Method of managing prospective business

• US 20060235759A1
• Filed: 04/18/2005
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Devereux Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: The Devereux Group, Inc.
• Inventors: Roeser, Prugh, Roeser, Stefan
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,649 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0637 Strategic management or analysis, e.g. setting a goal or target of an organisation; Planning actions based on goals; Analysis or evaluation of effectiveness of goals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0204 Market segmentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers

Abstract

The present invention reveals the next generation in customer acquisition procedures. LeadMaker™ (“LM”) is a relationship-based system for handling business customers and prospective customers during the period between initial response and follow up by sales. LM is designed to fill the gap between Marketing acquiring responses and Sales establishing primary contact responsibility.

Claims

1. A method of managing a multiplicity of customers and potential customers indissolubly combining:

data profiling and enhancement;

a multiplicity of proactive purchase process focused communications;

a multiplicity of purchase process focused responder experiences

coordination and follow-up with a multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals.

2. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 1 wherein said data profiling and enhancement further comprising the indissoluble combination of:

receiving data inputs in the form of a multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

determining a multiplicity of eligibilities of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

validating deliverability to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

segmenting said multiplicity of customers and potential customers into a multiplicity of groups;

assigning a multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

3. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 1 wherein said multiplicity of proactive purchase process focused communications further comprise the indissoluble combination of:

defining a multiplicity of series of original communications which correlate to steps of a multiplicity of purchase processes of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

developing a multiplicity of response incentives which correlate to said steps of said multiplicity of purchase processes of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

creating content for each communication specific to its step in the multiplicity of purchase processes of said multiplicity customers and potential customers, and specific to the multiplicity of backgrounds, profiles and interests of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

personalizing said multiplicity of communications individually with profile information, behavioral information, interest information, and sales responsibility information for each of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

creating said multiplicity of communications which encompass a graphical appearance and audio presence consistent with organizational guidelines;

automating a multiplicity of follow-up communications to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers upon failure to respond to said multiplicity of original communications;

establishing a multiplicity of schedules for directing a multiplicity of original communications to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

establishing a multiplicity of schedules for directing a multiplicity of automatic non-responder follow up communications;

directing said multiplicity of communications to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers based upon a multiplicity of schedule timings and a multiplicity of individual eligibilities of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

wherein said schedules for directing said multiplicity of original communications and said schedules for directing said multiplicity of automatic non-responder follow up communications are based on a multiplicity of individual profiles, response behaviors, and response incentive utilization of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

4. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 1 wherein said multiplicity of purchase process focused responder experiences further comprise the indissoluble combination of:

creating a multiplicity of response destinations which individually identify each of said multiplicity of customers and said potential customers that respond to said multiplicity of proactive purchase process focused communications;

creating a multiplicity of response destinations which correlate to and extend said multiplicity of proactive purchase focused communications directed to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

creating a multiplicity of response destinations which correlate to a multiplicity of backgrounds, a multiplicity of profiles and a multiplicity of interests of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers in order to prompt responses from said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

creating a multiplicity of profile and sales opportunity questions to be completed by said multiplicity of customers and potential customers wherein said multiplicity of customers and potential customers respond in exchange for delivery of said multiplicity of response incentives;

personalizing said multiplicity of response destinations individually with profile information, behavioral information, interest information, and sales responsibility individual information from each of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which responds;

creating a multiplicity of response destinations which encompass a graphical appearance and audio presence consistent with organizational guidelines.

5. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 4 wherein said multiplicity of purchase focused experiences for responders further comprise the indissoluble combination of:

monitoring individually each of a multiplicity of communications delivery behaviors and communications receipt behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

recording individually each of said multiplicity of communications delivery behaviors and communications receipt behaviors of each of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

monitoring individually each of a multiplicity of communications response behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

recording individually each of said multiplicity of communications response behaviors of each of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

reporting said multiplicity of communications delivery behaviors, said multiplicity of communications receipt behaviors and said multiplicity of communications response behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and said potential customers.

6. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 5 wherein said multiplicity of communications delivery behaviors and said multiplicity of communications receipt behaviors and said multiplicity of communications response behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers further comprise utilizing a multiplicity of differing traceable media responses.

7. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 1 wherein coordination and follow-up with a multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals further comprises the indissoluble combination of:

identifying a multiplicity of appropriate sales responsibility individuals to receive a multiplicity of notifications of a multiplicity of qualifying behaviors and forwarding of a multiplicity of qualifying customers and potential customers;

notifying said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals of said multiplicity of qualifying response behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

identifying said multiplicity of qualifying customers and qualifying potential customers for directing to said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals;

directing said multiplicity of qualifying customers and qualifying potential customers to said multiplicity of appropriate sales responsibility individuals;

contacting said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals after receipt of said multiplicity of qualifying customers and qualifying potential customers to track a multiplicity of individual sales outcomes;

recording said multiplicity of individual sales outcomes of said multiplicity of qualifying customers and qualifying potential customers;

reporting said multiplicity of customer and potential customer qualifications, said multiplicity of sales statuses, and said multiplicity of sales outcomes of said multiplicity of qualifying customers and qualifying potential customers.

8. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 7 wherein said multiplicity of individual sales outcomes further comprise a multiplicity of differing status updates.

9. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 8 wherein said multiplicity of differing status updates are selected from the group consisting of contact status, sales status and transaction amounts.

10. The method of managing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers of claim 4 wherein said multiplicity of profile and sales opportunity questions are selected from the group consisting of demographics, product and service usages, product and service interests, and organizational purchasing processes and intentions.

11. An automated lead development system comprising:

a multiplicity of series of marketing communications;

a database-driven, web-hosted ASP application;

a multiplicity of customized sets of rules for a multiplicity of individual clients;

wherein said multiplicity of individual client companies export a multiplicity of customers and potential customers into said database driven, web hosted ASP application;

wherein said multiplicity of customers and potential customers are selected from a multiplicity of groups consisting of responders to a multiplicity of lead generation activities by said multiplicity of individual client companies;

wherein said multiplicity of customers and potential customers become a multiplicity of prospects;

wherein said sequence of actions utilized in evaluating said multiplicity of prospects of said multiplicity of individual client companies are a multiplicity of campaigns composed of a multiplicity of individual segments; and

,

wherein said multiplicity of individual client companies develop a multiplicity of rules driven segmentation strategies to sort said multiplicity of customers and potential customers into a multiplicity of groups for personalized campaign development.

12. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein said multiplicity of campaigns include a multiplicity of communications according to a multiplicity of designated time intervals.

13. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein purchase readiness levels of said multiplicity of prospects to buy are increased due to a multiplicity of series of communications.

14. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein upon receipt of a response from one of said multiplicity of prospects, said system initiates another communication in a pre-defined sequence.

15. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein a multiplicity of non-responders receive a multiplicity of automatic follow-up communications at a multiplicity of pre-determined intervals after a multiplicity of original communications.

16. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein said multiplicity of individual client companies incorporate a multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals in said multiplicity of campaigns by personalizing said multiplicity of communications from said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals at any time during said multiplicity of campaigns.

17. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein a multiplicity of results is tracked and reported for each of said multiplicity of individual segments within said multiplicity of campaigns and said results are aggregated across said multiplicity of campaigns.

18. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein returns on investment can be measured for said multiplicity of campaigns when said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals enter a multiplicity of transactional data at the close of each sale.

19. The automated lead development system of claim 11 wherein a point at which said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond is directed to said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals is contingent upon said multiplicity of customized sets of rules for said multiplicity of individual client companies.

20. A method of managing a multiplicity of customers and potential customers comprising:

a communications management process;

a data management process;

a response experience management process; and

a sales coordination process.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said communications management process further comprises:

defining a multiplicity of series of outbound communications;

developing a multiplicity of incentives for a multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

creating a multiplicity of communications content;

setting a multiplicity of levels of personalization of said multiplicity of communications content;

creating brand-aware graphic or audio presence;

setting a multiplicity of follow-up communications for a multiplicity of customers and potential customers which do not respond to said multiplicity of original communications;

setting a multiplicity of communications schedules; and

,

directing said multiplicity of communications to a multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said data management process further comprises:

determining eligibilities of a multiplicity of customers and potential customers;

segmenting said multiplicity of customers and potential customers into a multiplicity of initial groupings; and

,

assigning a multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals to said multiplicity of customers and potential customers.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein said response experience management process further comprises:

tracking a multiplicity of behavior patterns of a multiplicity of recipients of a multiplicity of communications;

managing the experiences of a multiplicity of said customers and potential customers which respond; and

,

tracking a multiplicity of behaviors of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein said sales coordination process further comprises:

notifying said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals of said multiplicity of individual response behaviors of each of said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond;

profiling and qualifying said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond;

directing said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond to said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals; and

,

gathering a multiplicity of results regarding said multiplicity of customers and potential customers which respond from said multiplicity of sales responsibility individuals.