SYSTEMS AND METHODS RELATING TO A LEAD DISTRIBUTION ENGINE THAT ACCOMMODATES INTERNAL AND IMPORTED DESTINATION EXCLUSION RULES
First Claim
1. A method of distributing a business lead, wherein the business lead is received from a lead source and is distributed to a set of one or more destinations, the method comprising:
- receiving an offer of a business lead from a lead source;
identifying a set of candidate destinations for the lead;
selecting a first destination from the set of candidate destinations to receive the lead by;
(a) gathering data for each of the set of candidate destinations, wherein the data for each of the set of candidate destinations comprises;
a margin score indicative of a monetary profit or other benefit to be gained from distributing the lead to the destination, and a set of exclusion factors for a first distribution of the lead, wherein the exclusion factors are based on business preferences of at least one of;
the lead source, the candidate destination, and a system carrying out the method;
(b) determining a subset of the candidate destinations that remain eligible for receiving the lead after application of the exclusion factors;
(c) determining which one or more of the subset of candidate destinations is associated with the largest margin score; and
(d) selecting one destination associated with the largest margin score to receive the lead; and
distributing the lead to the selected destination.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Lead distribution systems and methods distribute consumer business leads received from lead sources for routing to one or more destinations that will use the lead and/or will forward the lead to another destination. The system identifies a set of most profitable destinations for each lead, while complying with business rules associated with the lead source and the destinations. For each lead, the system identifies a set of candidate destinations. The candidate destinations may include destinations for which the system has established exclusions, destinations for which the lead source has established exclusions, or both.
43 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of distributing a business lead, wherein the business lead is received from a lead source and is distributed to a set of one or more destinations, the method comprising:
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receiving an offer of a business lead from a lead source; identifying a set of candidate destinations for the lead; selecting a first destination from the set of candidate destinations to receive the lead by; (a) gathering data for each of the set of candidate destinations, wherein the data for each of the set of candidate destinations comprises;
a margin score indicative of a monetary profit or other benefit to be gained from distributing the lead to the destination, and a set of exclusion factors for a first distribution of the lead, wherein the exclusion factors are based on business preferences of at least one of;
the lead source, the candidate destination, and a system carrying out the method;(b) determining a subset of the candidate destinations that remain eligible for receiving the lead after application of the exclusion factors; (c) determining which one or more of the subset of candidate destinations is associated with the largest margin score; and (d) selecting one destination associated with the largest margin score to receive the lead; and distributing the lead to the selected destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A multiple lead distribution system that accepts consumer business leads from lead sources and that distributes the leads to a plurality of lead destinations, the system comprising:
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a registration system configured to store information from a lead source about business preferences of the lead source with regard to individual lead destinations; an interface system configured to receive a notification of a lead available for purchase from the lead source; a computer-readable storage medium configured to store information about lead destinations; a selection system that is configured to identify, from the information in the computer-readable storage medium and from the information about business preferences of the lead source, a set of one or more potential lead destinations for the lead, the selection system further configured to filter the set of one or more potential lead destinations for the lead, based at least in part on the information about the business preferences of the lead source stored by the registration system; and a lead fulfillment system configured to offer the lead for sale to the lead destinations in the filtered set. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of distributing a business lead about a potential automobile sale, wherein the business lead is received from a lead source and is distributed to a set of one or more destinations, the method comprising:
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receiving an offer of a business lead from a lead source, wherein the offer includes an indication of an automobile make and model of interest to a consumer and an indication of the consumer'"'"'s geographical location; identifying a set of candidate destinations that accept leads relating to the automobile make and model of interest; selecting a first destination from the set of candidate destinations to receive the business lead by; (a) gathering data for each of the set of candidate destinations, wherein the data for each of the set of candidate destinations pertains to a first distribution of the lead and comprises;
a margin score indicative of a monetary profit or other benefit to be gained from distributing the lead to the destination, information indicative of a geographical distance from the consumer'"'"'s geographical location, and a set of exclusion factors for a first distribution of the lead, wherein the exclusion factors are based on business preferences of at least one of;
the lead source, the candidate destination, and a system carrying out the method;(b) determining a subset of the candidate destinations that remain eligible for receiving the lead after application of the exclusion factors; (c) determining which one or more of the subset of candidate destinations is associated with the largest margin score; and (d) selecting one destination associated with the largest margin score to receive the business lead; determining if the lead source allows the lead to be distributed additional times, and, if the lead source allows the lead to be distributed one or more additional times, identifying one or more additional destinations for receiving the lead by; (e) revising the original candidate set to remove any destinations that has already been selected to receive the business lead; (f) updating the gathered data for each of the revised set of candidate destinations, if necessary, such that the data for each of the set of candidate destinations is applicable for a subsequent distribution of the lead and comprises;
a subsequent margin score indicative of a monetary profit or other benefit to be gained from a subsequent distribution of the lead to the destination, information indicative of the geographical distance from the consumer'"'"'s geographical location, and a subsequent set of blocking factors that are based on business preferences of at least one of;
the lead source, the candidate destination, and a system carrying out the method for the subsequent distribution of the lead;(g) carrying out (b)-(d) to select a subsequent destination for the business lead; and (h) repeating (e)-(g) to select as many destinations as are allowed by the business preferences of the lead source and the business preferences of the system carrying out the method. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of identifying destinations for a lead associated with a lead source, the method comprising:
