Systems and methods of maintaining client relationships

• US 20020022977A1
• Filed: 12/01/2000
• Published: 02/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Leisure Group Incorporated (World Travel Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Travel Services International, Inc. (Thomas Cook Group PLC)
• Inventors: Porter, Nancy, Carpenter, Michael A., Bastnagel, Maryann, Ferguson, Bradley, Helms, Kevin, Elliott, Todd, Reynolds, Karen J., Loiselle, Vance M., Leslie, Keith J., Cox, Mitch, Burkard, Anne D., Forman, David A., Moorhead, Timothy M., Ewart, Vivian D., Locicero, Fred, DelPino, George, DeLand, Joanell U., Delva, Joelle S., Kurk, Courtney W.T., Codd, Tracey Lee, Sussman-Wiles, Kathleen M., Judy, Elizabeth K., Tolle, Dot, Fitton, Paul, Berk, Byron J., Levy, Sandi B., Luna, Charlotte A., Christen, Holley S., Fessenden, Timothy, Elenberger, Maureen J., Schiff, Martin R., Klotz, Irwin D., Nickerson, Jeffrey A., Colangelo, Paul, Scanlon, Monica, Sherota, Michael T., Quintana, Adolf, Huff, Wallace C., Hintz, Samuel L., Everhart-Brooks, Sharon, Rodriquez, Elena M.
• Granted Patent: US 6,477,533 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0607 Regulated
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/14 Travel agencies

Abstract

In one embodiment, systems and methods are used to maintain client relationships by tracking and managing customers and agents involved in booking a cruise. Furthermore, various activities which take place between an agent and active customers are monitored, whereby the type and quantity of activities performed by the agent is evaluated to assign a period of time of ownership of the customer. During the period of time while the customer is owned, other agents are prevented from acquiring the customer and subsequent booking commission. A series of rules which determine the duration of ownership of the customer are maintained and applied to enable the ownership to be changed as needed.

Claims

1. A system for tracking agent interaction with customers implemented in a web server environment wherein a plurality of remote users utilizing web browser programs electronically communicate with the system via a data communications network, the system comprising:

an electronic customer database configured to store information about a plurality of customers;

an electronic agent database configured to store information about a plurality of agents;

an electronic rules database configured to store rules that define temporal relationships between the plurality of customers and the plurality of agents; and

an agent ownership program module in communication with the customer database, the agent database, and the rules database, wherein the agent ownership program module is configured to control agent access to information about the plurality of customers in the customer database based at least upon the temporal relationships between the plurality of customers and the plurality of agents.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the rules are based at least upon the agent'"'"'s activity with the customer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the rules define time periods associated with agent activities.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the rules are based at least upon the agent'"'"'s cruise selling and booking activity with the customer.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the agent activities include at least one of creating a customer profile, sending the customer a brochure, calling the customer, calculating a quote, creating a lead, creating an option, and booking a cruise package.

6. A method for managing agent ownership of customers utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving and agent identifier that represents an agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

receiving a customer identifier that represents a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

verifying that the customer is available for interaction with the agent by querying an electronic database of agent and customer information;

receiving an agent activity from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

determining a time window for agent activity based at least upon at least one agent ownership rule, wherein the at least one agent ownership rule is stored in the electronic database;

creating an agent of record association between the agent and the customer wherein the agent is designated as the customer'"'"'s agent of record for the allotted amount of time; and

storing the agent of record association in the electronic database.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the agent activity includes activity related to selling and booking cruise packages.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the agent activity includes at least one of creating a customer profile, sending the customer a brochure, calling the customer, calculating a quote, creating a lead, creating an option, and booking a cruise package.

9. A method of verifying agent ownership of a customer utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving an agent identifier representing an agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

receiving a customer identifier representing a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

retrieving a customer record from an electronic customer database, wherein the customer record corresponds to the customer and the customer record includes an agent of record;

determining whether the agent of record corresponds to the agent represented by the agent identifier; and

returning a message to the remote user'"'"'s web browser program signifying whether the agent of record corresponds to the agent represented by the agent identifier.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising determining whether the agent of record has expired.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the customer record includes an agent of record expiration date.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining whether the agent of record expiration date matches or is before the current date.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the agent of record corresponds to the agent represented by the agent identifier includes determining whether the agent of record corresponds to any available agent.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the message includes the customer record.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the activity that represents a communication between the agent and the customer includes activity related to selling and booking cruise packages.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the activity that represents a communication between the agent and the customer includes at least one of creating a customer profile, sending the customer a brochure, calling the customer, calculating a quote, creating a lead, creating an option, and booking a cruise package.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the customer record includes an agent of record expiration date.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising determining the agent of record expiration date for the agent of record association.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining the agent of record expiration date includes searching a rules database configured to store rules that define lengths of time associated with agent activities and using the rules to calculate the agent of record expiration date.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic database is a customer database.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic database is an agent database.

23. The method of claim 15, wherein the electronic database is an activity database.

24. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

receiving a user identifier from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program; and

verifying that the user identifier corresponds to a user who has agent of record override privileges by querying the electronic database for agent of record override privileges.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the remote cruise web server system is implemented in conjunction with a cruise selling and booking system.

27. The method of claim 25 further comprising receiving customer information from the remote cruise web server system, wherein the customer information corresponds to the customer if the customer does not have an assigned agent.

28. The method of claim 25 further comprising receiving customer information from the remote cruise web server system, wherein the customer information corresponds to the customer if the customer'"'"'s assigned agent corresponds to the agent.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the agent activity relates to selling and booking cruise packages.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the agent activity include at least one of creating a client profile, sending the customer a brochure, calling the client, calculating a quote, creating a lead, creating an option, and booking a cruise package.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the time period is calculated based at least upon rules that define temporal relationships between clients and agents, wherein the rules are stored in an electronic database included in the remote cruise web server system.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the rules are based at least upon the agent'"'"'s activity with the client.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the rules define time periods associated with agent activities.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising determining whether a customer record exists by querying the electronic database.

