Framework for processing sales transaction data

• US 7,925,513 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2001
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Inventors: Gharavy, Shari, Zhou, Cheng, Toub, Joshua, Chao, David, Erickson, Charles, Blount, Brian
• Primary Examiner(s): Fadok; Mark
• Application Number:
  US09/809,991
• Publication Number:
  US 20020169678A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,680 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/1, 705/4
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06398 Performance of employee with respect to a job function
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A framework that enables financial services companies to manage and track information about a sales force is provided. The framework includes object models for managing distributors information, for validating and tracking licenses and credentials, for creating customized contracts, and for maintaining compensation structures. The framework allows for configuring compensations, providing financial services companies a toolkit for creating and modeling their complex commission schedules used to compensate their sales force. The framework also provides modeling tools for agreements and contracts between a financial services company or provider and the distributors who sell their products. The framework has a multi-component architecture comprising multiple modules, multiple data processing engines, a backbone and multiple data sources. The processing modules carry out information processing using one or more data processing engines. The data processing provides the tools to fetch data from the databases and process it.

Claims

1. A system for managing relationships between a product provider and distributors of said product comprising:

at least one processor;

memory coupled to said at least one processor; and

said memory including code stored therein and executable by said at least one processor for management of relationships between a product provider and a plurality of distributors;

said code comprising first code to create, for each distributor of a plurality of distributors, a customized contract between the distributor and a product provider, wherein the first code is configured to be executable by the processor and assembles at least a portion of the customized contract from contract components in accordance with a set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components and the relationships define how to combine a plurality of the contract components into the customized contract between each of the distributors and the product provider, and the contract components include a compensation component that includes information for compensating the distributor;

said code comprising second code to manage said plurality of distributors of said product provider;

said code comprising third code to manage sales of products of said product provider by said distributors; and

said code comprising fourth code to manage compensation of said distributors based on said sales of said products.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said product of said product provider is an insurance policy.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said code further comprises fifth code to manage debts of said plurality of distributors.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said code further comprises fifth code to manage payment of said plurality of distributors.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein to manage said plurality of distributors comprises managing information necessary to maintain contact with said plurality of distributors.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of distributors are arranged in a sales team hierarchy, and each distributor in said sales team hierarchy may receive compensation for sales by other members of said sales team hierarchy.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said code further comprises fifth code to record transactional activities relating to compensation and debt of said plurality of distributors.

22. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of object modules further comprises means for validating and tracking regulatory licensing data associated with at least a subset of said plurality of distributors.

23. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of object modules further comprises means for operatively linking agreements between a second plurality of distributors and a second product provider and at least one of the agreements between the plurality of distributors and the product provider.

29. The system of claim 1 wherein the first code is further configured to be executable by the processor and assemble the customized contract in accordance with the set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components.

8. A method for using a computer system to process data and code to manage relationships between a product provider and distributors of said product comprising:

creating, for each distributor of a plurality of distributors, a customized contract between the distributor and a product provider using electronically accessible data and code governing management of at least portions of the data and code, wherein the code is configured to be executable by a processor and assembles at least a portion of the customized contract from contract components in accordance with a set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components and the relationships define how to combine a plurality of the contract components into the customized contract between each of the distributors and the product provider, and the contract components include a compensation component that includes information for compensating the distributor;

processing at least a portion of the data and code to manage said first plurality of distributors of said product provider in accordance with first programmed rules;

processing at least a portion of the data and code to manage sales of products of said product provider by said first distributors; and

processing at least a portion of the data and code to manage compensation of said first distributors based on said sales of said products in accordance with second programmed rules.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said product of said product provider is an insurance policy.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing at least a portion of the data and code to manage debts of said plurality of distributors.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising processing at least a portion of the data and code to manage payment of said first plurality of distributors.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein processing said data and code to manage said first plurality of distributors comprises managing information necessary to maintain contact with said plurality of distributors.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein said plurality of distributors are arranged in a sales team hierarchy, and each distributor in said sales team hierarchy may receive compensation for sales by other members of said sales team hierarchy.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising recording transactional activities relating to compensation and debt of said plurality of distributors.

24. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

representing second agreements between a second plurality of distributors and a second product provider using electronically accessible data and code governing management of at least portions of the data and code; and

operatively linking at least one of said first agreements to at least one of said second agreements to allow distribution credits to be allocated among the first and second plurality of distributors for transactions related to either of the first and second agreements.

25. The method of claim 8 wherein the data includes regulatory licensing data associated with at least a portion of said first plurality of distributors, the method further comprising:

processing at least a portion of the data and code to validate and track the regulatory licensing data.

30. The method of claim 8 wherein the code is further configured to be executable by the processor and assemble the customized contract in accordance with the set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components.

15. A computer program product:

a computer usable medium comprising computer readable code for managing relationships between a product provider and distributors of said product, said computer readable program code configured to;

create, for each distributor of a plurality of distributors, a customized contract between the distributor and a product provider;

manage said plurality of distributors of said product provider, wherein the code to create the customized contract is configured to be executable by a processor and assembles at least a portion of the customized contract from contract components in accordance with a set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components and the relationships define how to combine a plurality of the contract components into the customized contract between each of the distributors and the product provider, and the contract components include a compensation component that includes information for compensating the distributor;

manage sales of products of said product provider by said distributors; and

manage compensation of said distributors based on said sales of said products.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said product of said product provider is an insurance policy.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising code to manage debts of said plurality of distributors.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising code to payment of said plurality of distributors.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said code to manage the plurality of distributors comprises code to manage information necessary to maintain contact with said plurality of distributors.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said plurality of distributors are arranged in a sales team hierarchy, and each distributor in said sales team hierarchy may receive compensation for sales by other members of said sales team hierarchy.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising a plurality of objects for recording transactional activities relating to compensation and debt of said plurality of distributors.

26. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the code is further configured to operatively link agreements between a second plurality of distributors and a second product provider and at least one of the agreements between the plurality of distributors and the product provider.

27. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer readable program code is further configured to validate and track regulatory licensing data associated with at least a subset of said plurality of distributors.

28. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer readable program code is implemented using object modules.

31. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the code is further configured to be executable by the processor and assemble the customized contract in accordance with the set of pre-stored, predetermined rules that govern relationships between contract components.