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identifying a candidate set of lead destinations for the lead; maintaining an internal set of exclusion rules that, when applied to the candidate set of lead destinations, may eliminate some or all of the lead destinations from the candidate set; maintaining an imported set of exclusion rules received from the lead source and/or from at least one lead destination from the candidate set, wherein the imported set of exclusion rules, when applied to a candidate set of lead destinations, may eliminate some or all of the lead destinations from the candidate set; and filtering the candidate set of lead destinations for the lead according to a combined set of exclusion rules based on the internal set of exclusion rules and on the imported set of exclusion rules, wherein the imported set of exclusion rules may override a portion of the internal set of exclusion rules. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A multiple lead distribution system, comprising:
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a lead source interface module configured to receive an offer of a lead from a first lead source for distribution to one or more destinations; a selection system configured to filter a set of candidate destinations for the lead and to select a subset of the candidate destinations to which to distribute the lead; a first set of computer-readable storage configured to store a set of internal exclusion rules for use by the selection system in filtering sets of candidate destinations for the lead in accordance with business preferences of the multiple lead distribution system; a second set of computer-readable storage configured to store a set of imported exclusion rules, including a set of one or more imported exclusion rules received from the first lead source, wherein the selection system is further configured to use the imported exclusion rules from the first lead source to filter candidate destinations for leads received from the first lead source; a third set of computer-readable storage comprising imported exclusion rules received from destinations, including a set of one or more imported exclusion rules received from a first destination, wherein the selection system is further configured to use the imported exclusion rules from the first destination when the first destination is a member of the set of candidate destinations; and a lead fulfillment module for distributing the lead to the subset of destinations selected by the selection system in accordance with exclusion rules from the first repository, the second repository, and the third repository. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A lead distribution system that distributes leads received from a plurality of lead sources to a plurality of lead destinations, comprising:
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a first data repository that stores, among other types of data, data indicative of business rules of the lead distribution system pertaining to individual lead destinations, including a first lead destination; a second data repository that stores, among other types of data, data indicative of business rules of a lead source from which the lead distribution system receives leads, at least a portion of the business rules of the lead source pertaining to individual lead destinations, wherein the business rules of the lead source pertaining to a first lead destination and the business rules of the lead distribution system pertaining to the first lead destination may be different from one another; an interface system configured to receive a notification of a lead offered by a lead source for distribution by the lead distribution system; and a selection system that identifies a preferred set of lead destinations to which to distribute the lead, based at least in part on the data in the second repository pertaining to the first lead destination, in addition to or as an alternative to the data in the first repository pertaining to the first lead destination. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer-implemented lead distribution system that accepts business leads from lead sources for sale to lead destinations, the computer-implemented lead distribution system comprising:
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a lead distribution rule set that governs selection of a set of lead destinations to which to sell business leads; a lead source override rule set for at least one lead source that implements destination selection preferences of the lead source and that overrides some or all of the lead distribution rule set; and a destination selection module that selects, in accordance with the lead distribution rule set and the lead source override rule set, a set of lead destinations to which to sell a business lead accepted from the lead source, such that destination selection preferences of the lead source are implemented and such that additional sales options that are consistent with the lead source override rule set are also implemented. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A lead distribution system, comprising:
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a first lead distribution module which implements the lead distribution rules of a first lead distributor such that leads which are designated as being associated with the first lead distributor are distributed according to lead distribution rules of the first lead distributor; and a complementary lead distribution module that monitors the first lead distribution module to identify further distribution options for leads which are designated as being associated with the first lead distributor, wherein the further distribution options are not inconsistent with the lead distribution rules of the first lead distributor.
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36. A set of instructions stored on a computer readable medium for use by a general purpose computer, wherein the instructions direct the general purpose computer to:
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store a set of internal blocking rules; store a set of imported blocking rules for filtering a set of candidate lead brokers and/or lead users for leads from a lead source; and filter a set of candidate lead brokers and/or lead users for a lead from the lead source based on the internal blocking rules and the imported blocking rules, wherein the imported blocking rules may override a portion of the internal blocking rules. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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38. A system for identifying destinations for a lead associated with a lead source, the system comprising:
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means for maintaining a first set of blocking rules that, when applied to a candidate set of lead destinations, may eliminate some or all of the lead destinations from the candidate set; means for maintaining a second set of blocking rules for use in identifying destinations for leads associated with the lead source; means for identifying a candidate set of lead destinations for the lead associated with the lead source; and means for filtering the candidate set of lead destinations for the lead according to a combined set of blocking rules based on the first set of blocking rules and on the second set of blocking rules, wherein the second set of blocking rules may override a portion of the first set of blocking rules.
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Specification