Sales support system and sales support method

Abstract

To provide a business support system and a business support method capable of efficiently identifying service (a merchandise product) suitable for solving a problem by accurately grasping the problem of a customer by a person concerned including a salesperson or a customer himself / herself.SOLUTION: In a business support system, a business support device for supporting a person concerned including a salesperson who performs business negotiations to an enterprise has a problem organization database 321 and a business support processing unit. The problem organization database hierarchically connects problems, measures for solving the problems, and service that contributes to the measures. The business support processing unit causes a business terminal to display a plurality of problems set in a problem organization database so as to be selectable. When a plurality of displayed problems are selected, the business support processing unit causes the business terminal to perform display so that a plurality of measures connected to a lower layer of the plurality of selected problems can be selected. When a plurality of measures displayed on the business terminal are selected, the business support processing unit causes the business terminal to display a plurality of service connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of measures.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sales support system and a sales support method for supporting sales activities of parties including salespeople who visit clients of companies and other businesses to negotiate business, or for use by clients themselves. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, salespeople negotiate with customers and propose and sell the most suitable products according to the customer's requests or circumstances. Information obtained through the sales activities of a specific salesperson is saved so that it can be shared with other salespersons, so that even when other salespersons are conducting sales activities, they can conduct sales negotiations tailored to the customer.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 below describes a sales support server that creates an explanatory material tagging table that associates a product that is the target of sales, explanatory materials used to explain the product that have been successful in sales, and multiple contents that make up the explanatory materials, and creates a customer preference table that associates customers that are the target of sales with the preferences of the customers.When search information is input from a sales support terminal (sales terminal) that is an external terminal, the sales support server refers to the customer preference table to acquire the customer preferences included in the search information, refers to the explanatory material tagging table to acquire content that satisfies the acquired customer preferences, and is able to propose the acquired customer preferences and the content that satisfies the customer preferences as a sales method tailored to the customer preferences.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 2 listed below describes a business support system equipped with multiple unit task databases that systematically link solution methods to problems given for each unit task. The unit task databases contain information that compiles past know-how and study results in the form of a flowchart. The unit task databases are made up of a series of problems consisting of multiple levels, and at some stage they converge on a solution method. Various questions are displayed as problems in the unit task database, and a solution method is derived by the user selecting a problem.

[0005] For example, Patent Document 3 listed below describes a solution proposal support system that presents optimal solutions to problems selected by a user in order to propose optimal solutions to customers. Here, tree-structured problems (problem trees) are used, and the user can select problems to create a problem tree, and can then create a solution tree corresponding to the problem tree. The user can also assign weighted points to each problem. When weighted points are assigned to a problem, the weighted points are distributed to the solutions corresponding to the problem, and the solutions are ranked and displayed based on the total points of the tree-structured solutions. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6533416 [Patent Document 2] Republished Patent Publication WO2015 / 122118 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-3931 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The technology described in Patent Document 1 is effective in proposing sales techniques, such as optimal content to use during negotiations and optimal explanation order, tailored to the customer's preferences when explaining products to the customer. However, the customer's problems are often unclear, and the technology described in Patent Document 1 has the problem that, when conducting sales activities in which multiple products are prepared and products suited to the customer are proposed, it is difficult to identify which product is best for the customer because the problem is unclear. As a result, there is a problem that identifying the customer's problems and proposing the optimal product is dependent on the skills and knowledge of the salesperson.

[0008] The technology described in Patent Document 2 allows salespeople to derive a specific solution method from a specific problem by following a flowchart that converges from the problem to a solution method. However, the technology described in Patent Document 2 has the problem that, as a result of following a flowchart of a problem tree for a specific problem, only a single solution method can be arrived at, making it impossible to propose flexible and diverse solution methods to customers.

