Methods of creating orders in Sales Customer Relationship Management
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Summary of Methods of creating orders in Sales Customer Relationship Management
In ServiceNow Order Management, orders can be created by agents, customers, or through APIs. Regardless of the creation method, all orders are manageable, trackable, and fulfillable within the platform, enabling streamlined order processing and service delivery.
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Order Capture by Agents
Order and service agents have multiple ways to capture orders for existing customers via the CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace. Sales agents specifically can convert approved quotes into orders, supporting efficient post-quote workflows such as fulfillment and contract creation.
Order Creation Channels for Agents
- Converting a Quote to an Order: Enables sales agents to reduce manual errors, maintain data consistency across systems, and support complex product configurations and pricing strategies, including bundles and multi-currency.
- Creating Orders from the Accounts Page: Provides a comprehensive customer interaction view, allowing better-informed decisions with fewer errors and faster order initiation due to pre-filled and validated account details.
- Creating Orders from Customer or Service Orders List View: Offers an alternative method to create orders with different contact information or parameters.
Order Creation Using APIs
ServiceNow supports integration with third-party customer order management systems through TM Forum (TMF) APIs, specifically:
- TMF622: Product Ordering API
- TMF641: Service Ordering API
Note that a Telecommunications Service Management subscription is required to utilize these APIs.
Order Creation Using Service Exchange
ServiceNow instances can integrate with customer instances using Service Bridge, enabling the publishing of product offerings. Customers can submit product or service requests via this integration, which agents then fulfill using Order Management.
Order Creation by B2B Customers
Business-to-Business customers can create orders through self-service capabilities on the Business Portal, with subsequent processing by order and fulfillment agents.
Post-Capture Order Record Generation
Upon order capture—whether customer or service orders—an order record is generated on the ServiceNow AI Platform. This record includes associated order line items that specify the products or services and actions to be performed (Add, Change, Disconnect). Each order line contains detailed product/service specifications, inventory updates if applicable, and related customer contact or location information.
Orders can be created by agents, customers, or using APIs in ServiceNow Order Management. Irrespective of where or how you create orders, all orders can be managed, tracked, and fulfilled using Order Management.
Order capture by the agents
Order agents and service agents can capture orders for existing customers from the CSM/FSM Configurable Workspace. Sales agents can create orders by converting an approved quote. The following table lists the various order creation channels and their benefits.
| Channel | Persona | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Converting a quote to an order | Sales agents | The quote-to-order conversion supports post-quote workflows such as order capture, fulfillment, and contract creation. Benefits include:
|
| Creating orders from Accounts page | Order or service agents | The Accounts Information tab provides a 360-degree view of customer interactions, including quotes, contracts, entitlements, and previous orders. Creating orders from this context promotes:
|
| Creating orders from Customer Orders or Service Orders list view | Order or service agents | Alternate way to create an order for an account or a consumer with a different set of contact information or parameters. |
Order creation using TM Forum (TMF) APIs
Most of the service orders that you process are captured from third-party customer order management systems through the Service Order Open API. The Service Order Open API is a ServiceNow implementation of the TM Forum TMF641 Service Ordering Open API specification. To learn more, see Service Order Open API.
Order creation using Service Exchange
Your ServiceNow instances can be integrated with the instances of your customers by using Service Bridge. With this integration, you can create and publish product offerings to your customer's instances. Enterprise customers can then submit requests for products or services, which you can then fulfill using Order Management. For detailed benefits on using the Service Bridge applications, see Exploring Service Exchange.
Order creation by B2B customers
Business-to-Business (B2B) customers can leverage self-service capabilities provided through the Business Portal to browse products and submit orders. These orders are then processed by the order and fulfillment agents. For more information, see Create orders from the Business Portal.
Post-capture order record generation
- The details of the product or service being added, updated, or deleted.
- For Add type orders, the order line item holds the details of the product specification, with its required characteristics and characteristic values.
- For Change and Disconnect type orders, the order line holds the details of the product inventory that you're updating or disconnecting.
- The order line item can have a location and related information such as customer contacts detail.