Business support method, business support program and business support system

Abstract

To present information on when to prioritize business activities for which prospective customers to a business representative or the like.SOLUTION: A business support method 100 includes: priority prospective customer determination step 101 for determining priority prospective customers of business activities executed at a certain period 160; and display output control step 102 for a priority prospective customer list 170. The priority prospective customer determination step 101 has: estimated update period determination step 111 for determining an estimated update period related to the update of a product; estimated proposal period determination step 112 for determining whether the certain period 160 is included in an estimated proposal period as a period suitable for proposing the update of the product to prospective customers; and priority action step 113 for treating the prospective customers to make them more likely to be considered priority prospective customers when the certain period 160 is included in the estimated proposal period.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a support technology for achieving efficient sales activities. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there have been studies on enabling salespeople to carry out efficient sales activities by providing them with information that contributes to sales activities using information processing systems or the like. Patent Document 1 discloses a prior art in which a sales representative database is searched based on predetermined search conditions, and information about customers is sorted and displayed based on the priority of the search conditions. The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 allows the model, age, and service meter of the machine (owned machine) currently owned by the customer to be set as search conditions. The sorted and displayed information about the customer is used to formulate a sales plan. Patent Document 2 discloses a prior art in which a customer's budget formulation time is calculated, and then when the budget formulation time arrives, a message is generated that indicates instructions to a sales representative who will be conducting sales activities with the customer. The sales activities in this case are the sales representative's urging the customer to pay the fees for the software the customer is using. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-24523 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2004-259055 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Since human resources such as sales representatives are limited, it is desirable to increase the ratio of sales activities to potential customers that result in actual delivery of products (sales activity efficiency).In order to increase the efficiency of sales activities, it is useful for sales representatives to be presented with information on when sales activities should be prioritized and for which potential customers. For example, if the product to be delivered through sales activities is a product after updating (re-delivery) a product (e.g., industrial machinery) owned by a prospective customer after operating for a long period of time (e.g., years to decades), expert knowledge and practical experience regarding the product may be required to estimate the timing of the product's update (re-delivery). In addition, depending on the state of the environment in which the product owned by the prospective customer is placed and the state of product maintenance, there may be fluctuations in the timing of the product's update (re-delivery). Furthermore, if the price of the product is something that the prospective customer can budget for, the efficiency of sales activities can be improved by having sales representatives propose product updates to the prospective customer at a time when the prospective customer can easily consider product updates (re-delivery) on their schedule.

[0005] The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires a salesperson or the like to set search conditions such as the model, age, and service meter of the machine (owned machine) currently owned by the prospective customer. In order to set search conditions to improve the efficiency of sales activities, specialized knowledge and practical experience regarding the machine (owned machine) currently owned by the prospective customer may be required. In other words, it may be difficult for a salesperson or the like who lacks specialized knowledge and practical experience to set appropriate search conditions. In addition, even for a salesperson or the like who has abundant specialized knowledge and practical experience, it is not easy to adjust search conditions based on the environment in which the machine (owned machine) owned by the prospective customer is located, the maintenance status of the machine (owned machine), and the time (consideration time) when it is easy to consider updating (re-delivery) the product on the prospective customer's schedule. In the first place, it may be cumbersome for a salesperson or the like to set search conditions and perform a search.

[0006] The prior art disclosed in Patent Document 2 is related to payment of fees for software used by potential customers. Therefore, the handling of the timing of renewal (re-delivery) of a product that is renewed (re-delivered) after operating for a long time (for example, years to decades) is different from the handling of the timing of software fee payment in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 2. Also, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the time for budget formulation arrives, a message indicating instructions for sales activities is generated for the sales representative who will be conducting sales activities for customers. In other words, each message in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 2 only instructs individual sales activities, and does not indicate the priority of the overall sales activities at a certain time.

[0007] In light of the above, one of the purposes of this disclosure may be to provide sales representatives and others with information regarding when and to which potential customers sales activities should be prioritized in order to improve the efficiency of sales activities. Furthermore, even if the target of sales activities is a product, such as a product that is updated (re-delivered) after operating for a long period of time (for example, years to decades) and for which the timing of sales activities to propose product updates should be determined based on at least one of specialized knowledge about the product, practical experience, the state of the environment in which the product is placed, the maintenance status of the product, or the prospective customer's consideration timing, one of the purposes of this disclosure may be to present to a sales representative, etc., information on when and to which prospective customer sales activities should be prioritized, without requiring the sales representative, etc. to set search conditions. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve at least one of the above objects, the present disclosure may have the following features, for example. One aspect of the present disclosure is a sales support method executed by a computer. The sales support method includes a priority prospective customer determination step of determining, among prospective customers, priority prospective customers who are to be prioritized targets of sales activities to be performed in a certain period of time, and a priority prospective customer list display output control step of controlling to display or output a priority prospective customer list showing information on priority prospective customers in the certain period of time. The priority prospective customer determination step includes an estimated renewal time determination step, which is executed for each prospective customer, of determining an estimated renewal time, which is a time when a product held by the prospective customer is estimated to be renewed, an estimated proposal period determination step of determining whether the certain period of time is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for proposing product renewal to the prospective customer because the product will be renewed in the estimated renewal time, and a priority measure step of treating the prospective customer so that the prospective customer is more likely to be determined as a priority prospective customer for the certain period of time when the estimated proposal period for the prospective customer includes the certain period of time. Effect of the Invention

[0009] As described above, the present disclosure determines priority prospective customers at a "certain time" when sales activities are performed, and controls to display or output a list of priority prospective customers at the "certain time." Therefore, the present disclosure can present information to sales personnel, etc., regarding when sales activities should be prioritized for which prospective customers in order to improve the efficiency of sales activities. As described above, the present disclosure determines, for each prospective customer, an estimated renewal time, which is a time when the prospective customer is estimated to renew a product held by the prospective customer, and determines whether or not a "certain time" for conducting sales activities is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for proposing product renewal to the prospective customer because the product will be renewed at the estimated renewal time, and treats the prospective customer so that the prospective customer is likely to be determined as a priority prospective customer for the "certain time" if the "certain time" is included in the estimated proposal period for the prospective customer. Therefore, even if the target of sales activities is a product that is renewed (re-delivered) after operating for a long time (for example, in units of years to decades) and for which it is appropriate to determine the time for conducting sales activities to propose product renewal based on at least one of specialized knowledge about the product, practical experience, the state of the environment in which the product is placed, the state of maintenance of the product, or the prospective customer's consideration time, the present disclosure can present information to a sales representative, etc., regarding when and to which prospective customer sales activities should be conducted with priority, without requiring the sales representative, etc., to set search conditions.

[0010] A sales support program or a sales support system that achieves the same thing as the above-mentioned sales support method can also obtain the same effect as the sales support method. In the form of a program, costs can be reduced in many cases. Programs are also easy to change in design regarding processing. Other features that the present disclosure may have and the effects corresponding to these features will be disclosed in this specification, the claims, or the drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a functional configuration and a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates a computer architecture for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] The internal structure of the sales record database is shown below. [Figure 4] The internal structure of the product information database is shown. [Diagram 5]The internal structure of a company database is shown. [Figure 6] 2 shows the internal structure of a determination database. [Figure 7] 2 shows a flowchart of a main routine. [Figure 8] 1 shows a flowchart of a process for determining a preferred potential customer. [Figure 9] A flowchart of priority actions is shown. [Figure 10] An overview of priority measures derived from time after delivery is given below. [Figure 11] A flowchart of priority measures based on time after delivery is shown. [Figure 12] 1 shows a flowchart for judging an estimated renewal time of a product in stock. [Figure 13] 13 shows a flow chart for determining the estimated update time (temperature derived). [Figure 14] 13 shows a flowchart for determining an estimated update time (derived from dust amount). [Figure 15] 13 shows a flowchart for determining an update proposal target derived from the time after delivery. [Figure 16] Outline repair cost-driven priorities. [Figure 17] A flowchart of repair cost-driven priority measures is shown. [Figure 18] 13 shows a flowchart of determining replacement proposal targets derived from repair costs. [Figure 19] A flowchart of priority actions based on other factors is shown. [Figure 20] 13 shows a flowchart for determining an estimated consideration period. [Figure 21] The flowchart for calculating the unadjusted score (existing customers) is shown below. [Figure 22] The flowchart for calculating the unadjusted score (for new customers) is shown below. [Figure 23] 1 shows the internal structure of item-by-item score information and unadjusted score information for companies. [Figure 24] 13 shows the internal structure of individual item score information and uncorrected score information. [Diagram 25]13 shows a flowchart of a prioritized prospective customer list display output control. [Figure 26] 1 shows the Priority Prospect List summary page. [Figure 27] 1 shows a first example of a prioritized lead list detail page. [Figure 28] 13 shows a graph represented by update time distribution information. [Figure 29] 1 shows a second example of a prioritized lead list detail page. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments described below do not limit the disclosure according to the claims, and all of the elements and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution of the present disclosure. The following description and drawings are examples for explaining the present disclosure, and are omitted and simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. The present disclosure can be implemented in various other forms. Unless otherwise limited, each component may be singular or plural. The position, size, shape, range, etc. of each component shown in the drawings may not represent the actual position, size, shape, range, etc. in order to facilitate understanding of the invention. For this reason, the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to the position, size, shape, range, etc. disclosed in the drawings. Each of the systems, devices, or functional units of the present disclosure may be integrated in terms of hardware, or may be divided into multiple parts that work together to perform their functions. Several systems, devices, or functional units may be integrated in terms of hardware. Each of the systems, devices, or functional units may be realized by causing a computer to execute software (programs) (as in FIG. 2). Some of the functions of the system, device, or functional unit may be realized by hardware (e.g., hardwired logic or FPGA), and the remaining functions may be realized by executing software (programs). All of the functions of each of the systems, devices, or functional units may be realized by hardware. Some or all of the processing steps shown in the flowcharts etc. described in this disclosure may be realized by hardware. One or more systems, devices, or functional units of the present disclosure may be realized using one or more hardware resources. For this purpose, each of the systems, devices, or functional units of the present disclosure may be realized virtually. For example, a virtual computer or container technique may be used. The program of the present disclosure may be included in the concept that generally includes software that constitutes a specific information processing system (sales support system) or its operating method (sales support method) according to the purpose of use by cooperation between software and hardware resources. In other words, the program of the present disclosure is not limited to a specific type or form of program. In addition, the program may be initially recorded in a compressed format. The same reference numbers are used in multiple drawings and are similar to each other. In the drawings showing flow charts, rectangular boxes indicate processing steps, and hexagonal boxes indicate conditional branch steps. In the drawings showing flow charts, "step" is abbreviated as "S". Also, in the drawings, database is abbreviated as "DB". Furthermore, the display or output modes shown in the drawings are examples and are not limited to these.

[0013] In the following description, "time", "period" and "time" have different meanings. The "period" indicates an absolute position on a timeline that is relatively short in terms of the length of time in business activities. For example, the "period" may mean a specific day such as August 15, 2023, or a specific month such as August 2023. A "period" indicates a relatively long period of time (compared to a "time") in terms of sales activities, and indicates an absolute position on a timeline. For example, a "period" may mean a specific three-month period, such as April to June 2024. Note that there may be cases where a certain "time" and a certain "period" are roughly the same length of time. "Time" is defined by the length of time between one time (or "time period" or "period") and another time (or "time period" or "period"), and may not indicate an absolute position on the timeline. "Time" may be in any granularity, such as years, months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds. For example, between a certain "time period" of August 16, 2023, 00:00:00, and another "time period" of November 14, 2023, 00:00:00, there is a "time" that is 90 days long.

[0014] In the following description, the terms "company" and "individual" are used to refer to potential customers, but each may have a broad meaning. The term "enterprise" may refer not only to a general company, but also to any organization that carries out organized activities. For example, the term "enterprise" may be a public institution. An "individual" can refer to not only one person, but also a relatively small group of people (although fewer than the total number of members of an "enterprise"). For example, an "individual" could be a group of technical staff or a group of sales staff belonging to a company. In the following explanation, the object of transactions through sales activities is referred to as a "product," but the meaning of this "product" can be broad. For example, in the following, a "product" is not limited to industrial machinery, but can be any good that can be introduced (delivered) or updated (re-delivered).

[0015] 1. Functional configuration and system configuration of the embodiment of the present disclosure Fig. 1 shows a functional configuration and a system configuration of an embodiment of the present disclosure. Note that not all of the functional configurations and system configurations shown in Fig. 1 are essential. First, the functional configuration of the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described, and then the system configuration of the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0016] First, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a sales support method 100 (or a sales support program) may be executed by an information processing system 180 (or a computer). The sales support method 100 includes a prioritized prospective customer determination step 101 (executed first) and a prioritized prospective customer list display output control step 102 (executed later). The priority prospective customer determination step 101 determines, from among the prospective customers, priority prospective customers who are to be prioritized targets of sales activities to be carried out in a certain period 160. In FIG. 1, as examples of prospective customers, a prospective customer (1) 121 who is an existing customer, a prospective customer (2) 122 who is an existing customer, and a prospective customer (3) 123 who is a new customer are shown. The number of prospective customers (the number of existing customers and the number of new customers) is not limited to those shown in FIG. The priority prospective customer determination step 101 determines, from among these prospective customers 121 to 123, priority prospective customers in a certain period 160. The priority prospective customer list display output control step 102 controls to display or output a priority prospective customer list 170 showing information on priority prospective customers in a certain period 160. The priority prospective customer list 170 for a certain period 160 is displayed or output to, for example, a sales representative, so that the sales representative can obtain information for efficiently carrying out sales activities in the certain period 160. Here, the manner of displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list 170 may be such that a display or output device 207 (shown in FIG. 2 ) included in the information processing system 180 displays or outputs the priority prospective customer list 170, or such that information on the priority prospective customer list 170 is transferred to a sales representative terminal 181 that is capable of communicating with the information processing system 180, and a display or output device included in the sales representative terminal 181 displays or outputs the priority prospective customer list 170.

[0017] The priority prospective customer determination step 101 may include an estimated renewal time determination step 111, an estimated proposal period determination step 112, and a priority action step 113, which are executed for each prospective customer. In the example of Fig. 1, the estimated renewal time determination step 111, the estimated proposal period determination step 112, and the priority action step 113 are executed for at least each of prospective customer (1) 121 and prospective customer (2) 122 (who are existing customers).