[0009] The technology described in Patent Document 3 allows a user to finely classify a customer's problems and prioritize solutions by weighting each problem while referencing a problem tree in which problems are hierarchically classified. However, the technology described in Patent Document 3 requires the user to arbitrarily set weights, which results in a problem that the ranking of solutions is subjective. Furthermore, the technology described in Patent Document 3 presents a group of solutions for each problem identified by a user's weighting, but does not compare or rank solutions included in different problems. Therefore, the selection of a group of solutions related to each problem is subjective, which results in a problem that depends on the user's judgment at the time.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a sales support system and a sales support method for providing sales support so that related parties, including sales representatives, or the customers themselves, can accurately understand the customer's issues and efficiently identify services (merchandise) that are suitable for solving the issues. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to achieve the above object, the sales support system according to the present invention is a sales support system that supports sales activities of related parties, including sales representatives who negotiate with a client company, or is used by the client himself, and a sales terminal operable by the related parties including the sales representative or the customer, and a sales support device capable of communicating with the sales terminal, The sales support device a problem sorting database in which at least problems, measures to solve the problems, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected; a sales support processing unit that displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of issues set in the issue organizing database so as to be selectable, and when a plurality of issues displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of measures connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of issues so as to be selectable, and when a plurality of measures displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of services connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of measures; The present invention is characterized by having the following.

[0012] The sales support system described above allows relevant parties, including sales representatives, or the customer themselves, to accurately grasp the customer's issues and efficiently identify services (products) suitable for resolving those issues. Furthermore, the obtained data can be utilized in subsequent PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Action) cycles. Data obtained during sales negotiations can be used to identify issues not addressed during the negotiations and lead to subsequent negotiations. Specifically, when multiple solutions are sought for multiple customer issues, even if a single negotiation fails to resolve all or some of the customer's issues, the negotiation results data can be accumulated and utilized for the same customer, for example, when it comes time for a replacement several years later. This cycle of data accumulation and utilization can be considered a PDCA cycle. By utilizing the data obtained in this invention in such a PDCA cycle, it becomes possible to efficiently and continuously identify issues and services (products) suitable for resolving those issues.

[0013] In the sales support system of the present invention, the sales support processing unit may display the selected issues, the selected measures, and the services connected to the lower layers of the selected measures all together on the display screen of the sales terminal.

[0014] According to the above-described sales support system, the parties involved, including the sales representatives, or the customers themselves, can comprehensively grasp the overall picture of the items they have selected.

[0015] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the sales support device includes a weighting value setting unit that sets a weighting value to each of a plurality of connection paths in the problem organizing database, the connection paths starting from a problem level, passing through a measure level, and ending at a service level; When the sales support processing unit displays multiple services on the display screen of the sales terminal, it may determine the display priority of the multiple services to be displayed based on weighting values ​​set for connection paths ending at each of the multiple services to be displayed.

[0016] The sales support system described above makes it possible to set weighting values ​​for each connection path that starts at the problem level, passes through the measures level, and ends at the service level. This connection path matches the flow of consideration when identifying measures and services based on the issues a company faces, allowing stakeholders including salespeople or the customer themselves to intuitively and accurately grasp the customer's issues and efficiently identify services (merchandise) that are suitable for resolving those issues.

[0017] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on company attributes.

[0018] According to the above-described sales support system, it becomes possible to classify companies according to their attributes, set appropriate weighting values, and determine the display priority of services.

[0019] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the company attributes may include at least one of the company's industry, size, listing category, and region.

[0020] According to the above-described sales support system, it is possible to classify companies by at least one of their industry, size, listing category, and region, set appropriate weighting values, and determine the display priority of services.

[0021] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on a negotiation history with another company having the same corporate attribute.

[0022] According to the above-described sales support system, it becomes possible to appropriately set weighting values ​​for companies with the same corporate attributes based on the past business negotiation history, and determine the display priority of services.

[0023] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value according to a progress status of a sales negotiation.

[0024] According to the above-described sales support system, it becomes possible to appropriately set weighting values ​​based on the progress of negotiations and determine the display priority of services.

