Method and system for referral management

• US 6,457,005 B1
• Filed: 12/29/1999
• Issued: 09/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hotjobs.com Ltd. (Randstad NV)
• Inventors: Torrey, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Metjahic, Safet
• Assistant Examiner(s): AL HASHEMI, SANA A
• Application Number:
  US09/474,379
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 707/5, 707/10, 707/102, 705/1, 725/116, 716/17, 379/357.03
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

The solicitation and management of referrals is facilitated by methods that record in a database the descriptions of opportunities and the terms under which referral fees will be paid to parties that refer resources for consideration. In one application, opportunities are employment openings and resources are potential employees. Parties may search the database to discover opportunities along with the related referral-fee information, and may submit a referral that includes information describing a resource for consideration to satisfy an opportunity described in the database. A subsequent trigger event, such as a referred person being hired, initiates activities that allow a referring party to receive the referral fees that are due under the terms that are recorded in the database.

Claims

1. A method for managing referrals that comprises:

(a) receiving an opportunity description and related referral-payment information, wherein the opportunity description describes an opportunity and wherein the referral-payment information represents terms for paying a resource-referral fee, and in response thereto,

(1) generating an opportunity identifier that uniquely identifies the opportunity, and

(2) recording in an opportunity database the opportunity description, the related referral-payment information and the opportunity identifier,

(b) receiving a search request and, in response thereto, providing information from the opportunity database that is obtained from the opportunity description and the related referral-payment information;

(c) accepting a referral that includes a resource description that describes a resource, and in response thereto,

(1) generating a referral identifier that uniquely identifies the referral, and

(2) recording in a referral database the resource description and the referral identifier; and

(d) receiving an indication that a trigger event has occurred with respect to the opportunity and the resource, and in response thereto,

(1) determining a referral fee according to the related referral-payment information, and

(2) generating information indicating that payment of the referral fee is due.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the opportunity is an employment opportunity and the resource is a potential employee.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the referral includes a resume and the method comprises extracting information from the resume to identify resource qualifications.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the referral-payment information includes indications of the referral fee, resource qualifications needed to satisfy the opportunity, and the trigger event.

5. A method according to claim 1 that comprises determining whether the referral satisfies one or more acceptance requirements, accepting the referral only if all acceptance requirements are satisfied, and rejecting the referral otherwise.

6. A method according to claim 1 that comprises generating in response to the trigger event an invoice for payment by an entity that is responsible for the opportunity.

7. A method according to claim 1 that receives the opportunity description, the search request, referral, and indication of the trigger event by way of a computer network.

8. A method according to claim 1 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the opportunity database and/or the referral database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

9. A method according to claim 8 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

10. A method for soliciting referrals that comprises:

(a) receiving an opportunity description and related referral-payment information, wherein the opportunity description describes an opportunity and wherein the referral-payment information represents terms for paying one or more resource-referral fees that vary according to one or more criteria, and in response thereto,

(1) generating an opportunity identifier that uniquely identifies the opportunity, and

(2) recording in an opportunity database the opportunity description, the related referral-payment information and the opportunity identifier; and

(b) receiving a search request and, in response thereto, providing information from the opportunity database that is obtained from the opportunity description and the related referral-payment information.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the one or more criteria are one or more characteristics of a party who refers a resource that may satisfy the opportunity.

12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

14. A method according to claim 12 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

15. A method according to claim 11 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein the employment history pertains to relevance between the opportunity and the party'"'"'s employment.

17. A method according to claim 15 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

18. A method according to claim 11 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

19. A method according to claim 18 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

20. A method according to claim 18 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.

21. A method according to claim 10 wherein the one or more criteria are one or more characteristics of a referred resource that may satisfy the opportunity.

22. A method according to claim 21 wherein the one or more characteristics include whether or not the resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource.

23. A method according to claim 21 wherein the one or more characteristics include measures of adequacy to satisfy the opportunity.

24. A method according to claim 10 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the opportunity database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

25. A method according to claim 24 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

26. A method for managing referrals that comprises:

(a) accepting a referral that identifies an opportunity and includes a resource description that describes a resource, and in response thereto,

(1) generating a referral identifier that uniquely identifies the referral, and

(2) recording in a referral database the resource description and the referral identifier; and

(b) receiving an indication that a trigger event has occurred with respect to the resource, and in response thereto,

(1) determining a referral fee according to a plurality of fees and one or more criteria, and

(2) generating information indicating that payment of the referral fee is due.

27. A method according to claim 26 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of the party, wherein the one or more criteria include the one or more characteristics of the party.

28. A method according to claim 27 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

29. A method according to claim 28 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

30. A method according to claim 28 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

31. A method according to claim 27 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

32. A method according to claim 31 wherein the employment history pertains to relevance between the opportunity and the party'"'"'s employment.

