Goodwill Discount
This guide starts with the creation of a Goodwill Discount Product, including the option to create either a percent-based discount rate plan or a fixed-amount discount rate plan. The second step is to identify the list of subscriptions that we will want to apply the discount to. The final step will be to execute the workflow to apply the discount for a specified number of months. There is also a second (optional) workflow to ‘stop/recall’ the discount if you decide to stop the discount.
Overview
What is it?
The Goodwill Discount workflow enables you to create a product amendment with a percent-based or fixed-amount rate plan charge to a list of subscriptions.
Why does it matter?
To quickly respond to the COVID-19 business impact, this workflow would allow you to provide your customers with a discount on their next invoice, and for several invoices in the future until a desired end date.
How does it work?
The Goodwill Discount Workflow iterates through a list of subscriptions and creates a product amendment with a discount rate plan charge for each subscription. Each subscription will be validated:
- Is it an active subscription?
- Is it on our list of Subscriptions?
- Have we already applied a Goodwill Discount?
The next time you execute a bill run, the customer will see the discount.
There is flexibility in how the discount can be applied:
- Should the discount apply to a one-time charge, a recurring charge, or a usage-based charge?
- How long should the discount be applied for?
If you’re a Billing Operations analyst, here’s how this workflow works.
Getting started
As a reminder, please make all changes in your test environment first. Please make sure to test before executing the workflow in the Production environment. The changes in Production cannot be undone.
- Step 1: Create a goodwill discount product
Create the Goodwill Discount product and rate plan. - Step 2: Create a list of subscriptions
Query your subscriptions and create a CSV file with the subscriptions that will be applied a discount to. - Step 3: Run a workflow to apply the discount
Create a workflow using the Goodwill Discount Rollout template to apply the discount changes. - Step 4 (optional): Run a workflow to stop the discount
Create a workflow using the Goodwill Discount Recall template to stop the discount applied.
Step 1: Create a goodwill discount product
In this step, we will set up a product which we will name, Goodwill Discount. You can provide your own name and description for the product, rate plans, and rate plan charges. When executing the workflow, you will need to enter the exact name of the rate plan. Note that we are defining two types of rate plans to support both a percent-based discount, as well as a fixed-amount discount. You may choose to set up only one type.
Steps |
Description |
---|---|
Create a new Product |
In Zuora, navigate to Product > Product Catalog, and click add new product. |
Configure the Product |
Name: Goodwill Discount Description: Temporary discount in response to the COVID-19 impact. The discount will be removed after the disruption has subsided. Effective Start Date: 6/1/2020 Effective End Date: 11/23/2020 Category: Add On Services
Click save. |
Add a Rate Plan #1 |
Click + add rate plan. |
Configure the Rate Plan |
Name: Goodwill Discount - Percent Description: Temporary discount in response to the COVID-19 impact. The discount will be removed after the disruption has subsided. Effective Start Date: 6/1/2020 Effective End Date: 11/23/2020
Click save. |
Add a Rate Plan Charge |
Click + add new under Recurring Charges / Period. |
Configure the Rate Plan Charge |
Charge Name: Goodwill Discount Description: Temporary discount in response to the COVID-19 impact. The discount will be removed after the disruption has subsided. * Charge Amount * Charge Model: Discount-Percentage Discount Percentage: 20% Discount Class: Apply Discount To: All charges in the subscription <check One-Time, Recurring, Usage> Product: -- Rate Plan: -- * Timing and Frequency of Charge * Trigger Condition: Upon Contract Effective End Date: Fixed period after Charge is triggered. 6 Billing Periods Billing Period: Month Billing Day: Default from Customer Account Billing Period Alignment: Align to Charge * Finance * Check Use discount specific accounting codes, rule and segment to manage revenue.
Click save. |
Add Rate Plan #2 |
In the Rate Plans section, click + add rate plan. |
Configure the Rate Plan |
Name: Goodwill Discount - Fixed Description: Temporary discount in response to the COVID-19 impact. The discount will be removed after the disruption has subsided. Effective Start Date: 6/1/2020 Effective End Date: 11/23/2020
Click save. |
Add a Rate Plan Charge |
In the rate plan that you just created, click + add new under Recurring Charges / Period. |
Configure the Rate Plan Charge |
Charge Name: Goodwill Discount Description: Temporary discount in response to the COVID-19 impact. The discount will be removed after the disruption has subsided. * Charge Amount * Charge Model: Discount-Fixed Amount Discount Percentage: 4.99 USD Discount Class: Apply Discount To: All charges in the subscription <Check One-Time, Recurring, and Usage> Product: -- Rate Plan: -- * Timing and Frequency of Charge * Trigger Condition: Upon Contract Effective End Date: Fixed period after Charge is triggered. 6 Billing Periods Billing Period: Month Billing Day: Default from Customer Account Billing Period Alignment: Align to Charge * Finance * Check Use discount specific accounting codes, rule and segment to manage revenue. Click save. |
Step 2: Create a list of subscriptions
In this step, determine which subscriptions you want to apply the Goodwill Discount for.
