Systems and methods to facilitate selling of products and services

Abstract

The system of the present invention provides systems and methods for selling goods and services on, over, through, and in conjunction with the Internet. The system receives session (clickstream) information on a customer's website session from the enterprise's website and may also receive customer information on the customer from the enterprise's CRM or eCRM system. The session information referred to comprises the goods or services the customer is searching and metadata about such search and the relevant products, such as the surfing pattern itself. The system determines from the received information, based on the interaction between matching rules created using the system by the enterprise and the system's matching engine, whether the customer is a candidate for assistance from a sales associate. The system creates and indexes information on available sales associates and their performance, selling capabilities and product expertise. The system further matches the customer with at least one sales associate, ideally the most appropriate sales associate, based on the customer, session, and sales profile associate information, and facilitates communication between the sales associate and the customer. Additionally, the system provides information on the customer, products or services the customer is interested in, and the collateral sales materials (both internal and external to the enterprise) and selling techniques to the sales associate based on the particular sales opportunity. The system facilitates communication between the sales associate and the customer on the basis of chat, voice over IP, email and the public switched telephone network, including the concept of bridging a chat session into a PSTN conference call during which call the sales associate and customer maintain a co-browsing session with regard to the opportunity over the Internet.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60 / 244,039, filed Oct. 26, 2000, which document is incorporated herein by this reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce, and more particularly to methods and systems to facilitate selling interactions that originate online. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Electronic commerce, or “e-commerce,” as it is commonly referred to, involves the sales of goods or services over, through or in conjunction with the Internet. Currently, e-commerce largely concerns the sale of goods or services that are relatively simple in terms of the product variability and complexity. Most e-commerce today derives from one of just a few categories of goods that meet this test of simplicity: books, compact discs, flowers and travel (mainly just airline seats). E-commerce is restricted to these categories of goods today largely be...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a system that allows accredited, experienced sales personnel to sell goods and services online through an online channel. The system provides a platform for these sales personnel to effectively sell complex products in real-time interactions with customers. It allows for live communication between the sales personnel and customer through instant messaging, phone calls, and video conferences. The system also monitors each sale and records information about the effective sales techniques and products being sold. It can be used in both online and offline environments and can be integrated with existing enterprise systems. The system dynamically matches sales personnel with customers based on various criteria to ensure the best match. Overall, the invention improves the online purchasing experience and increases revenue for enterprises."

Problems solved by technology

The complexity and variability of goods and services that sell online is increasing as greater numbers of enterprises of those goods seek to leverage the distributional efficiencies of the Internet.

The increase in the complexity and variability of goods and services requires an increase in the consultative nature of the sales experience for the customer.

However, as the enterprises seek to sell exotic, luxury travel packages, such as safaris to Africa or boat trips through the Amazonian Rainforest over the Internet, the variables and the complexity of the sales process increases dramatically.

The same type of complexity is inherent in the purchase of a variety of other goods and services including banking services (mortgages, retail banking, wealth planning), insurance services, electronics, luxury retail goods (fine watches, jewelry) and automobiles.

It is also frequently the case that a high-end shopper from a wealthy demographic is matched with a sales associate who, though otherwise skilled in the product to be sold, is mismatched with the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the buyer.

While a number of companies have extended existing call center technology into Internet sales environments in order to enable live voice or chat sessions with browsing customers, the Internet retail experience is still largely sterile and unsatisfying.

Rather, the current online interaction focuses on customer service rather than sales—a significant distinction as customer services personnel are not well-suited to closing sales.

However, few if any of these solutions facilitate meaningful, direct human interaction through the online channel.

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