[0018] The estimated renewal time determination step 111 determines an estimated renewal time, which is a time when it is estimated that a product held by a prospective customer will be renewed (the product will be redelivered). In the example of FIG. 1, the estimated renewal time determination step 111 determines (calculates) an estimated renewal time 141 and an estimated renewal time 142 for each of the held product (1-1) 131 and the held product (1-2) 132 held by the prospective customer (1) 121. Also, in the example of FIG. 1, the estimated renewal time determination step 111 determines (calculates) an estimated renewal time 143 for the held product (2-1) 133 held by the prospective customer (2) 122. In the estimated renewal time determination step 111, the estimated renewal times 141 to 142 of the held products 131 to 133 may be determined (calculated) by utilizing specialized knowledge about the held products 131 to 133, knowledge obtained from practical experience, information on the status of the environment in which the products are placed, or information on the status of the maintenance of the products.

[0019] The estimated proposal period determination step 112 determines whether a certain time 160 is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for making a proposal for product renewal to a potential customer, since product renewal (re-delivery) will be performed at the estimated renewal time. In the example of FIG. 1, the estimated proposal period determination step 112 determines (calculates) an estimated proposal period 151, which is a period suitable for (a sales representative, etc.) to make a proposal for renewal (re-delivery) of the owned product (1-1) 131 to the potential customer (1) 121, since renewal (re-delivery) of the owned product (1-1) 131 will be performed at the estimated renewal time 141. Then, the estimated proposal period determination step 112 determines whether a certain time 160 is included in the estimated proposal period 151. In other words, it determines whether a certain time 160 is a suitable time for making a proposal for renewal (re-delivery) of the owned product (1-1) 131. In the example of Fig. 1, the estimated proposal period determination step 112 performs the same determination as above for each of the owned product (1-2) 132 and the owned product (2-1) 133, and determines whether or not a certain time 160 is a suitable time to propose renewal (re-delivery) of each of the owned product (1-2) 132 and the owned product (2-1) 133. In this estimated proposal period determination step 112, specialized knowledge about the owned products 131 to 133, knowledge obtained from practical experience, or information on a time (consideration time) when it is easy to consider product renewal (re-delivery) on the schedule of a potential customer may be utilized to determine whether or not a certain time 160 is a suitable time to propose product renewal (re-delivery).

[0020] In the priority action step 113, when a certain time 160 is included in an estimated proposal period for a potential customer, the potential customer is treated so as to be likely to be determined as a priority potential customer for the certain time 160. In the example of FIG. 1, if the certain time 160 is included in the estimated proposal period 151 or if the certain time 160 is included in the estimated proposal period 152, the priority action step 113 treats the potential customer (1) 121 so as to be likely to be determined as a priority potential customer for the certain time 160 (because it can be said that it is suitable for a sales representative or the like to propose to the potential customer (1) 121 at the certain time 160 to update (re-delivery) at least one of the owned products (1-1) 131 and the owned products (1-2) 132 held by the potential customer (1) 121). Similarly, in the example of FIG. 1, if a certain time period 160 is included in the estimated proposal period 153, the priority action step 113 treats the potential customer (2) 122 so as to be likely to be determined as a priority potential customer for the certain time period 160 (because it can be said that it is appropriate for (a sales representative, etc.) to propose to the potential customer (2) 122 that the product (2-1) 133 held by the potential customer (2) 122 be renewed (re-delivered) at the certain time period 160). Here, as a method for treating a certain potential customer so as to be likely to be determined as a priority potential customer for the certain time period 160, for example, a method of increasing a coefficient to be multiplied with the pre-correction score calculated for each potential customer may be used, as described below.

[0021] The functional configuration of the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, and the system configuration of the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. An example of the system configuration is shown in the lower part of FIG. As already described, the sales support method 100 (or the sales support program) itself may be executed by the information processing system 180 (or a computer). The information processing system 180 that executes the sales support method 100 (or the sales support program) may be called the sales support system 200 (in FIG. 2).

[0022] As shown in the lower part of Figure 1, information processing system 180 may be capable of communicating with one or more of sales representative terminal 181, existing customer (1) held system 191, existing customer (2) held system 192, external database 193, and other information sources 194 via a network or the like.

[0023] The sales representative terminal 181 is used by a sales representative or the like in sales activities. The sales representative terminal 181 may be, for example, a portable device (such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, or a smartphone). The sales representative or the like may input information about a customer obtained in the course of sales activities into the sales representative terminal 181. Then, the information about the customer may be transmitted and received from the sales representative terminal 181 to the information processing system 180 in real time or non-real time. The information about the customer received by the information processing system 180 may be stored in the sales record database 231 (shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). The sales representative terminal 181 may receive information related to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 from the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) and display or output the prioritized prospective customer list 170. When the sales representative terminal 181 displays or outputs the prioritized prospective customer list 170, convenience for sales representatives and the like can be improved.

[0024] The existing customer (1) owned system 191 is a system owned by the prospective customer (1) 121, or a system that operates for the prospective customer (1) 121. Information on the status of the environment in which the product in operation is placed, or information on the maintenance status of the product in operation, related to the owned product (1-1) 131 or owned product (1-2) 132 owned by the prospective customer (1) 121, may be transmitted and received from the existing customer (1) owned system 191 to the information processing system 180. Information on the status of the environment in which the product in operation is placed, or information on the maintenance status of the product in operation, received by the information processing system 180, may be accumulated in the product information database 232 (shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4). The role of the existing customer (2) owned system 192 is similar to that of the existing customer (1) owned system 191 (except that the target is the prospective customer (2) 122). It is not essential that existing customer (1) owned system 191 or existing customer (2) owned system 192 transmit and receive information on the status of the environment in which the product in operation is placed or information on the maintenance status of the product in operation to and from information processing system 180. If information on the operation is not transmitted and received, in sales support method 100 (sales support program, sales support system 200), information on the status of the environment in which the product is placed or information on the maintenance status of the product may be inferred from information obtained when each of owned products 131 to 133 is delivered or information obtained by a sales representative or the like during sales activities.

[0025] The external database 193 or other information sources 194 may provide the information processing system 180 with company data, etc. The company data, etc. may be company data including company information for each company (for example, including IR information for each company, which is information for investors), industry data including industry information for each industry, and macroeconomic data including macroeconomic information for each country or region. The company data, etc. received by the information processing system 180 may be accumulated in the company database 233 (shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5). It is not essential to construct the company database 233 inside the information processing system 180. Instead of constructing the company database 233 inside the information processing system 180, the information processing system 180 may obtain the necessary company information, industry information, macroeconomic information, etc. from the external database 193 or other information sources 194 every time the company data, etc. are required.

[0026] The sales support method 100 (sales support program, sales support system 200) according to the present disclosure has the above-mentioned functional configuration, and therefore can have the effects shown in the above-mentioned [Effects of the Invention].

[0027] 2. Computer architecture for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure FIG. 2 illustrates a computer architecture for implementing an embodiment of the present disclosure. In order to realize the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200, an information processing device (e.g., a processor, a CPU, which may be one or more microprocessors) 201, a storage device (e.g., a memory) 202, a non-volatile recording medium (e.g., a non-volatile memory (e.g., a flash memory), a non-volatile disk device) 203, an external recording medium drive (e.g., a disk drive) 204, an input device (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, an imaging device, a sensor, a touch panel, a pointing device) 206, a display or output device (e.g., a display, a printer, a speaker) 207, a communication device (e.g., a communication device for wired communication, a communication device for wireless communication, which may be a network interface device (NIC) that controls communication with other systems, devices, terminals or servers according to a predetermined protocol) 208, and some or all of an external input / output port 209 may be interconnected by an interconnection unit (e.g., a bus, a crossbar switch) 210. The non-volatile recording medium 203 may store a program 220a (for example, a program for realizing the functional configuration according to the present disclosure, such as a sales support program) and various information 222. The non-volatile recording medium 203 may store a sales record database 231, a product information database 232, a company database 233, and a determination database 234. Alternatively, some or all of the above-mentioned program 220a, various information 222, or information in the various databases 231 to 234 may be acquired from outside the system shown in FIG. 2. The external recording medium drive 204 can connect to an external recording medium (for example, a portable recording disk (DVD, etc.), an IC card, an SD card, a non-volatile memory (for example, a flash memory), a portable hard disk) 205. In addition, the program 220a (for example, a program for realizing the functional configuration according to the present disclosure. A sales support program), various information 222, or information in various databases 231 to 234 may be transferred and stored from the external recording medium 205 to the non-volatile recording medium 203 or the storage device 202. The external recording medium 205 may be used to record programs and data handled in the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200. The external recording medium drive 204 and the external recording medium 205 may be connected to the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200 via a communication network. Program 220a (for example, a program for realizing the functional configuration related to the present disclosure; a sales support program), various information 222, or information in various databases 231-234 may be brought via communication device 208, external input / output port 209 or input device 206 and stored in non-volatile recording medium 203 or storage device 202. In order for the architecture of FIG. 2 to function as the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200, or each functional unit or part of each functional unit in the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200 (to execute one or a series of processes (steps)), the program 220a may be loaded into the storage device 202 (for example, from the non-volatile recording medium 203). The loaded program is indicated by 220b in FIG. 2. Then, the information processing device 201 may execute the program 220b (using various information 222 present in the non-volatile recording medium 203 or the like, or information in various databases 231 to 234 as necessary). By executing the program 220b, the function of the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200, or each functional unit or part of each functional unit in the information processing system 180 or the sales support system 200 is realized (one or a series of processes (steps) is executed). At this time, various buffers 223 temporarily formed in the storage device 202 may also be used as appropriate.

[0028] 3. Databases Used in the Embodiments of the Present Disclosure Below, an overview of each of the databases that may be used in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described. In addition to the description here, additional description may be provided in "4. Processing Performed by the Embodiments of the Present Disclosure." Note that it is not essential that all of the databases and information described below be used. By enabling an embodiment of the present disclosure to access the databases shown below and the information stored in those databases, it is possible to obtain information to be used in the processing described below in "4. Processing performed by an embodiment of the present disclosure" and to record the information obtained in that processing.

[0029] 1. Business record database 3 shows the internal structure of the sales record database 231. The information contained in the sales record database 231 may be, for example, information on existing customers and new customers (potential customers) collected by a sales representative or the like through sales activities. The sales record database 231 may also include some information (for example, web access history information) indicating the behavior of existing customers and new customers (potential customers).

[0030] The business record database 231 may include customer information data 301. The customer information data 301 may include information for each existing customer or new customer (potential). In the example of FIG. 3, the customer information data 301 includes customer information for company A 311, customer information for company B 312, and customer information for company C 313, which correspond to existing customers, company A, company B, and company C, respectively. In FIG. 3, information that may be included in customer information for company A 311 is listed. Customer information for company B 312 and customer information for company C 313 may also include information similar to that of customer information for company A 311.

[0031] Company A's customer information 311 may include customer name information 321, customer location information 322, customer staff information 323 indicating the staff on the customer's side, and our company staff information 329 indicating the sales staff for the customer. Company A's customer information 311 may include target product overview information 325 indicating an overview of the products owned by the customer (e.g., product name and number), and target product representative model number information 326 indicating the model number of a representative product among the products owned by the customer. Company A's customer information 311 may include equipment name information 335 indicating the name of the product as equipment, model number information 336 indicating the product model number, delivery time information 342 indicating the time when the product was delivered, remark information 337 indicating information about the product obtained through sales activities related to the product, and estimated update time information 343 indicating the estimated time when the product will be updated (re-delivered). Company A's customer information 311 may include previous visit date information 351 indicating the date when a sales representative or the like last visited a customer, and sales record information 352 which is a record of sales activities entered by the sales representative or the like. Note that company A's customer information 311 may include not only previous visit date information 351, but also visit date history information including visit date information before last. Company A customer information 311 may include personal web access history information 361 of each of one or more individuals belonging to a customer company (Company A). As will be described later with reference to Figures 22 and 24, personal web access history information 361 here may be information on the access history to web pages and the like that provide information such as product specifications. Note that, as will be described later with reference to Figure 21, if personal web access history information 361 of each of one or more individuals belonging to a company that is an existing customer is not used when calculating a pre-correction score for an existing customer, then company A customer information 311 does not need to include personal web access history information 361.

[0032] The customer information data 301 may include customer information for company Y 314 and customer information for individual z 315, which correspond to company Y or individual z, respectively, which are new customers (candidates). In the example of FIG. 3, assuming that individual y1 and individual y2 belong to company Y, customer information for company Y 314 may include web access history information for individual y1 371 and web access history information for individual y2 372. Customer information for individual z 315 may include web access history information for individual z 381. These pieces of web access history information may be in the same form as the above-mentioned individual web access history information 361. Note that FIG. 3 shows only web access history information as information included in customer information for company Y 314 and customer information for individual z 315. However, if it is possible to obtain information other than web access history information regarding company Y or individual z by some method, information similar to the information shown for customer information for company A 311 may be included in customer information for company Y 314 or customer information for individual z 315.

[0033] 3.2.Product Information Database 4 shows the internal structure of the product information database 232. The product information database 232 may include product specification data 401 and customer-owned product data 402. The product specification data 401 may include, for each product model number, recommended update time information 411 indicating a recommended value of the time from the introduction (delivery) time of the product to the update (re-delivery) time of the product for the product owned by the customer, the product to be delivered, and the product to be newly delivered in the update (re-delivery) of the product owned by the customer, standard installation time information 412 indicating a standard time from the start of the installation work of the product to the completion of the installation work of the product (the time the product is delivered), update time distribution information 413 described later with reference to Fig. 28, specification information 414 indicating the specifications of the product, and standard maintenance cost information 415 indicating the standard maintenance cost required for regular inspection of the product. When updating (re-delivering) the product, the product specification data 401 may include linking information 416 indicating the correspondence between the model number (old model number) of the product used up until that time and the model number (new model number) of the product expected to be used after the update (re-delivery).

[0034] The customer-owned product data 402 may include owned product information for each existing customer. In the example of Fig. 4, the customer-owned product data 402 may include company A owned product information 421, company B owned product information 422, and company C owned product information 423, which correspond to existing customers company A, company B, and company C, respectively. Although information included in company A owned product information 421 is shown in Fig. 4, company B owned product information 422 and company C owned product information 423 may also include similar information. The product information 421 for company A may include, for each product owned by the customer, installation location environment information 431 indicating the environmental condition of the place where the product is installed, and maintenance status information 432 indicating the maintenance status of the product. As shown in Fig. 1, the installation location environment information 431 and the maintenance status information 432 may be updated based on the information on the product during operation received by the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) by transmitting and receiving information on the product during operation from an existing customer-owned system related to company A to the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200). Alternatively, the installation location environment information 431 and the maintenance status information 432 may be set based on information obtained at the time of delivery of the product or information obtained through sales activities of a sales representative after delivery, without transmitting and receiving information on the product during operation. Furthermore, if information regarding products owned by new customers (candidates) can be obtained by some method, customer owned product data 402 may also include owned product information for new customers (candidates) having the same type of information as Company A's owned product information 421.

