Information processing methods

Abstract

We provide technology to support price negotiations. [Solution] An information processing method executed by an information processing device 10, comprising: acquiring audio data relating to a business negotiation; deriving from the audio data customer personal information, offered price information including a first price offered by the customer, and the timing of the first price offering; generating proposal information including a second price to be offered to the customer based on at least one of the personal information, offered price information, and offering timing; and outputting the proposal information.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing method. [Background Art]

[0002] Technologies for supporting business negotiations in the sale of various products are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system that analyzes whether the content of a business negotiation complies with compliance requirements. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2019-28910 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0004] In business negotiations such as vehicle sales, customers decide to purchase based on various factors, and business negotiations are required to present factors that encourage customers to make a purchase. An object of the present disclosure, which has been made in view of such circumstances, is to support price negotiation so as to present an appropriate price as one of the factors for a customer's purchase decision. [Means for Solving the Problem]

[0005] An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: acquiring audio data relating to a business negotiation; deriving, from the audio data, customer personal information, presented price information including a first price presented by the customer, and a presentation timing of the first price; generating proposal information including a second price to be presented to the customer based on at least one of the personal information, the presented price information, and the presentation timing; and outputting the proposal information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to one embodiment of this disclosure, it becomes possible to support price negotiations. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows the schematic configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This flowchart shows an example of the operation of an information processing device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] (Summary of the embodiment) Referring to Figure 1, an overview of an information processing system 1 according to one embodiment of this disclosure will be described. The information processing system 1 comprises one or more information processing devices 10 and terminal devices 20. The information processing device 10 includes, for example, a server computer installed in a data center. The terminal devices 20 include any information processing terminal used by a user, such as a personal computer or smartphone. The user is, for example, a staff member in charge of business negotiations related to the sale of goods. The information processing device 10 and the terminal devices 20 are connected to each other via a network 30 such as the Internet, enabling them to communicate with each other. The business negotiations are, for example, business negotiations related to the sale of vehicles, but are not limited to these. For example, the business negotiations may be meetings aimed at concluding various types of contracts, such as the buying and selling of real estate, contracts for insurance products, or sales of financial products. The subject of the business negotiations is, for example, a vehicle, but is not limited to this. In addition to goods such as vehicles, the subject of the business negotiations may include services, digital content, licenses, data or information, financial products, real estate, intangible assets, or other tradable rights.

[0009] The information processing method according to this embodiment is executed by the information processing device 10. The information processing method includes acquiring voice data related to business negotiations. The information processing method also includes deriving from the voice data customer personal information, offered price information including a first price offered by the customer (hereinafter referred to as the offered price), and the timing of the offer price presentation. The information processing method also includes generating proposal information including a second price to be presented to the customer (hereinafter referred to as the negotiated price) based on at least one of the personal information, offered price information, and presentation timing. The information processing method also includes outputting the proposal information. According to this embodiment, proposal information useful for price negotiations is output. This makes it possible to support price negotiations by sales staff.

[0010] (Configuration of the information processing device 10) As shown in Figure 1, the information processing device 10 comprises a control unit 11, a communication unit 12, and a storage unit 13. The control unit 11 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process, but is not limited to these. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), but is not limited to this. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), but is not limited to this. The control unit 11 controls each part of the information processing device 10 and executes processing related to the operation of the information processing device 10. The communication unit 12 includes at least one communication interface connected to the network 30. The communication interface supports, for example, mobile communication standards such as 4G (4th generation) or 5G (5th generation), or wired LAN (Local Area Network) communication standards or wireless LAN communication standards, but is not limited to these and may support any communication standard. The communication unit 12 receives data used in the operation of the information processing device 10 and transmits data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10. The storage unit 13 includes one or more memories. Each memory included in the storage unit 13 may function as, for example, a main memory, an auxiliary memory, or a cache memory. The storage unit 13 stores any information used in the operation of the information processing device 10. For example, the storage unit 13 may store, for example, a system program, an application program, and embedded software. The storage unit 13 stores data used in the operation of the information processing device 10 and data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 10. For example, the storage unit 13 stores a learning model. The learning model is created by machine learning using a machine learning algorithm.The learning model may be generated based on machine learning algorithms such as machine learning models built on decision trees, CNNs (Convolutional Neural Networks), RNNs (Recurrent Neural Networks), and other deep learning methods. The learning model may also include large-scale language models that perform natural language processing such as text generation, contextual analysis, and summarization by learning from large amounts of text data. The memory unit 13 may store information obtained from past business negotiations. The memory unit 13 may store information about the subject of the business negotiation (e.g., price or market price). The information stored in the memory unit 13 may be updated based on information obtained from the network 30 or an external network via the communication unit 12, for example.

