Lead management method and system, electronic device

Abstract

This application relates to the field of lead management technology, and discloses a lead management method, system, and electronic device. The method includes: using a lead status determination module to predict the target status of a target lead based on feature data of the target lead, or in response to receiving a status change request, determining the target status of the target lead carried in the status change request. The feature data includes: source information of the target lead, customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and historical follow-up information of the target lead; using a status verification module to determine whether the current status of the target lead is allowed to transition to the target status based on preset status transition rules; if it is determined that the current status is allowed to transition to the target status, verifying the target lead through a transition verification module; and if it is determined that the target lead is allowed to undergo status transition, executing a corresponding status transition operation on the target lead according to the target status through an execution module.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of clue management technology, specifically a clue management method and system, and an electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] In foreign trade scenarios, leads, as the initial entry point of the sales funnel, directly impact customer conversion and sales performance. Existing lead management systems typically use simple status fields (such as integers or strings) to identify the stage of a lead, allowing salespeople to change the status via dropdown selection or manual modification. However, these solutions lack constraints on status transition paths, allowing salespeople to directly change leads from any status to any other. For example, leads that have already converted into customers may be directly deleted, and leads associated with sales opportunities may be marked as invalid, leading to distorted sales funnel data. Furthermore, the system cannot technically prevent such illegal operations.

[0003] Furthermore, existing lead management systems typically do not validate leads, meaning they do not verify whether leads are allowed to undergo status transitions. This can lead to leads that have been associated with business opportunities being illegally marked as invalid, compromising the integrity of lead data and the execution of business rules.

[0004] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of the embodiments of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed embodiments, a brief summary is given below. This summary is not intended as a general commentary, nor is it intended to identify key / important components or describe the scope of protection of these embodiments, but rather as a prelude to the detailed description that follows.

[0006] This disclosure provides a clue management method, system, and electronic device, aiming to solve the problem that existing clue management systems lack a systematic verification mechanism for state changes, which easily leads to illegal state transitions.

[0007] In some embodiments, a lead management method is applicable to a lead management system, wherein the lead management system includes: a lead status determination module, a status verification module, a transfer verification module, and an execution module; the lead management method includes: predicting the target status of the target lead based on feature data of the target lead through the lead status determination module; or determining the target status of the target lead carried in the status change request in response to receiving a status change request, wherein the feature data includes: source information of the target lead, customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and historical follow-up information of the target lead; determining whether the current status of the target lead is allowed to transfer to the target status through the status verification module based on preset status transfer rules; verifying the target lead through the transfer verification module to determine whether the target lead is allowed to transfer status; and performing a corresponding status transfer operation on the target lead according to the target status through the execution module.

[0008] In some embodiments, a lead management system includes: a lead status determination module, configured to predict the target status of the target lead based on feature data of the target lead, or, in response to receiving a status change request, determine the target status of the target lead carried in the status change request, wherein the feature data includes: source information of the target lead, customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and historical follow-up information of the target lead; a status verification module, configured to determine whether the current status of the target lead is allowed to be transferred to the target status based on a preset status transition rule; a transfer verification module, configured to verify the target lead through the transfer verification module when it is determined that the current status is allowed to be transferred to the target status, and determine whether the target lead is allowed to undergo a status transition; and an execution module, configured to perform a corresponding status transition operation on the target lead according to the target status through the execution module when it is determined that the target lead is allowed to undergo a status transition.

[0009] In some embodiments, an electronic device includes: a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the aforementioned client resource processing method.

[0010] The lead management method, system, and electronic device provided in this disclosure predict the target state of a lead based on its characteristic data or obtain the target state carried in a state change request through a lead state determination module. Then, a state verification module performs a first-level verification of the legality of the transition between the current state and the target state of the lead based on preset state transition rules, filtering out illegal transition paths at the rule level. After passing the first-level verification, a transition verification module further verifies the lead to determine whether it meets the preconditions for state transition, implementing a second-level verification. Only when both levels of verification pass is the state transition operation executed by the execution module. This modular, layered verification architecture separates state transition rule verification from precondition verification, forming a dual systematic verification mechanism of rule constraints and condition verification. This technically blocks illegal state transitions and prevents business rules from becoming invalid and data from becoming chaotic due to business personnel arbitrarily changing lead states. It solves the problem that existing lead management systems lack a systematic verification mechanism for state changes, making them prone to illegal state transitions.

[0011] The above general description and the description below are exemplary and explanatory only, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0012] One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. These illustrations and drawings do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments. Elements having the same reference numerals in the drawings are shown as similar elements. The drawings are not to be scaled. And wherein: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clue management system provided in this embodiment of the disclosure; Figure 2 This is a clue state transition diagram provided in an embodiment of this disclosure; Figure 3 This is a state transition control flowchart provided in an embodiment of this disclosure; Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the clue management method provided in this embodiment of the disclosure; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the electronic device provided in the embodiments of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0013] To provide a more detailed understanding of the features and technical content of the embodiments of this disclosure, the implementation of the embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the embodiments of this disclosure. In the following technical description, for ease of explanation, several details are used to provide a full understanding of the disclosed embodiments. However, one or more embodiments may still be implemented without these details. In other cases, well-known structures and devices may be simplified in their depiction to simplify the drawings.