[0035] 3. Corporate Database 5 shows the internal structure of the company database 233. The company database 233 may include company data 501 including company information for each company, industry data 502 including industry information for each industry, and macroeconomic data 503 including macroeconomic information for each country or region, for example. In the example of Fig. 5, company data 501 includes company information for company A 511, company information for company B 512, and company information for company C 513 for existing customers A, B, and C. In the example of Fig. 5, company data 501 includes company information for company Y 514 for new customer (potential) company Y. In the example of Fig. 5, information that may be included in company information for company A 511 is shown, but company information for company B 512, company information for company C 513, and company information for company Y 514 may also include the same types of information. Company A's corporate information 511 may include industry classification information 521 indicating the industry to which the company belongs, business establishment location information 522 indicating the location of the company's business establishment, performance information 523 indicating the company's track record (e.g., sales, operating profit, net profit), activity characteristic information 524 indicating the characteristics of the company's current or future activities (e.g., actively promoting capital investment, focusing on improving business efficiency, being aware of the issues surrounding SDGs), employee number information 525 indicating the number of employees of the company and the trend thereof, and settlement period information 526 indicating the company's settlement period. In addition to the above information, Company A's corporate information 511 may include, for example, information similar to IR information, which is information for investors, and information about the company that is published on the Internet. The business type data 502 may include business type information indicating the status of the business type for each business type to which the company may belong. The business type information may include, for example, information on the economic condition of the business type and information on the status of capital investment in the business type. The macroeconomic data 503 may include macroeconomic information indicating the macroeconomic conditions of the country or region as a whole for each country or region. The macroeconomic information may include macroeconomic indicators.

[0036] The information included in the company database 233 may be based on information acquired by the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) via a network or the like from the external database 193 or other information source 194 shown in Fig. 1. Alternatively, instead of the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) locally constructing the company database 233, the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) may acquire the necessary amount of information from the external database 193 or other information source 194 via a network every time information such as that shown in Fig. 5 is required.

[0037] 3.4. Judgment Database 6 shows the internal structure of the determination database 234. The determination database 234 may include a score information table 601 including score information for each potential customer, score definition information 602 indicating definition information for calculating a pre-correction score described below, narrowing-down threshold information 603 indicating threshold information for a post-correction score described below, and priority target list information 604 indicating potential customers determined to be priority potential customers.

[0038] 6, the score information table 601 may include company A score information 611, company B score information 612, and company C score information 613 for existing customers, company A, company B, and company C. The score information table 601 may include company Y score information 614 and individual z score information 615 for new customers (candidates), company Y and individual z. In the example of Figure 6, the information contained in Company A score information 611 for existing customer Company A is shown, but the score information for each of existing customers Company A, Company B, and Company C may have similar types of information. Company A's score information 611 may include company's item-specific score information 621 indicating the item-specific scores for the company, as will be described later using Figure 23, company's needs details information 622 indicating the contents of the items that resulted in high scores in the item-specific scores for the company, company's pre-correction score information 623 indicating the pre-correction score for the company, and company's corrected score information 624 indicating the corrected score for the company (which may also include coefficient information reflecting priority measures for the company), as will be described later using the lower part of Figure 23. Company Y score information 614 for company Y, which is a new customer (candidate), may include information on each of individuals y1 and y2 belonging to company Y, in addition to company item scores 631 (having a role similar to that of the information included in the score information for existing customer company A), company needs details 632, company uncorrected score information 633, and company corrected score information 634. For individual y1, company Y score information 614 may include item score information 641 for individual y1 indicating the item scores for the individual, needs details 642 for individual y1 indicating the contents of the items that brought about high scores in the item scores for the individual, uncorrected score information 643 for individual y1 indicating the uncorrected score for the individual, and corrected score information 644 for individual y1 indicating the corrected score for the individual (which may also include coefficient information reflecting preferential measures for the individual), as described later using FIG. 24. Score information for Company Y 614 may include similar types of information for individual y2 as that described above for individual y1. Score information 615 for individual z, who is a new customer (candidate), may include item-specific score information 661 for individual z (having a role similar to that of the information described above for individual y1), needs details information 662 for individual z, pre-correction score information 663 for individual z, and post-correction score information 664 for individual z.

[0039] 23 and 24 and the rules for adding points for each item. The content of the score definition information 602 may be determined in advance by an administrator or a sales representative of the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200). The administrator or a sales representative of the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) may input an instruction to the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) to change the content of the predetermined score definition information 602. The narrowing threshold information 603 may indicate a threshold for a corrected score calculated for each of the prospective customers when it is determined whether each of the prospective customers is a priority prospective customer. For example, when the corrected score for a certain prospective customer is equal to or greater than a threshold, the certain prospective customer may be determined to be a priority prospective customer. Note that, when a method is used in which a prospective customer whose rank according to the corrected score is within a certain range is determined to be a priority prospective customer, the narrowing threshold information 603 described above may not be present. Note that, the administrator or sales representative of the sales support system 200 may input the narrowing threshold information 603 to the sales support system 200 in advance. The administrator or sales representative of the sales support system 200 may instruct the sales support system 200 to change the narrowing threshold information 603 that has been set up until that point. The priority target list information 604 indicates prospective customers who are determined to be priority prospective customers corresponding to a certain period 160. When the priority prospective customer list 170 is displayed or output, if a method is used in which the priority prospective customers corresponding to the certain period 160 are determined using corrected scores corresponding to the respective prospective customers, the above-described priority target list information 604 does not need to exist.

[0040] 4. Processing performed by the embodiment of the present disclosure The processing performed by the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Note that it is not essential to realize all of the functional configurations described below and to perform all of the processing. A sales support method, a sales support program, or a sales support system may be used to realize a part of the functional configurations described below and to perform a part of the processing.

[0041] 1. Main Routine FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a main routine of a sales support method or a sales support program executed by an embodiment of the present disclosure. In step 701 of FIG. 7, the sales support system 200 judges whether or not it is time to create (information used for displaying or outputting) the prioritized prospective customer list 170 in sales activities in a certain period 160. Alternatively, an administrator or sales representative of the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) may give an instruction to the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) to request the creation of (information used for displaying or outputting) the prioritized prospective customer list 170 in sales activities in a certain period 160. If the judgment result in step 701 is positive, control transitions to step 702. If the judgment result in step 701 is negative, the judgment process in step 701 is repeated. Incidentally, the "certain time 160" which is the time when sales activities using the prioritized prospective customer list 170 are carried out may be set at intervals shorter than the time from the estimated review period 1046 to the budget formulation time 1036, which will be described later. For example, the "certain time 160" may be set at one-month intervals (that is, the "certain time 160" may be set in monthly units, such as August 2023, September 2023, etc.). Setting the "certain time 160" at relatively short intervals enables sales activities to be controlled in a finely tuned manner. 7, the sales support system 200 manages the "certain period 160" that is the period for conducting sales activities using the prioritized prospective customer list 170 as "period N." In the following description, the "certain period 160" may be expressed as "period N." 7, the sales support system 200 (a priority prospect customer determination unit as a functional unit) determines priority prospect customers who are to be given priority targets for sales activities to be performed in the period N. Details of step 703 will be described later with reference to FIG. In step 704 (priority prospective customer list display output control step) of FIG. 7, the sales support system 200 (a priority prospective customer list display output control unit as a functional unit) controls to display or output the priority prospective customer list 170 showing information on priority prospective customers in sales activities at time N. Details of step 704 will be described later with reference to FIG. 25. The display or output of the priority prospective customer list 170 may be performed on a display or output device 207 controlled by the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200), or may be performed on a display or output device controlled by the sales representative terminal 181 (after the information included in the priority prospective customer list 170 is transmitted and received from the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200) to the sales representative terminal 181). The timing at which step 703 is executed and the timing at which step 704 is executed may be close to each other or may be separated by a certain time. In other words, it is also possible to execute step 703 in advance to prepare information required for displaying or outputting the prioritized prospective customer list 170 for period N, and then execute step 704 when a sales representative or the like refers to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 for period N.

[0042] 2. Priority customer identification FIG. 8 shows an internal flowchart of step 703 (priority potential customer determination step) in FIG. In step 801 in FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (its functional unit, the prioritized prospective customer determination unit) selects one of the prospective customers as a target (subject of consideration) for handling in the subsequent steps in FIG. 8. For example, for existing customers, the selection target (subject of consideration) in step 801 may be a company (or an individual not belonging to a company) to which the product will be introduced (delivered) or updated (re-delivered). On the other hand, for new customers (candidates), the selection target (subject of consideration) in step 801 may be not only a company or an individual not belonging to a company, but also an individual belonging to a company. After step 801, steps 802 and 803 are both executed. (The order of execution of steps 802 and 803 may be arbitrary. Steps 802 and 803 may be executed simultaneously in parallel.) In step 802 of FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether there is any reason (priority reason) that it is appropriate for a sales representative or the like to conduct sales activities at the timing of time N for the prospective customer under consideration. For example, if there is any priority reason for any one of the products held by the prospective customer under consideration (or the prospective customer itself), the prospective customer under consideration may be subject to priority measures. If there is any reason that it is appropriate for a sales representative or the like to conduct sales activities at the timing of time N for the prospective customer under consideration, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) treats the prospective customer so that the prospective customer is likely to be determined as a priority prospect customer at time N. For example, as a priority measure for treating the prospective customer so that the prospective customer is likely to be determined as a priority prospect customer at time N, a coefficient used to obtain a post-correction score from a pre-correction score (described later) corresponding to the prospective customer may be set relatively large. Details of step 802 will be described later with reference to FIG. 9. In step 803 (pre-correction score calculation step) of FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit as one functional unit constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) calculates a pre-correction score, which will be described later, for the prospective customer under consideration. Note that the method of calculating the pre-correction score may be different for existing customers and new customers (candidates). Details of step 803 for existing customers will be explained later using FIG. 21. Details of step 803 for new customers (candidates) will be explained later using FIG. 22. Once both steps 802 and 803 have been executed, control transitions to step 804. In step 804 of FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) calculates a corrected score based on the priority measure determined in step 802 and the pre-correction score determined in step 803. That is, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) calculates the corrected score by adding the priority measure to the pre-correction score. For example, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) may obtain the corrected score by multiplying the coefficient determined in step 802 by the pre-correction score determined in step 803. Alternatively, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) may obtain the corrected score by calculating the sum of the additional value determined in step 802 and the pre-correction score determined in step 803 (if the priority measure in step 802 is set to an additional value). 8, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not all of the prospective customers for which the corrected scores are to be calculated have been selected in step 801. If the determination result in step 805 is positive, control transitions to step 806. If the determination result in step 805 is negative, control transitions to step 801, where the next prospective customer is selected (considered).

[0043] In step 806 (priority prospect customer identifying step) of FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer identifying unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determining unit) determines priority prospect customers for the time period N based on the corrected scores corresponding to the respective prospect customers. For example, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer identifying unit) may determine, as priority prospect customers for the time period N, prospect customers having a corrected score equal to or greater than the threshold indicated by the narrowing-down threshold information 603 or a corrected score exceeding the threshold. Alternatively, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer identifying unit) may determine, without using the narrowing-down threshold information 603, a predetermined number of prospect customers in descending order of the corrected scores as priority prospect customers for the time period N. Alternatively, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer identifying unit) may determine, among the predetermined number of prospect customers in descending order of the corrected scores, prospect customers having a corrected score equal to or greater than the threshold indicated by the narrowing-down threshold information 603 or a corrected score exceeding the threshold, as priority prospect customers for the time period N. When determining whether or not to determine a new customer (candidate) as a priority potential customer for time period N, the sales support system 200 (priority potential customer identification unit) may further set as an additional condition (filtering condition) that the performance (e.g., sales amount) indicated by the performance information 523 regarding the new customer (candidate) satisfies a predetermined condition (e.g., equal to or greater than a threshold value). The sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer identification unit) may record information identifying the priority prospective customers for the period N in the priority target list information 604 in the determination database 234. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 uses the pre-correction score, a numerical value indicating a priority measure (e.g., a coefficient or an additional value), and a corrected score for each prospective customer, so that each of the factors that can be taken into consideration in the process of determining a prioritized prospective customer is quantified. Therefore, the process of determining a prioritized prospective customer at time N is clearly defined. In addition, the corrected score makes it easy for sales personnel and the like to understand the priority order of sales activities at time N. It is not necessary that the timing of calculating the corrected score for each prospective customer in steps 801 to 805 and the timing of determining the priority prospective customers at time N in step 806 are close to each other. That is, the sales support system 200 may (1) execute steps 801 to 805 and step 806 close to each other in time series, (2) execute step 806 and step 704 (step of controlling the display output of the priority prospective customer list) close to each other in time series, or (3) execute steps 801 to 805, step 806, and step 704 (step of controlling the display output of the priority prospective customer list) apart in time series.

[0044] 4.2.1 Priority Measures Fig. 9 shows an internal flowchart of step 802 in Fig. 8. Steps 901, 902, and 903 shown in Fig. 9 may be executed in any order. These steps may also be executed simultaneously in parallel. Step 901 in FIG. 9 considers priority measures derived from time since delivery. Details of step 901 will be described later with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. Step 902 in FIG. 9 considers priority measures derived from repair costs. Details of step 902 will be described later with reference to FIG. 16 and FIG. 17. Step 903 in FIG. 9 considers priority measures derived from other factors, which are factors other than time since delivery and correction costs. Details of step 903 will be described later with reference to FIG. 19. Steps 901 and 902 are executed for an existing customer who has a product that may be renewed (re-delivered) after time N. Note that step 901 or step 902 may be executed even for a new customer (candidate) if the new customer (candidate) has a product that may be renewed (re-delivered) after time N and if the sales support system 200 can obtain information about the product by some method. Step 903 is executed for a new customer (candidate). Note that step 903 may also be executed for an existing customer.