[0011] (Configuration of terminal device 20) As shown in Figure 1, the terminal device 20 comprises a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, an input unit 23, and an output unit 24. The control unit 21 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or a combination thereof. The processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a CPU, or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process, but is not limited to these. The programmable circuit is, for example, an FPGA, but is not limited to this. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an ASIC, but is not limited to this. The control unit 21 controls each part of the terminal device 20 and executes processing related to the operation of the terminal device 20. The communication unit 22 includes at least one communication interface connected to the network 30. The communication interface is, for example, compatible with mobile communication standards such as 4G or 5G, or wired LAN communication standards or wireless LAN communication standards, but is not limited to these and may be compatible with any communication standard. The communication unit 22 receives data used in the operation of the terminal device 20 and transmits data obtained by the operation of the terminal device 20. The input unit 23 includes one or more input interfaces. The input interface may be, for example, a physical key, a capacitive key, a pointing device, a touchscreen integrated with the display unit, or a microphone that accepts voice input. The input unit 23 accepts operations to input information used for the operation of the terminal device 20. The output unit 24 includes one or more output interfaces. The output interfaces may be, for example, a display that outputs information as an image or video, or a speaker that outputs information as sound. The display may be, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The output unit 24 outputs the information obtained from the operation of the terminal device 20.

[0012] (Operation flow of the information processing device 10) Referring to Figure 2, the operation of the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0013] The control unit 11 of the information processing device 10 acquires voice data related to the business negotiation (S1). The control unit 11 acquires the voice data input to the input unit 23 of the terminal device 20 via the communication unit 12 and the network 30. The voice data may be acquired in real time, or at any time during each stage of the business negotiation, for example, at any interval, when the terminal device 20 is operated to stop sound collection, or when the terminal device 20 detects a period of silence.

[0014] The control unit 11 derives the customer's personal information, the customer's offered price information, and the timing of the presentation of the offered price information from the voice data (S2). For example, the control unit 11 inputs the voice data into a learning model to derive personal information, offered price information, and presentation timing. For example, the learning model is pre-trained to derive personal information and offered price information based on predetermined keywords or phrases in the voice data. The learning model is further pre-trained to derive the presentation timing when the offered price is presented, based on keywords, the results of analyzing the context of the business negotiation, etc., provided that the offered price information is derived.

[0015] Personal information includes information about an individual's attributes or behavior, such as family structure, hobbies, daily lifestyle, life events, vehicles currently owned, income and expenditure trends, and customer values. Family structure information includes information such as whether the person has a spouse or children, and the age range of family members. Hobby information includes preferences such as driving, outdoor activities, sports, and music. Daily lifestyle information includes information such as means of commuting, frequency of vehicle use, and purpose of vehicle use. Life event information includes information such as marriage, childbirth, living alone, home purchase, and moving. Vehicle information includes information such as vehicle type, years of use, mileage, equipment options, inspection dates, and reasons for replacement. Income and expenditure trend information includes information such as whether or not loans are used. Customer values ​​information includes information on priorities such as safety, fuel efficiency, and brand preference.

[0016] The offered price information is information that includes the offered price submitted by the customer. The offered price includes, for example, at least one of the customer's budget and the price (or price range) of the desired product. The desired product is a product that the customer is likely to want. The offered price may be the larger of the budget and the desired price. The control unit 11 may estimate the offered price based on personal information. For example, the control unit 11 may input income and expenditure trends into a trained model to estimate the budget. Alternatively, the control unit 11 may input the correspondence between personal information and desired products into a trained model to estimate the desired product based on personal information. The control unit 11 may obtain the estimated price or price range of the desired product from an external network via the communication unit 12 or from the storage unit 13 of the information processing device 10.

[0017] The timing of the presentation is, for example, the negotiation stage when the presented price is presented. The negotiation stage includes multiple stages corresponding to the degree of maturity of the negotiation, such as approach (introduction), needs assessment, vehicle proposal, price negotiation, and contract conclusion. When the control unit 11 estimates the presented price based on personal information, the timing of the presentation is the negotiation stage when the latest information among the personal information used for estimation (e.g., family structure and hobbies) is derived.