[0014] The terms "first," "second," etc., used in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this disclosure are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate for the embodiments of this disclosure described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion.

[0015] Unless otherwise stated, the term "multiple" means two or more.

[0016] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the character " / " indicates that the objects before and after it are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B means: A or B.

[0017] The term "and / or" describes an association between objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B means: A or B, or A and B.

[0018] The term "correspondence" can refer to an association or binding relationship. The correspondence between A and B means that there is an association or binding relationship between A and B.

[0019] To address the problems existing in related technologies, this disclosure provides a clue management system. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the clue management system provided in the embodiments of this disclosure, as shown below. Figure 1 As shown, the clue management system includes: The lead status determination module 101 is used to predict the target status of the target lead based on the feature data of the target lead, or to determine the target status of the target lead carried in the status change request in response to receiving a status change request, wherein the feature data includes: the source information of the target lead, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and the historical follow-up information of the target lead; For example, the status of a lead includes, but is not limited to, New, Following, Converted, Invalid, and Deleted.

[0020] It should be noted that the clue status determination module can perform both predicting the target status of the target clue and parsing the request. Specifically: On the one hand, the lead status determination module predicts the target state to which the lead should flow in the current state based on multi-dimensional feature data such as the source information of the target lead (e.g., exhibition channels, official website inquiries, third-party procurement platforms, etc.), the customer information of the corresponding customer (e.g., company size, industry category, registered region, main products, contact information, contact details), and historical follow-up information (e.g., content of each inquiry, number of follow-ups, time of the most recent follow-up, level of communication intention, number of quotation records), through a preset data standardization algorithm and state transition judgment algorithm.

[0021] Optionally, the feature data needs to be cleaned before entering the input clue status determination module. For example, suffixes should be removed from customer names, spaces and special characters should be removed from phone numbers, domain name suffixes should be extracted from email addresses, and instant messaging accounts should be standardized to ensure the input quality of the prediction model.

[0022] On the other hand, when a salesperson actively submits a status change request through the front-end interface, the lead status determination module can directly parse the target status carried in the status change request without triggering prediction logic.

[0023] By employing the two methods described above, both automated workflow and manual intervention scenarios can be accommodated.

[0024] The state verification module 102 is used to determine whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state based on a preset state transition rule; Optional, such as Figure 2 As shown, the legal transition paths between each state are as follows: (1) New to Follow-up: After a salesperson receives or assigns a lead, they begin to follow up and execute this transfer.

[0025] (2) New to Deleted: For obviously invalid or duplicate clues, the administrator can delete them directly.

[0026] (3) From follow-up to conversion: During the follow-up process, confirm the customer's intention and convert the lead into a formal customer.

[0027] (4) Follow-up has become invalid: If there is no progress after a long period of follow-up, mark the clue as invalid.

[0028] (5) Follow-up to deletion: Under certain conditions (such as when the customer explicitly refuses), the lead can be deleted.

[0029] (6) From expired to deleted: Once expired clues are confirmed, they can be finally deleted.

[0030] Illegal transfer paths include: leads that have already been converted cannot be deleted (the conversion must be revoked first); leads that have already been deleted cannot be operated on in any way; leads that have expired cannot be directly converted into customers (they must first be restored to being followed up).

[0031] Optionally, the preset state transition rules include the aforementioned legal transition paths and illegal transition paths. Then, the state verification module determines whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state based on the aforementioned legal transition paths and illegal transition paths.

[0032] Optionally, the aforementioned preset state transition rules are predefined by the system. Administrators can also customize state nodes and transition rules through a visual interface. Furthermore, different state transition rules can be configured for different product lines, enhancing the system's flexibility and adaptability.

[0033] The transition verification module 103 is used to verify the target clue and determine whether the target clue allows state transition when it is determined that the current state allows transition to the target state. Optionally, the transfer verification module is used to perform fine-grained verification of the target lead's preconditions, including but not limited to: (a) conversion operation verification—checking whether the required fields of the lead (company name, contact person, telephone / email) are complete; checking whether the lead is in the approval process; (b) invalidation operation verification—checking whether the lead is associated with an unclosed opportunity, and if so, prohibiting invalidation and prompting "This lead is associated with an opportunity, please process the opportunity first"; (c) deletion operation verification—checking whether the lead has been converted into a customer, and if so, prohibiting deletion.

[0034] The execution module 104 is used to perform a corresponding state transition operation on the target clue according to the target state when it is determined that the target clue allows state transition.

[0035] It should be noted that the execution module is responsible for executing the double-verified state transition request. Optionally, after confirming that the target clue allows for state transition, it performs the actual state update operation and persists the clue state change to the database.

[0036] The aforementioned lead management system predicts the target state of a lead based on its characteristic data using a lead state determination module, or obtains the target state carried in a state change request. Then, a state verification module performs a first-level check on the legality of the transition between the current and target states of the lead, based on preset state transition rules, filtering out illegal transition paths at the rule level. After passing the first-level check, a transition verification module further verifies the lead to determine if it meets the preconditions for state transition, implementing a second-level check. Only when both levels of verification pass is the state transition operation executed by the execution module. This modular, layered verification architecture separates state transition rule verification from precondition verification, forming a dual systematic verification mechanism of rule constraints and condition verification. This technically prevents illegal state transitions and avoids business rule failures and data chaos caused by business personnel arbitrarily changing lead states. It solves the problem of existing lead management systems lacking a systematic verification mechanism for state changes, which easily leads to illegal state transitions.

