SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

• US 20120203584A1
• Filed: 02/07/2012
• Published: 08/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Leadspace Ltd. (American Express Company)
• Original Assignee: Leadspace Ltd. (American Express Company)
• Inventors: Mishor, Amnon, Bar-Haim, Roy, Shpin, Eyal
• Application Number:
  US13/367,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20120203584A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A system and method for identifying potential customers is provided. Information in a proprietary data repository of a company may be analyzed to thereby determine a first set of textual terms. Publicly available information related to the existing customer set may be analyzed to thereby determine a second set of textual terms. Terms in the first and second sets may be associated with scores. A customer profile may be generated based on the textual terms and associated scores. Potential customers may be identified based on the buyer profile. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A computer-based method performed by a processor comprising:

analyzing information contained in a proprietary data repository of a company, the information being related to an existing customer set of the company, to thereby determine a first set of textual terms;

analyzing publicly available information related to the existing customer set to thereby determine a second set of textual terms;

associating at least some of the textual terms in the first and second sets with scores;

constructing a customer profile based on at least some of the textual terms and scores associated therewith; and

identifying potential customers for the company based on the customer profile and based on publicly available information.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising ranking identified potential customers based on the customer profile and based on publicly available information related to the potential customers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second sets of textual terms characterize a prospective customer of the company.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein associating a textual term with a score comprises:

determining a plurality of categories and associating each of the categories with a respective category score;

associating a textual term with a category; and

associating the textual term with a score based on the category score associated with the category.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the categories are defined based on at least one of:

a business domain, a corporate entity, a job function, a job title, a seniority level within an organization, a service and a product.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the scores are associated with textual terms based at least on a frequency of appearance of the textual terms in the analyzed information.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising semantically analyzing information related to an existing customer to identify terms related to the business domain.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving a company name;

obtaining information related to a plurality of employees of the company;

using the customer profile and a matching function to associate the plurality of employees with a respective plurality of scores.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving an indication of at least one of:

a service and a product and providing a sorted list of potential buyers, wherein the sorted list is sorted according to scores calculated based on the customer profile and one of;

the service and the product.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising updating the customer profile based on information related to potential customers selected by a user.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising:

identifying a term in information related to a company'"'"'s existing customer;

determining a status of a business transaction related to the customer; and

associating the term with a score based on the business transaction.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein publicly available information includes personal profiles.

13. An article comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon instructions, that when executed on a computer, cause the computer to:

analyze information contained in a proprietary data repository of a company, the information being related to an existing customer set of the company, to thereby determine a first set of textual terms;

analyze publicly available information related to the existing customer set to thereby determine a second set of textual terms;

associate at least some of the textual terms in the first and second sets with scores;

construct a customer profile based on at least some of the textual terms and scores associated therewith; and

identify potential customers for the company based on the customer profile and based on publicly available information.

14. The article of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed further result in ranking identified potential customers based on the customer profile and based on publicly available information related to the potential customers.

15. The article of claim 13, wherein the first and second sets of textual terms characterize a prospective customer of the company.

16. The article of claim 13, wherein associating a textual term with a score comprises:

determining a plurality of categories and associating each of the categories with a respective category score;

associating a textual term with a category; and

associating the textual term with a score based on the category score associated with the category.

17. The article of claim 16, wherein the categories are defined based on at least one of:

a business domain, a corporate entity, a job function, a job title, a seniority level within an organization, a service and a product.

18. The article of claim 13, wherein the scores are associated with textual terms based at least on a frequency of appearance of the textual terms in the analyzed information.

19. The article of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed further result in semantically analyzing information related to an existing customer to identify terms related to the business domain.

20. The article of claim 13, wherein the instructions when executed further result in:

receiving a company name;

obtaining information related to a plurality of employees of the company;

using the customer profile and a matching function to associate the plurality of employees with a respective plurality of scores.