Method for handling inquiry of user to company

Abstract

To provide a method for shifting to a business negotiation smoothly from an inquiry from a user.SOLUTION: In a system in which a server terminal, a plurality of user terminals, and a plurality of company terminals are connected together by a network, a method for handling an inquiry of a user to a company includes the steps in which: a control unit of a server terminal receives an inquiry input from a user terminal of an inquiry manager, allocates a sales representative of the company on the basis of the information in the inquiry input, and adjust the meeting of the sales representative and a person in charge of inquiries.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for processing user inquiries for a business. [Background technology]

[0002] Nowadays, users (including companies) who are interested in products or services provided by a company approach the company by entering the details of their inquiry through an inquiry form or the like provided on the company's web page.

[0003] In order to efficiently respond to such inquiries, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an inquiry support method for automatically generating a response sentence based on an inquiry. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-22211 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, although the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 discloses a method for efficiently responding to inquiries, issues remain such that after a user makes an inquiry, a so-called "Thanks page" with no particular information is displayed, or even if documents are sent, they do not contain the desired information about the product or service, or even if a phone call is made, the user does not know who is on the other end, making it difficult to smoothly move on to a business negotiation after the inquiry.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for smoothly transitioning from an inquiry from a user to a business negotiation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one aspect of the present invention, a method for processing a user inquiry to a company, wherein a control unit of a server terminal accepts an inquiry input from a user terminal of a person making the inquiry, assigns a sales representative of the company based on information contained in the inquiry input, and coordinates a meeting between the assigned sales representative and the person making the inquiry. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for smoothly transitioning from an inquiry from a user to a business negotiation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an inquiry response system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a functional block diagram showing the server terminal 100 of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 2 is a functional block diagram showing a user terminal 200 of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of user data stored in the server 100. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of company data stored in a server 100. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of meeting data stored in the server 100. [Figure 7] 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for processing a user inquiry for a business according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a more specific example of a method for processing a user's inquiry to a company according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 13 shows an example of a screen displayed on a user terminal after an inquiry according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below does not unduly limit the contents of the present invention described in the claims. Furthermore, not all of the components shown in the embodiment are necessarily essential components of the present invention.

[0011] <Configuration> FIG. 1 shows a method for processing a user's inquiry to a business according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system for executing the above. The present system 1 includes a server terminal 100 that accepts information included in an inquiry input by an inquiring user (including a company with a predetermined number of employees) via an inquiry form for inquiries included in a webpage provided by a company performing sales activities, assigns a sales representative of the company based on the information included in the inquiry, and arranges a meeting for business negotiation between the inquiring user and the sales representative, user terminals 200A and 200B managed by the inquiring user, and company terminals 300A and 300B managed by the company performing sales activities, providing a webpage including an inquiry form to the user terminals 200A and 200B. In addition, although not shown, the present system 1 may include one or more company terminals that manage information referenced when the server terminal 100 is executed to assign sales representatives and arrange meetings, and the server terminal 100 can also cooperate with applications provided by these company terminals (for example, a calendar application, a customer management application, etc.) via API. Here, the server terminal 100 provides the company terminal 300 with tag information (e.g., a Javscript tag) to be embedded in the web page provided by the company terminal 300, and the company terminal 300 embeds the Javscript tag in the inquiry form and the inquiry form input completion page (so-called "Thanks page") of the web page, and upon completion of the inquiry form, predetermined information among the information input by the inquiring user in the inquiry form is transmitted to the server terminal 100, and the server terminal 100 can determine candidate times for a meeting for business negotiation based on the received information and transmit the candidate dates and times to the company terminal 300. Note that, for convenience of explanation, each terminal is described as being a single terminal or a specific number of terminals, but the number of each is not limited.

[0012] The server terminal 100, the user terminals 200A and 200B, and the company terminals 300A and 300B are each connected via a network NW1. The network NW is configured by the Internet, an intranet, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the like.

[0013] The server terminal 100 and the enterprise terminals 300A, 300B may be, for example, general-purpose computers such as workstations or personal computers, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0014] The user terminals 200A and 200B are, for example, information processing devices such as personal computers and tablet terminals, but may also be configured as smartphones, mobile phones, PDAs, or the like.

[0015] In this embodiment, the system 1 is described as having a configuration including a server terminal 100, user terminals 200A, 200B, and corporate terminals 300A, 300B, and users of each terminal use their respective terminals to operate the server terminal 100, but the server terminal 100 may be configured as a stand-alone system, and the server terminal itself may have a function for each user to directly operate it. Hereinafter, the user terminals 200A, 200B will be collectively referred to as user terminal 200, and the corporate terminals 300A, 300B will be collectively referred to as corporate terminal 300, as necessary.