[0045] 4.2.1.1 Priority measures based on time after delivery FIG. 10 shows various periods, durations, and times that are handled in the process of considering priority measures derived from the time after delivery performed in step 901 of FIG. 9, and also shows how points are added to the pre-correction score and how coefficients are set as priority measures derived from the time after delivery. Fig. 11 shows a flowchart of the process of considering the priority measure derived from the time after delivery, which is performed in step 901 in Fig. 9. The flowchart in Fig. 11 will be described with reference to Fig. 10.

[0046] In step 1101 (estimated renewal time determination step) of FIG. 11, the sales support system 200 (estimated renewal time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) determines the estimated renewal time (information) 343, which is the time when the product held by the prospect customer is estimated to be renewed (re-delivered). In the example of FIG. 10, the sales support system 200 (estimated renewal time determination unit) determines the estimated renewal time (information) 343 based on the delivery time (information) 342, which is the time when the product held by the prospect customer was delivered last time, the recommended renewal time (information) 411, which is the value recommended as the time from delivery to renewal (re-delivery) for the model number of the product, and the adjustment (reducing the renewal time) according to the environmental situation of the place where the product is installed. The details of step 1101 (estimated renewal time determination step) will be described later with reference to FIG. 12.

[0047] In step 1102 of FIG. 11, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether the product held by the prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from the time after delivery. In the example of FIG. 10, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines an estimated proposal deadline 1012, which is a time estimated to be a deadline for a salesperson or the like to propose renewal (re-delivery) of the product to the prospective customer, based on the estimated renewal time (information) 343 of the product held by the prospective customer and the standard installation time (information) 412 (and a predetermined time margin in some cases), which is the time from the start of the installation work of the product to the completion of the installation work (delivery of the product). In other words, if the prospective customer decides to renew the product (receive re-delivery) by this estimated proposal deadline 1012, it is expected that the renewal (re-delivery) of the product will be completed in time for the estimated renewal time (information) 343. The sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines a period during which the product held by the prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from the post-delivery time, based on the estimated proposal deadline 1012 and a predetermined time 1022 (e.g., 18 months). As shown in FIG. 10, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) may determine a period whose time span is the predetermined time 1022 (e.g., 18 months) and whose end date is the estimated proposal deadline 1012 as a period during which the product is a renewal proposal target derived from the post-delivery time. The reason for determining the period in this manner is that, while it is preferable for a salesperson or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a prospective customer before the estimated proposal deadline 1012, even if a proposal for product renewal (re-delivery) is made at a time point that is too far back in time from the estimated proposal deadline 1012, it is unlikely that the prospective customer will decide to renew the product (accept re-delivery). Then, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the period in which the product held by the prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from the time after delivery includes the time N. Details of step 1102 will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0048] In step 1103 (estimated consideration time determination step) of FIG. 11, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in the estimated consideration period 1046, which is estimated to be a time when the prospect customer is likely to consider product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery). In the example of FIG. 10, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration time determination unit) determines the budget formulation time 1036, which is estimated to be a time when the prospect customer formulates a budget, from the settlement time (information) 526 of the prospect customer, and determines the estimated consideration period 1046 from the budget formulation time 1036. For example, the estimated consideration period 1046 may be a predetermined period in the fiscal year of the prospect customer (for example, the period of the first three months of the fiscal year). The sales support system 200 (estimated consideration time determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in any of the estimated consideration periods 1046. Details of step 1103 will be described later with reference to FIG. 20.

[0049] In step 1104 in FIG. 11 (part of the estimated proposal period determination step; also part of the post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination step), the sales support system 200 (the estimated proposal period determination unit or the post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in the estimated proposal period 1099, which is estimated to be a suitable period for a sales representative or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a prospective customer, because product renewal (re-delivery) will be performed at the estimated renewal time (information) 343. In the example of FIG. 10, the sales support system 200 (the estimated proposal period determination unit or the post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the period during which the product held by the prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from the post-delivery time and which is also the estimated consideration period 1046 is the estimated proposal period 1099. In other words, the estimated proposal period 1099 is suitable as a timing for a sales representative or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a potential customer, both from the perspective of completing the product renewal (re-delivery) in time for the estimated renewal timing (information) 343 and from the perspective of making it easy for a potential customer to make a decision regarding product renewal (re-delivery). The sales support system 200 (estimated proposal period determination unit or post-delivery time derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines whether the time N is included in any of the estimated proposal periods 1099. If the determination result in step 1104 is positive, control transitions to step 1105. If the determination result in step 1104 is negative, control transitions to step 1107. In step 1105 of FIG. 11 (part of the estimated proposal period determination step; also part of the post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination step), the sales support system 200 (estimated proposal period determination unit or post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the time period N corresponding to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 is included in the estimated proposal period 1099 (derived from the post-delivery time) for the renewal (re-delivery) of the product held by the prospective customer under consideration. After step 1105, control transitions to step 1106. In step 1106 (priority action step) of FIG. 11, the sales support system 200 (priority action section, which is one of the functional sections constituting the priority prospect customer determination section) takes priority action based on the time since delivery for the prospective customer under consideration. The sales support system 200 (priority action section) may set the value of the coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from a pre-correction score to 10 for the prospective customer under consideration, for example. In other words, when the time N falls within the period of "coefficient x 10" in FIG. 10, the coefficient for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 10. In step 1107 in FIG. 11 (part of the estimated proposal period determination step; also part of the post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination step), the sales support system 200 (estimated proposal period determination unit or post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the time N corresponding to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 is not included in the estimated proposal period 1099 (derived from the post-delivery time) for the renewal (re-delivery) of the product held by the prospective customer under consideration. In this case, for example, the value of the coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from the pre-correction score for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 1. In other words, if the time N is included in the period of "coefficient x 1" in FIG. 10, the coefficient for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 1. By the process shown in the flowchart of Figure 11 as described above, a determination result is obtained as to whether it is appropriate for a sales representative or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a potential customer at time period N, taking into account both the perspective of whether the product held by the potential customer is subject to a renewal proposal based on the time since delivery and the perspective of whether time period N is included in a period during which the potential customer is likely to consider product renewal (re-delivery).

[0050] 4.2.1.1.1. Determining the estimated renewal date of the products you own FIG. 12 shows an internal flow chart of step 1101 (estimated update time determination step) in FIG. In step 1201 in FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (the estimated renewal time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether or not the estimated renewal time information 343 has already been recorded in the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231 for the product owned by the prospect customer under consideration. If the determination result in step 1201 is positive, the estimated renewal time is not determined again according to the flowchart in FIG. 12. If the determination result in step 1201 is negative, control transitions to step 1202. Note that even if the determination result in step 1201 is positive, if the estimated renewal time (information) 343 is to be determined again for some reason, the processing from step 1202 onwards may be executed. In step 1202 in FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) reads out delivery time information 342 for the product held by the prospective customer under consideration from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. In step 1203 in FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) reads out recommended update time information 411 for the model number of the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration from the product specification data 401 in the product information database 232. In step 1204 of FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated renewal time determination unit) reads out installation location environment information 431 for the product held by the prospective customer being considered, from the customer-held product data 402 in the product information database 232. The installation location environment information 431 may be, for example, information on temperature or dust amount for the location where the product is installed. Note that the sales support system 200 (estimated renewal time determination unit) may read out information indicating the environmental condition of the location where the product is installed, which is recorded in the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231, instead of the installation location environment information 431 or together with the installation location environment information 431. Such information indicating the environmental condition may be, for example, information recorded by a salesperson or the like in the remarks information 337 or the sales record information 352 through sales activities.

[0051] In step 1205 (estimated update time determination step) of FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the estimated update timing determination unit) determines the estimated update time 1043 based on the recommended update time information 411 and the installation location environment information 431 (or information indicating the environmental condition of the place where the product is installed, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the business record information 352). The estimated update time 1043 is the time from the time when the product held by the prospective customer under consideration was delivered to the time when the product is estimated to be updated (re-delivered), and is adjusted (time shortened) based on the installation location environment information 431 (or information indicating the environmental condition of the place where the product is installed, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the business record information 352). Two examples of step 1205 will be described later with reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. In step 1206 (estimated update time calculation step) of FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time calculation unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the estimated update time determination unit) calculates the estimated update time (information) 343 based on the delivery time information 342 and the estimated update time 1043. The sales support system 200 (estimated update time calculation unit) may set the time at which the estimated update time 1043 has passed from the delivery time (information) 342 as the estimated update time (information) 343, for example. For example, if the delivery time (information) 342 is August 17, 2023 and the estimated update time 1043 is 8 years and 4 months, the estimated update time (information) 343 may be set to December 17, 2031 (or December 2031). In steps 1205 and 1206 described above, the estimated update time 1043 is determined and the estimated update timing (information) 343 is calculated, thereby estimating the update timing of the product taking into account the fluctuation (fluctuation) of the product's life span depending on the conditions of the place where the product is installed. In step 1207 of FIG. 12, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) records the estimated update time information 343 in the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231.

[0052] 4.2.1.1.1.1.1.Determining the estimated update time (temperature derived) FIG. 13 shows an internal flowchart of step 1205 (estimated update time determination step) in FIG. 12 in an example in which information indicating the temperature conditions of the location where the product owned by the potential customer under consideration is installed is used in step 1205. In step 1301 of Fig. 13, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may determine whether or not the average temperature (average air temperature) of the location where the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration is installed is below a predetermined temperature, based on the installation location environment information 431 (or information indicating the environmental conditions of the location where the product is installed, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the sales record information 352). If the determination result in step 1301 is positive, control is transitioned to step 1303. If the determination result in step 1301 is negative, control is transitioned to step 1302. 13, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may determine (calculate) the estimated update time 1043 for the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration, based on the recommended update time (information) 411 and the temperature of the place where the product is installed. In this determination (calculation), the Arrhenius equation may be used.

[0053] In a first example in which the Arrhenius equation is used, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may calculate the estimated update time "L" based on the following equation, assuming that the fluctuation range of the temperature (air temperature) throughout the year at the location where the product is installed is "ΔT", the recommended update time (information) 411 is "L_0", a predetermined constant is "α", and the estimated update time 1043 is "L". (Note that exp indicates an exponential function based on Napier's number.) L = L_0 × { 1 - exp(-α / ΔT)} Depending on the characteristics of the product, "ΔT" may be the range of temperature (air temperature) fluctuation over a day. Also, the recommended update time "L_0" may be set to twice the rated time of a product (for example, an industrial machine). In this case, it is assumed that the product will be overhauled once from the time the product is delivered until the product is updated (re-delivered). For example, if the product is an industrial machine, it is common for the product to be overhauled once before it is updated (replaced with a new product). Therefore, by setting the recommended update time "L_0" to twice the rated time of the product, the estimated update time of the product can be close to the actual update time. Depending on the nature of the product, the recommended update time "L_0" of the product may be set to another integer multiple (e.g., 1x, 3x, 4x) of the rated time of the product.

[0054] In the second example where the Arrhenius equation is used, it is assumed that the product's lifespan (renewal time) "L_*" is expressed by the following equation, where the constant is "A", the activation energy is "E_a", the gas constant is "R", the temperature (absolute temperature) is "T", the product's lifespan (renewal time) is "L_*", and the natural logarithm is "ln". ln(L*) = A + Ea / (R*T) Based on the above assumptions, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may calculate the estimated update time "L" based on the following formula, where the activation energy is "E_a", the gas constant is "R", the natural logarithm is "ln", the recommended update time (information) 411 is "L_0", the temperature (absolute temperature) on which the recommended update time "L_0" is based is "T_0", the temperature (absolute temperature) of the location where the product is installed is "T", and the estimated update time 1043 is "L". ln ( L / L_0 ) = ( E_a / R ) × ( 1 / T - 1 / T_0 ) The recommended update time "L_0" may be set to twice the rated time of a product (for example, industrial machinery), similarly to the first example in which the Arrhenius equation is used.

[0055] 13, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may use the recommended update time (information) 411 as it is as the estimated update time 1043. Alternatively, in FIG. 13, step 1302 may always be executed without performing step 1301. As shown in FIG. 13, the estimated update time 1043 is determined (calculated) according to the temperature conditions of the place where the product is installed, so that the fluctuation (fluctuation) in the lifespan of the product due to the temperature of the place where the product is installed can be reflected in the estimation of the product's update time.

[0056] 4.2.1.1.1.2. Determination of estimated update time (derived from dust amount) FIG. 14 shows an internal flowchart of step 1205 (estimated update time determination step) in FIG. 12 in an example in which information indicating the dust level situation in the location where the product owned by the potential customer under consideration is installed is used. In step 1401 of FIG. 14, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) determines whether or not a dust filter for preventing dust from being taken into a product (e.g., an air compressor) owned by a prospective customer under consideration is replaced at an appropriate time interval (period). In order to determine the actual status of replacement of the dust filter, the installation location environment information 431 (or information indicating the environmental status of the location where the product is installed, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the sales record information 352) may be used. Alternatively, in order to determine the actual status of replacement of the dust filter, the maintenance status information 432 for each product recorded in the customer-owned product data 402 in the product information database 232 (or information indicating the maintenance status for the product, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the sales record information 352) may be used. If the determination result in step 1401 is positive, the control is transitioned to step 1403. If the determination result in step 1401 is negative, the control is transitioned to step 1402. In step 1402 of FIG. 14, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) determines (calculates) the estimated update time 1043 based on the recommended update time (information) 411 of the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration and information indicating the amount of dust at the location where the product is installed (for example, information on dust density in the air). The information indicating the amount of dust at the location where the product is installed may be the installation location environment information 431 (or information indicating the environmental condition of the location where the product is installed, which is recorded in the remarks information 337 or the sales record information 352). The sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may, for example, determine the recommended update time (information) 411 (or standard life) as "L_0", the standard dust density as "P_0", the dust density at the location where the product is installed as "P", and the estimated update time 1043 as "L", and calculate the estimated update time "L" based on the following formula. L = L_0 × ( P_0 / P ) 14, the sales support system 200 (estimated update time determination unit) may use the recommended update time (information) 411 as it is as the estimated update time 1043. Alternatively, in FIG. 14, step 1402 may always be executed without performing step 1401. As shown in FIG. 14 , by determining (calculating) the estimated update time 1043 according to the amount of dust (dust density) at the location where the product is installed, the fluctuation (fluctuation) in the lifespan of the product due to the amount of dust and dust density at the location where the product is installed can be reflected in the estimation of the product's update time.