[0037] In an exemplary embodiment, the state verification module 102 is further configured to determine whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state based on a preset state transition rule in the following manner: obtaining a state transition table, wherein the state transition table records a set of target states that are allowed to transition to different states; the preset state transition rule is represented by the state transition table; determining the set of target states corresponding to the current state from the state transition table; and determining that the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state if the target state is located in the set of target states.

[0038] Optionally, legitimate transition paths between clue states can be stored and verified using a state transition table. The system encodes clue states into a limited set of states such as newly created, being followed up, converted, expired, and deleted, and encodes operations such as claiming, assigning, converting, expiring, deleting, restoring, and reversing conversion as transition events. The state transition table can record information such as the current state, triggering event, target state, and whether it is enabled. During system initialization, the state transition table is loaded into memory, and a state adjacency table is constructed according to the current state, so that each state corresponds to its set of allowed target states. When the state verification module performs clue state transition verification, it directly locates the corresponding set of target states based on the current state, and then determines whether the target state exists in that set.

[0039] Optionally, for scenarios with a fixed number of states, valid transition paths can be converted into state transition matrices or bitmap structures for rapid matching via state numbers. This eliminates the need for the state verification module to traverse all transition paths individually, improving verification efficiency for both single and batch leads.

[0040] For example, under the above storage method, legitimate transfer paths include: a newly created state can be transferred to "Following Up" or "Deleted"; a "Following Up" state can be transferred to "Converted," "Expired," or "Deleted"; an expired state can be transferred to "Deleted," or re-enter "Following Up" after restoration. Illegal transfers include: a converted state cannot be directly deleted; a deleted state cannot continue any transfer operations; and an expired state cannot be directly converted to a customer—it must first be restored to "Following Up" before conversion can be performed.

[0041] In an exemplary embodiment, the transition verification module further determines whether the target clue allows a state transition through the following methods one and two: Method 1: When the target status is a converted state, determine whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete and whether the target lead has a target tag. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete and the target lead does not have the target tag, determine that the target lead is allowed to undergo a status transition. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete or the target lead has the target tag, determine that the target lead is not allowed to undergo a status transition. The converted state indicates that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer. It should be noted that in this embodiment, when the target status is already converted, the transfer verification module performs precondition checks for the conversion operation. Specifically, the transfer verification module first checks the completeness of the customer information corresponding to the target lead, that is, it checks whether the required fields such as company name, contact person, telephone or email have been completely entered. If any required field is missing, it is determined that the customer information is incomplete and the status transfer is rejected. Secondly, the transfer verification module checks whether the target lead has a target tag. It should be noted that the target tag is a "under approval" lock mark set by the system for leads in the approval process. It is used to indicate that the lead has been submitted for conversion approval but has not yet received final approval. If this mark is detected, it means that the lead is in the approval lock period. In order to prevent data conflicts and duplicate operations during the approval period, the system will determine that the lead is not allowed to transfer its status. Only when the customer information is complete and the target lead does not carry the target tag will the transfer verification module confirm that the lead meets the conversion conditions and allow it to enter the converted state.

[0042] Method 2: If the target status is invalid, determine whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, whether the target lead has a target tag, and whether the target lead is associated with a business opportunity; if the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, the target lead does not have the target tag, and the target lead is not associated with a business opportunity, then the target lead is allowed to undergo a status transition; if the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete, or the target lead has the target tag, or the target lead is associated with a business opportunity, then the target lead is not allowed to undergo a status transition.

[0043] It should be noted that in this embodiment, when the target status is invalid, in order to ensure the compliance of the invalidation operation and business continuity, the transfer verification module will further verify whether the target lead has been associated with an unclosed business opportunity, in addition to verifying the integrity of the customer information and the existence of the target tag (i.e., the "under approval" lock mark), to avoid the loss of the traceability subject of the business opportunity associated with the lead due to the lead's sudden invalidation.

[0044] Specifically, if the transfer verification module determines that the customer information has missing required fields, or that the lead carries a target tag indicating that it is in an approval locked state, or that the lead is associated with a valid business opportunity, then the target lead is not allowed to be transferred to the expired state; only when the customer information is complete, does not have a target tag, and is not associated with any business opportunity can the transfer verification module determine that the lead is allowed to perform the expiration operation.

[0045] In an exemplary embodiment, the execution module can perform corresponding state transition operations on the target clue according to the target state through the following steps one to three: Step 1: When the target status is a converted status, calculate the similarity between the candidate customer corresponding to the target lead and each customer in the target customer resource pool, wherein the converted status is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer; Optionally, the execution module can standardize the candidate customer data corresponding to the target lead and the existing customer data in the target customer resource pool, including removing company name suffixes, cleaning up phone and email formats, and unifying instant messaging account formats. Then, it calculates the single-item similarity based on multiple dimensions such as customer name, contact person's phone number, email suffix, instant messaging account, main product keywords, and registration address, and sums them according to preset weights to obtain the comprehensive similarity, thereby identifying whether there are records in the target customer resource pool that have a similarity to the candidate customer exceeding a preset threshold.

