SALES FORCE AUTOMATION AND METHOD

• US 20080109286A1
• Filed: 10/30/2007
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/1995
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SFA Systems LLC (f/k/a Triton IP, LLC) (Legacy Patent Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Triton IP LLC (Legacy Patent Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Lundberg, David, Johnson, Jerome, Krebsbach, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,516,088 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• 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 10/0637 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 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A salesforce automation system which integrates computerized, intelligent automated salesperson support for multiple phases of the sales process. Various subsystems may be provided to facilitate the sales process which may include pre-sales lead generation, maximize time spent with the customer, effectively manage an order, ensure customer satisfaction and retain the customer for future sales. Also provided to support the phases of the sales process are additional tools, integrated in the system. The additional tools may include self management subsystems, sales management subsystems and training subsystems.

Claims

1. A sales force automation system for submitting a purchase order in a sales process, comprising:

data component configured to store order requirements information, configuration information from proposals, and customer information;

communication component configured to support remote access communications with a back office system;

order management software module that retrieves data from the data component, the module being programmed to (i) check purchase order requirements based on order requirements information from the data component, (ii) retrieve configuration information from a proposal, (iii) retrieve customer information, and (iv) create a work session file used to manage information related to the purchase order; and

management module configured to detect a purchase order submittal process and instruct a module in a back office system to update a sales management forecast to reflect the purchase order submittal process, the management module being configured to operate even when disconnected from the back office system such that data to instruct the module in the back office system to update is placed in the communication component and automatically transmitted at a next connected session with the back office system.

2. The sales force automation system of claim 1 wherein the management module is configured to transmit information related to the purchase order via the communication component at the next connected session with the back office system.

3. The sales force automation system of claim 1 wherein the management module is configured to receive notification of an order acknowledgement from the back office system to complete the purchase order submission process.

4. The sales force automation system of claim 1 wherein the order management software module is programmed to access a customer module to complete customer information to be included in the purchase order.

5. The sales force automation system of claim 1 wherein the order management software module is programmed to prompt a user to enter any additional order information needed such as quantity, ship to, bill to, or special instructions for the purchase order.

6. A method for submitting a purchase order in a sales process, comprising steps of:

retrieving data for the purchase order from a data component of a sales force automation system, the data component having data developed and used in the sales process, including order requirements information, configuration information from proposals, and customer information;

generating the purchase order with the retrieved data by;

(i) checking purchase order requirements based on order requirements information from the data component, (ii) retrieving configuration information from a proposal, (iii) retrieve customer information, and (iv) creating a work session file used to manage information related to the purchase order;

detecting a purchase order submittal process;

placing data in a communication component to instruct a module in the back office system to update a sales management forecast to reflect the purchase order submittal process, the communication component being configured to support remote access communications between the sales force automation system and the back office system; and

automatically transmitting the data in the communication component at a next connected session between the sales force automation system and the back office system such that the sales force automation system operates properly even when disconnected from the back office system.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the placing step comprising placing data in the communication component related to inform the back office system of the purchase order such that the purchase order can be processed by the back office system.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising a step of receiving notification of an order acknowledgement from the back office system to complete the purchase order submission process.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the generating step comprises accessing a customer module to complete customer information to be included in the purchase order.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising a step of prompting a user to enter any additional order information needed such as quantity, ship to, bill to, or special instructions for the purchase order.