Transcript

In this video, you’ll learn about account hierarchy structures in Totango. Major topics include: Features of a hierarchy and when to use a hierarchy.

An account, of course, refers to a representation of a customer entity. Most commonly, Totango accounts are represented in a flat hierarchy–also known as 1 customer level. In flat models, a single account record houses all of the relevant customer data; your teams log all of their engagements and manage contract and renewals on this account. This model is easy to navigate and is very common.

However, Totango allows you to create a multi-level account structure for anything more than 1 level. A multi-level structure is often used when you need to define different account types, such as a business, a division, or even a product. Totango is considered "schema-less" because there are no pre-defined types of account objects that your customer data must fit into. So a multi-level hierarchy allows YOU to specify the account types you need, within a parent-child structure.

Moreover, you can customize the layout of the account profile at each level in the hierarchy to ensure the relevant data is displayed per type, and you can transition from one type to another. In addition to representing different account types, hierarchies also allow you to aggregate or “roll-up” information from a lower level to a parent level. You can also:

• Roll-up health to each parent level
• See a sub-accounts widget on a parent profile
• View contacts across a hierarchy
• And use hierarchy filters within the account timeline that enable you to hone in on a particular level

So do you know if you need a multi-level hierarchy? Although Totango supports unlimited levels, we HIGHLY recommend avoiding unnecessary levels and even using a flat hierarchy whenever possible. This allows for a very simple engagement model for those who are managing each account and logging their tasks and touchpoints. In addition to having a simpler working level for your teams, a flat structure also simplifies customer health modeling.

Another common scenario is to represent a parent company at the top level and each customer as a child. Again, the working level–with all engagements, health, and other contract data are all kept within a single account, and only the contract value and health are rolled up to the parent level.

More complex multi-level hierarchy structures are typically reserved only for the following scenarios: Your customer base is typically organized by different levels—where each level has its own contract / renewal dates Your company sells multiple products You can learn more about setting up parent-child structures and products in another video. The key takeaway is that it’s always easier to add a level later than it is to remove levels, so start simple whenever possible.