[0046] Step Two: If a target customer in the target customer resource pool has a similarity greater than a preset similarity with the candidate customer, a first prompt message is displayed, indicating whether to add the target lead's information to the target customer's information. If an add instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the target customer's information. If a reject add instruction is received, a new customer is created in the target customer resource pool, and the target lead's information is added to the new customer's information. If a merge instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the information of a specified customer, where the merge instruction carries the identifier of the specified customer. If a postpone merge instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the target customer's information after a preset time, where the postpone merge instruction carries the preset time. In other words, in this embodiment, when a target customer with a similarity greater than a preset threshold is detected in the target customer resource pool, the execution module pauses the current conversion operation and pushes a first prompt message to the front end to guide the salesperson to confirm repeatedly. If an add instruction is received, the execution module merges the contact information, inquiry content, source information, and follow-up records of the target lead into the target customer and closes the current lead. If a reject add instruction is received, the execution module records the exclusion result and creates a new customer profile in the target customer resource pool. If a merge instruction is received, the execution module merges the lead information into the customer subject specified by the salesperson according to the specified customer identifier carried in the instruction. If a postpone merge instruction is received, the execution module performs a delay processing according to the preset time carried in the instruction, and automatically adds the lead information of the target lead to the target customer after the preset time is reached.

[0047] Step 3: If there is no target customer in the target customer resource pool whose similarity to the candidate customer is greater than the preset similarity, create a new customer in the target customer resource pool and add the lead information of the target lead to the information of the new customer.

[0048] In other words, in this embodiment, when there is no target customer in the target customer resource pool whose similarity to the candidate customer is greater than a preset threshold, the execution module determines that the current target lead has no risk of duplication, directly creates a new customer record in the target customer resource pool, and completely migrates the lead information of the target lead to the new customer file. At the same time, it generates the corresponding contact person, follow-up record and allocation reminder, and completes the conversion of the lead into a formal customer.

[0049] In other words, for the conversion of leads into customers, after the preconditions are verified, the execution module first performs a multi-dimensional similarity detection algorithm to determine whether the lead belongs to the same customer entity as existing customers in the customer pool. Optionally, the execution module first performs standardization processing on the lead data and existing customer data, including removing company suffixes from customer names, removing spaces and special characters from phone numbers, extracting domain suffixes from email addresses, standardizing instant messaging account formats, extracting keywords from main products, and splitting registration addresses by country or region, etc.

[0050] The execution module then calculates similarity across multiple feature dimensions, including customer name similarity, contact phone number similarity, email address suffix similarity, instant messaging account similarity, main product keyword similarity, and registration address similarity. Specifically, customer name similarity can be calculated using edit distance or word segmentation overlap; contact phone numbers and instant messaging accounts can be calculated using standardized exact matching or last-digit matching; email address suffixes can be calculated using domain name consistency; main product keywords can be calculated using keyword intersection ratio; and registration addresses can be calculated using hierarchical matching of country, region, and address text.

[0051] Optionally, the execution module can set weights according to the importance of different features and obtain the comprehensive similarity by weighted summation: Comprehensive similarity = Σ (single feature similarity × corresponding feature weight).

[0052] When the overall similarity exceeds a preset threshold, or when strong identifying features such as contact phone number, email address, or instant messaging account are matched, the execution module determines that the lead has a risk of duplication with an existing customer, suspends the conversion operation, and sends a forced merging prompt to the salesperson. The salesperson can choose "Merge to Existing Customer," in which case the execution module will merge the contact information, inquiry content, source information, and follow-up records from the lead into an existing customer and close the current lead; the salesperson can also choose "Still Create New Customer," in which case the execution module will record the exclusion results and continue to create new customers.

[0053] It should be noted that through the above-mentioned multi-dimensional feature extraction, standardization processing and weighted similarity calculation, the execution module can reduce the missed detection caused by misspellings, abbreviations or translation differences in customer names, and improve the accuracy of forced merging detection.

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, the execution module can add the lead information of the target lead to the information of the target customer in the following manner: perform a field-level comparison between the lead information of the target lead and the target information of the target customer to determine the set of conflicting fields between the lead information and the target information; if the priority of the target field information in the lead information is higher than the priority of the target field information in the target information, replace the target field information in the target information with the target field information in the lead information, wherein the target field is any field in the set of conflicting fields; the priority is determined according to the source priority and acquisition time of the information.

[0055] It should be noted that, in this embodiment, when the execution module merges target leads into target customers, it first performs a field-level comparison between the lead information and the target customer's target information, covering key business fields such as contact information, inquiry content, source channel, and follow-up records. It identifies and extracts a set of conflicting fields with discrepancies. Then, for each target field in this set, its credibility priority is calculated comprehensively based on two dimensions: data source priority (e.g., official channels, salesperson input, third-party procurement platforms, etc.) and information acquisition time. When it is determined that the priority of a field in the lead information is higher than the priority of the corresponding field in the target customer's existing information, the higher-priority field content from the lead information is used to replace the original field content in the target customer's information. This ensures that each field in the merged customer profile retains the data version with the highest credibility and timeliness.