33. A method according to claim 31 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

34. A method according to claim 27 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

35. A method according to claim 34 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

36. A method according to claim 34 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.

37. A method according to claim 26 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of the resource, wherein the one or more criteria include one or more characteristics of the resource.

38. A method according to claim 37 wherein the one or more characteristics include whether or not the resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource by the party.

39. A method according to claim 37 wherein the one or more characteristics include measures of adequacy to satisfy the opportunity.

40. A method according to claim 26 that comprises receiving a search request and, in response, providing from the referral database representations of resource descriptions for those resources that satisfy one or more criteria.

41. A method according to claim 40 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of parties referring resources, wherein the one or more criteria include the one or more characteristics of the parties.

42. A method according to claim 41 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

43. A method according to claim 41 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

44. A method according to claim 41 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

45. A method according to claim 40 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of referred resources, wherein the one or more criteria include whether or not a respective resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource by the party.

46. A method according to claim 26 that comprises assigning a priority to a referral based on when that referral is accepted.

47. A method according to claim 46 that comprises identifying a recipient for the referral fee according to the highest priority of multiple referrals that referred the resource.

48. A method according to claim 26 that comprises checking information included in the referral to determine if the referral is complete and, in response to determining the referral is incomplete, subsequently accepting additional information that completes the referral and recording the additional information in the referral database.

49. A method according to claim 48 wherein the additional information is provided by a second party.

50. A method according to claim 26 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the referral database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

51. A method according to claim 50 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

52. A method for managing referrals that comprises:

receiving a referring-party description and related information, wherein the referring-party description describes a party and wherein the related information includes one or more characteristics of the party;

wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party;

generating a party identifier that uniquely identifies the party;

recording in a database the party description, the related information and the party identifier; and

providing to the party a representation of the party identifier.

53. A method according to claim 52 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

54. A method according to claim 52 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

55. A method according to claim 52 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

56. A method according to claim 55 wherein the employment history pertains to the party'"'"'s field of employment.

57. A method according to claim 55 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

58. A method according to claim 52 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of a referred resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

59. A method according to claim 58 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

60. A method according to claim 58 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.

61. A medium readable by a device and conveying a program of instructions for execution by the device to perform a method for managing referrals, wherein the method comprises:

(a) receiving an opportunity description and related referral-payment information, wherein the opportunity description describes an opportunity and wherein the referral-payment information represents terms for paying a resource-referral fee, and in response thereto,

(1) generating an opportunity identifier that uniquely identifies the opportunity, and

(2) recording in an opportunity database the opportunity description, the related referral-payment information and the opportunity identifier;

(b) receiving a search request and, in response thereto, providing information from the opportunity database that is obtained from the opportunity description and the related referral-payment information;

(c) accepting a referral that includes a resource description that describes a resource, and in response thereto,

(1) generating a referral identifier that uniquely identifies the referral, and

(2) recording in a referral database the resource description and the referral identifier; and

(d) receiving an indication that a trigger event has occurred with respect to the opportunity and the resource, and in response thereto,

(1) determining a referral fee according to the related referral payment information, and

(2) generating information indicating that payment of the referral fee is due.

62. A medium according to claim 61 wherein the opportunity is an employment opportunity and the resource is a potential employee.

63. A medium according to claim 62 wherein the referral includes a resume and the method comprises extracting information from the resume to identify resource qualifications.

64. A medium according to claim 61 wherein the referral-payment information includes indications of the referral fee, resource qualifications needed to satisfy the opportunity, and the trigger event.

65. A medium according to claim 61 that comprises determining whether the referral satisfies one or more acceptance requirements, accepting the referral only if all acceptance requirements are satisfied, and rejecting the referral otherwise.

66. A medium according to claim 61 that comprises generating in response to the trigger event an invoice for payment by an entity that is responsible for the opportunity.

67. A medium according to claim 61 that receives the opportunity description, the search request, referral, and indication of the trigger event by way of a computer network.

68. A medium according to claim 61 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the opportunity database and/or the referral database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

69. A medium according to claim 68 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

70. A medium readable by a device and conveying a program of instructions for execution by the device to perform a method for soliciting referrals, wherein the method comprises:

(a) receiving an opportunity description and related referral-payment information, wherein the opportunity description describes an opportunity and wherein the referral-payment information represents terms for paying one or more resource-referral fees that vary according to one or more criteria, and in response thereto,

(1) generating an opportunity identifier that uniquely identifies the opportunity, and

(2) recording in an opportunity database the opportunity description, the related referral-payment information and the opportunity identifier; and

(b) receiving a search request and, in response thereto, providing information from the opportunity database that is obtained from the opportunity description and the related referral-payment information.

71. A medium according to claim 70 wherein the one or more criteria are one or more characteristics of a party who refers a resource that may satisfy the opportunity.

