Rule-Based Targeting Assignments

Targeting records in Align can be created using Targeting rules. These are a subset of the account_rule__aln object. Users can set up a single Targeting rule per Multichannel Cycle. This rule is used to identify Accounts matching the target criteria and create records for the following objects:

mc_cycle_plan__aln
mc_cycle_plan_target__aln
mc_cycle_plan_channel__aln
mc_cycle_plan_product__aln

Users can add Channel Groups within each Multichannel Cycle Channel section.

Creating Targeting Rules

To create a Targeting rule:

Ensure the Account Rules related list displays on the Field Force or Field Force Model page and that the Rule Type field is included.
Ensure the rule_type__aln field is set to Display in Lists for the account_rule__aln and account_rule_model__aln objects.
Select Create Cycle Targeting Rule from the settings menu in the Account Rules section on the details page for a Field Force or Field Force Model. The rule is automatically assigned to the Field Force or Field Force model where the user selected the Create Cycle Targeting Rule action.

Users cannot add Targeting rules through the Align Data Loader.
Select an mc_cycle__aln record assigned to the Field Force or Field Force model. Only cycles without an assigned Targeting rule can be selected.

The Targeting rule automatically inherits the cycle's start and end dates. These dates also set the lifetime for all Targeting records created by this rule.

The Channels section is populated with an expandable section for each cycle channel assigned to the rule's Cycle. These channel sections can be removed from this page. Removed channel sections can be added back in with the Add Cycle Channel button, but this button remains unusable while the rule has a section for each cycle channel under the cycle.

Channel Groups

Channels Groups represent a set of goals and products assigned to Accounts meeting the channel groups' criteria. An Multichannel Cycle Channel section can have multiple channel groups, each with a distinct set of activities, products, and criteria, but a given Account can only match a single group within the same cycle channel section. The activity values and the products assigned to a channel group are used to create the cycle plan channel and cycle plan product records assigned to a specific target. See the Assignment Preview Page section of this document for more information.

Channel groups are assigned a priority value within the same Multichannel Cycle Channel section, however, Accounts matching a higher priority channel group are not evaluated against the criteria for a lower priority Multichannel Cycle Channel group. The highest priority a channel group can have is 1.

Within the Multichannel Cycle Channel group's Channel Details section, users can do two things:

Specify the activity goal and activity max values for Multichannel Cycle Plan Channels created by this channel group
Specify the criteria an Account must meet to qualify for this Multichannel Cycle Channel group. The criteria can be based on values stored on the account__aln record or in product_metrics__aln records assigned to this Account. This section is identical to the criteria in the standard Account rules.

If a Multichannel Cycle Channel has products assigned to it, users can add Product Groups to the Multichannel Cycle Channel group.

Channel groups are stored in the targeting_channel__aln object.

Product Groups

Product groups represent a set of product-based goals assigned to Accounts matching the product group's criteria in addition to the channel group's criteria. A channel group assigned to a cycle channel containing products automatically includes a cycle product section for each product assigned to the same cycle channel. Each cycle product section can have multiple product groups, each with its distinct set of activities and criteria, but a given Account can only match a single product group within the same cycle product section. The activity values assigned to a product group are used to create the cycle plan product records assigned to a specific target. See the Targeting Assignment Preview section for more information.

Product groups are assigned a priority value within the same cycle product section, however, Accounts matching a higher priority product group are not be evaluated against the criteria for a lower priority product group. The highest priority an MC Cycle Channel product group can have is 1. Product group priorities only apply within the same channel group section; an Account can match any number of product groups, potentially for the same product, as long as they each belong to a cycle channel. Accounts cannot match multiple product groups under different channel groups in the same MC Cycle Channel section because they cannot match multiple channel groups within the same MC Cycle Channel section.

Within the MC Cycle Channel group's Channel Details section, users can do two things:

Specify the activity goal and activity max values for Multichannel Cycle Plan products created by this channel group
Specify the criteria an Account must meet to qualify for this channel group. These criteria can be based on values stored on the account__aln record or in product_metrics__aln records assigned to the Account. This section is identical to the criteria in the standard Account rules.