[0016] Fig. 2 is a functional block configuration diagram of the server terminal 100 of Fig. 1. The server terminal 100 includes a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit .

[0017] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for communicating with the user terminal 200 and the company terminal 300 via the network NW1, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).

[0018] The storage unit 120 stores programs for executing various control processes and various functions in the control unit 130, input data, etc., and is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The storage unit 120 also has a user data storage unit 121 that stores various data related to the inquiring user, a company data storage unit 122 that stores various data related to the company conducting sales activities, and a meeting data storage unit 123 that stores various information necessary for meetings for business negotiations between the company and the inquiring user. A database (not shown) storing various data may be constructed outside the storage unit 120 or the server terminal 100.

[0019] The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the server terminal 100 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 120, and is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. The functions of the control unit 130 include an information receiving unit 131 that receives information from each terminal, a user information processing unit 132 that refers to and processes various data related to the inquiring user, a company information processing unit 133 that refers to and processes various data related to a company that performs sales activities, and a meeting processing unit 134 that refers to and processes various data related to a meeting for business negotiation between the company and the inquiring user. The information receiving unit 131, the user information processing unit 132, the company information processing unit 133, and the meeting processing unit 134 are started by a program stored in the storage unit 120 and executed by the server terminal 100, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

[0020] The information receiving unit 131 receives information from the user terminal 200 and / or the company terminal 300 via the communication unit 110. For example, from the user terminal 200, information related to an inquiry to a company input by an inquiring user via an inquiry form or the like is received.

[0021] The user information processing unit 132 refers to various data relating to the user received from the user terminal 200 (for example, user data 1000, which will be described later) and performs a predetermined process.

[0022] The company information processing unit 133 refers to various data relating to the company received from the company terminal 300 (for example, company data 2000, described later) and performs a predetermined process.

[0023] The meeting processing unit 134 performs processing such as arranging a meeting based on the information related to the inquiry received from the user and the information related to the company.

[0024] The control unit 130 may also have a screen generation unit (not shown), which generates screen information to be displayed via the user interface of the user terminal 200 upon request. For example, using image and text data (not shown) stored in the storage unit 120 as material, the control unit 130 generates a user interface by arranging various images and text in predetermined areas of the user interface based on predetermined layout rules. Processing related to the image generation unit may also be executed by a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0025] Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the user terminal 200 of Fig. 1. The user terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210, a display operation unit 220, a storage unit 230, and a control unit 240.

[0026] The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for communicating with the server terminal 100 via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP.

[0027] The display operation unit 220 is a user interface used for inputting instructions by the provider and displaying text, images, etc. according to input data from the control unit 240, and is composed of a display, keyboard, and mouse when the user terminal 200 is configured as a personal computer, and is composed of a touch panel, etc. when the user terminal 200 is configured as a smartphone or tablet terminal. This display operation unit 220 is started up by a control program stored in the storage unit 230 and executed by the user terminal 200, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

[0028] The storage unit 230 stores programs for executing various control processes and functions in the control unit 240, input data, etc., and is composed of a RAM, a ROM, etc. The storage unit 230 also temporarily stores the contents of communication with the server terminal 100.

[0029] The control unit 240 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 200 by executing the programs stored in the storage unit 230, and is composed of a CPU, a GPU, and the like.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of user data stored in the server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0031] The user data 1000 shown in Fig. 4 stores various data related to the inquiring user. For convenience of explanation, Fig. 4 shows an example of one user (a user identified by a user ID "10001"), but information on multiple users can be stored. The various data related to the user can include, but is not limited to, basic information about the user (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, residence (address), name of person in charge, department name, job title, contact information (email address, phone number)), inquiry information (e.g., information about the content of the inquiry (e.g., inquiry about the content of the product / service, inquiry about the fee, etc.)), information about the intention to use the product / service, etc.).

[0032] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of company data stored in the server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0033] The company data 2000 stores various data related to companies that conduct sales activities. In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, an example of one company (point identified by company ID "20001") is shown, but information related to multiple companies can be stored. The various data related to companies can include, but are not limited to, basic information about the company (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, residence (address)), sales representative information (e.g., person in charge name, department name, job title, contact information (email address, telephone number, video conference URL, message app ID, etc.), schedule information (calendar information, meeting conditions (length of meeting, buffer time before and after, meeting method, etc.), shift time (information for defining time when interviews cannot be conducted, such as night, lunch break, holidays, etc.)), customer information (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, residence (address), person in charge name, department name, job title, contact information (email address, telephone number), past inquiries / responses, etc. of the customer company).

