Methods and systems for identifying prospective customers and managing deals

• US 7,430,535 B2
• Filed: 04/18/2002
• Issued: 09/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: GE Capital US Holdings, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Capital Corporation (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: McCarthy, Kevin Michael, Dougherty, Karen Ann, Cheyns, Jannic Georges, Jonason, AnneMarie
• Primary Examiner(s): Fischer; Andrew J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Agwumezie; Charles C
• Application Number:
  US10/125,034
• Publication Number:
  US 20020169650A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,357 Days
• Field of Search: 705/50, 705/10, 705/38, 709/224
• US Class Current: 705/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A system including at least one computer configured as a server that contains a database of deal information, business rules, libraries and templates for deals for at least one business entity is provided. The system further includes at least one client system connected to the server through a network. The server is configured to prompt a user to create a deal, including identifying deal team members, notify members of the deal team of tasks to perform and milestones accomplished, receive documents relating to a deal from a client system that are submitted for approval by a user, and provide access to the deal documents through a client system for review and approval.

Claims

1. A method for managing a deal process using a server system coupled to a database and at least one client system, said method comprising:

identifying a prospective customer of a business entity based on prospect information already stored within the database;

creating a deal for the business entity to propose to the identified prospective customer, the proposed deal is specifically created and targeted by the business entity to the identified prospective customer and includes at least one of a loan, a lease, an equity stake, and a common equity;

creating a business profile including at least one of a web page and a portal customized for attracting the identified prospective customer to the proposed deal, wherein the at least one customized web page and portal includes a link to the proposed deal specifically created and targeted to the identified prospective customer, and wherein the at least one customized web page and portal is stored within the database;

displaying on the at least one client system for the prospective customer the at least one of the web page and portal customized for attracting the prospective customer to the proposed deal proposed by the business entity including purchasing at least one of a product and service offered by the business entity;

prompting a user associated with the business entity to create a deal and a deal library between the business entity and the prospective customer after the prospective customer has selected the proposed deal;

designating the prospective customer as a customer of the business entity, the deal created at the server representing a financial transaction between the customer and the business entity, the created deal library representing a portion of the database for storing documents created as part of the financial transaction;

prompting a user associated with the business entity to select a task and milestone template stored in the database for the created deal, each task and milestone template is associated with a specific type of deal and is programmed to recommend tasks and subtasks to be performed with corresponding milestones for completing the created deal;

assigning members to a deal team for the created deal between the business entity and the customer, the deal team members include users associated with the business entity who will perform the tasks for completing the deal;

prompting a user to schedule at least one meeting relating to a specific deal;

recording minutes from each meeting, wherein the minutes are stored in a deal library created for the specific deal such that an aggregate report of all meetings for a specific deal is generated;

notifying members of the deal team of tasks to be performed and milestones accomplished;

prompting a user associated with the business entity to attach a document to the created deal, select an approver and a delegate to approve the document, and submit the attached document for approval, wherein a list of predetermined approvers and delegates is displayed for the created deal to prompt the selection thereof; and

submitting for approval documents relating to the deal.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising generating at least one report including at least one of a deal pipeline report, a milestone progress summary report, a custom deal list report, a profile export report, and an origination export report.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to create a deal further comprises prompting a user to create at least one of a deal summary, a deal timeline, a deal menu, a deal workspace, a deal discussions area, a deal library, a deal profile, and a document approval summary.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to create a deal further comprises prompting a user to create a deal profile that is reconfigurable such that a permissioned user is enabled to select data fields displayed on a deal profile for at least one of a specific deal, a group of deals, a subdivision, a division, a business, and a group of businesses.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to create a deal further comprises prompting a deal team member to select another user to view and modify information relating to a deal designated as confidential.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to schedule at least one meeting further comprises:

providing a user with a meeting calendar such that the user can schedule at least one of a date, a time, a location, and a chairperson for at least one meeting relating to a specific deal; and

providing the user with a meeting summary such that the user can view meetings scheduled involving the user by at least one of a meeting date and a deal name.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to schedule at least one meeting further comprises prompting a user to manipulate default deal data for scheduling a meeting including manipulating at least one of a meeting start time, a conference room, a chairperson, a call-in-number, and a duration of meeting.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to schedule at least one meeting further comprises prompting an administrator to manage a sequence of scheduled meetings prior to finalizing a meeting schedule.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein prompting a user to schedule at least one meeting further comprises:

prompting a user to add new meeting information to a meeting calendar, and

prompting a user to modify existing meeting information in the meeting calendar, meeting information includes at least one of a type of meeting, a deal name, meeting start time, a conference room, a chairperson, a call-in-number, a duration of meeting, and documents associated with a meeting.

10. A method according to claim 1 wherein recording minutes from each meeting further comprises recording minutes from each meeting such that a user can search existing meeting minutes by at least one of a deal name, a company name, a last modified by user, a last modified date, a division, and a reviewer name.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein searching existing meeting minutes comprises:

entering data to be searched for including at least one of a deal name, a company name, a last modified by user, a last modified date, a division, and a reviewer name;

storing the search data; and

displaying search results in response to the search data wherein the search data is stored to facilitate navigation between the search data and the search results.

12. A method according to claim 1 wherein recording minutes from each meeting further comprises:

providing a user with a meeting minutes summary for all meetings for a specific deal including transaction information, deal team information, a meeting type, meeting minutes prepared by, meeting minutes reviewed by, a meeting minutes last modified date, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at the meeting;

prompting a user to create minutes for a specific meeting including at least one of deal status, division, reviewer name, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at the meeting; and

prompting a user to modify existing minutes from a specific meeting including at least one of deal status, division, reviewer name, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at the meeting.