[0057] 4.2.1.2.2. Determination of whether the product in your possession is subject to a renewal proposal due to time since delivery Fig. 15 shows an internal flowchart of step 1102 in Fig. 11. As already described in the explanation of step 1102 in Fig. 11, in step 1102 in Fig. 11, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not a product held by a prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from the time after delivery. In step 1501 of FIG. 15, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) reads out standard installation time information 412 for the updated product model number when updating the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration, from the product specification data 401 in the product information database 232. In step 1502 (estimated proposal deadline determination step) of FIG. 15, the sales support system 200 (estimated proposal deadline determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospective customer determination unit) determines the estimated proposal deadline 1012 for the proposal of product renewal (re-delivery) based on the estimated renewal time (information) 343 of the product held by the prospective customer under consideration and the standard installation time (information) 412 (and a predetermined time margin in some cases) for the model number of the product after renewal when the product is renewed. The sales support system 200 (estimated proposal deadline determination unit) may set the time before the standard installation time (and a predetermined time margin in some cases) from the estimated renewal time (information) 343 as the estimated proposal deadline 1012. For example, when the estimated renewal time (information) 343 is December 2031, the standard installation time (information) 412 is 12 months, and the predetermined time margin is one month, the estimated proposal deadline 1012 may be November 2030. In step 1504 (part of the post-delivery time-derived update proposal target determination step) of FIG. 15, the sales support system 200 (a post-delivery time-derived update proposal target determination unit, which is one functional unit constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether the estimated proposal deadline 1012 will arrive within a predetermined time 1022 from the time 160 (time N) associated with the priority prospect customer list 170. If the determination result of step 1504 is positive, control is transitioned to step 1506. If the determination result of step 1504 is negative, control is transitioned to step 1507. For example, if the estimated proposal deadline 1012 is November 2030 and the predetermined time 1022 is 18 months, if the time N is included in the period from May (or June) 2029 to November 2030, the determination result of step 1504 may be positive. In step 1506 (part of the step of determining whether a product is an update proposal target derived from post-delivery time) in FIG. 15, the sales support system 200 (post-delivery time-derived update proposal target determination unit) determines that the product held by the potential customer is an update proposal target derived from the delivery time. Information (flag) indicating this determination result may be recorded in the score information table 601 in the determination database 234. In cooperation with the processing of step 2113 in FIG. 21 described later, a predetermined score (e.g., 100 points) may be recorded in the item "Update target present (post-delivery time-derived (no environmental impact))" or "Update target present (post-delivery time-derived (with environmental impact))" in the company-specific score information 621 in the score information table 601, etc. In step 1507 of FIG. 15 (part of the step of determining whether or not a product is a target for a post-delivery time-derived update proposal), the sales support system 200 (the post-delivery time-derived update proposal target determination unit) determines that the product held by the potential customer is not a target for a delivery time-derived update proposal. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15 above provides a determination result as to whether or not time N is included in a period during which it is appropriate for a sales representative or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a potential customer, since the product renewal (re-delivery) will take place at estimated renewal time (information) 343 for the product held by the potential customer.

[0058] 4-2-1-1-3. Estimated review period determination Fig. 20 shows an internal flowchart of step 1103 (estimated consideration period determination step) in Fig. 11. As explained in the explanation of step 1103 in Fig. 11, in step 1103 in Fig. 11, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) determines whether or not time N is included in the estimated consideration period 1046 that is estimated to be a period when a potential customer is likely to consider product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery). The flowchart shown in Fig. 20 is used not only for step 1103 in Fig. 11, but also for step 1103 in Fig. 17 related to the consideration of priority measures derived from repair costs, and step 1103 in Fig. 19 related to the consideration of priority measures derived from other factors. Steps 2001-2003 in Fig. 20 determine the estimated consideration period 1046 of the prospective customer under consideration. It is sufficient if these steps are performed once each time there is a change in the content of the information used to determine the estimated consideration period 1046 of the prospective customer. In step 2001 of FIG. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) may read out the settlement period information 526 of the prospective customer to be considered from the company data 501 in the company database 233. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) may estimate the budget formulation time 1036 based on the settlement time (information) 526. The sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) may estimate, for example, that the budget formulation time 1036 is six months before the settlement time (information) 526. For example, if the settlement time of a certain prospective customer is March every year, it may be estimated that the budget formulation time of the certain prospective customer is September every year. In step 2003 of FIG. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) may estimate an estimated consideration period 1046, which is a period during which a prospective customer is likely to consider introducing (delivering) or updating (re-delivering) a product, based on the settlement period (information) 526 or the budget formulation period 1036 of the prospective customer being considered. The sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) may estimate, for example, the period from 5 months to 3 months before the budget formulation period 1036 to be the estimated consideration period 1046. For example, if the estimated budget formulation period of a certain prospective customer is September every year, the estimated consideration period 1046 of the certain prospective customer may be from April to June every year. The process shown in step 2003 above allows the estimated consideration period 1046 to be determined using settlement period (information) 526, which is publicly disclosed information about a prospective customer. In other words, it is possible to determine the estimated consideration period 1046 even in a situation where information about the internal circumstances of a prospective customer is not available. If a sales representative or the like has obtained information about a period when a prospective customer is likely to consider product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) through sales activities or the like, the estimated consideration period 1046 may be determined based on the obtained information without going through step 2003 above. In step 2004 of FIG. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) determines whether the time 160 (time N) associated with the prioritized prospective customer list 170 is included in the estimated consideration period 1046 of the prospective customer under consideration. If the determination result in step 2004 is positive, control is passed to step 2005. If the determination result in step 2004 is negative, control is passed to step 2006. For example, in a case where the estimated consideration period 1046 of the prospective customer under consideration is April to June every year, if the time N is June 2029, the determination result in step 2004 will be positive, whereas if the time N is August 2030, the determination result in step 2004 will be negative. In step 2005 of FIG. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) determines that the time period N is included in the estimated consideration period of the prospective customer to be considered. In step 2006 in FIG. 20, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration period determination unit) determines that the time period N is not included in the estimated consideration period of the prospective customer to be considered.

[0059] 4.2.1.2 Priority measures derived from repair costs FIG. 16 shows various timings, periods, and times that are handled in the review process of priority measures derived from repair costs performed in step 902 of FIG. 9, as well as the manner in which points are added to the pre-correction score and the manner in which coefficients are set as priority measures derived from repair costs. Fig. 17 shows a flowchart of the process of examining the priority measures derived from the repair costs, which is performed in step 902 in Fig. 9. The flowchart in Fig. 17 will be described with reference to Fig. 16.

[0060] In step 1702 in FIG. 17, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the product held by the prospective customer under consideration is the target of a renewal proposal derived from repair costs. Unlike the renewal proposal derived from the time after delivery described with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, as soon as the condition derived from repair costs (for example, as shown in FIG. 18) is satisfied for the product held by the prospective customer under consideration, the product becomes the target of a renewal proposal derived from repair costs. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, after the "timing at which the product becomes the target of a renewal proposal derived from repair costs" (until the sales representative or the like actually proposes the renewal (re-delivery) of the product to the prospective customer), the product held by the prospective customer under consideration is always the target of a renewal proposal derived from repair costs. Details of step 1702 will be described later with reference to FIG. 18. In step 1103 (estimated consideration time determination step) in FIG. 17, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not time N is included in estimated consideration period 1046, which is estimated to be a period during which a prospective customer is likely to consider product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery). The interrelationship between the prospective customer's settlement time (information) 526, budget formulation time 1036, and estimated consideration period 1046 is the same as that explained in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, and this is also shown in FIG. 16. The details of step 1103 have already been explained using FIG. 20.

[0061] In step 1704 (part of the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination step) in FIG. 17, the sales support system 200 (a repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period 1699, which is estimated as a suitable period for a salesperson or the like to propose to a prospective customer the renewal (re-delivery) of a product that is a target of a repair cost-derived renewal proposal. In the example of FIG. 16, the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period 1699 is a period in which a product held by a prospective customer is a target of a repair cost-derived renewal proposal (actually, if the repair cost-derived condition as shown in FIG. 18 is satisfied, the time N is included in the period) and is also an estimated review period 1046. In other words, the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period 1699 is suitable as a timing for a salesperson or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to a potential customer, both from the viewpoint that the repair cost-derived conditions for the product are currently satisfied and from the viewpoint that it is easy for the potential customer to make a decision regarding product renewal (re-delivery). The sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines whether the time N is included in any of the repair cost-derived estimated proposal periods 1699. If the determination result in step 1704 is positive, control transitions to step 1705. If the determination result in step 1704 is negative, control transitions to step 1707. 17 (part of the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination step), the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the time period N corresponding to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 is included in the estimated proposal period 1699 (derived from repair costs) for the renewal (re-delivery) of the product held by the prospective customer under consideration. After step 1705, control transitions to step 1706. In step 1706 (repair cost derived priority action step) in FIG. 17, the sales support system 200 (repair cost derived priority action section, which is one of the functional sections constituting the priority prospect customer determination section) takes repair cost derived priority action for the prospective customer under consideration. The sales support system 200 (repair cost derived priority action section) may, for example, set the value of the coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from a pre-correction score to 10 for the prospective customer under consideration. In other words, when the time period N falls within the period of "coefficient x 10" in FIG. 16, the coefficient for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 10. In step 1707 (part of the repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination step) in FIG. 17, the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination unit) determines that the time period N corresponding to the prioritized prospective customer list 170 is not included in the estimated proposal period 1699 (derived from repair costs) for the renewal (re-delivery) of the product held by the prospective customer under consideration. In this case, for example, the value of the coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from a pre-correction score for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 1. In other words, when the time period N is included in the period of "coefficient x 1" in FIG. 16, the coefficient for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 1. 17, it is determined whether time N is a suitable time for a sales representative or the like to propose product renewal (re-delivery) to the prospective customer, taking into consideration both whether the product owned by the prospective customer is a renewal proposal target derived from repair costs and whether time N is included in a period in which the prospective customer is likely to consider product renewal (re-delivery). In addition, depending on the result of this determination, it is also possible to make it easier for the prospective customer who is the subject of consideration for time N to be determined as a priority prospective customer.

[0062] 4.2.1.2.1. Determining whether the product you own is subject to a replacement proposal based on repair costs Fig. 18 shows an internal flowchart of step 1702 in Fig. 17. As already described in the explanation of step 1702 in Fig. 17, in step 1702 in Fig. 17, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not a product held by a prospective customer is a target for a renewal proposal derived from repair costs. In step 1801 in FIG. 18, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) may read out the maintenance status information 432 for the product owned by the prospective customer being considered, from the customer-owned product data 402 in the product information database 232. 18, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) may read out remarks information 337 about the prospective customer being considered from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. Alternatively, or in addition, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) may read out sales record information 352 about the prospective customer being considered from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. Among the remarks information 337 and the sales record information 352, information about the maintenance status of the product owned by the prospective customer being considered may be used in the subsequent steps. Also, only one of step 1801 and step 1802 may be executed. 18, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) may read out standard maintenance cost information 415 for the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration from the product specification data 401 in the product information database 232. The standard maintenance cost information 415 may indicate the standard cost required for regular maintenance.

[0063] In step 1804 (part of the repair cost-derived update proposal target determination step) of FIG. 18, the sales support system 200 (the repair cost-derived update proposal target determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) may compare the cost required for repair (repair cost) in a predetermined period (e.g., a specific one year) of a product owned by a prospective customer to be considered with the standard cost required for regular maintenance in the predetermined period. Alternatively, the sales support system 200 (the repair cost-derived update proposal target determination unit) may compare the cost required for repair (repair cost) in a predetermined period (e.g., a specific one year) of a product owned by a prospective customer to be considered with the actual cost required for regular maintenance in the predetermined period. If the repair cost is equal to or greater than the cost of regular maintenance to be compared as a result of the determination in step 1804, or is greater than the cost of regular maintenance to be compared, the control is transitioned to step 1806. Otherwise, the control is transitioned to step 1805. In step 1805 (part of the repair cost-derived renewal proposal target determination step) of FIG. 18, the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived renewal proposal target determination unit) determines whether the number of breakdowns (repairs) (number of breakdowns) in a specified period (e.g., a specific one year) for the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration is a specified number (e.g., three times) or more. If the determination result in step 1805 is positive, control transitions to step 1806. If the determination result in step 1805 is negative, control transitions to step 1807. In step 1806 (part of the repair cost-derived update proposal target determination step) in Fig. 18, the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived update proposal target determination unit) determines that the product held by the potential customer is a repair cost-derived update proposal target. At this time, information (flag) indicating that this determination has been made may be recorded in the score information table 601 in the determination database 234. In cooperation with the processing of step 2113 in Fig. 21 described later, a predetermined score (e.g., 100 points) may be recorded in the "Update target (repair cost-derived)" item in the company item-specific score information 621 in the score information table 601, etc. In step 1807 of FIG. 18 (part of the repair cost-derived renewal proposal target determination step), the sales support system 200 (repair cost-derived renewal proposal target determination unit) determines that the product held by the potential customer is not a target for a repair cost-derived renewal proposal. By using the process shown in the flowchart in Figure 18 above, it is possible to accurately detect situations in which it would be more reasonable to renew (re-deliver) a product held by a potential customer, rather than postponing the renewal (re-delivery) and conducting maintenance inspections and repairs as appropriate.

[0064] 4.2.1.3 Priority measures based on other factors FIG. 19 shows a flowchart of the process of considering priority measures derived from factors other than the time since delivery and repair costs, which is performed in step 903 in FIG. 19, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the prospective customer itself or a product owned by the prospective customer is a proposed target for introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) of a product, based on factors other than the time since delivery and repair costs. For example, when the pre-correction score (described later) of a new customer (candidate) is equal to or greater than a threshold, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) may determine that the new customer (candidate) is a proposed target for introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) of a product. In step 1103 (estimated consideration time determination step) in Fig. 19, the sales support system 200 (estimated consideration time determination unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in the estimated consideration period 1046, which is estimated to be a period during which a prospective customer is likely to consider introducing (delivery) or updating (re-delivery) the product. The details of step 1103 have already been explained using Fig. 20.