The product metrics criteria do not necessarily have to match the specific product for this product group's cycle product. This allows users to assign activities for a product to a target depending on its metrics for a different product.

Product groups are stored in the targeting_product__aln object.

Targeting Assignment Example

Scott Smith created an MC Cycle record for the US Cardio Sales Field Force called US Cardio Sales 2017 Q3. This cycle has the following MC Cycle Channels and MC Cycle products:

All Face to Face with Products
Products: Cholecap and Restolar
Speaker Programs

Scott then created one Targeting rule for this cycle. The Targeting rule is set up using the following hierarchy:

The Face to Face with Products cycle channel section has a single channel group with two cycle product sections beneath it: one for Cholecap, one for Restolar.
The Cholecap cycle product section has two product groups with differing criteria and activity goals: one group for high value Accounts, and one group for mid-value Accounts
The Restolar cycle product section has a single product group under it for high value Accounts
The Speaker Programs cycle channel section has two channel groups under it with different criteria and activity goals: one group for high value Accounts, and one group for mid-value Accounts

After creating the rule, Align users can execute it and get results. The specifics of a Targeting assignment preview are covered in the Targeting Assignment Preview page, but the following example illustrates how Accounts can qualify to become a target.

The following table displays four HCPs, their specialties and their segmentation by product. A represents the highest segmentation, and D represents the lowest.

HCP Name	Specialty	Cholecap Segment	Restolar Segment
Dr. Ackerman	Cardiology	A	C
Dr. Jones	Pediatric Cardiology	N/A	B
Dr. Green	Pediatric Cardiology	C	A
Dr. Reuter	Cardiology	D	D

According to the example rule, the physicians are evaluated as follows:

Dr. Ackerman
Dr. Ackerman qualifies for the All Face to Face Calls channel group because he matches the channel's criteria as well as the criteria for at least one of its product groups.
Dr. Ackerman qualifies for the High Value Cholecap product group because his specialty is Cardiology and his Cholecap segment is A.
He does not qualify for the Restolar product group because his segment is C, and is too low value
He also qualifies for the High Value Account speaker program because his Cholecap segment is A
Dr. Jones
Dr. Jones qualifies for the All Face to Face Calls channel group because he matches the channel's criteria as well as the criteria for at least one of its product groups
Dr. Jones does not qualify for any of the Cholecap product groups because he does not have any segmentation data for these products
He does qualify for the Restolar product group due to his high-value segment for Restolar
Dr. Jones also qualifies for the Mid Value Account speaker program channel group because of his Restolar segment is B
Dr. Green
Dr. Green qualifies for the All Face to Face Calls channel group because he matches the channel's criteria as well as the criteria for at least one of its product groups.
Dr. Green qualifies for the Mid Value Cholecap product group because his specialty is Cardiology and his Cholecap segment is C
He also qualifies for the Restolar product group because his segment is A
He also qualifies for the High Value Account speaker program because his Restolar segment is A
This means he does not qualify for the Mid Value Account speaker program channel group because he is already qualified for a higher priority channel group under the same MC Cycle Channel
Dr. Reuter
Dr. Reuter does not qualify for any MC Cycle Channel groups or product groups under this Targeting rule because his segmentation value is too low.

The table below displays each Account's target status as well as the final set of channels and products assigned to each target:

HCP Name	Specialty	Cholecap Segment	Restolar Segment	Target Status	Face to Face Channel Group	Face to Face Product Groups	Speaker Program Channel Group
Dr. Ackerman	Cardiology	A	C	Target	All Face to Face Calls	High Value Cholecap	High Value Account
Dr. Jones	Pediatric Cardiology	N/A	B	Target	All Face to Face Calls	Restolar	Mid Value Account
Dr. Green	Pediatric Cardiology	C	A	Target	All Face to Face Calls	Mid Value Cholecap, Restolar	High Value Account
Dr. Reuter	Cardiology	D	D	Not a Target	None	None	None

The following diagram illustrates the targeting rule.