[0034] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the meeting data stored in the server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0035] The meeting data 3000 may include various data related to meetings for business negotiations between a company engaged in sales activities and an inquiring user, such as, but not limited to, schedule information (e.g., the date, time, and location of a meeting between the company and the inquiring user), information regarding the content of the meeting (e.g., an agenda for a meeting between the company and the inquiring user, meeting notes, etc.), and attendee information (e.g., information regarding attendees of the meeting, etc.).

[0036] <Processing flow> A process flow of a method for processing a user's inquiry executed by the system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for processing a user's inquiry to a company according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] First, as a preliminary process of step S101, a user in charge of a company conducting sales activities uses a web browser or application on the company terminal 300 to input basic information about the company (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, location (address)), sales representative information (e.g., person in charge name, department name, job title, contact information (email address, phone number, video conference URL, message app ID, etc.), schedule information (meeting conditions (length of meeting, buffer time before and after, conference method, etc.), shift time (information for defining times when interviews cannot be conducted, such as at night, lunch break, and holidays)), customer information (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, location (address), person in charge name, department name, job title, contact information (email address, phone number, video conference URL, message app ID, etc.)), and the like. The server terminal 100 inputs information about the company input by a person in charge of the company conducting sales activities, such as the company address, telephone number, and past inquiries / responses. The information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives information about the company input by a person in charge of the company conducting sales activities, via the communication unit 110. The company information processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 stores the received information about the company in the company data storage unit 122 of the storage unit 120 as company data 2000. Here, all or part of the information included in the company information (e.g., sales person information (schedule information, etc.), customer information, etc.) can also be acquired via an application provided by another service provider (e.g., a calendar application, a customer management application, etc.) (through API integration, etc.).

[0038] Furthermore, the inquiring user accesses the company terminal 300 using a web browser or application of each user terminal, displays a web page for inputting an inquiry, such as an inquiry form included in a web page of a company conducting sales activities, and inputs the inquiry content. Here, the inquiry content includes, but is not limited to, basic information about the inquiring user (e.g., corporate name (name), industry, number of employees, residence (address), name of person in charge, department name, job title, contact information (email address, phone number)), inquiry information (e.g., information about the inquiry content (e.g., inquiry about product / service content, inquiry about price), information about intention to use the product / service (want to consider the product / service immediately, want materials first), etc.). After inputting the inquiry content, the inquiring user presses a send button, and the information about the inquiry is sent to the company terminal 300. In this example, the server terminal 100 provides the company terminal 300 with tag information (e.g., a Javascript tag) to be embedded in a web page provided by the company terminal 300, and the company terminal 300 embeds the Javascript tag in the inquiry form and the inquiry form completion page (a so-called "Thanks page") of the web page, and upon completion of the inquiry form, certain information entered into the inquiry form by the inquiring user is sent to the server terminal 100.

[0039] Next, in the process of step S101, the information receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives predetermined information out of the information related to the inquiry input by the inquiring user via the communication unit 110. The user information processing unit 132 of the control unit 130 stores the received information related to the inquiry as user data 1000 in the user data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120.

[0040] Next, in the process of step S102, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 executes a process of assigning a sales representative to the inquiring user in order to hold a meeting regarding the business negotiation between the inquiring user and the inquired company.

[0041] Here, a specific example of the allocation process of sales representatives of a company performing sales activities will be described. Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining a more specific example of the method for processing inquiries from users to a company according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] First, in the process of step S201 in Fig. 8, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the user data 1000 and the company data 2000, and checks whether the email address of the inquiring user (person in charge) included in the information about the inquiry entered by the inquiring user matches the email address of the customer (person in charge) stored as customer information. If the check results in a match (YES), it decides to assign a sales representative for that customer (person in charge) (step S202), and if they do not match (NO), it proceeds to step S203. Note that if the check results in a match and the sales representative has already negotiated with the inquiring user, it can also decide not to set up a meeting.

[0043] Next, in the process of step S202, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the user data 1000 and the company data 2000, and checks whether the email address of the inquiring user (person in charge) included in the information related to the inquiry entered by the inquiring user matches the email domain of the customer (company) stored as customer information. If the check results in a match (YES), it decides to assign a sales representative of that customer (company) (step S204), and if they do not match (NO), it proceeds to step S205. Note that if the check results in a match and the sales representative has already negotiated with the inquiring user, it can also decide not to set up a meeting.

[0044] Next, in the process of step S205, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the user data 1000 and the company data 2000, and checks whether the number of employees of the inquiring user (company) included in the information on the inquiry entered by the inquiring user is a predetermined number or less (for example, 50 or less) or whether the inquiring user (person in charge) has a title. If the check result is the predetermined number or less or there is no title (YES), it decides not to assign a sales person (step S206), and if the number is the predetermined number or more or there is a title (NO), the process proceeds to step S207. Here, the number of employees can be set appropriately taking into consideration the expertise of the company performing sales activities, support resources, etc.