[0065] In step 1904 of FIG. 19, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines whether or not the time N is included in the estimated proposal period, which is estimated to be a suitable period for a salesperson or the like to propose product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) to a prospective customer, for a prospective customer or product that is a renewal proposal target derived from other factors. For example, if the pre-correction score of a new customer (candidate) is equal to or greater than a threshold, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines the estimated consideration period 1046 as it is as the estimated proposal period derived from other factors. In other words, the estimated proposal period derived from other factors is suitable as a timing for a salesperson or the like to propose product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) to a prospective customer, both from the viewpoint of being suitable for proposing product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) due to some factor indicated by the pre-correction score, and from the viewpoint of the prospective customer being easy to make a decision regarding product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery). The sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) determines whether the time period N is included in any of the estimated proposal periods derived from other factors. If the determination result in step 1904 is positive, control is transferred to step 1905. If the determination result in step 1904 is negative, control is transferred to step 1907. 19, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) determines that the time period N corresponding to the priority prospect customer list 170 is included in the estimated proposal period (derived from other factors) for the prospect customer under consideration. After step 1905, control transitions to step 1906. 19, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) performs priority measures derived from other factors for the prospective customer under consideration. For example, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer determination unit) may set the value of a coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from a pre-correction score to 10 for the prospective customer under consideration. 19, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer determination unit) determines that the time period N corresponding to the priority prospective customer list 170 is not included in the estimated proposal period (derived from other factors) for the prospective customer under consideration. In this case, for example, the value of the coefficient for obtaining a corrected score from a pre-correction score for the prospective customer under consideration may be set to 1.

[0066] 4.2.2. Calculation of unadjusted score As shown in the explanation of step 803 (pre-correction score calculation step) in FIG. 8, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit as one functional unit constituting the prioritized prospect customer determination unit) calculates a pre-correction score for the prospect customer selected in step 801 (the prospect customer under consideration). Below, a method for calculating the pre-correction score when the prospect customer under consideration is an existing customer will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 21 and FIG. 23. Also, a method for calculating the pre-correction score when the prospect customer under consideration is a new customer (candidate) will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG. 22 and FIGS. 23 and 24. (Note that the item "Release of a new version of software used in the product" shown in FIG. 23 will be explained separately in Modification (ε) described later, since explaining it here would be complicated.) Figure 23 shows a portion of the score definition information 602 recorded in the judgment database 234, the company item-specific score information 2301 (621, 631) recorded in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234 for existing customer A, existing customer B, existing customer C, and new customer (candidate) Y, and the company pre-corrected score information 2303 (623, 633) recorded in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234 for existing customer A, existing customer B, existing customer C, and new customer (candidate) Y. Figure 24 shows a portion of the score definition information 602 recorded in the judgment database 234, personal item-specific score information 2401 (641, 651, 661) recorded in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234 for individual y1 belonging to company Y, individual y2 belonging to company Y, and individual z belonging to new customer (candidate), and personal pre-correction score information 2403 (643, 653, 663) recorded in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234 for individual y1 belonging to company Y, individual y2 belonging to company Y, and individual z belonging to new customer (candidate). 23 and 24, what is shown in the "item" column and the "additional points" column is included in the score definition information 602. In addition, in Fig. 23, the increase rate, increase (increase), and decrease (decrease) mentioned in the "item" may mean the increase rate, increase (increase), and decrease (decrease) of the current (latest) fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year. The administrator or sales representative of the sales support system 200 may input in advance to the sales support system 200, as score definition information 602, how much point is to be added to the item-specific score when a certain condition is met for each potential customer (company or individual) or an individual belonging to a potential customer (company). The administrator or sales representative of the sales support system 200 may also instruct the sales support system 200 to change the score definition information 602 that has already been set.

[0067] 4.2.2.1. Calculation of unadjusted score (existing customers) FIG. 21 shows a flowchart executed in step 803 (pre-correction score calculation step) in FIG. 8 when the prospective customer to be considered is an existing customer who already owns a product. Each step in FIG. 21 may be executed by a pre-correction score calculation unit, which is one of the functional units constituting the priority prospective customer determination unit, which is a functional unit of the sales support system 200. Note that even if the new customer (candidate) is a new customer, if the new customer (candidate) owns a product and the sales support system 200 can obtain information on the product, the pre-correction score of the new customer (candidate) may be calculated by performing the process shown in the flowchart in FIG. 21. In addition, in the following description using FIG. 21, it is assumed that the existing customer to be considered is a company, but even if the existing customer is an individual, if the individual owns a product, the pre-correction score of the individual may be calculated by performing the process shown in the flowchart in FIG. 21.

[0068] In step 2101 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may read out the score definition information 602 from the judgment database 234. In step 2105 in FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may read out company information (511, 512, 513, 514 in FIG. 5) on the prospective customer under consideration from the company data 501 in the company database 233. In step 2106 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may read out, from the industry data 502 in the company database 233, industry information on the industry to which the prospective customer under consideration belongs. In step 2107 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may read out macroeconomic information on the country or region to which the prospective customer under consideration belongs from the macroeconomic data 503 in the company database 233. In step 2108 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (the uncorrected score calculation unit) records item-specific score information for the prospective customer to be considered in the score information table 601 based on some or all of the company information, industry information, and macroeconomic information, and the score definition information 602. For example, if the prospective customer to be considered is an existing customer and a company, the company-specific item-specific score information 2301 (621 in FIG. 6) of the prospective customer may be recorded. (Note that if the prospective customer to be considered is an existing customer and an individual (not belonging to a company), the individual-specific item-specific score information of the prospective customer may be recorded.) The sales support system 200 (the uncorrected score calculation unit) may refer to the items (indicating the conditions for adding points) included in the score definition information 602, and determine whether the prospective customer to be considered satisfies the conditions indicated by the items, based on the company information, industry information, and macroeconomic information. When a condition indicated by a certain item is satisfied, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may apply the additional points set for the certain item to the prospective customer under consideration, and may reflect the additional points in the item-specific score information. In the example of FIG. 23, when it is found that the sales growth rate of the existing customer B company is 10% or more and less than 20% between the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year based on the performance information in the B company's company information 512, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may record "10 points" for the item "high growth (sales growth rate of 10% or more)" in the company item-specific score information in the B company's score information 612.

[0069] In step 2109 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) reads out, from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231, the delivery time information 342 for the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration. In step 2110 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) determines whether or not the time that has elapsed from the introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) time of the product to time N for all of the products owned by the prospective customer under consideration is less than a predetermined time (e.g., one year). If the determination result in step 2110 is positive, the transition is made to step 2111. If the determination result in step 2110 is negative, the transition is made to step 2112. 21, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may record a predetermined score (e.g., "-5 points") for the item "Company within one year since delivery (renewal) of the target product" in the item-specific score information 2301 for company for the prospective customer under consideration in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. In other words, the pre-correction score (item-specific score on the basis of calculation) for the prospective customer may be determined so that the priority of sales activities for the prospective customer who only has products that have been introduced (delivered) or renewed (re-delivered) relatively recently is lowered.

[0070] In step 2112 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) determines whether the product owned by the prospective customer under consideration is a "post-delivery-derived renewal proposal target" as determined in FIG. 15, or a "repair cost-derived renewal proposal target" as determined in FIG. 18. This determination may be made for each product owned by the prospective customer. If a positive determination is made for any product in step 2112, control transitions to step 2113. If not, control transitions to step 2114. In step 2113 of Fig. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) records a predetermined score in the item "Updated (originating from time after delivery (no environmental impact))", "Updated (originating from time after delivery (with environmental impact))", or "Updated (originating from repair costs)" of the company item-specific score information 2301 for the prospective customer under consideration in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. The sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may record that a predetermined score (for example, "100 points") is added to each of the products held by the prospective customer under consideration if the product is a "post-delivery proposed renewal target" determined in Fig. 15 or a "repair cost proposed renewal target" determined in Fig. 18. In the example of Fig. 23, company A is the "subject of post-delivery-derived update proposal" and has three products for which the recommended update time (information) 411 remains the estimated update time 1043 (determined to have no time reduction due to the installation location environment) in step 1205 of Fig. 12, so "300 points" is recorded in the item "Updated (derived from post-delivery time (no environmental impact))" for company A. Also, company B is the "subject of post-delivery-derived update proposal" and has one product for which the estimated update time 1043 is shorter than the recommended update time (information) 411 in step 1205 of Fig. 12 (determined to have time reduction due to the installation location environment), so "100 points" is recorded in the item "Updated (derived from post-delivery time (with environmental impact))" for company B. Furthermore, in consideration of the fact that Company C owns one product that is determined to be a "subject of update proposal derived from correction costs," "100 points" is recorded in the item "Updated (derived from repair costs)" for Company C. (Note that in FIG. 23, Company Y is a new customer (candidate), and the sales support system 200 cannot obtain information on products owned by Company Y, so no points are recorded in the items "Updated (derived from time since delivery (no environmental impact))," "Updated (derived from time since delivery (with environmental impact))," and "Updated (derived from repair costs)" for Company Y.) By the processing shown in steps 2112 and 2113 above, if the product held by the prospective customer at time N is a renewal proposal target derived from the time since delivery or a renewal proposal target derived from the repair cost (regardless of whether time N is included in the estimated consideration period 1046 for the prospective customer), a relatively large score can be given as the pre-correction score of the prospective customer. In other words, even if time N is a timing that is not included in the estimated consideration period 1046 for the prospective customer, the pre-correction score of a prospective customer who holds a product that has become the target of a renewal proposal due to some factor can be set high. When a sales representative or the like has capacity for sales activities, it can be said that the sales representative or the like can be provided with information for making decisions to conduct sales activities to such prospective customers. After step 2113 , control transitions to step 2114 .

[0071] In step 2114 of FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) judges the item with the highest score among the scores recorded for each item included in the business item score information 2301 for the prospective customer under consideration. The sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may judge the item with the highest score as the "item with the highest score", or may determine one or more items with a score equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold as the "item with the highest score". The sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may record the name of the "item with the highest score" in the business needs details (622, 632 in FIG. 6) for the prospective customer under consideration in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. The sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may record the name shown in the "item" column in FIG. 23 (or FIG. 24) as it is in the business needs details. Alternatively, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) may replace the names shown in the "item" column in Fig. 23 (or Fig. 24) with terms that are easy for salespeople to understand, and record them in the company's detailed needs information, instead of recording them as they are. For example, the items "Update target exists (originating from time after delivery (no environmental impact))", "Update target exists (originating from time after delivery (with environmental impact))", and "Update target exists (originating from repair costs)" may be replaced with terms such as "update time", "high temperature and high pressure environment (or excessive dust)", and "repair costs", and then recorded in the company's detailed needs information.

[0072] In step 2118 in FIG. 21, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) calculates the sum of the company item scores for the prospective customer under consideration, and records the sum as company uncorrected score information (623, 633 in FIG. 6) in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. In the example in FIG. 23, Company A has "5 points" recorded in the item "actively promoting capital investment", "5 points" recorded in the item "good macroeconomic indicators", and "300 points" recorded in the item "renewal target (due to time after delivery (no environmental impact))", so the "sum of company item scores" is set to "310 points", and (if the customer is an existing customer who owns the product and the individual item scores are not handled) the "sum of company item scores" is directly set to the "company uncorrected score (information)" and "310 points" is recorded.

[0073] 4.2.2.2. Calculation of unadjusted score (new customers) Fig. 22 shows a flowchart executed in step 803 (pre-correction score calculation step) in Fig. 8 when the prospective customer being considered is a new customer (candidate). Each step in Fig. 22 may be executed by a pre-correction score calculation unit, which is one functional unit constituting a prioritized prospective customer determination unit, which is a functional unit of sales support system 200. In Fig. 22, when the new customer (candidate) is a company and web access history information on one or more individuals belonging to the company is available to sales support system 200, a pre-correction score is calculated for the company and each of the individuals belonging to the company.

[0074] In step 2101 of FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may read out the score definition information 602 from the judgment database 234. In step 2202 in FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) reads out personal web access history information (361, 371, 372, 381 in FIG. 3) for the prospective customer under consideration from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. If the prospective customer under consideration is a company (in the case of company Y to which individuals y1 and y2 belong in FIG. 3), personal web access history information is read out for each of the individuals belonging to the company. That is, for company Y, personal web access history information 371 for individual y1 and web access history information 372 for individual y2 for individual y1 are read out. If the prospective customer under consideration is an individual not belonging to a company (in the case of individual z in FIG. 3), personal web access history information for that individual is read out. That is, for individual z, personal web access history information 381 is read out. In addition, the personal web access history information may be one in which the history contents are reset (deleted) every predetermined period (e.g., every three months), or one in which only the web access history for the most recent predetermined period (e.g., the most recent three months) is valid. In this way, by limiting the web access history that is valid in the web access history information to the most recent ones, it is possible to realize sales activities that are in line with the recent interests and concerns of, for example, companies or individuals who are new customers (potential customers), or individuals belonging to companies who are new customers (potential customers). In step 2203 in FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) determines the individual item score based on the score definition information 602 and the personal web access history information on the prospective customer under consideration, and records the individual item score information 2401 (641, 651, 661 in FIG. 6) on the prospective customer under consideration in the score information table 601 in the determination database 234. In the example of FIG. 24, if there is a record that an individual y1 viewed two product web product pages when accessing the website of our company (our company) using the sales support system 200, "10 points" is recorded in the item "Web product page viewing" for the individual y1. (In the example of FIG. 24, the score definition information 602 defines that "+5 points" are added each time a product web product page of one product is viewed.) In step 2204 of Fig. 22, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) judges whether the individual being considered belongs to a company. If the judgment result in step 2204 is positive (i.e., the subject being considered is a company and an individual belonging to a company), control transitions to step 2205. If the judgment result in step 2204 is negative (i.e., the subject being considered is an individual not belonging to a company), (steps 2205 to 2214 are skipped) and control transitions to step 2215.

[0075] Since steps 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, and 2214 in Fig. 22 are similar to the processing content performed in steps 2105, 2106, 2107, 2108, and 2114 in Fig. 21, detailed explanation of the processing will be omitted. However, there is a difference in that in the flowchart in Fig. 21, when the subject of consideration is a company (an existing customer), individuals belonging to the company are not handled, whereas in steps 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, and 2214 in the flowchart in Fig. 22, the subject of consideration is a company (a new customer (candidate)) and individuals belonging to that company. Also, in step 2214 of FIG. 22 (different from step 2114 of FIG. 21), when recording the company needs details information, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation section) may determine the items that received high scores, including both items for the company item-specific scores and items for the personal item-specific scores (for each individual belonging to the company), and record the items that received high scores (which may be items for the personal item-specific scores) in the company needs details information.

