Configuring needs analysis

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configuring needs analysis

    As a product catalog administrator in ServiceNow, you can createneeds templates—questionnaires that agents use to guide customers in selecting product offers for leads or opportunities. These questionnaires function as product selection guides, helping agents provide tailored product recommendations based on customer input.

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    When agents create a lead or an opportunity, the product catalog displays product selection guides that list available needs templates. Agents complete these guided questionnaires to receive relevant product offer recommendations to add to the lead or opportunity.

    Key Features

    • Needs Template: A questionnaire with guided questions linked to a needs decision tree that helps identify suitable product recommendations for customers.
    • Needs Decision Tree: A multi-step, guided decision process created using the Decision Tree Builder. It defines questions, expected answers, decision paths, and guidance to direct agents through the questionnaire.
    • Product Recommendations: Suggested product offerings based on questionnaire responses, helping agents add the right products to leads or opportunities.
    • Decision Tree Builder: A visual tool for configuring decision trees by adding question nodes, defining paths, and attaching guidance. It supports various answer types such as Choice, Date, or Integers.
    • Default Guidance: The Product Offering Recommendation guidance references relevant product offering data from the Needs Based Offering Recommendation table to support decision tree configuration.

    Configuring Needs Analysis

    To set up needs analysis, follow these steps:

    • Create a needs-based product offering recommendation to define which products are suggested.
    • Create and build a decision tree using Decision Tree Builder to structure the guided questionnaire.
    • Create a needs template and associate it with the product catalog to make it available as a product selection guide.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring needs analysis, your agents can efficiently guide customers through product selection, resulting in more accurate and relevant product recommendations. This enhances lead and opportunity management by ensuring that product offers closely match customer needs, improving sales effectiveness and customer satisfaction.

    As a product catalog administrator, you can create needs templates, which are questionnaires that agents use to find product offers to add to a lead or opportunity. Questionnaires function as product selection guides. When agents complete a questionnaire based on customer input, they get product recommendations that they can add to a lead or opportunity.

    Overview of needs analysis

    When agents create a lead in the Lead Management application or an opportunity in the Opportunity Management application, a product selection guide is displayed in the product catalog. The product selection guide lists the needs templates that agents can choose to get product offer recommendations.

    Figure 1. Elements of needs analysis
    Product catalog page with needs template, needs questionnaire and product recommendations in Opportunity Management, and decision tree start node in Decision Tree Builder
    Needs template
    Product selection guides associated with the product catalog display one or more needs templates. Each needs template is a questionnaire that has a set of guided questions that agents answer to get product recommendations for a customer. Each template is associated with a needs decision tree.
    Needs decision tree
    A multi-step, guided decision process that presents a series of questions to the agent. You use Decision Tree Builder to create and build the decision tree.The decision tree defines the question nodes, expected answers, connection points, decision logic, and guidance for decision paths in the questionnaire.
    Product recommendations
    The product offerings suggested for an opportunity or lead, based on the results of the needs questionnaire.

    Working with decision trees

    You configure decision trees by adding nodes, defining paths, and attaching guidances in Decision Tree Builder. This tool is a canvas for diagramming the basic elements in a decision tree, such as the question nodes and decision paths. Needs analysis provides a default guidance, the Product Offering Recommendation guidance, which references information from the Needs Based Offering Recommendation [sn_prd_pm_product_offering_recommendation] table as you create the question nodes and guidances in the decision tree.

    Before creating decision trees for needs templates, review how decision trees work:

    Setting up needs analysis