System, method and computer program product for deriving commonalities among data entries

• US 8,799,327 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2010
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Davis, Mark Neil
• Primary Examiner(s): Chbouki, Tarek
• Application Number:
  US12/958,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20110246544A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,343 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/802
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24556 Aggregation; Duplicate elimination
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24558 Binary matching operations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2458 Special types of queries, e.g. statistical queries, fuzzy queries or distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/337 Profile generation, learning or modification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for deriving commonalities among data entries. These mechanisms and methods for deriving commonalities among data entries can identify characteristics that are known to be common to at least some data entries in addition to unknown characteristics that are common to data entries. The ability to identify common known and unknown characteristics among data entries may allow data entries to be grouped according to the identified common known and unknown characteristics.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing therein executable instructions configured to implement a method, the method comprising:

identifying from historical data detailing a plurality of customer interactions a plurality of successful sales, where each successful sale includes historical data indicating one or more customer interactions that resulted in the successful sale;

for each successful sale, deriving customer tactical information associated with the one or more customer interactions for the successful sale;

determining a count of a set of the successful sales that share common customer tactical information;

comparing the determined count to a predefined threshold number; and

when it is determined from the comparison that the determined count meets or exceeds the predefined threshold number, storing the common customer tactical information in a profile specific to the set of successful sales.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the set of successful sales is specific to an entity.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the set of successful sales each include a record in a database.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising computer code for identifying a database of businesses and individuals.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the set of successful sales is gathered by a first entity, and the database of businesses and individuals is gathered by a second entity.

6. The computer program product of claim 4, further comprising computer code for determining a subset of the database of businesses and individuals having the common customer tactical information.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the computer program product is operable such that the subset of the database of businesses and individuals are identified as being likely to be associated with the set of successful sales, based on the determination that the subset of the second set of data entries have the common customer tactical information.

8. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising computer code for returning the determined subset of the database of businesses and individuals.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein returning the determined subset of the database of businesses and individuals includes displaying the determined subset of the database of businesses and individuals.

10. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising identifying and returning contact information associated with the subset of the database of businesses and individuals having the common customer tactical information.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein each of the successful sales in the set includes a record, and the historical data indicating a successful sale is included in a field of each of the records.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein information stored in the profile is considered known as being associated with the set of successful sales.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the common customer tactical information includes a common line of business, a common location, a common company size, and a common revenue.

14. A method, comprising:

identifying from historical data detailing a plurality of customer interactions a plurality of successful sales, where each successful sale includes historical data indicating one or more customer interactions that resulted in the successful sale;

for each successful sale, deriving customer tactical information associated with the one or more customer interactions for the successful sale;

determining a count of a set of the successful sales that share common customer tactical information;

comparing the determined count to a predefined threshold number; and

when it is determined from the comparison that the determined count meets or exceeds the predefined threshold number, storing the common customer tactical information in a profile specific to the set of successful sales.

15. A system, comprising:

a processor for;

identifying from historical data detailing a plurality of customer interactions a plurality of successful sales, where each successful sale includes historical data indicating one or more customer interactions that resulted in the successful sale;

for each successful sale, deriving customer tactical information associated with the one or more customer interactions for the successful sale;

determining a count of a set of the successful sales that share common customer tactical information;

comparing the determined count to a predefined threshold number; and

when it is determined from the comparison that the determined count meets or exceeds the predefined threshold number, storing the common customer tactical information in a profile specific to the set of successful sales.

16. A method for transmitting code, comprising:

transmitting code to identify from historical data detailing a plurality of customer interactions a plurality of successful sales, where each successful sale includes historical data indicating one or more customer interactions that resulted in the successful sale;

transmitting code to derive, for each successful sale, customer tactical information associated with the one or more customer interactions for the successful sale, using a processor;

transmitting code to determine a count of a set of the successful sales that share common customer tactical information;

transmitting code to compare the determined count to a predefined threshold number; and

when it is determined from the comparison that the determined count meets or exceeds the predefined threshold number, transmitting code to store the common customer tactical information in a profile specific to the set of successful sales.