Sales activity support system, sales activity support information providing system, sales activity evaluation system, recording medium, and program

• US 20040039624A1
• Filed: 07/11/2003
• Published: 02/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hiroumi Taruta, Nobuyuki Azuma, Shoichiro Kouda, Tadaaki Suga, Toshiro Higuchi, Toyoji Ikezawa, Yasuaki Misawa
• Original Assignee: Hiroumi Taruta, Nobuyuki Azuma, Shoichiro Kouda, Tadaaki Suga, Toshiro Higuchi, Toyoji Ikezawa, Yasuaki Misawa
• Inventors: Higuchi, Toshiro, Azuma, Nobuyuki, Suga, Tadaaki, Taruta, Hiroumi, Kouda, Shoichiro, Misawa, Yasuaki, Ikezawa, Toyoji
• Application Number:
  US10/617,261
• Publication Number:
  US 20040039624A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An activity plan generation unit generates an activity plan for each salesperson based on an action pattern including a work objective and performance time obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson, registers the plan in an activity plan DB, and notifies the plan to the salesperson and his/her supervisor. An information collection/registration unit stores an activity achievement input by a salesperson in an activity achievement DB. A progress management unit determines whether there is difference between an activity plan of a salesperson stored in the activity plan DB and an activity achievement stored in the activity achievement DB. When determining that there is difference between them, the progress management unit makes the activity plan generation unit again select an appropriate action pattern and correct the activity plan, and notifies the difference to the supervisor of the salesperson.

Claims

1. A sales activity support system comprising:

a client information storage unit which stores client information and business deal information on a business deal of the client;

an action pattern storage unit which stores an action pattern made up of a work objective and a performance time which are obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson;

a contact information storage unit which stores contact information of concerned people who are to support a sales activity; and

an activity plan creation unit which creates an activity plan for each business deal based on an action pattern selected from said action pattern storage unit in accordance with the business deal information stored in said client information storage unit, and notifies the created activity plan to the concerned people registered in said contact information storage unit.

2. The sales activity support system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an activity plan storage unit which stores the created activity plan;

an activity achievement storage unit which stores an actually performed sales activity of a salesperson; and

a progress management unit which compares the activity plan stored in said activity plan storage unit with the actually performed sales activity stored in said activity achievement storage unit for each business deal, and if there is a difference between the activity -plan and the actually performed sales activity, notifies the difference to a supervisor of a salesperson in charge of the business deal.

3. The sales activity support system according to claim 2, wherein in a case where said progress management unit determines that there is a difference between an activity plan and an actually performed sales activity as to a given business deal, said activity plan creation unit again selects an appropriate action pattern from said action pattern storage unit and corrects the activity plan.

4. The sales activity support system according to claim 2, wherein each time actually performed sales activity information stored in said activity achievement storage unit is updated, said activity plan creation unit selects an appropriate action pattern from said action pattern storage unit, and creates an updated activity plan.

5. The sales activity support system according to claim 1, wherein said activity plan creation unit calculates an appropriate cycle of visits for each business deal based on the performance time stored in said action pattern storage unit, determines a visiting date and an objective of visit for at least a next visit and visits thereafter, and notifies the determined visiting date and objective of visit to the concerned people stored in said contact information storage unit.

6. The sales activity support system according to claim 5, wherein said activity plan creation unit notifies the concerned people whether to visit a client on the visiting date itself or on a later date, based on a sales activity experience and know-how of a salesperson.

7. A sales activity support system comprising:

action pattern storage means for storing an action pattern made up of a work objective and a performance time which are obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson; and

activity plan creation means for creating an activity plan based on the work objective and performance time stored in said action pattern storage means for each business deal, and notifying the created activity plan to a salesperson who is in charge of the business deal and to his/her supervisor.

8. A program for controlling a computer to function as:

action pattern storage means for storing an action pattern made up of a work objective and a performance time which are obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson; and

activity plan creation means for creating an activity plan based on the work objective and performance time stored in said action pattern storage means for each business deal, and notifying the created activity plan to a salesperson who is in charge of the business deal and to his/her supervisor.

9. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a computer to function as:

action pattern storage means for storing an action pattern made up of a work objective and a performance time which are obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson; and

activity plan creation means for creating an activity plan based on the work objective and performance time stored in said action pattern storage means for each business deal, and notifying the created activity plan to a salesperson who is in charge of the business deal and to his/her supervisor.

10. A sales activity support system comprising:

a business deal information storage unit which stores business deal information representing a content of a business deal client by client;

a step number calculation unit which determines an importance degree of each business deal based on the business deal information, sets a client target in accordance with the importance degree of a business deal, calculates an activity plan step number representing a number of steps necessary for sales activities for the set client target, and notifies the activity plan step number to a salesperson who is in charge of the client target and to his/her manager.

