System and method of generating existing customer leads

• US 10,373,198 B1
• Filed: 08/05/2015
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LMB Mortgage Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: LMB Mortgage Services, Inc.
• Inventors: Cook, Bruce, Lewis, Vincent, Lee, Anson
• Primary Examiner(s): Feacher, Renae
• Application Number:
  US14/819,344
• Time in Patent Office: 1,462 Days
• Field of Search: 705 729
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof

Abstract

One embodiment of an existing customer lead generation system comprises a vendor customer information database, a vendor criteria database, a web server, a matching engine, and a transmission component. The vendor customer information database identifies vendor'"'"'s existing customers. The vendor criteria database determines which leads each vendor wants to receive. Separate criteria may be specified for consumers that are existing customers and consumers that are not existing customers. The web server receives characteristics of a consumer and a product or service. The matching engine compares the consumer characteristics with the vendor customer information database to identify vendors for which the consumer is an existing customer. The matching engine applies existing customer criteria to match the consumer with existing vendors. The matching engine applies non-existing customer criteria to match the consumer with other vendors. The transmission component transmits a lead identifying the consumer to the matched vendors.

Claims

1. A secure customer information sharing system operated by a lead generation entity, the system comprising:

one or more computer readable storage devices in communication with a processor configured to store;

a plurality of computer-executable instructions;

consumer records comprising consumer characteristics received from consumers or a third party;

vendor criteria information that specifies, for each vendor, with respect to consumer characteristics and characteristics of a product or service, criteria for determining leads of interest to the vendor, including existing customer criteria and potential customer criteria; and

a web server configured to receive, via a web page, consumer characteristics and characteristics of a product or service; and

one or more hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more computer readable storage devices to execute the plurality of computer-executable instructions to cause the system to;

provide instructions for rendering a web page configured to receive data from a consumer comprising consumer characteristics and representing a request to be matched with one or more vendors of a product or service;

electronically receive from a user remote terminal associated with a user, via the web page, a first set of consumer characteristics and a vendor match request, wherein the first set of consumer characteristics comprises a plurality of consumer characteristics associated with the user;

store the first set of consumer characteristics in a consumer record in the one or more computer readable storage devices, wherein the consumer record is associated with the user;

electronically receive from a third party server, a second set of consumer characteristics comprising one or more consumer characteristics associated with the user, wherein the third party server is at a physical location that is remote from the location of the user remote terminal, the location of the vendor server, and the location of the web server, and wherein the second set of consumer characteristics is identified based at least partly on the first set of consumer characteristics;

update the consumer record associated with the user by storing the second set of consumer characteristics in the consumer record;

transmit to each of one or more vendors a query including at least a portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics, the query requesting information identifying existing customers of the vendor, based at least on respective vendor customer information maintained by the vendor, wherein the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics includes enough information to determine whether the user is an existing customer of the one or more vendors while maintaining security and privacy of sensitive personal information of the user due to the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics including not enough information to allow an individual to directly contact the consumer;

receive, based on the query, a result that indicates whether the user is an existing customer of the vendor, wherein the received result is based on a determination of whether a close match is found, even if the match is not exact;

if the consumer is an existing customer of the vendor;

compare the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of the existing customer vendor criteria;

based on the comparison, identify any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified existing customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

update the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors;

if the consumer is not an existing customer of one or more vendors;

compare the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of the potential customer vendor criteria;

based on the comparison, identify any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified potential customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

update the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors in a list;

electronically receive, via the web page, an indication of a selection of a group of matched vendors associated with the consumer, wherein the group of matched vendors comprises a selection of one or more vendors of the portion of the matched vendors; and

transmit, in response to receiving the indication of a selection of the group of matched vendors, a lead, comprising personally identifying consumer information that identifies the consumer, to the selected group of matched vendors, wherein the lead identifies the consumer in enough detail that multiple matched vendors are able to directly contact the consumer.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the product or service is a loan for a property.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the consumer characteristics comprise an income value and a credit rating value.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the income value comprises an estimate of income.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the credit rating value comprises a credit score.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware computer processors further cause the system to:

check bounties that vendors are willing to pay to receive a lead and to take the bounties into consideration when selecting the group of matched vendors.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the third party server comprises a credit bureau site.

8. A method for sharing secure customer information operated by a lead generation entity, the method comprising:

providing instructions for rendering a web page configured to receive data from a consumer comprising consumer characteristics and representing a request to be matched with one or more vendors of a product or service;

electronically receiving from a user remote terminal associated with a user, via the web page, a first set of consumer characteristics and a vendor match request, wherein the first set of consumer characteristics comprises a plurality of consumer characteristics associated with the user;

storing the first set of consumer characteristics in a consumer record in one or more computer readable storage devices, wherein the consumer record is associated with the user;

electronically receiving from a third party server, a second set of consumer characteristics comprising one or more consumer characteristics associated with the user, wherein the third party server is at a physical location that is remote from the location of the user remote terminal, the location of the vendor server, and the location of the web server, and wherein the second set of consumer characteristics is identified based at least partly on the first set of consumer characteristics;