Step |
Description |
---|---|
Create your list of subscriptions |
Create a CSV file to capture your list of subscriptions. Your file should include: Account: Number, Subscription: Name, Account: Name Here is an example CSV file that you can view or download: Goodwill_Discount_example.csv You must replace the values of these fields with data that is available on your tenant. Otherwise, the workflow will fail. You can use Datasource Export to create your file. |
Step 3: Run a workflow to apply the discount
In this step, we will set up a new workflow using the template “Goodwill Discount Rollout” to apply the discount.
Steps |
Description |
---|---|
Navigate to Workflow |
Navigate to Platform > Workflow > Workflows. |
Create a new workflow |
Click + and select From Template > COVID-19 > Goodwill Discount Rollout. |
Open the workflow |
Click the workflow you just created, and you will see the following. |
Workflow tasks overview |
You will notice a number of tasks in this workflow: • Goodwill Discount Rollout: This is the starting point; clicking on the arrow will open up a prompt to enter the list of subscriptions (CSV file), and other input parameters. • Valid Parameters: Validation check on the input parameters. • Run with Orders Feature?: Determines whether you are using Orders or Subscribe/Amend. • JSONize any input Subs: This task creates a JSON from the input file. • Retrieve the RatePlan for Input Discount: This task retrieves the rate plan that we created in Step 1. • Retrieve RatePlanCharge for Input Discount: This task retrieves the rate plan charge we created in Step 1. This will be used to create the product amendment. • Pick Applicable Subscriptions: This task will query Zuora subscriptions and determine whether they meet the criteria. • For each Subscription: This task will iterate through each of the subscription and create a new product amendment for the goodwill discount rate plan charge. • Summary of Amendments/Orders: This task will summarize the number of Amendments/Orders that are created. • Retrieve Skipped Subs: This task will create an output file that lists all the subscriptions that were skipped (no discounts applied). |
Input parameters (part 1 of 2) |
Click the arrow in the first green box. When prompted to confirm, click OK. A new workflow run window will open. Let’s start with the following parameters: 1. The first checkbox indicates that you are aware of the terms of use. 2. Click Choose File and select the CSV file you created in Step 2. Note that a file is needed to execute the workflow. The file will require a column with the name “Subscription: Name”. If the file is empty, the discount will be applied to all subscriptions. 3. Specify the name of the discount that you want to apply. There are two options for the value: Goodwill Discount - Percent or Goodwill Discount - Fixed. Click on the value field to change. 4. There are 3 questions to indicate which charges to apply the discount: recurring, usage, one-time. Check an option to indicate that you want the discount to be applied to that type of charge. |
Input parameters (part 2 of 2) |
|
Execute the workflow |
After you click Run, the workflow will start to execute. You can view the results in Run History. Clicking on Tasks will show you the results of each task. If you do not have Orders enabled on your tenant, the Run with Orders? validation will result in an error. This is expected, and does not impact the results of the workflow. |
View list of subscriptions |
You can view the list of subscriptions that were updated. Click the Tasks tab (see the previous step). To be able to view all columns, click the eye icon, and select all applicable columns. Next, find the task Pick Applicable Subscriptions, and on the far left column, click the kebab menu, and you will be able to download the file. The resulting file will look like the following: Note that this is not the original CSV input file, but rather the resulting file created by the workflow. |
Step 4 (optional): Run a workflow to stop the discount
In this step, we will set up a new workflow using the template “Goodwill Discount Recall” to stop the discount.
Steps |
Description |
---|---|
Navigate to Workflow |
Navigate to Platform > Workflow > Workflows tab. |
Create a new workflow |
Click on + and select From Template > COVID-19 > Goodwill Discount Recall. |
Open the workflow |
Click on the workflow, and you will see the following. |
Workflow tasks overview |
You will notice a number of tasks in this workflow, which are similar to the workflow tasks in Step 3.
|
Input parameters |
Click on the arrow of the first green box。 When prompted to confirm, click OK. A new workflow run window will open.
|
Execute the workflow |
After you click Run, the workflow will start to execute. You can view the results in Run History. Select the Tasks tab to show the results of each task. If you do not have Orders enabled on your tenant, the Run with Orders? validation will result in an error. This is expected, and does not impact the results of the workflow. |