11. The sales activity support system according to claim 10, further comprising a client information storage unit which stores client information regarding a client,

wherein said step number calculation unit determines an importance degree of a business deal based on client information stored in said client information storage unit and regarding a client corresponding to the business deal, and a scale and a success possibility of the business deal which are stored in said business deal information storage unit.

12. The sales activity support system according to claim 10, further comprising an action pattern storage unit which stores an action pattern made up of a work objective and a performance time which are obtained by analyzing a sales activity of a high performance salesperson,

wherein said step number calculation unit extracts the performance time stored in said action pattern storage unit, and calculates the activity plan step number by multiplying the performance time by a coefficient corresponding to a value for calculating profits and losses of each business deal.

13. The sales activity support system according to claim 10, wherein said step number calculation unit determines whether or not a total of the activity plan step number for a salesperson exceeds a performable step number of the salesperson representing a number of steps performable in a predetermined period, and in a case where determining that the total of the activity plan step number exceeds the performable step number, assigns excessive steps to another suitable salesperson based on the business deal information in order to restrict the total of the activity plan step number of the salesperson to within the performable step number.

14. The sales activity support system according to claim 13, wherein said step number calculation unit determines a rank representing a priority level for each business deal based on the client information and the business deal information, and sequentially excludes a business deal having a lower rank than others from the activity plan step number of the salesperson.

15. The sales activity support system according to claim 10, further comprising:

an activity step number storage unit which stores an actually performed step number representing a number of steps actually performed by a salesperson and the activity plan step number in association with each other; and

a progress management unit which determines for each business deal whether or not there is a difference between the actually performed step number and the activity plan step number, when the actually performed step number stored in said activity step number storage unit is updated,

wherein in a case where said progress management unit determines that there is a difference between the actually performed step number and the activity plan step number, said progress management unit notifies the business deal information of the corresponding business deal to a manager of a salesperson who is in charge of the business deal.

16. A program for controlling a computer to function as:

business deal information storage means for storing business deal information representing a content of a business deal client by client;

target setting means for determining an importance degree of each business deal based on the business deal information, and setting a client target in accordance with the importance degree of a business deal;

step number calculation means for calculating an activity plan step number representing a number of steps necessary for sales activities for the set client target; and

step number distribution means for distributing the activity plan step number throughout a predetermined period.

17. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a computer to function as:

business deal information storage means for storing business deal information representing a content of a business deal client by client;

target setting means for determining an importance degree of each business deal based on the business deal information, and setting a client target in accordance with the importance degree of a business deal;

step number calculation means for calculating an activity plan step number representing a number of steps necessary for sales activities for the set client target; and

step number distribution means for distributing the activity plan step number throughout a predetermined period.

18. A sales activity support information providing system comprising:

a client information storage unit which stores client information including individual information representing characteristics of a client;

an example storage unit which stores an example corresponding to a business deal in association with the individual information;

an input reception unit which receives an input of client information for specifying a client from a terminal;

an extraction unit which extracts individual information of a client corresponding to the input client information from said client information storage unit, and extracts an example associated with the extracted individual information from said example storage unit; and

a sending unit which sends sales activity support information including the extracted individual information and example to said terminal.

19. A sales activity support information providing system in which a terminal apparatus and a server apparatus for providing sales activity support information are connected through a network,

wherein said server apparatus:

is structured so as to be able to access a client information database which stores client information including individual information representing characteristics of a client, and an example database which stores an example corresponding to a business deal in association with the individual information; and

comprises

an input reception unit which receives an input of client information for specifying a client from said terminal apparatus,

an extraction unit which extracts individual information of a client corresponding to the input client information from said client information database, and extracts an example associated with the extracted individual information from said example database, and

a sending unit which sends sales activity support information including the extracted individual information and example to said terminal apparatus.

20. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 19, wherein said individual information includes at least one of a business field, a model type of a product used, a business scale, and an information technology introduction level representing a degree to which introduction of information technology is forwarded.

21. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 19, wherein said server apparatus registers a sales activity result input from said terminal apparatus to said example database as an example.

22. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 21, wherein the example is a success example.

23. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 19, wherein when said server apparatus receives an input of client information for specifying a client from said terminal apparatus, said server apparatus receives an input of a scheduled visiting date on which the client specified by the client information will be visited, and sends the sales activity support information to said terminal apparatus before the scheduled visiting date.

24. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 23, wherein said server apparatus sends the sales activity support information on a desired sending date which is set before the scheduled visiting date in accordance with an instruction from said terminal apparatus.

25. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 23, wherein:

said example database stores client-related information regarding interests and concerns of a client in association with the individual information; and

said server apparatus extracts client-related information of a client corresponding to client information received by said input reception unit from said example database, and sends the extracted client-related information to said terminal apparatus.

26. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 19, wherein when said server apparatus receives an input of client information for specifying a client from said terminal apparatus, said server apparatus receives a change of a negotiation condition relating to a business deal of the client specified by the input client information, and sends sales activity support information adjusted to the changed condition to said terminal apparatus.

27. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 19, wherein:

said server apparatus further comprises a selection unit which selects an appropriate sales means for each client; and

said selection unit selects an appropriate sales means based on client information received by said input reception unit, and provides a material for leading a client specified by the received client information to having a negotiation to the client through the selected sales means.

28. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 27, wherein said sales means is constituted by at least one of door-to-door sales, sales through the internet, telephone, and facsimile, or combination of these.

29. The sales activity support information providing system according to claim 27, wherein when said server apparatus provides the material to the client through a sales means other than door-to-door sales, said server apparatus determines whether or not to classify a business deal of the client as a business deal for which a negotiation should be performed based on a reply from the client to the provided material, and in a case where determining to classify the client'"'"'s business deal as a business deal for which a negotiation should be performed, sends the determination to said terminal apparatus.

30. A sales activity support information providing method comprising:

a client information storing step of storing client information including individual information representing characteristics of a client;

an example storing step of storing an example corresponding to a business deal in association with the individual information;

a client information inputting step of receiving an input of client information for specifying a client from a terminal;

an extracting step of extracting individual information of a client corresponding to the client information received in said client information inputting step from client information stored in said client information storing step, and extracting a success example corresponding to the extracted individual information from examples stored in said example storing step;

a tool generating step of generating an optimum tool representing sales activity support information including the extracted individual information and success example; and

a sending step of sending the optimum tool generated in said tool generating step to said terminal.

31. The sales activity support information providing method according to claim 30, further comprising:

a schedule inputting step of receiving an input of a scheduled visiting date on which a client will be visited from said terminal; and

a sending date setting step of setting a date on which the optimum tool should be sent, based on the scheduled visiting date input in said schedule inputting step,

wherein in said sending step, the optimum tool is sent on a sending date set in said sending date setting step.

32. A program for controlling a computer, which is structured so as to be able to access a client information database storing client information including individual information representing characteristics of a client and an example database storing an example corresponding to a business deal in association with the individual information, to function as:

input reception means for receiving an input of client information for specifying a client from a terminal apparatus;

extraction means for extracting individual information of a client corresponding to the received client information from said client information database, and extracting an example corresponding to the extracted individual information from said example database;

tool generation means for generating an optimum tool representing sales activity support information including the extracted individual information and example; and

sending means for sending the optimum tool to said terminal apparatus.

33. A computer readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a computer, which is structured so as to be able to access a client information database storing client information including individual information representing characteristics of a client and an example database storing an example corresponding to a business deal in association with the individual information, to function as:

input reception means for receiving an input of client information for specifying a client from a terminal apparatus;

extraction means for extracting individual information of a client corresponding to the received client information from said client information database, and extracting an example corresponding to the extracted individual information from said example database;

tool generation means for generating an optimum tool representing sales activity support information including the extracted individual information and example; and

sending means for sending the optimum tool to said terminal apparatus.

34. A sales activity evaluation system comprising:

a sales activity information storing unit which stores sales activity information including achievement data relating to a business deal and/or a sales activity;

an evaluation item setting unit which sets an evaluation item for evaluating a business deal and/or a sales activity salesperson by salesperson; and

an evaluation index setting unit which sets an evaluation index representing a quantitative evaluation result for the set evaluation item salesperson by salesperson, based on the achievement data stored in said sales activity information storing unit,

wherein a sales activity of each salesperson is evaluated based on the set evaluation index.

35. A sales activity evaluation system in which a terminal apparatus and a server apparatus for evaluating a sales activity of a salesperson are connected through a network,

wherein

said server apparatus:

is structured so as to be able to access a sales activity information database which stores sales activity information including achievement data relating to a business deal and/or a sales activity which is input from said terminal apparatus;

comprises

an evaluation item setting unit which sets an evaluation item for evaluating a business deal and/or a sales activity salesperson by salesperson, and

an evaluation index setting unit which sets an evaluation index representing a quantitative evaluation result for the set evaluation item salesperson by salesperson, based on the achievement data stored in said sales activity information database; and

evaluates a sales activity of each salesperson based on the set evaluation index.

36. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 35, wherein said evaluation index setting unit sets the evaluation index for an evaluation item relating to a business deal which is set by said evaluation item setting unit, based on achievement data relating to the business deal which is stored in said sales activity information database.

37. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 35, wherein:

said server apparatus is structured so as to be able to access an individual information database which stores individual information representing attribute information of each salesperson; and

said evaluation index setting unit sets the evaluation index for the evaluation item, based on achievement data relating to a predetermined business deal which is stored in said sales activity information database and individual information stored in said individual information database.

38. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 35, wherein said evaluation index setting unit sets the evaluation index for an evaluation item relating to a sales activity which is set by said evaluation item setting unit, based on achievement data relating to the sales activity which is stored in said sales activity information database.

39. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 35,

wherein said server apparatus:

further comprises an activity pattern generation unit which extracts achievement data corresponding to an evaluation item set by said evaluation item setting unit from among achievement data relating to a sales activity of each salesperson stored in said sales activity information database, and generates an activity pattern representing a content of an activity to be performed by the salesperson based on the extracted achievement data; and

classifies the activity pattern generated by said activity pattern generation unit based on a result of a sales activity corresponding to the activity pattern, and stores the classified activity pattern in said sales activity information database salesperson by salesperson.

40. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 39, wherein:

said server apparatus extracts an activity pattern of a successful sales activity from among activity patterns stored in said sales activity information database; and

said evaluation index setting unit sets the evaluation index for an evaluation item included in the extracted activity pattern.

41. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 39, wherein said evaluation index setting unit sets the evaluation index for an evaluation item set by said evaluation item setting unit, based on achievement data relating to a sales activity which is stored in said sales activity information database and individual information stored in said individual information database.

42. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 40, wherein said server apparatus further comprises a determination unit which determines whether or not an activity pattern generated by said activity pattern generation unit needs to be corrected, based on an evaluation index set for an evaluation item included in the activity pattern.

43. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 42, wherein in a case where said determination unit determines that the activity pattern needs to be corrected, said server apparatus sends alarm information for prompting correction of the activity pattern of a corresponding salesperson to said terminal apparatus.

44. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 42, wherein:

said server apparatus is structured so as to be able to access an improvement information database which stores improvement information representing a measure for improving a sales activity corresponding to the activity pattern generated by said activity pattern generation unit; and

in a case where said determination unit determines that the activity pattern needs to be corrected, said server apparatus extracts the improvement information corresponding to the activity pattern from said improvement information database, and sends the extracted improvement information to said terminal apparatus.

45. The sales activity evaluation system according to claim 35, wherein said server apparatus sends an evaluation result for a business deal and/or a sales activity which includes an evaluation item for which an evaluation index is set by said evaluation index setting unit, to said terminal apparatus.

46. A sales activity evaluation method comprising:

a sales activity information storing step of storing sales activity information including achievement data relating to a business deal and/or a sales activity;

an evaluation item setting step of setting an evaluation item for evaluating a business deal and/or a sales activity salesperson by salesperson;

an evaluation index setting step of setting an evaluation index representing a quantitative evaluation result for an evaluation item set in said evaluation item setting step salesperson by salesperson, based on the achievement data stored in said sales activity information storing step; and

a step of evaluating a sales activity of each salesperson based on an evaluation index set in said evaluation index setting step.

47. The sales activity evaluation method according to claim 46, further comprising an individual information acquiring step of acquiring individual information representing attribute information of each salesperson,

wherein in said evaluation index setting step, the evaluation index is set based on the achievement data stored in said sales activity information storing step and the individual information acquired in said individual information acquiring step.

48. A program for controlling a computer, which is structured so as to be able to access a sales activity information database which stores sales activity information including achievement data relating to a business deal and/or a sales activity and an individual information database which stores individual information representing attribute information of each salesperson, to function as:

evaluation item setting means for setting an evaluation item for evaluating a business deal and/or a sales activity salesperson by salesperson;

extraction means for extracting achievement data of a predetermined salesperson from said sales activity information database, and extracting individual information of the salesperson from said individual information database;

evaluation index setting means for setting an evaluation index representing a quantitative evaluation result for the set evaluation item salesperson by salesperson, based on the extracted achievement data and individual information; and

evaluation means for evaluating a sales activity of each salesperson based on the set evaluation index.

49. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling a computer, which is structured so as to be able to access a sales activity information database which stores sales activity information including achievement data relating to a business deal and/or a sales activity and an individual information database which stores individual information representing attribute information of each salesperson, to function as:

evaluation item setting means for setting an evaluation item for evaluating a business deal and/or a sales activity salesperson by salesperson;

extraction means for extracting achievement data of a predetermined salesperson from said sales activity information database, and extracting individual information of the salesperson from said individual information database;

evaluation index setting means for setting an evaluation index representing a quantitative evaluation result for the set evaluation item salesperson by salesperson, based on the extracted achievement data and individual information; and

evaluation means for evaluating a sales activity of each salesperson based on the set evaluation index.