[0018] The control unit 11 determines whether the offered price is less than or equal to the planned selling price (or price range) set by the seller (S3). Information on the planned selling price may be stored in advance in the storage unit 13, for example, associated with information for each product, or it may be obtained from an external network. If the offered price is less than or equal to the planned selling price (S3-YES), the process proceeds to S5. If the offered price is higher than the planned selling price (S3-NO), the control unit 11 sets the planned selling price as the offered price (S4). The process then proceeds to S5. This prevents excessive price increases.

[0019] The control unit 11 generates proposal information related to price negotiation based on at least any one of personal information, offered price information and offering timing (S5). The proposal information includes a negotiation price to be presented to a customer. The negotiation price may be higher than the offered price. For example, the control unit 11 derives a price that is higher than the offered price and equal to or lower than the planned selling price by an arbitrary algorithm, and determines the derived price as the negotiation price. Note that when the planned selling price is determined as the offered price, the offered price corresponds to the negotiation price. The difference between the offered price and the negotiation price may vary depending on the offering timing. For example, the control unit 11 can derive a price increase amount obtained by multiplying the difference between the offered price and the planned selling price by an arbitrary coefficient, for example, a coefficient weighted to become smaller according to the maturity level of the negotiation stage, and set a price obtained by adding the price increase amount to the offered price as the negotiation price. The price increase amount may be relatively high in the early stage of the negotiation (e.g., approach and needs hearing), and relatively low in the stage after the middle stage (e.g., vehicle model proposal or price negotiation). For example, the coefficient may be 0.5 in the early stage (e.g., approach and needs hearing) and 0.1 in the stage after the middle stage (e.g., vehicle model proposal or price negotiation), but is not limited to these values.

[0020] The price offered by a customer tends to change depending on the offering timing. For example, in the early stage of a negotiation (e.g., approach and needs hearing), there is little information for making a judgment, so the customer may present an approximate price. On the other hand, in the middle stage of a negotiation (e.g., vehicle model proposal or price negotiation), a large amount of information for making a judgment has been gathered, so the customer may present a realistic price. In addition, the upper limit of a price increase acceptable to the customer also tends to change depending on the offering timing. For example, the customer may accept a relatively large price increase in the early stage of the negotiation, and only accept a relatively small price increase in the middle stage of the negotiation. Therefore, by dynamically changing the difference between the offered price and the negotiation price according to the offering timing, it is possible to present a negotiation price corresponding to the tendency for each offering timing.

[0021] The proposal information may include a reason why the negotiation price is higher than the offered price. This makes it easier for the customer to agree to a negotiation price higher than the offered price. The reason is derived, for example, using a large language model based on personal information. For example, the reason may be based on the price of the product desired by the customer estimated from the personal information, or the price of an optional product proposed together with the desired product. For example, the reason includes a sentence explaining the current market price of the desired product, a sentence explaining that an option is attached, or the like. Alternatively, the negotiation price may be lower than the offered price. This makes it easier for the customer to agree to the negotiation price. By setting a lower limit for the negotiation price, the minimum profit when a business negotiation is successfully concluded may be maintained. The lower limit is, for example, a price corresponding to an arbitrary ratio for securing a profit in the planned selling price.

[0022] The personal information used in the above processing may include, for example, past personal information acquired in the past, in addition to personal information derived from audio data. The past personal information may include, for example, information acquired in past business negotiations, or information acquired via a website, a questionnaire, or the like. The control unit 11 may acquire past personal information from the storage unit 13 or from an external network via the communication unit 12. When the personal information derived from audio data and the past personal information differ in one or more items, the control unit 11 may use the personal information acquired from the audio data for the relevant item. This enables proposal information to be generated based on the latest personal information.

[0023] The proposal information may further include the probability that the negotiation at the negotiation price will be successful. This allows the staff to proceed with the negotiation while grasping the probability of success. The probability of success may be expressed as a percentage, for example. The negotiation price may be a price for which the probability of successful negotiation is equal to or higher than a threshold value. For example, the control unit 11 can derive the probability of successful negotiation based on the difference between the offered price and the negotiation price by using a learning model that has previously learned training data in which the difference between the offered price and the negotiation price is associated with information on the success or failure of the business negotiation.