[0045] Next, in the process of step S207, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the user data 1000 and the company data 2000, and checks whether the number of employees of the inquiring user (company) included in the information about the inquiry entered by the inquiring user is a predetermined number or less (for example, 1000 or less). If the check result is the predetermined number or less (YES), it decides to assign a sales representative in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises (step S208), and if the number is the predetermined number or more (NO), it decides to assign a sales representative in charge of large companies (step S209).

[0046] This is an example of a sales representative allocation process, but the necessity of a meeting or the sales representative can also be determined based on any one or a combination of the contents of the inquiry information, such as the type of business, job title, address (residence), and inquiry content (for example, information regarding the intention to use a product / service (want to consider the product / service immediately, want materials first)). In the above example, the sales representative can include not only an individual representative, but also an organization (group) in charge of sales. In this case, the candidate date and time displayed is the time when any one of the representatives belonging to the group is free, which can further expand the range of candidates. In addition, for example, if there are multiple representatives available for a meeting on the date and time selected by the inquiry user, the meeting can be assigned to the person who has been assigned the fewest number of meetings so far. In addition, weighting within the group (for example, assigning 50% more meetings to experienced representatives than other representatives) can be performed, and meetings can be assigned in order from the representative with the highest weighting.

[0047] Returning to FIG. 7, when the sales representative allocation process is performed, in step S103, the meeting processing unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 executes a process of adjusting schedules, etc., to hold a meeting for a business negotiation between the inquiring user and the inquired company. When the inquiring user completes inputting into the inquiry form and transmits it to the company terminal 300, the meeting processing unit 133 transmits information to the user terminal 200 that the input is completed in response to this. When the information to the effect that the input is completed is transmitted, as shown in FIG. 9(a), an input completion screen (so-called "Thanks page") of the inquiry form is displayed on the user terminal 200 of the inquiring user. The server terminal 100 performs a process of allocating sales representatives and extracts meeting participants and candidate dates and times in response to the input of the inquiry form by the inquiring user, and transmits information for adjusting the schedule of the meeting with the inquiring user. As shown in FIG. 9(b), a display for adjusting the meeting is displayed so as to be overlaid on the Thanks page. This allows the company to immediately set up a meeting for business negotiation with the inquiring user who has completed the inquiry.

[0048] Here, the meeting processing unit 133 refers to the sales representative information in the company data 2000, checks the schedule data of the sales representative assigned in the previous step, generates information on candidate meeting dates and times for the inquiring user, and transmits it to the user terminal 200. Here, the meeting processing unit 133 refers to the sales representative information, particularly the person in charge name, department name, job title, contact information (email address, phone number, video conference URL, message application ID, etc.), schedule information (meeting conditions (length of the meeting, buffer time before and after, conference method, etc.), shift time (information for defining the time when the person in charge cannot respond to an interview, such as night, lunch break, or holiday) and the like, and extracts candidate dates and times. The inquiring user selects the candidate date and time, and the meeting processing unit 133 determines the meeting schedule and stores attendee information (inquiring user (person in charge) and sales representative) and meeting contents (for example, meeting agenda, etc.) as meeting data 3000 in the meeting data storage unit 123 of the storage unit 120.

[0049] As described above, a company can assign an appropriate sales representative to an inquiry from an inquiring user and immediately set up a meeting, thereby increasing the possibility of concluding a business deal.

[0050] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, they can be embodied in various other forms and can be implemented with various omissions, substitutions, and modifications. These embodiments and modifications, as well as omissions, substitutions, and modifications, are included in the technical scope of the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1 System 100 Server terminal, 110 Communication unit, 120 Storage unit, 130 Control unit, 200 User terminal, 300 Corporate terminal, NW1 Network

Claims

1. 1. A method for processing a user inquiry for a business, comprising: The control unit of the server terminal Accepting an inquiry input via an inquiry form from the user terminal of the inquiry person, assigning a sales representative of said company based on information contained in said inquiry input; In response to receiving the inquiry input, displaying an inquiry input completion page; and displaying, together with the inquiry input completion page, information for arranging a meeting schedule for the sales representative based on candidate meeting dates and times for the sales representative.

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , A method for determining whether or not to assign a sales representative of the company based on attribute information of the company to which the inquirer belongs, which is included in the information.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, The attribute information is any one or a combination of the number of employees of the company to which the person in charge of inquiries belongs, the type of business, the address, the job title of the person in charge of inquiries, and / or usage intention.

4. 2. The method of claim 1 , The method assigns sales representatives of the companies based on the number of meetings previously assigned to the sales representatives of the companies.

5. 2. The method of claim 1 , The information for scheduling a meeting with the person in charge of the inquiry includes information regarding the content of the meeting.

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