[0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the execution module can also perform a corresponding state transition operation on the target lead based on the target state in the following manner: when the target state is a converted state or an expired state, add a target tag to the target lead and display a second prompt message, wherein the target tag is used to indicate that the target lead is under review, the second prompt message is used to indicate that the state transition operation is being reviewed, and the converted state is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer; when the state transition operation is approved, delete the target tag of the target lead and switch the state of the target lead to the target state.

[0057] It should be noted that in this embodiment, after a lead is submitted for conversion approval or invalidation approval, the execution module adds a "under approval" lock mark to the lead. As long as this lock mark exists, the execution module considers the lead to be awaiting approval and prohibits it from performing other status change operations such as conversion, invalidation, deletion, or restoration.

[0058] During the approval process, regardless of which entry point the salesperson uses to access the lead, the execution module will first check if the lead has a "Under Approval" lock tag. If this tag exists, the operation will be rejected, and a message will be displayed indicating that the lead is currently under approval and cannot be changed. The front-end interface disables related operation buttons as a prompt, while the back-end verification serves as the actual interception.

[0059] After approval, the execution module automatically processes the lead status based on the approval result: if approval is granted, the lead enters the converted or expired state; if approval is rejected, the lead reverts to the follow-up state. Simultaneously, the execution module removes the "Approving" lock mark, allowing the lead to resume normal flow.

[0060] In an exemplary embodiment, the lead management system further includes a recommendation module, which, after determining the target state of a target lead, predicts the probability of multiple sub-states of the target lead under the target state based on the lead source of the target lead, the lead type of the target lead, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the historical conversion information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and the historical follow-up information of the target lead; determines the target sub-state with the highest probability among the multiple sub-states, and recommends the target lead to enter the target sub-state.

[0061] In an exemplary embodiment, sub-states (such as "Initial Contact", "Requirement Confirmation", "Quotation Stage", "Negotiation Stage") can be defined under each main state (such as "Following Up"), forming a hierarchical state machine structure. The transitions between sub-states are also controlled by constraint rules, enabling more granular management of the follow-up process.

[0062] In one exemplary embodiment, an intelligent transfer recommendation mechanism is introduced. When the status changes, the recommendation module can calculate the conversion probability of the lead under different legal transfer paths based on the lead source, lead type, customer information of the customer corresponding to the lead, industry and geographical information of the corresponding customer, historical conversion information of the corresponding customer, and historical follow-up information of the lead, and recommend the optimal path within the allowed transfer range. For example, when a lead is identified as having high intent, high value, or a high historical conversion rate for similar leads, it can be recommended to move from the "New" status to the "Urgent Follow-up" sub-status; when the lead information is incomplete or the intent is unclear, it can be recommended to move to the "Information Completion" or "Initial Contact" sub-status. In an exemplary embodiment, the lead management system further includes a prompting module, configured to determine the target follow-up duration of the target lead in its current state based on the lead source of the target lead, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the business capability information of the follow-up salesperson corresponding to the target lead, and a reference follow-up duration, wherein the reference follow-up duration is the average follow-up duration of leads of the same type as the target lead in the current state; and to display a third prompt message when the duration of the target lead in its current state exceeds the target follow-up duration, wherein the third prompt message is used to remind the salesperson to change the status or to prompt the salesperson to increase the follow-up efforts.

[0063] In one exemplary embodiment, an abnormal dwell time detection mechanism is introduced. The prompting module can calculate a reasonable dwell threshold for each type of lead under different states based on the lead source, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the lead, the business capability information of the salesperson following up on the lead, and the reference follow-up time. This threshold is not a fixed number of days, but is dynamically calculated based on lead attributes and historical data. For example, the historical average dwell time of similar leads can be used as a base value, and then adjusted by combining factors such as lead intent level, customer value, and salesperson processing ability to obtain the current lead's state dwell threshold (i.e., the aforementioned target follow-up time).

[0064] When a lead's dwell time in a certain state exceeds a dynamic threshold, the alerting module determines that the lead's flow is abnormal and automatically triggers an alert, increases its follow-up priority, or suggests adjusting its state. For example, high-intent leads have a shorter reasonable dwell time, so the alerting module can trigger an expedited alert earlier; low-intent or long-cycle industry leads have a longer reasonable dwell time, so the alerting module will delay the alert accordingly.

[0065] It should be noted that this method can adaptively identify abnormal processes based on different clue characteristics, rather than simply using a fixed manual time limit.

[0066] For a better understanding, see Figure 3 The state transition control process of this application includes the following steps: Step S1: Receive Operation Request. Receive a status change request submitted by the salesperson. The request includes the target status and operation type (conversion, invalidation, deletion).

[0067] Step S2: State validity check. Query whether the transition from the current state to the target state is in the set of valid paths. If it is not in the valid path, reject the operation and return an error message indicating an invalid state transition.

[0068] Step S3: Precondition Validation. For valid status transition requests, further precondition validation is performed: (a) Conversion Operation Validation—Check if the required fields of the lead (company name, contact person, phone / email) are complete; check if the lead is already in the approval process; (b) Expiration Operation Validation—Check if the lead is associated with an unclosed opportunity. If so, expiration is prohibited and the message "This lead is associated with an opportunity. Please process the opportunity first" is displayed; (c) Deletion Operation Validation—Check if the lead has been converted into a customer. If it has been converted, deletion is prohibited.

