each subdivision represents a range of values. In other examples each subdivision is marked by a threshold amount. As noted above, an adjustment may be made for each of the relationships depending on business objectives of a company. Further, as noted above, adjustments may be made upward or downward without limitation depending on the business objectives.  
         [0052]     Guidance element weight  1028  specifies the relative importance of previously described elements RAD guidance  1002 , richness guidance  1012 , and deal size guidance  1020  when calculating an overall guidance pricing structure. In one embodiment, LOB RAD  1030  corresponds to RAD guidance  1002 ; richness  1032  corresponds to richness guidance  1012 ; and deal size  1034  corresponds to deal size guidance  1020 . Other guidance elements and corresponding weighting elements are contemplated under the present invention. In one example, weighting is accomplished by entering a percentage of weight for each weight element. Thus, for example, LOB RAD  1030  may be weighted at 30%; richness  1032  at 45%; and deal size  1034  at 25%. In this example, richness will influence overall guidance with LOB RAD and deal size following. As noted above, an adjustment may be made for each of the relationships without limitation depending on business objectives of a company.  
         [0053]     Product richness  1036  specifies price threshold above and below which a product should be considered ‘rich’ or ‘thin’ as discussed for richness guidance element  1012 . In one embodiment a thin threshold value comprises a threshold value below which a product may be considered thin. Typically, the value is a dollar amount corresponding to a product or product set. In like manner, in another example, a rich threshold value comprises a threshold value above which a product may be considered rich. Typically, the value is a dollar amount corresponding to a product or product set. Where the ranges corresponding to a thin threshold value and a rich threshold value are non-overlapping, the difference between values comprises a range of values corresponding to a mainstream richness designation. Where the ranges corresponding to a thin threshold value and a rich threshold value overlap, an error message may be generated. In this manner product richness may be quantified.  
         [0054]      FIG. 11  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 11  is a back-side example embodiment of configuring an upsell configuration suggestion. Upsell specifies promotional product up-sell relationships. That is, for a selected product, product set, groups of product sets, or services, corresponding products, product sets, groups of product sets, or services may be configured as upsell suggestions for proposals. For example, a configuration having a four-cell battery may be configured to suggest an eight-cell battery having an increased capacity. One advantage presented by the present invention is that promotional products may be readily and efficiently accessed by sales staff. Another advantage for upselling a product is that margins may be increased.  
         [0055]     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 11 a  number of fields are displayed ( 1104 - 1116 ) for use in configuring upsell suggestions. A number of qualifying fields are illustrated at section  1104 . In this example, suggestions may be qualified by an account group, an industry, or a product group. Typically, suggestions are implemented in a hierarchical architecture; however, in some embodiments a hierarchical architecture need not be utilized. In some embodiments a look up table may be utilized in order to efficiently and accurately make selections. A driver SKU  1106  corresponds to a targeted product, product set, product group, or service. In some embodiments, driver SKUs may be accessed via a look up table. A description  1108  describes, in plain language for example, a product, product set, product group or service corresponding to a selected driver SKU. In the example shown, two driver SKUs and corresponding descriptions are illustrated. However, one or many driver SKUs and corresponding descriptions are contemplated within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0056]     An upsell SKU  1110  is a selected product SKU associated with a driver SKU  1106 . An upsell SKU  1110  may be selected from a lookup table corresponding to associated driver SKUs. In this manner configuration compatibility may be assured since only a list of available and compatible products may be available. As with a driver SKU  1106 , an upsell SKU  1110  has a corresponding description  1112 . A description  1112  describes, in plain language for example, a product, product set, product group or service corresponding to a selected upsell SKU. In some embodiments a suggested discount  1113  may be entered. A discount for a given upsell product or service may help to further promote selected products or services. A date range represented by start and end dates  1114  may be selected in order to confine a configured suggestion to a desired time frame. Further, a suggestion may be configured to be forced or optional via a force selection box  1116 . In an example of a forced suggestion, the effect to a user would be that replacing a driver product with an upsell product would be automatically displayed; however, a user selection would not be mandatory. When force selection box  1116  is not selected, suggestions may not be displayed. Results from suggestion configurations input may then be displayed graphically in section  1118 . Any number of configurations may be viewed and sorted in accordance with user preferences.  
         [0057]      FIG. 12  is an example user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,  FIG. 12  is a client-side example embodiment of displaying a bundle suggestion. Bundle specifies promotional product bundling relationships. That is, for a selected product, product set, groups of product sets, or services, corresponding products, product sets, groups of product sets, or services may be configured as bundled suggestions for proposals. For example, a configuration having a four-cell battery may be configured to suggest an additional eight-cell battery having an increased capacity. One advantage presented by the present invention is that promotional products may be readily and efficiently accessed by sales staff. Another advantage for bundling a product is that margins may be increased.  
         [0058]     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 12 a  number of fields are displayed ( 1204 - 1218 ) for use in configuring bundling suggestions. A number of qualifying fields are illustrated at section  1204 . In this example, products may be qualified by an account group, an industry, or a product group. Typically, suggestions are implemented in a hierarchical architecture; however, in some embodiments a hierarchical architecture need not be utilized. In some embodiments a look up table may be utilized in order to efficiently and accurately make selections. A driver SKU  1206  corresponds to a targeted product, product set, product group, or service. In some embodiments, driver SKUs may be accessed via a look up table. A description  1208  describes, in plain language for example, a product, product set, product group or service corresponding to a selected driver SKU. In the example shown, two driver SKUs and corresponding descriptions are illustrated. However, one or many driver SKUs and corresponding descriptions are contemplated within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0059]     A bundled SKU  1210  is a selected product SKU associated with a driver SKU  1206 . A bundled SKU  1210  may be selected from a lookup table corresponding to associated driver SKUs. In this manner configuration compatibility may be assured since only a list of available and compatible products may be available. As with a driver SKU  1206 , a bundled SKU  1210  has a corresponding description  1212 . A description  1212  describes, in plain language for example, a product, product set, product group or service corresponding to a selected bundled SKU. In some embodiments a suggested discount  1213  may be entered. A discount for a given bundled product or service may help to further promote selected products or services. A date range represented by start and end dates  1214  may be selected in order to confine a configured suggestion to a desired time frame. Further a suggestion may be configured to be forced or optional via a force selection box  1216 . In an example of a forced suggestion, the effect to a user would be that selling a driver product with a bundled product would be automatically displayed; however, a user selection would not be mandatory. When force selection box  1216  is not selected, suggestions may not be displayed. A message box  1218  may be further configured to display a message when a bundled suggestion is presented. Results from suggestion configurations input may then be displayed graphically in section  1220 . Any number of configurations may be viewed and sorted in accordance with user preferences.  
         [0060]     As can be appreciated, the examples described herein detail guidance pricing, configuration suggestion, and forecasting in embodiments of the present invention. Other methods and uses that may be used in combination with guidance pricing, configuration suggestions, and forecasting are contemplated by the present invention.  
         [0061]     While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, modifications and various substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and systems of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, modifications, and various substitute equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. In addition, the use of subtitles in this application is for clarity only and should not be construed as limiting in any way.