SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF ENHANCING LEADS

• US 20080109444A1
• Filed: 02/05/2007
• Published: 05/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Experian Marketing Solutions, LLC (Experian plc)
• Original Assignee: Experian Marketing Solutions Incorporated (Experian plc)
• Inventors: Williams, Richard, Hughes, Lawrence J., Panigrahi, Damodar, Kong, Jacob
• Granted Patent: US 7,752,236 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A lead enhancement module transmits to one or more data sources an enhancement list requesting additional data items associated with a lead record. The enhancement list may comprise one or more data bundles, each comprising indicators associated with one or more additional data items. A personalized data bundle may be created by each client listing those specific additional data items that the particular client would like to retrieve for lead records from the client. A default data bundle may be included in the enhancement list for clients that have not defined a personalized data bundle, or the default bundle may be included in the enhancement list in addition to the personalized data bundle. Various default bundles, such as vertical market specific data bundles, may be created and provided to the client for possible inclusion in the enhancement list.

Claims

1. A method of enhancing a lead record, the method comprising:

receiving a lead record from a client, the lead record comprising information regarding an individual;

determining a default data bundle associated with the lead record based at least partly on a vertical business market of the client, the default data bundle indicating one or more additional data items associated with the lead record that are to be retrieved from one or more data sources;

transmitting the default data bundle to the one or more data sources;

receiving from the one or more data sources at least some of the additional data items indicated in the default data bundle;

generating an enhanced lead record comprising at least a portion of the lead record received from the client and at least a portion of the additional data items received from the one or more data sources; and

transmitting the enhanced lead record to the client.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a personalized data bundle to be associated with the lead record, the personalized data bundle comprising indicators of one or more additional data items to be requested from one or more data sources, the indicators being selected by the client;

transmitting the personalized data bundle to the one or more data sources;

receiving from the one or more data sources at least some of the additional data items indicated in the personalized data bundle.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the personalized data bundle comprises indicators associated with additional data items that are not included in the default data bundle.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

modifying the default data bundle by performing one or more of;

adding additional indicators of data items to the default data bundle, and

removing additional indicators of data items from the default data bundle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying is performed in response to information received from the client.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying is performed in response to application of business rules to the received lead record.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein one or more indicators of data items are added to the default data bundle based on a geographic residence location indicated in the received lead record.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein one or more indicators of data items are added to the default data bundle based on one or more of a source of the lead record, in-the-market data associated with the lead record, a gender of an individual associated with the lead record, and an age of the individual associated with the lead record.

9. A method of enhancing a lead record, the method comprising:

receiving a lead record comprising information regarding an individual;

determining, based at least partly on one or more attributes associated with the lead record, one or more additional data item indicators to include on an enhancement list, the enhancement list being configured for transmission to one or more data sources;

receiving from the one or more data sources at least some of the additional data items corresponding to the indicators on the enhancement list; and

transmitting at least a portion of the additional data items to a requesting entity.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the requesting entity is a client.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the attributes comprise one or more of:

identification of the requesting entity, content of one or more data fields of the lead record, and information included in a header of the lead record.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the attributes comprise a vertical business market of the requesting entity such that the additional data items included on the enhancement list are relevant to entities in the vertical business market.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the attributes comprise a client identifier indicating the requesting entity from with the lead record was received such that the additional data items included on the enhancement list are associated with the particular requesting entity.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the lead record is received from the requesting entity.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the attributes comprise one or more of:

a contactability score of the lead record;

a geographic residence location indicated in the received lead record, a source of the lead record, in-the-market data associated with the lead record, a gender of an individual associated with the lead record, and an age of the individual associated with the lead record.

16. A computerized system for retrieving additional data items related to a received lead record in order to enhance an enhanced lead record that is returned to a requesting entity, the system comprising:

a data source comprising one or more additional data items associated with each of a plurality of individuals, the data source in data communication with a network;

a computing device comprising

a processing unit,

a storage device, and

an input/output interface in data communication with the network and configured to receive a lead record from the requesting entity;

an output bundling module configured to determine one or more additional data items to be requested from the data source, based at least partly on one or more attributes associated with the lead record, and to transmit a request for the determined additional data items to the data source via the input/output interface, the output bundling module further configured to receive one or more of the requested additional data items from the data source and to generate an enhanced lead record comprising at least some of the additional data items.

17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the network comprises the Internet.

18. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein indicators of the one or more additional data items are included in a data bundle that is selected by the output bundling module based at least partly on a vertical business market of the requesting entity.

19. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein indicators of the one or more additional data items are included in a data bundle that is customized by the requesting entity.

20. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein at least some of the additional data items to be requested from the data source are determined according to rules that are based at least partly upon an attribute of the received lead record.

21. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the attributes of the received lead record comprise one or more of:

a contactability score of the lead record, a geographic residence location indicated in the received lead record, a source of the lead record, in-the-market data associated with the lead record, a gender of an individual associated with the lead record, and an age of the individual associated with the lead record.

22. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the output bundling module is configured to receive inputs from the client indicating additional data items to be requested from the one or more data source.

23. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein indicators of the additional data items to be requested from the data source are included in a client data bundle that is selected by the output bundling module for all lead records received from the requesting entity.

24. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the additional data items requested from the data source comprise a customized data bundle that is selected by the output bundling module only for a current lead record.

25. The computerized system of claim 24, wherein the customized data bundle is received by the computing device with the lead record.

26. A system of enhancing a lead record, the system comprising:

means for receiving a lead record comprising information regarding an individual;

means for determining, based at least partly a vertical business market associated with a source of the lead record, indicators of one or more additional data items to include on an enhancement list, the enhancement list being configured for transmission to one or more data sources;

means for receiving from the one or more data sources at least some of the additional data items corresponding to the indicators on the enhancement list; and

means for transmitting at least a portion of the additional data items to the source of the lead record.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the additional data items comprise at least one of:

(1) additional information regarding the individual identified in the lead record, (2) information regarding a household of which the individual resides, (3) general information regarding individuals residing near the individual'"'"'s residence, and (4) information regarding individuals residing in one or more expanded geographical areas including the individual'"'"'s residence.