[0024] Approval from a superior (e.g., store manager or assistant store manager) may be required to conclude a deal at the negotiated price. For example, if the negotiated price is lower than the offered price, approval from a superior may be required. In such cases, the proposal information may also include information indicating the need for approval from a superior to conclude the deal at the negotiated price. The control unit 11 may send an application notification regarding the conclusion of the deal at the negotiated price to the terminal device used by the superior. When the control unit 11 receives an approval notification from the superior's terminal device, it may send an approval notification to the terminal device 20 and have the terminal device 20 output the approval notification to its output unit 24.

[0025] The proposed information may also include the customer's likelihood of future repeat purchases. This likelihood may include, for example, the possibility of vehicle replacement or repeat purchase. The likelihood of repeat purchase may be expressed as a percentage. The control unit 11 can derive the likelihood of a successful negotiation based on personal information, for example, by using a learning model that has been pre-trained on training data that associates personal information such as the customer's brand preference and vehicle inspection timing with information on whether or not they will continue to purchase. If the likelihood of repeat purchase is higher than an arbitrary threshold (e.g., 60%), the negotiated price may be reduced by an arbitrary algorithm. For example, the control unit 11 can reduce the negotiated price by reducing the increase from the offered price by the percentage by which the likelihood of repeat purchase exceeds the threshold. This makes it possible to build a long-term relationship with the customer and promote repeat purchases.

[0026] The proposed information may also include additional suggestions for vehicle options. These options may include, for example, optional products that the customer might want, derived from the audio data related to the sales negotiation (e.g., optional products that the customer was unsure whether or not to install). Additional suggestions enable proposals that are tailored to the customer's needs, improving the sales closing rate and customer satisfaction. The control unit 11 may estimate the optional products based on predetermined keywords or phrases in the audio data. For example, the control unit 11 can search for product information from the storage unit 13 or an external network, select optional products corresponding to the desired product, and include the optional products in the proposed information.

[0027] The proposed information may also include a proposal regarding the trade-in price. This reduces the customer's financial burden, increases their willingness to purchase, and enables smoother negotiations. The control unit 11 can, for example, extract information on the vehicle model and years of use currently owned by the customer from the voice data, and derive a trade-in price corresponding to the extracted vehicle model and years of use. The trade-in price information according to the years of use for each vehicle model may be stored in advance in the storage unit 13, or it may be obtained from an external network.

[0028] The control unit 11 outputs the suggestion information (S6). The process then terminates. For example, the control unit 11 transmits data to the terminal device 20 via the communication unit 12, and the terminal device 20 outputs the suggestion information through a user interface displayed by the output unit 24.

[0029] The control unit 11 may repeat steps S1 to S6 until the negotiation is concluded. The control unit 11 may generate and output proposal information each time personal information, offered price information, or offer timing is derived from the voice data. This allows the user to proceed with negotiations while keeping track of changes in information from the customer.

[0030] While this disclosure has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions, etc., included in each component or step, etc., can be deleted or rearranged in a way that is not logically inconsistent, and multiple components or steps, etc., can be combined into one or divided. For example, in the embodiments described above, an embodiment is also possible in which the configuration and operation of the information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 are distributed among multiple computers that can communicate with each other. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0031] 1 System, 10 Information Processing Device, 11 Control Unit, 12 Communication Unit, 13 Storage Unit, 20 Terminal Device, 21 Control Unit, 22 Communication Unit, 23 Input Unit, 24 Output Unit, 30 Network

Claims

1. An information processing method performed by an information processing device, To acquire audio data related to business negotiations, From the aforementioned audio data, the personal information of the customer, the offered price information including the first price offered by the customer, and the timing of the offer of the first price are derived. Based on at least one of the aforementioned personal information, the aforementioned offered price information, and the aforementioned timing of presentation, the system generates proposal information including a second price to be presented to the customer. Outputting the aforementioned proposed information, including, Information processing methods.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1, An information processing method wherein the second price is higher than the first price, and the proposed information further includes the reason why the second price is higher than the first price.

3. The information processing method according to claim 2, The difference between the first price and the second price is determined by an information processing method that varies depending on the timing of the presentation.

4. The information processing method according to claim 1, The proposed information includes an information processing method that includes the possibility of successful negotiation at the second price.

5. The information processing method according to claim 1, The proposed information includes the customer's likelihood of future continued purchases, and is processed using an information processing method.

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