72. A medium according to claim 71 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

73. A medium according to claim 72 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

74. A medium according to claim 72 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

75. A medium according to claim 71 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

76. A medium according to claim 75 wherein the employment history pertains to relevance between the opportunity and the party'"'"'s employment.

77. A medium according to claim 75 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

78. A medium according to claim 71 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

79. A medium according to claim 78 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

80. A medium according to claim 78 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.

81. A medium according to claim 70 wherein the one or more criteria are one or more characteristics of a referred resource that may satisfy the opportunity.

82. A medium according to claim 81 wherein the one or more characteristics include whether or not the resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource.

83. A medium according to claim 81 wherein the one or more characteristics include measures of adequacy to satisfy the opportunity.

84. A medium according to claim 70 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the opportunity database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

85. A medium according to claim 84 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

86. A medium readable by a device and conveying a program of instructions for execution by the device to perform a method for managing referrals, wherein the method comprises:

(a) accepting a referral that identifies an opportunity and includes a resource description that describes a resource, and in response thereto,

(1) generating a referral identifier that uniquely identifies the referral, and

(2) recording in a referral database the resource description and the referral identifier; and

(b) receiving an indication that a trigger event has occurred with respect to the resource, and in response thereto,

(1) determining a referral fee according to a plurality of fees and one or more criteria, and

(2) generating information indicating that payment of the referral fee is due.

87. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of the party, wherein the one or more criteria include the one or more characteristics of the party.

88. A medium according to claim 87 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

89. A medium according to claim 88 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

90. A medium according to claim 88 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

91. A medium according to claim 87 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

92. A medium according to claim 91 wherein the employment history pertains to relevance between the opportunity and the party'"'"'s employment.

93. A medium according to claim 91 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

94. A medium according to claim 87 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

95. A medium according to claim 94 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

96. A medium according to claim 94 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.

97. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of the resource, wherein the one or more criteria include one or more characteristics of the resource.

98. A medium according to claim 97 wherein the one or more characteristics include whether or not the resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource by the party.

99. A medium according to claim 97 wherein the one or more characteristics include measures of adequacy to satisfy the opportunity.

100. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises receiving a search request and, in response, providing from the referral database representations of resource descriptions for those resources that satisfy one or more criteria.

101. A medium according to claim 100 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of parties referring resources, wherein the one or more criteria include the one or more characteristics of the parties.

102. A medium according to claim 101 wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party.

103. A medium according to claim 101 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

104. A medium according to claim 101 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of the resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

105. A medium according to claim 100 that comprises recording information representing one or more characteristics of referred resources, wherein the one or more criteria include whether or not a respective resource or resource owner approves a referral of the resource by the party.

106. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises assigning a priority to a referral based on when that referral is accepted.

107. A medium according to claim 106 that comprises identifying a recipient for the referral fee according to the highest priority of multiple referrals that referred the resource.

108. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises checking information included in the referral to determine if the referral is complete and, in response to determining the referral is incomplete, subsequently accepting additional information that completes the referral and recording the additional information in the referral database.

109. A medium according to claim 108 wherein the additional information is provided by a second party.

110. A medium according to claim 86 that comprises:

obtaining resource information recorded in the referral database that identifies relationships between employers and employees; and

recording in a resource database one or more records that represent the resource information.

111. A medium according to claim 110 that comprises receiving a search request that identifies an employee or an employer and, in response thereto, providing information from the resource database that represents people who worked with or were associated with the employee or who worked at or for the employer.

112. A medium readable by a device and conveying a program of instructions for execution by the device to perform a method for managing referrals, wherein the method comprises:

receiving a referring-party description and related information, wherein the referring-party description describes a party and wherein the related information includes one or more characteristics of the party;

wherein the one or more characteristics are one or more measures of relevance of resources referred by the party;

generating a party identifier that uniquely identifies the party;

recording in a database the party description, the related information and the party identifier; and

providing to party a representation of the party identifier.

113. A medium according to claim 112 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that were accepted to satisfy opportunities.

114. A medium according to claim 112 wherein the one or more measures of relevance include statistics of resources referred by the party that passed one or more criteria for consideration to satisfy opportunities.

115. A medium according to claim 112 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to employment history of the party.

116. A medium according to claim 115 wherein the employment history pertains to the party'"'"'s field of employment.

117. A medium according to claim 115 wherein the employment history includes a measure of referral activity for the party.

118. A medium according to claim 112 wherein the one or more characteristics pertain to knowledge the party has of a referred resource that is based on one or more relationships that exist between the party and the resource.

119. A medium according to claim 118 wherein the one or more relationships are commercial relationships.

120. A medium according to claim 118 wherein the one or more relationships are personal non-commercial relationships.