[0025] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on information about a company obtained through business negotiations or a survey.

[0026] According to the above-mentioned sales support system, it is possible to appropriately set weighting values ​​by utilizing information about companies obtained during business negotiations (business negotiation result data) and information about companies collected during field surveys (collected data), and to determine the display priority of services.

[0027] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the information about the company may be text data, and the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on words extracted from the text data. Also, in the sales support system according to the present invention, the information about the company may be audio data, and the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on words extracted from the audio data. Also, in the sales support system according to the present invention, the information about the company may be image data, and the weighting value setting unit may set the weighting value based on objects detected from the image data.

[0028] According to the above-described sales support system, it is possible to appropriately set weighting values ​​by utilizing text, voice, and images obtained during sales negotiations and field surveys, and to determine the display priority of services.

[0029] In the sales support system according to the present invention, the weighting value setting unit may extract features of information about the company using deep learning technology, and set the weighting value based on the extracted features.

[0030] According to the above-mentioned sales support system, even if the information obtained from sales negotiations or field surveys is complex, the characteristics of the information can be extracted and reflected in the weighting value, thereby determining the display priority of services.

[0031] In the sales support system according to the present invention, in the problem sorting database, a layer including problem derivation items for deriving the problem is connected as a higher layer of the problem, The sales support processing unit may display on the display screen of the sales terminal multiple problem derivation items for deriving the problem so that multiple items can be selected, and when multiple problem derivation items displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, multiple problems connected to a lower level of the selected multiple problem derivation items may be displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal.

[0032] According to the above-described sales support system, it becomes possible to identify the customer's problem by selecting problem derivation items for deriving the problem.

[0033] In the sales support system according to the present invention, in the layer including the problem derivation items, a management vision, a strategic theme, a business flow, and an action theme may be hierarchically connected.

[0034] The above-mentioned sales support system makes it possible to identify customer issues through a series of processes including management vision, strategic themes, business flow, and initiative themes.

[0035] In order to achieve the above object, a sales support method according to the present invention is a sales support method in a sales support system for supporting sales activities of related parties including salespeople who negotiate with a client company, or for the client himself / herself, comprising: A step of preparing a problem organization database in which at least problems, measures to solve the problems, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected; a step of displaying a plurality of issues set in the issue organizing database so as to be selectable on a display screen of a sales terminal operable by the person concerned including the sales representative or the customer himself; When multiple issues are selected from the display screen of the sales terminal, a step of displaying multiple measures connected to the lower layers of the selected issues in a selectable manner; When a plurality of measures are selected from the display screen of the sales terminal, a step of displaying a plurality of services connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of measures is performed; The present invention is characterized by having the following.

[0036] The above-described sales support method allows relevant parties, including sales representatives, or the customer themselves, to accurately grasp the customer's issues and efficiently identify services (products) suitable for resolving those issues. Furthermore, the obtained data can be utilized in subsequent PDCA cycles. Data obtained during sales negotiations can be used to identify issues not addressed during the negotiations, leading to subsequent negotiations. Specifically, when multiple solutions are sought for multiple customer issues, even if a single negotiation fails to resolve all or some of the customer's issues, the resulting data can be accumulated and utilized for the same customer, for example, when it comes time for a replacement several years later. This cycle of data accumulation and utilization can be considered a PDCA cycle. By utilizing the data obtained in this invention in such a PDCA cycle, it becomes possible to efficiently and continuously identify issues and services (products) suitable for resolving those issues. [Effects of the Invention]