13. A method according to claim 1 wherein recording minutes from each meeting further comprises prompting a user to add at least one of a task and a subtask to a task timeline, the task timeline includes at least one of a specific task, a specific subtask, a milestone, an owner, a customer request date, a current due date, an actual completion date, and a status of a deal.

14. A method according to claim 1 wherein said step of notifying members of a deal team further comprises the steps of:

providing a deal status to deal team members; and

prompting a user for feedback.

15. A method according to claim 1 wherein submitting for approval documents relating to the deal further comprises providing a user with a document approval summary that displays an approval status of each document submitted for approval for a specific deal.

16. A method according to claim 1 wherein submitting for approval documents relating to the deal further comprises:

providing access to documents relating to a specific deal for approval that may include compound documents; and

enabling a user designated to approve documents for a specific deal to view a document that may include compound documents.

17. A method according to claim 1 wherein submitting for approval documents relating to the deal further comprises:

providing access to documents relating to a specific deal for approval, the documents include a plurality of versions of at least one document; and

enabling a user designated to approve documents for a specific deal to select at least two versions of a document to be compared through a comparison function that visually displays differences between the selected document versions for document approval purposes.

18. A method according to claim 1 wherein submitting for approval documents relating to the deal further comprises:

enabling a user to attach a document to a specific deal such that the attached document is submitted for approval;

enabling the user to select an approver to review a document relating to a specific deal;

enabling the document approver to designate a delegate to review specific documents relating to a specific deal; and

notifying a specific user as to a status of a document submitted for approval.

19. A method according to claim 1 further comprising providing a plurality of authority levels for users managing a deal, the authority levels include at least one of a user, a manager, an administrator, and a Superadmin.

20. A computer apparatus comprising:

a user interface;

a database for storing data including prospect information; and

a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for;

prompting a user to create business profiles including identifying deal team members;

identifying a prospective customer of a business entity based on the prospect information already stored within the database;

creating a deal for the business entity to propose to the identified prospective customer, the proposed deal is specifically created and targeted by the business entity to the identified prospective customer and includes at least one of a loan, a lease, an equity stake, and a common equity;

creating at least one of a web page and a portal customized for attracting the identified prospective customer to the proposed deal, wherein the at least one customized web page and portal includes a link to the proposed deal specifically created and targeted to the identified prospective customer, and wherein the at least one customized web page and portal is stored within the database;

displaying on at least one client system for the prospective customer the at least one of the web page and portal customized for attracting the prospective customer to the proposed deal proposed by the business entity including purchasing at least one of a product and service offered by the business entity;

prompting a user associated with the business entity to create a deal and a deal library between the business entity and the prospective customer after the prospective customer has selected the proposed deal;

designating the prospective customer as a customer of the business entity, the deal created at a server system representing a financial transaction between the customer and the business entity, the created deal library representing a portion of the database for storing documents created as part of the financial transaction;

prompting a user associated with the business entity to select a task and milestone template stored in the database for the created deal, each task and milestone template is associated with a specific type of deal and is programmed to recommend tasks and subtasks to be performed with corresponding milestones for completing the created deal;

assigning members to a deal team for the created deal between the business entity and the customer, the deal team members include users associated with the business entity who will perform the tasks for completing the deal;

scheduling at least one meeting relating to a specific business deal including providing a meeting calendar to the user for scheduling at least one of a date, a time, a location, and a chairperson for at least one meeting relating to a specific deal;

storing minutes from each meeting in a deal library created for the specific deal to generate an aggregate report of all meetings for a specific deal for accessing, viewing and printing a meeting minutes report for a specific deal;

notifying members of a deal team of tasks to perform and milestones accomplished;

attaching a document to a specific deal and submitting the attached document for approval;

receiving documents relating to the deal for approval by an approver; and

providing access to the deal documents for approval by the approver.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for creating and storing a deal, including at least one of a deal summary, a deal workgroup, a deal timeline, a deal menu, a deal workspace, a deal discussions area, a deal library, a deal profile, a deal status, and a document approval summary.

22. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for creating a deal profile that is reconfigurable such that a permissioned user is enabled to select data fields displayed on a deal profile for at least one of a specific deal, a group of deals, a subdivision, a division, a business, and a group of businesses.

23. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for prompting a user to:

add new meeting information to a meeting calendar, and

modify existing meeting information in said meeting calendar, meeting information includes at least one of a type of meeting, a deal name, meeting start time, a conference room, a chairperson, a call-in-number, a duration of meeting, and documents associated with said meeting.

24. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for recording minutes from each meeting such that a user can search existing meeting minutes by at least one of a deal name, a company name, a last modified by user, a last modified date, a division, and a reviewer name.

25. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for providing a user with a meeting minutes summary for all meetings for a specific deal that includes transaction information, deal team information, a meeting type, meeting minutes prepared by, meeting minutes reviewed by, a meeting minutes last modified date, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at a meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at a meeting.

26. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for prompting a user to:

create minutes for a specific meeting including at least one of deal status, division, reviewer name, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at said meeting; and

modify existing minutes from a specific meeting including at least one of deal status, division, reviewer name, meeting attendees, meeting objectives, issues discussed at meeting, conclusions from meeting, and tasks assigned at said meeting.

27. Apparatus according to claim 20 further comprising a processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions for:

providing access to documents relating to a specific deal for approval, said documents include a plurality of versions of at least one document; and

enabling a user designated to approve documents for a specific deal to select at least two versions of a document to be compared through a comparison function that visually displays differences between the selected document versions for document approval purposes.