[0069] Step S4: Forced Merge Detection. For conversion operations, after the preconditions are verified, a similarity match is automatically performed in the customer pool using the customer name as the keyword. If an existing customer record with a similarity exceeding the threshold (e.g., 0.85) is found, the conversion operation is paused, and a forced merge prompt is sent to the salesperson: "Suspected duplicate customer [XXX] detected. Merge to this customer?" The salesperson can choose to merge to an existing customer (merge the lead data into an existing customer and close the lead) or continue creating a new customer (confirm that it is not the same entity and continue creating a new customer).

[0070] Step S5: Lock Approval Status. Once a lead is submitted for conversion or invalidation approval, its status is locked to "Under Approval." During the approval period, no other status change operations are allowed on this lead, and related operation buttons are disabled on the front-end interface. Upon completion of the approval process, the lead is automatically moved to the target status (converted / invalidated if approved, reverting to "Follow-up" if rejected) and the lock is released.

[0071] Step S6: Perform state transition and recording. After all verifications pass, perform the actual state update operation, persist the clue state change to the database, and record the state change history (including operator, operation time, original state, target state, and operation reason) in the operation log table to support subsequent auditing and traceability.

[0072] It should be noted that another embodiment of this disclosure provides a clue management method, applicable to the above-described clue management system. Figure 4 This is a flowchart illustrating the clue management method provided in this embodiment, specifically including the following steps S401-S404: Step S401: The target status of the target clue is predicted based on the feature data of the target clue by the clue status determination module; or, in response to receiving a status change request, the target status of the target clue carried in the status change request is determined, wherein the feature data includes: the source information of the target clue, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target clue, and the historical follow-up information of the target clue. Step S402: The state verification module determines whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to be transferred to the target state based on the preset state transition rules. Step S403: If it is determined that the current state allows a transition to the target state, the target clue is verified by the transition verification module to determine whether the target clue allows a state transition. Step S403: If it is determined that the target clue allows for state transition, the execution module performs the corresponding state transition operation on the target clue according to the target state.

[0073] The aforementioned lead management method uses a lead status determination module to predict the target lead's status based on its characteristic data, or to obtain the target status carried in a status change request. Then, a status verification module performs a first-level verification of the legality of the transition between the target lead's current state and its target state based on preset state transition rules, filtering out illegal transition paths at the rule level. After passing the first-level verification, a transition verification module further verifies the target lead to determine if it meets the preconditions for state transition, implementing a second-level verification. Only when both levels of verification pass is the state transition operation executed by the execution module. This modular, layered verification architecture separates state transition rule verification from precondition verification, forming a dual systematic verification mechanism of rule constraints and condition verification. This technically prevents illegal state transitions and avoids business rule failures and data chaos caused by business personnel arbitrarily changing lead states. It solves the problem of existing lead management systems lacking a systematic verification mechanism for state changes, which easily leads to illegal state transitions.

[0074] In an exemplary embodiment, determining whether the current state of the target clue allows a transition to the target state based on a preset state transition rule includes the following steps S11-S13: Step S11: Obtain a state transition table, wherein the state transition table records a set of target states that are allowed to transition to different states; the preset state transition rules are represented by the state transition table. Step S12: Determine the set of target states corresponding to the current state from the state transition table. Step S13: If the target state is located in the target state set, determine that the current state of the target clue allows a transition to the target state.

[0075] It should be noted that the above steps S11-S13 are executed by the status verification module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, determining whether the target clue allows a state transition includes the following steps S21-S22: Step S21: When the target state is a converted state, determine whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, and determine whether the target lead has a target tag. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete and the target lead does not have the target tag, determine that the target lead is allowed to undergo a state transition. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete, or the target lead has the target tag, determine that the target lead is not allowed to undergo a state transition. The converted state indicates that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer. Step S22: If the target state is invalid, determine whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, whether the target lead has a target tag, and whether the target lead is associated with a business opportunity; if the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, the target lead does not have the target tag, and the target lead is not associated with a business opportunity, determine that the target lead is allowed to undergo a state transition; if the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete, or the target lead has the target tag, or the target lead is associated with a business opportunity, determine that the target lead is not allowed to undergo a state transition.

[0077] It should be noted that the above steps S21-S22 are executed by the transfer verification module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0078] In one embodiment, performing a corresponding state transition operation on the target clue according to the target state includes the following steps S31-S33: Step S31: When the target state is a converted state, calculate the similarity between the candidate customer corresponding to the target lead and each customer in the target customer resource pool, wherein the converted state is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer; Step S32: If a target customer in the target customer resource pool has a similarity greater than a preset similarity with the candidate customer, a first prompt message is displayed, wherein the prompt message indicates whether to add the lead information of the target lead to the information of the target customer; if an add instruction is received, the lead information of the target lead is added to the information of the target customer; if a reject add instruction is received, a new customer is created in the target customer resource pool, and the lead information of the target lead is added to the information of the new customer; if a merge instruction is received, the lead information of the target lead is added to the information of a specified customer, wherein the merge instruction carries the identifier of the specified customer; if a postpone merge instruction is received, after a preset time, the lead information of the target lead is added to the information of the target customer, wherein the postpone merge instruction carries the preset time. Step S33: If there is no target customer in the target customer resource pool whose similarity to the candidate customer is greater than the preset similarity, create a new customer in the target customer resource pool and add the lead information of the target lead to the information of the new customer.