Targeting Assignment Preview

An assignment preview generates Targeting records if the preview includes at least one Targeting rule. To be included in an assignment preview for a territory or territory model, a Targeting rule must fulfill the following conditions:

The preview’s run_date__aln value must fall within the rule’s start_date__aln and end_date__aln values
At least one of the territories in the assignment preview must be assigned to the Targeting rule's Field Force

Once a Targeting rule is included in an assignment preview, it is automatically used to generate Targeting records as part of the rule. This rule affects all territories included in the assignment preview assigned to the rule's Field Force or Field Force model.

Processing Accounts

Targeting rules run after all Account rule and hierarchy rules are processed, but before Account exclusions are applied to the resulting assignments. A Targeting rule evaluates all Accounts assigned to a Territory as of the preview, including rule-based assignments and explicit assignments. These Accounts are evaluated against each channel group or product group's criteria, as seen in the Creating Targeting Rules section of this document.

An Account matching the criteria for a channel group and at least one of the channel's product groups is assigned an MCCP Channel based on the same goals as the channel group and an MCCP Product based on the same product and goals as each matching product group

If an account matches the criteria for multiple product groups of the same product, only the group with the highest priority is assigned to the account.
An Account matching the criteria for a channel group without products is assigned a cycle plan channel based on the same goals as the channel group
An Account assigned to at least one cycle plan channel is also assigned a cycle plan target record with goals based on the combination of goals from all of the cycle plan channels and cycle plans products assigned to this Account
A territory with at least one assigned Account classified as a target is assigned a cycle plan record with goals based on the combination of all targets assigned to this territory's Accounts

A Targeting rule evaluates only Accounts that are assigned to the territory as of the current preview. Accounts cannot become Targets unless they are assigned to the territory.

The assignment preview attempts to regenerate Targeting records without considering previous Targeting information at this stage. Should the user commit this assignment preview, the commit process handles merging the results of the assignment preview with preexisting Targeting records. This is the same method by which an assignment preview evaluates Account assignments.

Assignment Preview Page

Users can view the result of their Targeting rules in addition to Account assignments on the assignment preview page through the Targeting tab. The Targeting tab displays the number of targets and the cycle plan's activity goals for each Territory included in the preview containing an assignment cycle.

Also, the Exclusions tab marks Accounts with the Targeting icon to indicate the Account qualified as a Target if it had not been excluded.

Targeting Commit

Users can discard Targeting records created by an assignment preview by discarding the preview, similarly to how users discard Account assignments. Conversely, users can commit Targeting records to Vault by committing the assignment preview including Targeting records.

An assignment preview commit with Targeting records compares the list of Targeting records included in the preview with corresponding Targeting records existing in Vault:

Targeting records included in the assignment preview but not existing prior to the preview are created
Targeting records existing prior to this preview and also included in this preview are updated with their new values based on the assignment preview
Targeting records existing prior to this preview but not included in this preview's results are deleted, as long as they have not been sent to CRM
Records already sent to CRM can be updated via a preview with new values, but they cannot be deleted by the preview. This is intended to preserve any attainment made against those Targets in CRM.

Data Loading Targeting Rules

Align users can utilize the Align Data Loader to load targeting rules. This allows users to quickly create targeting rules for multiple field forces. The following objects are supported by the Data Loader:

targeting_rule_channel__aln
targeting_rule_product__aln

Additionally, records within an account_rule__aln Data Loader file where the rule_type__aln field is targeting__aln are also supported.

Using

To use the Data Loader on targeting rules:

Load the appropriate account_rule_object__aln records where the rule_type__aln field is set to targeting__aln.
Load the targeting_rule_channel__aln records referencing the appropriate targeting rules. The logic filter fields of these records should reference criteria using their external IDs.
Load the targeting_rule_product__aln records referencing the appropriate targeting channels. The logic filter fields of these records should reference criteria using their external IDs.
Load the appropriate account_rule_criteria__aln records. The Data Loader automatically assigns these records to the referenced parent and replaces the parent's external ID field with the criteria's newly created Vault ID field.

This process can also be used to load account rule model records.

Manual Edits to Targeting Records

Align users can manually edit Multichannel Cycle Plan records previously created using the rules engine. This allows users to edit these records to refine their goals based on feedback or knowledge of accounts.