[0076] In step 2215 of FIG. 22 (in the case where control is transferred from step 2214), the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation section) determines the items that received high scores, including both items for the corporate item-specific score (of the company to which the individual belongs) and items for the personal item-specific score (of the individual), and may record the items that received high scores (which may be items for the corporate item-specific score or items for the personal item-specific score) in the personal needs details information. To explain the relationship between step 2214 and step 2215, for example, if the item with a high score in Company Y's corporate item-specific score is "ultra-high growth", the items with high scores in Individual y1's personal item-specific score are "technical material download" and "catalog download", and there are no items with high scores in Individual y2's personal item-specific score, then "ultra-high growth", "technical material download", and "catalog download" may be recorded in Company Y's corporate needs details and Individual y1's personal needs details, while only "ultra-high growth" may be recorded in Individual y2's personal needs details. In step 2215 of Fig. 22, if the subject of consideration is an individual who does not belong to a company, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) may determine the items with high scores from among the items for the individual's individual item-specific scores, and record the items with high scores in the individual needs detailed information. In the example of Fig. 24, the items "view web example page 2" and "download catalog" may be recorded as the individual needs detailed information for individual z. In step 2216 of Fig. 22, the sales support system 200 (uncorrected score calculation unit) judges whether the individual being considered belongs to a company. If the judgment result in step 2216 is positive (i.e., the subject being considered is a company and an individual belonging to a company), control transitions to step 2217. If the judgment result in step 2204 is negative (i.e., the subject being considered is an individual not belonging to a company), control transitions to step 2219.

[0077] In step 2217 in FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) calculates the sum of the individual item scores and the company item scores of the company to which the individual belongs for each individual who belongs to the company that is a potential customer under consideration. Then, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) sets the sum as the individual's pre-correction score, and records the individual pre-correction score information (643, 653 in FIG. 6) in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. For example, in the example of FIGS. 23 and 24, the sum of the company item scores of company Y is "55 points" and the sum of the individual item scores of individual y1 is "110 points", so the individual pre-correction score of individual y1 is "165 points". Similarly, the sum of Company Y's corporate item scores is "55 points," and the sum of individual y2's personal item scores is "12 points," so individual y2's personal unadjusted score is "67 points." In step 2218 of FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) calculates the individual item scores of each individual belonging to a company that is a potential customer under consideration, and the sum of the company's item scores. Then, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) sets the sum as the company's pre-correction score, and records the company pre-correction score information (633 in FIG. 6) in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. For example, in the example of FIG. 23 and FIG. 24, the sum of the company item scores of company Y is "55 points", the sum of the individual item scores of individual y1 is "110 points", and the sum of the individual item scores of individual y2 is "12 points", so that the pre-correction score of company Y is "177 points". In step 2219 in FIG. 22, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) calculates the sum of the individual item scores for an individual who is a potential customer (not belonging to a company) under consideration. Then, the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation unit) sets the sum as the individual's pre-correction score, and records the individual pre-correction score information (663 in FIG. 6) in the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. In the example of FIG. 24, the sum of the item scores for individual z is set to "85 points," and this "85 points" is set to individual z's pre-correction score.

[0078] 3. Priority Lead List Display Output Control 25 shows an internal flowchart of step 704 (priority prospective customer list display output control step) in Fig. 7. Each of the steps in Fig. 7 may be executed by a priority prospective customer list display output control unit, which is a functional unit of the sales support system 200. In the flowchart of Fig. 25, steps 2502 to 2506 are for displaying or outputting a prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600 shown in Fig. 26. Also, steps 2508 to 2512 are for displaying or outputting a prioritized prospective customer list detail page 2700 or 2900 shown in Fig. 27 or Fig. 29. In step 2501 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) judges whether to start displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list 170. For example, the judgment result of step 2501 may be positive when an instruction is given to the sales support system 200 from an administrator or a sales person of the sales support system 200, or when a predetermined condition (for example, a condition that the last day of each month has arrived) is satisfied. If step 2501 is positive, control is transferred to steps 2502 to 2506 for displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600. If step 2501 is negative, step 2501 may be repeated (possibly after a certain time interval). When the prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600 is displayed or output, in step 2507 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) determines whether or not an instruction for displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700 or 2900 corresponding to a specific priority prospective customer has been received. For example, when the customer name 2611 (with hyperlink) is clicked by the pointing icon 2604 on the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600 shown in FIG. 26, the determination result of step 2507 may be affirmative. If the determination result of step 2507 is affirmative, control is transferred to steps 2508 to 2512 for displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700 or 2900 corresponding to the customer name 2611 clicked by using the pointing icon 2604. If the determination at step 2507 is negative, control may wait at step 2507 until pointing icon 2604 is used to click on customer name 2611 . When the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700 or 2900 is displayed or output, in step 2513 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) determines whether or not an instruction for displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600 has been received. For example, when the "return to list" icon 2705 is clicked by a pointing icon on the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700 or 2900 shown in FIG. 27 or FIG. 29, the determination result of step 2513 may be affirmative. If the determination result of step 2513 is affirmative, control is transferred to step 2506 for displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600. If the determination result of step 2513 is negative, control may wait in step 2513 until the "return to list" icon 2705 is clicked by a pointing icon. The following describes the preferred prospect list summary page 2600 and the preferred prospect list detail page 2700 or 2900, respectively, showing the manner in which the page is displayed or output, and processing steps for controlling the display or output of the page.

[0079] 1. Priority Lead List Overview Page 26 shows an aspect in which a prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600 is displayed or output. In the prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600, together with a table for displaying a list of prioritized prospective customers (or individuals belonging to a company of new customers (candidates) who are prioritized prospective customers; hereinafter, collectively referred to as "priority prospective customers, etc."), a summary page title 2601 for indicating a period of sales activities (a certain period 160, period N) targeted by the prioritized prospective customer list 170, a "previous month" icon 2602 for instructing to display or output the prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600 for the previous period (e.g., the previous month), and a "next month" icon 2603 for instructing to display or output the prioritized prospective customer list summary page 2600 for the next period (e.g., the next month) may be displayed or output. In the table for displaying a list of priority prospective customers, etc., one row of records may be shown for each priority prospective customer, etc. Each row of record may have columns (columns) for numbering 2610, customer name 2611, location 2612, customer person in charge 2613, corrected score 2614, target product overview 2615, target product representative model number 2616, recommended model number 2617, needs details 2618, and our person in charge 2619. The customer name 2611 may be accompanied by a hyperlink for instructing to display or output a priority prospective customer list details page. The top row of the table for displaying a list of priority prospective customers may indicate the names of the columns. When the names of the columns are clicked with the pointing icon, the records included in the table for displaying a list of priority prospective customers, etc. may be sorted. In the example of FIG. 26, the name of the column for corrected score 2614 is displayed or output as "Score▼". In this case, the records may be displayed or output in descending order from the largest corrected score value to the smallest corrected score value. The sort function may be possible for some or all of the columns 2610 to 2619.

[0080] The numbering 2610 is a number assigned for convenience to each of the priority potential customers. The customer name 2611 indicates the name of a priority potential customer. In the case of a new customer (candidate) who is a company, the name of the company and the name of an individual who belongs to the company may be displayed or output. In FIG. 26, "(Individual) y1" is shown along with "Company Y." The location 2612 indicates the location of the priority potential customer. For example, if the product is an industrial machine, the location 2612 may indicate the address of the place where the industrial machine is installed, or may indicate the address of the place where the sales representative or the like visits for sales activities. The customer person in charge 2613 indicates a person in charge who considers product introduction (delivery) or renewal (re-delivery) within a prioritized potential customer. The corrected score 2614 indicates a corrected score associated with a potential customer. For new customers (candidates), the corrected score 2614 may be a corrected score associated with a company, or may be a corrected score of an individual belonging to a company. In the example of FIG. 26, a corrected score of "165 points" for an individual y1 belonging to company Y is shown. Also, in the example of FIG. 26, since only company A has a coefficient of "10", "3100 points", which is 10 times the pre-correction score of "310 points" for company A, is shown as the corrected score for company A. The target product overview 2615 indicates an overview of the product owned by the potential customer. The target product overview 2615 may indicate the approximate equipment name and number of units of the product owned by the potential customer. The representative target product model number 2616 indicates the model number of a representative product among the products owned by the potential customer. The recommended model number 2617 indicates the model number of a product that is recommended as a new product to be delivered when a product held by a potential customer is renewed (re-delivered). Needs details 2618 show the names of items with high scores in the uncorrected score corresponding to the potential customer, etc. In the case of a new customer (candidate) that is a company, needs details 2618 may be needs details for the company, or may be needs details for an individual belonging to the company. Our sales representative 2619 indicates a sales representative who conducts sales activities to potential customers.

[0081] Each of the steps for displaying or outputting the preferred lead list summary page 2600 will now be described. In step 2502 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) reads out corrected score information and needs detail information for each priority prospect customer from the score information table 601 in the judgment database 234. If the priority prospect customer is an existing customer and a company that owns a product, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) may read out company corrected score information and company needs detail information. If the priority prospect customer is a new customer (candidate) and a company that does not own a product, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) may read out individual corrected score information and individual needs detail information for an individual who belongs to the company, or may read out company corrected score information and company needs detail information for the company. If the priority prospect customer is an individual who does not belong to a company, the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) may read out individual corrected score information and individual needs detail information for the individual. In step 2503 in FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) reads out location information 322, customer representative information 323, target product overview information 325, target product representative model number information 326, and our company representative information 329 for each priority prospective customer, etc. from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. In step 2504 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) reads out, for each priority prospective customer, information on the recommended model number (new model number) linked to the model number (old model number) of a representative product among the products owned by the priority prospective customer from the old model number and new model number linking information 416 included in the product specification data 401 in the product information database 232. In step 2505 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) sorts the priority prospective customers, etc. in descending order of corrected score based on the corrected score information for each of the priority prospective customers, etc., and determines the initial placement of the records of the priority prospective customers when displaying or outputting the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600. In step 2506 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) controls the display or output of the priority prospective customer list summary page 2600 while arranging records related to priority prospective customers, etc. (records listing the information read out in steps 2502, 2503, and 2504) in the order sorted in step 2505.

[0082] 2 of 3: Priority Lead List Detail Page Example 1 27 shows a first example of a priority prospect list detail page that is displayed or output. This first example shows detailed information about Company A, which has a product that is the subject of a delivery time-based renewal proposal. The Preferred Prospect List Detail page 2700 includes records similar to those for Company A on the Preferred Prospect List Summary page 2600, as well as a table containing a record for each product held by Company A, and sales notes. The priority prospect list details page 2700 may further display or output a detail page title 2701 for indicating the period (a certain period 160, period N) of the sales activity that the priority prospect list 170 targets, a "previous" icon 2702 for instructing the display or output of a priority prospect list details page for the priority prospect list corresponding to the previous record in the table for listing the priority prospect customers, etc. in the priority prospect list overview page 2600, a "next" icon 2703 for instructing the display or output of a priority prospect list details page for the priority prospect list corresponding to the next record in the table for listing the priority prospect customers, etc., and a "return to list" icon 2705 for instructing the display or output of the priority prospect list overview page 2600. A table including a record for each product owned by a priority prospective customer (Company A in the example of FIG. 27) may show one row of records for each product owned by the priority prospective customer (Company A). Each row of records may have columns for equipment name 2735, model number 2736, renewal probability 2741, time since delivery 2742, and remarks 2737. In addition, the table including a record for each product owned by a priority prospective customer (Company A in the example of FIG. 27) may be accompanied by a calculation target year / month 2743 indicating the period for which the renewal probability 2741 and time since delivery 2742 were calculated. Sales notes may include columns for last visit date 2751 and sales record 2752.

[0083] The equipment name 2735 indicates the name of the product owned by the potential customer. If the potential customer owns multiple products (equipment) of the same type, the equipment name 2735 may be assigned a number to distinguish each product (equipment). The model number 2736 indicates the model number of the product owned by the potential customer. The post-delivery time 2742 indicates the time that has elapsed since the delivery of the product held by the prioritized prospective customer at the time indicated by the calculation target date and time 2743. In other words, the post-delivery time 2742 indicates the time that has elapsed from the time when the product held by the prioritized prospective customer was introduced (delivered) or renewed (re-delivered) to the time indicated by the calculation target date and time 2743. Since FIG. 27 indicates detailed information for Company A that has a product that is the subject of a renewal proposal derived from the post-delivery time, the calculation target date and time 2743 may be in the future as viewed from the time of sales activity (a certain period 160, period N) indicated by the detail page title 2701. In that case, the post-delivery time 2742 also indicates the post-delivery time in the future. The notes 2737 are reference information regarding the products held by the priority prospective customers. Information may be automatically entered in the notes 2737 field based on a predetermined rule, or information obtained by a sales representative or the like through sales activities may be entered. The previous visit date 2751 indicates the date on which a sales representative or the like visited the priority prospective customer. Note that, in addition to the previous visit date, the history of visit dates may be displayed or output. Sales records 2752 show information obtained when a sales representative or the like visits prioritized potential customers.

[0084] The renewal probability 2741 indicates an estimated probability that the product held by the prioritized potential customer will be renewed (re-delivered) by the elapsed time indicated by the post-delivery time 2742 . Fig. 28 shows the relationship between time after delivery 2742 and update probability 2741. Product specification data 401 in product information database 232 includes update time distribution information 413 for each model number (or for each group of model numbers). Update time distribution information 413 includes statistical information (history information) of the time (update time) from when the product was introduced (delivered) to when it was updated (re-delivered) for each product (product that was in operation in the past) belonging to a model number (or a group of model numbers). Fig. 28 shows a bar graph 2800 based on update time distribution information 413, with the horizontal axis representing the update time for each product and the vertical axis representing the number of updated products (number of units). In this bar graph 2800, when a predetermined value is set as the time since delivery 2742, the number of products updated on bar graph 2800 before the predetermined value of time (the size of the black bars in FIG. 28) divided by the total number of products displayed in bar graph 2800 (the combined size of the black bars and the open bars in FIG. 28) becomes the statistical update probability 2741. In FIG. 27, once the post-delivery time 2742 of a product held by a prioritized potential customer is determined, the renewal probability 2741 of the product can be determined based on the renewal timing distribution information 413 for the model number (group of model numbers) of the product. By displaying or outputting the renewal probability 2741 on the priority prospect customer list details page 2700, when sales personnel, etc., are conducting sales activities to priority prospect customers, etc., they can easily recognize the degree of necessity for product renewal (re-delivery) and can easily persuade the priority prospect customers to renew (re-deliver) the product using statistical data.