updating the consumer record associated with the user by storing the second set of consumer characteristics in the consumer record;

transmitting to each of one or more vendors a query including at least a portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics, the query requesting information identifying existing customers of the vendor, based at least on respective vendor customer information maintained by the vendor, wherein the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics includes enough information to determine whether the user is an existing customer of the one or more vendors while maintaining security and privacy of sensitive personal information of the user due to the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics including not enough information to allow an individual to directly contact the consumer;

receiving, based on the query, a result that indicates whether the user is an existing customer of the vendor, wherein the received result is based on a determination of whether a close match is found, even if the match is not exact;

if the consumer is an existing customer of the vendor;

comparing the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of existing customer vendor criteria, wherein existing customer vendor criteria is configured to be used for determining leads of interest to the vendor related to existing customers;

based on the comparison, identifying any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified existing customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

updating the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors;

if the consumer is not an existing customer of one or more vendors;

comparing the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of the potential customer vendor criteria, wherein potential customer vendor criteria is configured to be used for determining leads of interest to the vendor related to potential customers;

based on the comparison, identifying any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified potential customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

updating the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors in a list;

electronically receiving, via the web page, an indication of a selection of a group of matched vendors associated with the consumer, wherein the group of matched vendors comprises a selection of one or more vendors of the portion of the matched vendors; and

transmitting, in response to receiving the indication of a selection of the group of matched vendors, a lead, comprising personally identifying consumer information that identifies the consumer, to the selected group of matched vendors, wherein the lead identifies the consumer in enough detail that multiple matched vendors are able to directly contact the consumer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the product or service is a loan for a property.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the consumer characteristics comprise an income value and a credit rating value.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the income value comprises an estimate of income.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the credit rating value comprises a credit score.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

checking bounties that vendors are willing to pay to receive a lead and to take the bounties into consideration when selecting the group of matched vendors.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the third party server comprises a credit bureau site.

15. Tangible computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instruction, that when executed by a computer processor, cause computer hardware to perform operations comprising:

providing instructions for rendering a web page configured to receive data from a consumer comprising consumer characteristics and representing a request to be matched with one or more vendors of a product or service;

electronically receiving from a user remote terminal associated with a user, via the web page, a first set of consumer characteristics and a vendor match request, wherein the first set of consumer characteristics comprises a plurality of consumer characteristics associated with the user;

storing the first set of consumer characteristics in a consumer record in one or more computer readable storage devices, wherein the consumer record is associated with the user;

electronically receiving from a third party server, a second set of consumer characteristics comprising one or more consumer characteristics associated with the user, wherein the third party server is at a physical location that is remote from the location of the user remote terminal, the location of the vendor server, and the location of the web server, and wherein the second set of consumer characteristics is identified based at least partly on the first set of consumer characteristics;

updating the consumer record associated with the user by storing the second set of consumer characteristics in the consumer record;

transmitting to each of one or more vendors a query including at least a portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics, the query requesting information identifying existing customers of the vendor, based at least on respective vendor customer information maintained by the vendor, wherein the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics of the first set of consumer characteristics includes enough information to determine whether the user is an existing customer of the one or more vendors while maintaining security and privacy of sensitive personal information of the user due to the portion of at least two of the consumer characteristics including not enough information to allow an individual to directly contact the consumer;

receiving, based on the query, a result that indicates whether the user is an existing customer of the vendor, wherein the received result is based on a determination of whether a close match is found, even if the match is not exact;

if the consumer is an existing customer of the vendor;

comparing the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of existing customer vendor criteria, wherein existing customer vendor criteria is configured to be used for determining leads of interest to the vendor related to existing customers;

based on the comparison, identifying any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified existing customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

updating the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors;

if the consumer is not an existing customer of one or more vendors;

comparing the consumer characteristics in the consumer record and the characteristics of the product or service with at least a portion of the potential customer vendor criteria, wherein potential customer vendor criteria is configured to be used for determining leads of interest to the vendor related to potential customers;

based on the comparison, identifying any matched vendors, wherein the matched vendors include vendors that specified potential customer vendor criteria that the consumer satisfies; and

updating the web page to display at least a portion of the matched vendors in a list;

electronically receiving, via the web page, an indication of a selection of a group of matched vendors associated with the consumer, wherein the group of matched vendors comprises a selection of one or more vendors of the portion of the matched vendors; and

transmitting, in response to receiving the indication of a selection of the group of matched vendors, a lead, comprising personally identifying consumer information that identifies the consumer, to the selected group of matched vendors, wherein the lead identifies the consumer in enough detail that multiple matched vendors are able to directly contact the consumer.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

matching the consumer with one or more vendors comprises checking bounties indicative of what one or more vendors is willing to pay for a lead comprising information about the consumer and taking the bounties into consideration in matching the consumer with the vendors.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the product or service is a loan for a property.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the consumer characteristics comprise an income value and a credit rating value.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the income value comprises an estimate of income.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the third party server comprises a credit bureau site.