[0037] According to the sales support system and sales support method of the present invention, relevant parties including sales representatives or the customer themselves can accurately understand the customer's issues and efficiently identify services (merchandise) that are suitable for solving the issues. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0038] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a sales support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a sales terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a field investigation terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a sales support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of functions of the sales support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the concept of a problem organizing database according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the concept of weighting the problem organizing database in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a part of a problem sorting database used to explain a specific example of operation in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a customer selection screen according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 10 is an example of a management goal selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 10 is an example of a work flow selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 10 is an example of an action theme selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 10 is an example of a task selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 10 is an example of a policy selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] 10 is an example of a service selection screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] 10 is an example of an optimum solution proposal screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17]10 is an example of a negotiation result registration screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for setting weighting values ​​from company information in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] 10 is an example of case information to be referenced in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20] 10 is an example of a scenario table to be referenced in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] 10 is an example of a case management table to be referenced in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] 10 is an example of a company classification table according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 23] 10(a) is an example of a weighting table by company category for company category ID "1" in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10(b) is an example of a weighting table by company category for company category ID "2" in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a process for setting weighting values ​​from text data in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 25] 10 is an example of a word list table that is referenced when extracting words according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 26] 10 is an example of word information obtained by extracting words from text data in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 27] 1 is an example of an existing word dictionary / weighting table according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 28] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a visualization process of weights according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 29] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for setting weighting values ​​from audio data in the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 30] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process for visualizing weighting based on audio data in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 31] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of a process for setting weighting values ​​from image data in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 32]10 is an example of an object list table that is referenced when extracting words according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 33] 10 is an example of object information obtained by extracting an object from image data in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 34] 10 is an example of an existing object dictionary / weighting table according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 35] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of a visualization process of weighting based on image data in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0039] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0040] <System configuration> The configuration of a sales support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the sales support system according to this embodiment. The sales support system according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 1.

[0041] The sales support system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a sales terminal 10, a field survey terminal 20, a sales support device 30, and a customer management system 40.

[0042] The sales terminal 10 is a terminal that can be operated by related parties, including salespeople (sales representatives) who negotiate with customers, or by the customers themselves. The related parties include system designers and the like. The sales terminal 10 is, for example, a portable notebook personal computer or tablet terminal, and is configured to be usable by salespeople when they visit customer companies. The sales terminal 10 is configured to connect to a network 50, such as the Internet, and communicate with a sales support device 30 that has a web server function.

[0043] The following mainly describes the case where a sales representative operates the sales terminal 10, but the sales terminal 10 may be a terminal owned by the customer, or the customer may access the sales support device 30 independently (i.e., without a sales representative present) from the sales terminal 10 owned by the customer via the network 50. When the customer himself uses the sales terminal 10 to utilize the sales support function of the sales support device 30, by operating the sales terminal 10, the customer himself can navigate from the upper layer to the lower layer of the problem sorting database 321, as will be described later, and by appropriately selecting multiple problems and multiple measures, he or she can ultimately identify multiple services that are appropriate for the customer himself or herself.

[0044] The sales terminal 10 is configured to communicate with the sales support device 30 via the network 50 and to be able to use the sales support functions provided by the sales support device 30. The sales terminal 10 may be a thin client terminal equipped with only the minimum necessary functions to display information provided by the sales support device 30 and transmit data entered by a salesperson during negotiations to the sales support device 30, and the processing related to the sales support functions may be executed on the cloud (on the sales support device 30 side).

[0045] The field investigation terminal 20 is a terminal that can be operated by a field investigator. The field investigation terminal 20 is, for example, a portable terminal such as a notebook personal computer or a tablet terminal, and is used by a field investigator when visiting a company's site (such as a company's warehouse or factory) to conduct a field investigation. Specifically, the field investigator can use the field investigation terminal 20 to take notes on the actual situation at the site, record conversations with field workers, and take photographs of the site situation. The field investigator may be the same person as the sales representative, or a different person.

[0046] The field survey terminal 20 is configured to be able to transfer various data (collected data) recorded on-site to the sales support device 30. The collected data may be transferred from the field survey terminal 20 to the sales support device 30 via a network 50 such as the Internet, or via an in-house LAN or the like.

[0047] The sales support device 30 is a server device for realizing a sales support function for supporting sales by salespeople. The sales support device 30 functions as a Web server for the sales terminal 10 and is configured to provide the sales support function to the sales terminal 10.