[0085] Each of the steps for displaying or outputting the preferred lead list details page 2700 will now be described. In step 2508 of Figure 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) reads out, from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231, the equipment name information 335, model number information 336, delivery time information 342, and remarks information 337 for each of the products held by the specific priority prospective customer who is the subject of the priority prospective customer list details page 2700. In step 2509 of Figure 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) reads out the previous visit date information 351 and the sales record information 352 for the specific priority prospective customer that is the subject of the priority prospective customer list details page 2700 from the customer information data 301 in the sales record database 231. In step 2510 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) reads out, from the product specification data 401 in the product information database 232, update time distribution information 413 for the model number (or group of model numbers) of each product held by a specific priority prospective customer who is the subject of the priority prospective customer list details page 2700. 25 , the sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) calculates the post-delivery time 2742 for each of the products held by the specific priority prospect customer who is the target of the priority prospect customer list detail page 2700. The sales support system 200 (priority prospect customer list display output control unit) calculates the update probability 2741 for each of the products held by the specific priority prospect customer who is the target of the priority prospect customer list detail page 2700, based on the post-delivery time 2742 and the update time distribution information 413. In step 2512 of FIG. 25, the sales support system 200 (priority prospective customer list display output control unit) controls to display or output the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700, which includes the information obtained in steps 2502 to 2504 and the information obtained in steps 2508 to 2511 for the specific priority prospective customer that is the subject of the priority prospective customer list detail page 2700.

[0086] 3 of 4. Priority Lead List Detail Page Example 2 Fig. 29 shows a mode in which a second example of the priority prospect list detail page is displayed or output. This second example shows detailed information about Company C, which has a product that is the target of a repair cost-derived renewal proposal. Below, only the points that are different from the first example of Fig. 27 will be described. In the example shown in Fig. 29, Company C, which is the target of the priority prospective customer list details page 2900, owns a product "σ equipment No. 1" that is the target of an update derived from repair costs. This "σ equipment No. 1" may already be updated (re-delivered) at the time of conducting sales activities, so in Fig. 29, the time indicated by the details page title 2701 and the time indicated by the calculation target year and month 2943 may be the same. Accordingly, in Fig. 29, the update probability 2941 and the time after delivery 2942 may be values ​​at the time of conducting sales activities. Since "σ equipment No. 1" is already a target for a proposed renewal due to repair costs, there is little need to consider the renewal probability 2941 associated with the time after delivery 2942 for "σ equipment No. 1". Therefore, in FIG. 29, the renewal probability 2941 for "σ equipment No. 1" is not shown.

[0087] 5.Other (variations) The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes various modifications. A part of the configuration or processing of the embodiment may be replaced with the configuration or processing of another conceivable embodiment. The configuration or processing of the embodiment may be added to the configuration or processing of another conceivable embodiment. For example, the present disclosure may have the following modified embodiments.

[0088] (α) Execution of a sales support method (sales support program) by a sales representative terminal In the above embodiment, the sales support method 100 (sales support program) is executed by the information processing system 180 (computer). The sales representative terminal 181 may transmit information obtained through sales activities to the information processing system 180 (computer) and may control the display or output of the priority prospective customer list 170 using information related to the priority prospective customer list 170 transmitted from the information processing system 180 (computer). In a modified example, the sales support method 100 (sales support program) may be executed by the sales representative terminal 181 itself. The various databases may be held by the sales representative terminal 181 itself, or may be accessible by the sales representative terminal 181. In this way, the system configuration for the present disclosure can be flexibly determined. If the hardware performance of the sales representative terminal 181 is sufficient, the system configuration can be simplified.

[0089] (β) Pre-fetching the database and caching data In the above embodiment, the various databases are accessed on a case-by-case basis. In contrast, in a modified example, before the sales support method 100 disclosed herein is executed, the necessary data may be read out in advance from various databases and cached, and thereafter, the cached data may be accessed exclusively. In this modified example, the access speed after the database data is cached is improved, and the processing speed of the sales support system 200 after the cache is created is improved.

[0090] (γ) Elapsed time and operating time In the above embodiment, the time that has elapsed (post-delivery time) since the product held by the prospective customer was introduced (delivered) or updated (re-delivered) is handled. In contrast, in a modified example, the operating time of a product owned by a prospective customer after delivery or redelivery may be handled. In order to handle the operating time, information on the operation (operation) of a product owned by a prospective customer may be transmitted and received from the existing customer system shown in Fig. 1 to the information processing system 180 (sales support system 200). For example, information on the operating time or the time period during which the product owned by the prospective customer is operating may be transmitted and received. If the time of product renewal (re-delivery) can be estimated based on the operating time since delivery or re-delivery of a product held by a potential customer, the accuracy of the estimated renewal time (information) 343 can be expected to improve.

[0091] (δ) Priority measures in stages In the above embodiment, when a priority measure is taken, the sales support system 200 sets the coefficient value to "10" (the pre-correction score multiplied by 10 is set as the corrected score). In contrast, in a modified example, a coefficient value (or an additional value) may be set according to the content of the reason for applying the priority measure. For example, there may be cases where the coefficient value is "5" in addition to "1" and "10". The same applies when an additional value is used. In this modified example, it is possible to determine the priority potential customers for the period N in a detailed manner.

[0092] (ε) Consideration of new versions of software used in products (Although not described above,) an embodiment (or variant) of the present disclosure may take into consideration the calculation of itemized scores and pre-correction scores when hardware and software work together in a product owned by a potential customer. For example, when a new version of software (such as operating system software) used in a product is released, there is a high possibility that a potential customer will have the impression that the overall performance of the product has relatively deteriorated. In other words, it may be effective to take advantage of the release of the new version of the software to encourage the potential customer to update (re-deliver) the product. Therefore, as shown in Figure 23 by adding "+50 points per product" to the item "Release of a new version of software used in products," the sales support system 200 (pre-correction score calculation section) may adjust the item-specific scores so that the pre-correction score of a potential customer becomes higher when a new version of software (e.g., operating system software) used in a product owned by the potential customer is released.

[0093] The technical matters described in each of the embodiments of the present disclosure and the modified examples of the embodiments described above can be combined as appropriate as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

Claims

1. A sales support method executed by a computer, comprising: The sales support method includes: a priority prospective customer determination step of determining priority prospective customers who are to be prioritized targets for sales activities to be carried out at a certain time from among the prospective customers; a priority prospective customer list display output control step of controlling to display or output a priority prospective customer list showing information about the priority prospective customers for the certain period; the step of determining a preferred potential customer is performed for each potential customer; an estimated renewal time determination step of determining an estimated renewal time, which is a time when the potential customer is estimated to renew the product he / she owns; an estimated proposal period determination step of determining whether the certain period is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for proposing the renewal of the product to the potential customer because the product will be renewed during the estimated renewal period; A sales support method including a priority measure step of treating the potential customer for the certain period so that the potential customer is more likely to be determined as the priority potential customer when the certain period is included in the estimated proposal period for the potential customer.

2. The sales support method according to claim 1, The estimated update time determination step includes: an estimated update time determination step for determining an estimated update time, which is the time from when the product is delivered to the potential customer until when the product is updated, based on a recommended update time set for the product owned by the potential customer and information indicating the environmental condition of the location where the product is installed; A sales support method including an estimated renewal time calculation step of calculating the estimated renewal time based on information on when the product was delivered to the potential customer and the estimated renewal time.

3. The sales support method according to claim 2, The sales support method, wherein the recommended update time for the product is set to twice the rated time for the product.

4. The sales support method according to claim 2, the information indicating the environmental condition of the place where the product is installed includes information indicating the temperature of the place where the product is installed; The sales support method, wherein the estimated update time determination step includes a calculation of applying the information indicating the temperature to the Arrhenius equation.

5. The sales support method according to claim 1, the step of determining a preferred potential customer is performed for each potential customer; an estimated proposal deadline determination step of determining an estimated proposal deadline, which is an estimated deadline for proposing an update of the product to the potential customer, based on the estimated update time of the product and a standard installation time, which is a standard time required for installation work when updating the product; a post-delivery time-based renewal proposal target determination step of determining that the product is a renewal proposal target based on post-delivery time when the estimated proposal deadline of the product held by the prospective customer will arrive within a predetermined time from the certain time; an estimated consideration period determination step of determining whether the certain period is included in an estimated consideration period, which is a period during which the potential customer is likely to consider updating the product; The estimated proposal period determination step includes: A sales support method including a post-delivery time-derived estimated proposal period determination step for determining that a certain period is included in the estimated proposal period if the product held by the potential customer is a target for a renewal proposal based on the time since delivery and the certain period is included in the estimated review period.

6. The sales support method according to claim 5, A sales support method, wherein the estimated consideration period is estimated based on information indicating the settlement date of the prospective customer or information indicating the estimated time of budget formulation.

7. The sales support method according to claim 6, A sales support method, wherein the certain period corresponding to the priority prospective customer list can be set at an interval shorter than the time from the estimated consideration period to the estimated budget formulation period.

8. The sales support method according to claim 1, the step of determining a preferred potential customer is performed for each potential customer; a repair cost-based renewal proposal target determination step of determining that the product is a renewal proposal target based on repair costs when information indicating the maintenance status of the product owned by the prospective customer indicates a predetermined status; an estimated consideration period determination step of determining whether the certain period is included in an estimated consideration period, which is a period during which the potential customer is likely to consider updating the product; a repair cost-derived estimated proposal period determination step for determining that the certain period is included in a repair cost-derived estimated proposal period when the product owned by the potential customer is a target for a replacement proposal based on repair costs and the certain period is included in the estimated review period; The sales support method includes a repair cost-derived priority measure step for treating the potential customer so that the potential customer is more likely to be determined as the priority potential customer for the certain period if the certain period is included in the estimated proposal period derived from repair costs for the potential customer.

9. The sales support method according to claim 8, The repair cost-derived update proposal target determination step determines that the information indicating the product's maintenance status indicates the specified status if the information indicating the product's maintenance status indicates that the repair cost of the product in a specified period is equal to or greater than the cost of regular maintenance of the product in the specified period, or indicates that the number of times the product has broken down in the specified period is equal to or greater than a specified number.

10. The sales support method according to claim 1, the priority treatment step is to set a coefficient for correcting a pre-correction score associated with a certain prospective customer to a relatively large value when treating the certain prospective customer so as to be more likely to be determined as the priority prospective customer, The priority prospect customer determination step includes: A sales support method including a priority prospective customer identification step of identifying the priority prospective customers using the scores corrected by the coefficients, which are associated with each of the prospective customers.

11. The sales support method according to claim 1, the step of determining a preferred potential customer is performed for each potential customer; an estimated proposal deadline determination step of determining an estimated proposal deadline, which is an estimated deadline for proposing an update of the product to the potential customer, based on the estimated update time of the product and a standard installation time, which is a standard time required for installation work when updating the product; a post-delivery time-based renewal proposal target determination step of determining that the product is a renewal proposal target based on post-delivery time when the estimated proposal deadline of the product held by the prospective customer will arrive within a predetermined time from the certain time; a repair cost-based renewal proposal target determination step of determining that the product is a renewal proposal target based on repair costs when information indicating the maintenance status of the product owned by the prospective customer indicates a predetermined status; an uncorrected score calculation step for calculating an uncorrected score associated with the potential customer by adding up points for each predetermined item, wherein the uncorrected score calculation step assigns a relatively large score to the potential customer when the product owned by the potential customer is determined to be a target for replacement proposal based on time since delivery or a target for replacement proposal based on repair costs; a repair cost-derived priority measure step of setting a coefficient for correcting an uncorrected score associated with a certain prospective customer to a relatively large value when treating the certain prospective customer so as to be more likely to be determined as the priority prospective customer due to repair costs; The priority treatment step is to set a coefficient for correcting the pre-correction score associated with a certain prospective customer to a relatively large value when treating the certain prospective customer so that the certain prospective customer is more likely to be determined as the priority prospective customer due to the time since delivery, The priority prospect customer determination step includes: A sales support method including a priority prospective customer identification step of identifying the priority prospective customers using the scores corrected by the coefficients, which are associated with each of the prospective customers.

12. The sales support method according to claim 1, the priority prospective customer list display output control step performs control so that, when information about a certain priority prospective customer included in the priority prospective customer list for the certain period is displayed or output, an estimated renewal probability or a time since delivery for each product held by the certain priority prospective customer and information about a period associated with the renewal probability or the time since delivery are displayed; The renewal probability indicates a value that estimates the probability that the product will be renewed by a time associated with the renewal probability, The sales support method, wherein the post-delivery time indicates the time that has elapsed since the product was delivered at the time associated with the post-delivery time.

13. A sales support program, the sales support program is for causing a computer to execute a sales support method, The sales support method includes: a priority prospective customer determination step of determining priority prospective customers who are to be prioritized targets for sales activities to be carried out at a certain time from among the prospective customers; a priority prospective customer list display output control step of controlling to display or output a priority prospective customer list showing information about the priority prospective customers for the certain period; the step of determining a preferred potential customer is performed for each potential customer; an estimated renewal time determination step of determining an estimated renewal time, which is a time when the potential customer is estimated to renew the product he / she owns; an estimated proposal period determination step of determining whether the certain period is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for proposing the renewal of the product to the potential customer because the product will be renewed during the estimated renewal period; The sales support program includes a priority measure step for treating the potential customer for the certain period so that the potential customer is more likely to be determined as the priority potential customer when the certain period is included in the estimated proposal period for the potential customer.

14. A sales support system, The sales support system includes: a priority prospective customer determination unit that determines, from among the prospective customers, priority prospective customers who are to be prioritized targets for sales activities to be carried out at a certain time; a priority prospective customer list display output control unit that controls to display or output a priority prospective customer list showing information about the priority prospective customers at the certain time period; the priority prospective customer determination unit operates for each prospective customer; an estimated renewal time determination unit that determines an estimated renewal time, which is a time when the potential customer is estimated to renew the product he owns; an estimated proposal period determination unit that determines whether the certain period is included in an estimated proposal period, which is a period suitable for proposing the renewal of the product to the potential customer because the product will be renewed during the estimated renewal period; The sales support system includes a priority measure unit that, when the certain period is included in the estimated proposal period for the potential customer, treats the potential customer so that the potential customer is more likely to be determined as the priority potential customer for the certain period.

15. 15. A sales support system according to claim 14, the sales support system is capable of accessing a sales record database, a product information database, a company database, and a judgment database; the business record database has customer information data including customer information for each of the potential customers; The product information database has product specification data including information on specifications for each product model number, and customer-owned product data including information on products owned by each of the potential customers, the company database has company data including company information for each of the potential customers; A sales support system, wherein the judgment database has score information for each of the potential customers.

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