[0079] It should be noted that the above steps S31-S33 are executed by the execution module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, adding the lead information of the target lead to the information of the target customer includes the following steps S41-S42: Step S41: Compare the lead information of the target lead with the target information of the target customer at the field level to determine the set of conflicting fields between the lead information and the target information; Step S42: If the priority of the target field information in the clue information is higher than the priority of the target field information in the target information, replace the target field information in the target information with the target field information in the clue information, wherein the target field is any field in the conflict field set; the priority is determined according to the source priority and acquisition time of the information.

[0081] It should be noted that the above steps S41-S42 are executed by the execution module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0082] In an exemplary embodiment, performing a corresponding state transition operation on the target clue according to the target state further includes the following steps S51-S52: Step S51: If the target status is a converted status or an expired status, add a target tag to the target lead and display a second prompt message, wherein the target tag is used to indicate that the target lead is under review, the second prompt message is used to indicate that the status transition operation is reviewed, and the converted status is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer. Step S52: If the state transition operation is approved, delete the target tag of the target clue and switch the state of the target clue to the target state.

[0083] It should be noted that the above steps S51-S52 are executed by the execution module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0084] In an exemplary embodiment, after determining the target status of the target clue, the method further includes the following steps S61-S62: Step S61: Based on the source of the target lead, the type of the target lead, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the historical conversion information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and the historical follow-up information of the target lead, predict the probability of multiple sub-states of the target lead under the target state; Step S62: Determine the target sub-state with the highest probability among the multiple sub-states, and recommend the target clue to enter the target sub-state.

[0085] It should be noted that steps S61-S62 above are executed by the recommendation module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0086] In an exemplary embodiment, the method further includes the following steps S71-S72: Step S71: Determine the target follow-up time for the target lead in the current state based on the lead source, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the business capability information of the follow-up salesperson corresponding to the target lead, and the reference follow-up time. The reference follow-up time is the average follow-up time of leads of the same type as the target lead in the current state. Step S72: If the duration of the target clue being in the current state is greater than the target follow-up duration, a third prompt message is displayed, wherein the third prompt message is used to remind the salesperson to change the state or to prompt the salesperson to increase the follow-up efforts.

[0087] It should be noted that the above steps S71-S72 are executed by the prompting module in the clue management system. The specific process has been explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0088] It should be noted that this application solves the technical problems of existing clue management lacking state constraints, pre-verification, and merging mechanisms, and achieves the following technical effects: (1) Ensure the integrity and consistency of clue data: strictly constrain state transition paths and prevent illegal state changes from a technical perspective.

[0089] (2) Reduce human error: The precondition verification engine automatically checks the necessary conditions before the operation is executed, avoiding salespersons from performing unreasonable operations due to negligence (such as directly invalidating leads with related business opportunities).

[0090] (3) Prevent duplicate customer creation: By performing forced merging detection in the conversion process, similarity matching and merging prompts are performed before customer creation to reduce the rate of duplicate customer creation.

[0091] (4) Avoid data conflicts during the approval period: The approval status locking mechanism ensures that the status of clues is not modified concurrently during the approval period and that the status flow is accurate after the approval is completed.

[0092] Combination Figure 5 As shown in the illustration, this disclosure also provides an electronic device for a thread management method, including a processor 500 and a memory 501. Optionally, the device may further include a communication interface 502 and a bus 503. The processor 500, communication interface 502, and memory 501 can communicate with each other via the bus 503. The communication interface 502 can be used for information transmission. The processor 500 can call logical instructions in the memory 501 to execute the thread management method of the above embodiments.

[0093] Furthermore, the logic instructions in the aforementioned memory 501 can be implemented as software functional units and, when sold or used as independent products, can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

[0094] The memory 501, as a computer-readable storage medium, can be used to store software programs and computer-executable programs, such as program instructions / modules corresponding to the methods in the embodiments of this disclosure. The processor 500 executes functional applications and data processing by running the program instructions / modules stored in the memory 501, thereby implementing the thread management method in the above embodiments.

[0095] The memory 501 may include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store the operating system and applications required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data created based on the use of the terminal device. Furthermore, the memory 501 may include high-speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory.

[0096] The foregoing description and accompanying drawings fully illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may include structural, logical, electrical, procedural, and other changes. The embodiments represent only possible variations. Individual components and functions are optional unless explicitly required, and the order of operation may vary. Parts and features of some embodiments may be included in or replace parts and features of other embodiments. Moreover, the terminology used in the embodiments of this disclosure is for descriptive purposes only and is not intended to limit the claims. As used in the description of the embodiments and claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to equally include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Similarly, the term “and / or” as used in the embodiments of this disclosure refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements. Additionally, when used in embodiments of this disclosure, the term "comprise" and its variations "comprises" and / or "comprising" refer to the presence of stated features, integrals, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integrals, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, or apparatus that includes said element. In this document, each embodiment may focus on the differences from other embodiments, and similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to mutually. For methods, products, etc., disclosed in the embodiments, if they correspond to the method section disclosed in the embodiments, then the relevant parts can be referred to the description of the method section.