[0048] The customer management system 40 is a device that manages information (customer data) about customer companies. The customer management system 40 has a customer database 45 that stores company information collected by various means. The sales support device 30 is configured to retrieve company information such as company name, industry, size, and management goals from the customer management system 40 and provide sales support to companies using the company information.

[0049] 1 illustrates one sales terminal 10 and one field survey terminal 20, there may be multiple sales terminals 10 and multiple field survey terminals 20. The sales support device 30 may be configured as a single device, or the functions may be distributed across multiple devices.

[0050] <Sales terminal configuration> The configuration of the sales terminal 10 in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the sales terminal 10 in the embodiment of the present invention. The sales terminal 10 according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 2.

[0051] As described above, the sales terminal 10 can be realized by a portable terminal, and as an example, as shown in Figure 2, it has a processor 101, memory 102, communication unit 103, operation input unit 104, monitor 105, microphone 106, camera 107, and storage 108, and each component is connected via bus 150.

[0052] The processor 101 is hardware that executes various commands written in a program and realizes and controls various functions in the sales terminal 10. The processor 101 may be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) that performs data processing specialized for a specific purpose, or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0053] The memory 102 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores programs and data to be processed that are executed by the sales terminal 10. The memory 102 is a main storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), for example.

[0054] The communication unit 103 has a function that enables the sales terminal 10 to communicate with other devices. In this embodiment, the communication unit 103 enables the sales terminal 10 to communicate with the sales support device 30 through the network 50.

[0055] The operation input unit 104 has a function of receiving information input from the user and represents input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard. The monitor 105 has a function of outputting visual information to the user and is equipped with a display screen. The operation input unit 104 and the monitor 105 may be a touch panel display in which their respective functions are integrated.

[0056] The microphone 106 has a sound collection function, and the camera 107 has a photographing function. The salesperson can record and photograph the state of the business negotiation using the microphone 106 and the camera 107. However, the microphone 106 and the camera 107 do not necessarily have to be provided in the sales terminal 10. Furthermore, the sales terminal 10 may be provided with various other devices, such as a speaker, as appropriate.

[0057] The storage 108 is an auxiliary storage device realized by, for example, a magnetic disk such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a semiconductor memory such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), a magneto-optical disk, an optical disk, or the like.

[0058] The storage 108 is capable of storing programs and data in which desired processing procedures are written as program instructions. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the storage 108 stores a web browser program 111.

[0059] The processor 101 appropriately reads each program from the storage 108, expands it on the memory 102, and executes the program instructions, thereby realizing the functions corresponding to each program in the sales terminal 10. By executing the web browser program 111 in particular, the sales terminal 10 is able to display web pages received from the sales support device 30 having a web server function, and to transmit instructions, text data, etc. input by the salesperson using the operation input unit 104 to the sales support device 30.

[0060] The storage 108 can store various programs and various data. As an example, the storage 108 may store various programs such as an operation system program required for the operation of the sales terminal 10, a recording processing program that processes audio picked up by the microphone 106 into audio data in a file format, and an image processing program that processes images captured by the camera 107 into image data in a file format. In addition, in this embodiment, data input by a salesperson using the sales support function of the sales support device 30 is saved on the sales support device 30 side, but this data may also be stored in the storage 108 of the sales terminal 10. In this specification, the text data input by the salesperson during negotiation, the audio data recorded using the microphone 106, and the image data captured using the camera 107 may be collectively referred to as negotiation result data 331 (see FIG. 4 ).

[0061] <Configuration of the on-site investigation terminal> The configuration of the site investigation terminal 20 in an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the site investigation terminal 20 in an embodiment of the present invention. The site investigation terminal 20 according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 3.