Users can enter a value into the following fields to edit the activity goal of the associated objects:

activity_goal_edit__aln – Edits the activity goal for an mc_cycle_plan_channel__aln record
product_activity_goal_edit__aln – Edits the activity goal for an mc_cycle_plan_product__aln record

The next targeting assignment preview involving manually edited records display the values set by the above fields rather than the values provided by rules.

Manual Target Assignments

Users cannot manually assign an Account as a Target to a Multichannel Cycle Plan if the Account is already a target for the same cycle plan. Already targeted Accounts display as grayed out on the Account Selection search box on the Target Mass Add page.

Updating Rule Lifecycles

Align users can freeze their targets for the duration of a cycle. This allows users to account for the unpredictability of Accounts during a business cycle and provides greater consistency to planned activity goals. To facilitate this feature, the lifecycle__aln field on the account_rule__aln and account_rule_model__aln objects controls the lifecycle status of the rule.

To help audit mc_cycle_plan__aln records, the align_rule_id__aln field has also been added. This field automatically stamps with the rule ID of the targeting rule that created the mc_cycle_plan__aln record.

Use

To change the lifecycle status of a targeting rule:

Navigate to the appropriate targeting rule's detail page.
Select the Action menu. This displays as a Gear icon.
Set Lifecycle. Select one of the three lifecycle options:
- Active – The rule creates and deletes account territory records. This is the default state for all new rules.
- Inactive – The rule is excluded from assignment previews. Targeting records previously created by this rule are deleted in the next preview involving them unless the record has been pushed to CRM.
- Frozen – The rule is excluded from assignment previews and does not create new targeting records. Targeting records previously created by this rule persist and are not deleted.

To assist in auditing Frozen rules, a list displays in assignment previews that displays all Frozen targeting rules.

Segmentation Stamping on the Rules Engine

Align enables stamping target records with the channel or product segment by which they were targeted. This makes segments defined in Align more visible on targets in Veeva CRM, improving the review process and field execution.

For example, Dr. Clinton Ackerman meets the criteria to be targeted by the Cholecap Gold segment. After the rules run, Dr. Ackerman displays as a target and the Cholecap Gold segment displays on his target record.

Configuration

To configure Segmentation Stamping:

Create custom fields on the mc_cycle_channel_plan_channel_vod and mc_cycle_plan_product_vod objects in Veeva CRM . These fields are used in the field mapping process.
Navigate to the Align Integration page in the Integrations tab.
Select the gear icon corresponding to the appropriate Veeva CRM org, then edit the Field Mapping.
Map the appropriate Veeva CRM field to the channel_segmentation__aln field on the mc_cycle_plan_channel__aln object.
Map the appropriate Veeva CRM field to the product_segmentation__aln field on the mc_cycle_plan_product__aln object.

Manual edits to these fields in Align are overwritten during the next rules run.

The channel_segmentation__aln and product_segmentation__aln fields do not display on the Target Mass Add page.

Targeting Exclusions

Align supports the ability to block accounts from both targeting assignments and territory assignments.

For example, Sarah Jones receives notice that Dr. Clinton Ackerman, currently a target in her territory, is away on sabbatical for the next year. She informs her administrator and the Align administrator creates an account exclusion for Dr. Ackerman preventing him from being assigned to territories until he returns. This also prevents him from being assigned to targets.

Use

The assignment_type__aln picklist on the account_exclusion__aln and account_exclusion_model__aln objects controls which assignment types the account is excluded from.

To exclude accounts from territory or targeting assignments:

Create an account_exclusion__aln or account_exclusion_model__aln record for the appropriate account.
Select the appropriate value for the assignment_type__aln picklist:
- Account__aln – Excludes the record from territory and targeting assignments. This is the default selection.
- Target__aln – Excludes the record from targeting assignments. The account is still assigned to a territory.

A value of NULL in the assignment_type__aln picklist behaves the same as a value of account__aln.

Exclusions prevent both automatic and manual assignments for the associated account.

Expand All Branches of a Targeting Rule

Align now allows users to display all branches of a targeting rule by using the Expand All button to quickly display relevant information when reviewing a targeting rule.

Use

Selecting the Expand All button next to a channel in a targeting rule causes all branches of that channel to expand. The Expand All button toggles to Collapse All if all branches of a channel are expanded. Individual branches can be expanded or collapsed using the + and – buttons.