37. The method of claim 35 further comprising determining whether the agent of record has expired.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein the customer record includes an agent of record field.

39. The method of claim 35, wherein the customer record includes an expiration date field.

15. A method for changing an agent of record association between an agent and a customer utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving an agent identifier representing an agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser;

receiving a customer identifier representing a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser;

receiving an activity that represents a communication between the agent and the customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser;

retrieving a customer record from an electronic database, wherein the customer record corresponds to the customer and the customer record includes an agent of record association;

setting the agent of record association to correspond to the agent represented by the agent identifier; and

storing the agent of record association in the electronic database.

25. A method for tracking and maintaining relationships among clients and agents, wherein the method uses a web browser program to electronically communicate with a remote cruise web server system via a data communications network, the method comprising:

submitting an agent identifier that corresponds to an agent to the remote cruise web server system;

submitting a customer identifier that corresponds to a customer to the remote cruise web server system; and

receiving agent ownership information from the remote cruise web server system, wherein the agent ownership information corresponds to the customer and the customer'"'"'s assigned agent signifying whether the agent may proceed with working with the customer.

29. A method for using an agent ownership system to update an existing relationship between clients and agents, wherein the method uses a web browser program to electronically communicate with a remote cruise web server system via a data communications network, the method comprising:

submitting an agent identifier that corresponds to an agent to the remote cruise web server system;

submitting a client identifier to the remote cruise web server system that corresponds to a client with whom the agent has an existing relationship;

submitting an agent activity to the remote cruise web server system; and

receiving a time period for which the relationship is valid from the remote cruise web server system.

35. A method of identifying an agent of record utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving a customer identifier representing a customer from a remote user'"'"'s web browser;

retrieving a customer record from an electronic customer database, wherein the customer record corresponds to the customer identifier;

determining whether an agent of record has been assigned to the customer record;

returning an agent of record designator to the remote user'"'"'s web browser if the agent of record has been assigned; and

returning an available agent designator to the remote user'"'"'s web browser if the agent of record has not been assigned.

40. A method for overriding an agent of record association between a first agent and a customer utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving an agent identifier representing a second agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

receiving a customer identifier representing a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

retrieving agent of record data corresponding to the customer identifier from an electronic database;

setting the agent of record data to the agent identifier;

receiving an expiration date from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

retrieving agent of record data from the electronic database, wherein the agent of record data corresponds to the customer identifier;

setting the agent of record data to correspond to the agent identifier and the expiration date; and

storing the agent of record data in the electronic database.

41. The method of claim 40 further comprising:

receiving a user identifier from the remote user'"'"'s web browser; and

verifying that the user identifier corresponds to a user who has agent of record override privileges.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein the electronic database is a customer database.

43. The method of claim 40, wherein the electronic database is an agent database.

44. A method of creating an agent of record association between an agent and a customer utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

receiving an agent identifier representing an agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

receiving customer information about a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

creating a customer record;

creating an agent of record association between the customer and the agent; and

storing the customer record in an electronic database.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the customer record includes an agent of record field.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein creating an agent of record association includes setting the agent of record field to the agent identifier.

47. The method of claim 44 further comprising setting an agent of record expiration date based at least upon a customer profile creation activity.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein storing the customer record in a electronic database includes storing the agent identifier in the agent of record field of the customer record.

49. The method of claim 44, wherein the electronic database includes an agent database.

50. The method of claim 44, wherein the electronic database includes a customer database.

51. The method of claim 44, wherein the electronic database includes an agent database and a customer database

52. The method of claim 44, wherein the customer information includes at least one of, name, address contact information, desired cruise destination, household membership, and cruise dates.

53. A system for tracking agent interaction with customers implemented in conjunction with a web browser program, wherein the web browser program electronically communicates with a remote cruise web server system via a data communications network, the system comprising:

an agent identifier program module configured to submit to the remote cruise web server system an agent identifier that corresponds to an agent;

a client identifier program module configured submit to the remote cruise web server system a client identifier that corresponds to a client with whom the agent has an existing relationship;

an agent activity program module configured to submit to the remote cruise web server system an agent activity wherein the agent activity corresponds to the agent identifier and the client identifier; and

a time program module configured to receive a time period for which the relationship is valid from the remote cruise web server system.

54. A method for managing agent ownership of customers utilizing a cruise web server environment to electronically communicate via a data communications network with a plurality of remote users using web browser programs, the method comprising:

means for receiving and agent identifier that represents an agent from a remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

means for receiving a customer identifier that represents a customer from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

means for verifying that the customer is available for interaction with the agent by querying an electronic database of agent and customer information;

means for receiving an agent activity from the remote user'"'"'s web browser program;

means for determining a time window for agent activity based at least upon at least one agent ownership rule, wherein the at least one agent ownership rule is stored in the electronic database;

means for creating an agent of record association between the agent and the customer wherein the agent is designated as the customer'"'"'s agent of record for the allotted amount of time; and

means for storing the agent of record association in the electronic database.

55. A method for tracking and maintaining relationships among clients and agents, wherein the method uses a web browser program to electronically communicate with a remote cruise web server system via a data communications network, the method comprising:

means for submitting an agent identifier that corresponds to an agent to the remote cruise web server system;

means for submitting a customer identifier that corresponds to a customer to the remote cruise web server system; and

means for receiving agent ownership information from the remote cruise web server system, wherein the agent ownership information corresponds to the customer and the customer'"'"'s assigned agent signifying whether the agent may proceed with working with the customer.