[0097] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the embodiments of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

Claims

1. A clue management method, characterized in that, An application is made in a lead management system, wherein the lead management system includes: a lead status determination module, a status verification module, a transfer verification module, and an execution module; the lead management method includes: The target status determination module predicts the target status of the target clue based on the feature data of the target clue; or, in response to receiving a status change request, determines the target status of the target clue carried in the status change request, wherein the feature data includes: the source information of the target clue, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target clue, and the historical follow-up information of the target clue; The state verification module determines whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state based on preset state transition rules. If it is determined that the current state allows a transition to the target state, the target clue is verified by the transition verification module to determine whether the target clue allows a state transition. If it is determined that the target clue allows for state transition, the execution module performs the corresponding state transition operation on the target clue according to the target state.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining whether the current state of the target clue allows a transition to the target state based on preset state transition rules includes: Obtain a state transition table, wherein the state transition table records a set of target states that are allowed to transition to different states; the preset state transition rules are represented by the state transition table. Determine the set of target states corresponding to the current state from the state transition table. If the target state is located within the target state set, determine that the current state of the target clue allows a transition to the target state.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining whether the target clue allows a state transition includes: When the target status is a converted status, it is determined whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete and whether the target lead has a target tag. If it is determined that the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete and the target lead does not have the target tag, the target lead is allowed to undergo a status transition. If it is determined that the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete or the target lead has the target tag, the target lead is not allowed to undergo a status transition. The converted status indicates that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer. If the target state is invalid, determine whether the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, whether the target lead has a target tag, and whether the target lead is associated with a business opportunity. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is complete, the target lead does not have the target tag, and the target lead is not associated with a business opportunity, then the target lead is allowed to undergo a state transition. If the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead is incomplete, or the target lead has the target tag, or the target lead is associated with a business opportunity, then the target lead is not allowed to undergo a state transition.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Based on the target state, perform corresponding state transition operations on the target clue, including: When the target state is a converted state, the similarity between the candidate customer corresponding to the target lead and each customer in the target customer resource pool is calculated, wherein the converted state is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer; If a target customer in the target customer resource pool has a similarity greater than a preset similarity with a candidate customer, a first prompt message is displayed, indicating whether to add the target lead's information to the target customer's information. If an add instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the target customer's information. If a reject add instruction is received, a new customer is created in the target customer resource pool, and the target lead's information is added to the new customer's information. If a merge instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the information of a specified customer, where the merge instruction carries the identifier of the specified customer. If a postpone merge instruction is received, the target lead's information is added to the target customer's information after a preset time, where the postpone merge instruction carries the preset time. If no target customer in the target customer resource pool has a similarity greater than a preset similarity with the candidate customer, a new customer is created in the target customer resource pool, and the lead information of the target lead is added to the information of the new customer.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Adding the lead information of the target leads to the information of the target customer includes: The clue information of the target lead is compared with the target information of the target customer at the field level to determine the set of conflicting fields between the clue information and the target information; If the priority of the target field information in the clue information is higher than the priority of the target field information in the target information, the target field information in the clue information shall be used to replace the target field information in the target information, wherein the target field is any field in the conflict field set; the priority is determined according to the source priority and acquisition time of the information.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Based on the target state, perform corresponding state transition operations on the target clue, including: When the target status is either a converted status or an expired status, a target tag is added to the target lead and a second prompt message is displayed. The target tag is used to indicate that the target lead is under review, the second prompt message is used to indicate that the status transition operation is reviewed, and the converted status is used to indicate that the customer corresponding to the target lead has been converted from a candidate customer to a formal customer. If the state transition operation is approved, the target tag of the target clue is deleted, and the state of the target clue is switched to the target state.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After determining the target status of the target clue, the method further includes: Based on the source of the target lead, the type of the target lead, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the historical conversion information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and the historical follow-up information of the target lead, the probability of multiple sub-states of the target lead under the target state is predicted. The target sub-state with the highest probability among the multiple sub-states is determined, and the target clue is recommended to enter the target sub-state.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The target follow-up time for the target lead in the current state is determined based on the lead source, the industry and geographical information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, the business capability information of the salesperson following up on the target lead, and the reference follow-up time. The reference follow-up time is the average follow-up time for leads of the same type as the target lead in the current state. If the duration of the target lead being in the current state is greater than the target follow-up duration, a third prompt message is displayed, wherein the third prompt message is used to remind the salesperson to change the state or to remind the salesperson to increase the follow-up efforts.

9. A clue management system, characterized in that, include: The lead status determination module is used to predict the target status of the target lead based on the feature data of the target lead, or to determine the target status of the target lead carried in the status change request in response to the acquisition of a status change request, wherein the feature data includes: the source information of the target lead, the customer information of the customer corresponding to the target lead, and the historical follow-up information of the target lead; The state verification module is used to determine whether the current state of the target clue is allowed to transition to the target state based on preset state transition rules; The transition verification module is used to verify the target clue and determine whether the target clue allows state transition when it is determined that the current state allows transition to the target state. An execution module is used to perform a corresponding state transition operation on the target clue based on the target state when it is determined that the target clue allows for state transition.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: A processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the thread management method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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