The present invention is directed to a system and method for facilitating the identification of potential sales targets by tracking and providing sales target and sales data in an interactive, unified, graphical and coded fashion. Currently there is no system or solution for sales associates traveling in the field to identify sales targets, and their sales potential, easily, interactively, graphically, and in a unified manner. For example, the specific structure and layout of the graphical user interface provides new functionality to the user and aids the user in quickly and efficiently:
Furthermore, currently there is no system or solution to effectively track sales target visits by sales associates traveling in the field or to track and determine sales effectiveness by associating sales visits to sales data. The system of the present invention provides a solution to this problem by providing an interactive and graphical view of sales visit information broken down by date or sales territory. The system also allows the user to filter the sales visit information by sales target(s) or sales associate(s). For example, the specific structure and layout of the graphical user interface provides new functionality to the user and aids the user in quickly and efficiently:
In one embodiment of the invention, the invention is comprised of: a graphical user interface having an image of a sales region for displaying on a screen; a processing system, the processing system programmed with instructions for executing on the processing system for: displaying on the sales region, a plurality of selectable icons representing the location of potential sales targets; dynamically displaying a first subset of the plurality of selectable icons in a first color, the first color representing sales potential in a first predetermined monetary range; dynamically displaying a second subset of the plurality of selectable icons in a second color, the second color representing sales potential in a second predetermined monetary range, the second predetermined monetary range being lower than the first predetermined monetary range; in response to a selection of a particular one of the plurality of selectable icons, displaying in a first location on the screen a first window; displaying in the first window a summary data region providing information relating to the sales target associated with the selected particular icon; displaying in the first window a sales data region; dynamically displaying in the sales data region sales data relating to the sales target associated with the selected particular icon.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the particular embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
In addition to the features mentioned above, other aspects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following descriptions of the drawings and exemplary embodiments, wherein like reference numerals across the several views refer to identical or equivalent features, and wherein:
The following detailed description of the example embodiments refers to the accompanying figures that form a part thereof. The detailed description provides explanations by way of exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be used having mechanical and electrical changes that incorporate the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.
In this embodiment, the system dynamically displays a first subset of the plurality of selectable icons in a first color, the first color representing sales potential in a first predetermined monetary range. For example, the first color may be green indicating those sales targets in green color have the highest sales potential (e.g., above $1,000,000). The system also dynamically displays a second subset of the plurality of selectable icons in a second color, the second color representing sales potential in a second predetermined monetary range (e.g., $500,000-$999,999), the second predetermined monetary range being lower than the first predetermined monetary range. It is appreciated that the system can be programmed to code the sales target icons based on various different monetary ranges representing sales potential of the sales targets. For example, a third color can be used to indicated sales targets with sales potentials between $100,000-$499,999. A fourth color can be used to indicate sales targets with sales potentials between $50,000-$99,999. A fifth color can be used to indicate sales targets with sales potential between $0-$49,999, etc.
The graphical user interface provides a unified view of potential sales targets that provides a sales associate traveling on the road with an easy to use, interactive, graphical interface that quickly shows sales target information through coded shapes and colors. The structure of the interface allows the sales associate to quickly identify potential sales targets, to quickly differentiate sales targets, and to determine quickly which targets have the most sales potential. The interface of the present invention also provides the ability to select each of the sales target icons to access more detailed information about each of the sales targets. The more detailed information is also provided according to a specifically structured interface as described below. As illustrated in
In response to selecting the sales potential filter factor, the system is adapted to display a plurality of selectable monetary ranges representing ranges of sales potential. In response to selecting a particular monetary range, the system is adapted to display on the sales region, only those sales targets with sales potential in the selected monetary range. For example, the system displays at least a first selectable range of sales potential (e.g., $1,000,000 and above) and a second selectable range of sales potential (e.g., $500,000 to $999,999). In response to selecting the first range of sales potential, the system will display, on the sales region of the graphical interface, only those sales targets that have a sales potential above $1,000,000.
The system preferably has a selectable reporting icon 17. In response to selecting the reporting icon, the system is adapted to display on the screen a reporting window having a plurality of locations for entering information about the selected sales target. Information entered or reported via these locations are stored in the system and the information is dynamically displayed on the image of the sales region and other locations of the graphical user interface as described below.
In one embodiment, the system is adapted to provide a color toggle feature 26 that assigns different colors to different sales associates. The system is adapted to display the sale target icons on the sales region screen in their assigned colors so that the user can easily ascertain from a quick glance the sales targets assigned to each selected sales associate. For example, if the user selects the name of a first sales associate and the name of a second sales associate from the list of sales associates, the system will filter the information and display, in a first color, all the sales targets associated with the first sales associate, and display, in a second color, all the sales targets associated with the second sales associate.
The system is also adapted to display in a second region in the first window a plurality of bar graphs 38, each of the plurality of bar graphs having first bar portion dynamically representing actual or estimated sales of a particular product line of a selected sales target and a second bar portion dynamically representing potential sales of the particular product line of the selected sales target. For the embodiment of
In the preferred embodiment, the circle graph is selectable by the user.
For example, the GPS devices in the mobile devices for each sales associate transmit location information to the processing system or server of the present invention. The processing system is programmed with instructions for executing on the processing system to: receive the location information sent from the global positioning devices; determine if the mobile devices are within a predetermined distance from one of the plurality of sales target locations; record the number of visits to each of the plurality of sales target locations; and associate one of the sales associates to each of the recorded number of visits (via Identification information sent with the GPS location information).
The system is adapted to display a graph on the graphical user interface, the graph having a first axis 54 for indicating the actual sales amounts for each of the plurality of sales target locations, a plurality of bars 56, each bar associated to one of the plurality of sales target locations. In this embodiment, each of the bars has a first portion 57 for representing the actual sales for each of the plurality of sales target locations for a predetermined time period and a second portion 58 for representing the potential sales for each of the plurality of sales target locations for a predetermined time period. The graph is also comprised of a line 60 perpendicular to the plurality of bars for representing the number of visits to each of the plurality of sales target locations. The system is adapted to dynamically display the plurality of bars and the line representing the number of visits to each of the plurality of sales target locations.
The plurality of bars are selectable, and wherein response to selecting a bar associated with a particular sales target location, the system is adapted to:
a. list the sales visits to the selected sales target location for a predetermined period of time,
b. display in a first region 62 the actual sales to the selected sales target location for a predetermined time period,
c. display in a second region 64 the potential sales to the particular sales target location selected for a predetermined time period.
In this embodiment, each of the sales associates can access the graphical user interface of the present invention on their mobile devices as they travel out in the field. Data can be sent to and from the CRM computing platform through the Internet and a Web server that acts as an intermediary between the mobile devices and the CRM platform. The CRM platform is used to store and process foundry data for use in the system. The CRM platform communicates with the ERP computing platform to obtain actual sales information for each of the sales targets for use in the system. It is understood that the CRM and SAP platforms can be run on a computer network or server system.
While certain embodiments of the present invention are described in detail above, the scope of the invention is not to be considered limited by such disclosure, and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention as evidenced by the following claims:
This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/475,972 filed Mar. 31, 2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully restated.
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20200082421 A1 | Mar 2020 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15475972 | Mar 2017 | US |
Child | 16688329 | US |