[0062] As described above, the site investigation terminal 20 can be realized by a portable terminal, and has a configuration similar to that of the sales terminal 10. As an example, as shown in FIG. 3, the site investigation terminal 20 has a processor 201, a memory 202, a communication unit 203, an operation input unit 204, a monitor 205, a microphone 206, a camera 207, and a storage 208, and each component is connected via a bus 250. The processor 201, memory 202, communication unit 203, operation input unit 204, monitor 205, microphone 206, camera 207, and storage 208 of the site investigation terminal 20 are similar to the processor 101, memory 102, communication unit 103, operation input unit 104, monitor 105, microphone 106, camera 107, and storage 108 of the sales terminal 10, respectively, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0063] The sales terminal 10 is used by salespeople when they visit client companies to negotiate, whereas the field investigation terminal 20 is used by field investigators when they visit a company's site (such as a company's warehouse or factory) to conduct a field investigation. That is, the field investigation terminal 20 has the functions necessary for conducting a field investigation, and specifically has a recording function for recording conversations with on-site workers and a photographing function for photographing the situation at the site.

[0064] 3, the storage 208 stores a recording processing program 211 that processes audio picked up by the microphone 206 into audio data in a file format, and an imaging processing program 212 that processes images captured by the camera 207 into image data or video data in a file format. The storage 208 also stores text data 2131 input by the field investigator, audio data 2132 recorded using the microphone 206, and image data 2133 captured using the camera 207. In this specification, the text data 2131, audio data 2132, and image data 2133 collected during the field investigation by the field investigator may be collectively referred to as collected data 213.

[0065] In the above example, the sales terminal 10 and the field survey terminal 20 are different terminals, but the sales terminal 10 and the field survey terminal 20 may be the same terminal (i.e., one terminal), and the one terminal may have the functions of both the sales terminal 10 and the field survey terminal 20 described above.

[0066] <Configuration of sales support device> The configuration of the sales support device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the sales support device 30 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The sales support device 30 according to the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 4.

[0067] The sales support device 30 is a server device for realizing the sales support function according to the present invention. The sales support device 30 has a processor 301, a memory 302, a communication unit 303, an operation input unit 304, a monitor 305, and a storage 306, and these components are connected via a bus 350.

[0068] The processor 301 is hardware that executes various commands written in a program and realizes and controls various functions in the sales support device 30. The memory 302 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores programs executed by the sales support device 30 and data to be processed. The communication unit 303 has a function that enables the sales support device 30 to communicate with other devices. In this embodiment, the communication unit 303 enables the sales support device 30 to communicate with the sales terminal 10, the field survey terminal 20, and the customer management system 40 via the network 50.

[0069] The operation input unit 304 has a function of receiving information input from a user, and the monitor 305 has a function of outputting visual information to the user. The operation input unit 304 and the monitor 305 only need to be usable when a user (operator) of the sales support device 30 performs settings and management in the sales support device 30, and do not need to be connected to the sales support device 30 at all times.

[0070] Storage 306 is an auxiliary storage device that stores programs and data in which desired processing procedures are written as program commands. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, storage 306 stores a web server program 311, a sales support program 312, a weighting processing program 313, a collected data analysis program 314, an issue organization database (issue tree) 321, various tables 322, negotiation result data 331, and collected data 341.

[0071] The web server program 311 is a program that causes the sales support device 30 to operate as a web server. In this embodiment, the sales support device 30 functions as a web server by executing the web server program 311, and can provide web pages and execute programs such as the sales support program 312 in response to requests from the sales terminal 10, which is a web client.

[0072] The sales support program 312 is a program for realizing the sales support function according to the present invention. By executing the sales support program 312, the sales support device 30 can perform processes such as providing various web pages to the sales terminal 10 by referring to the problem organization database 321 and various tables 322, and acquiring and saving negotiation result data 331 entered by a sales representative.

[0073] The weighting processing program 313 is a program for setting weighting values ​​in the issue organizing database 321. By executing the weighting processing program 313, the sales support device 30 can set weighting values ​​for the issue organizing database 321 based on the negotiation result data 331, the collected data 341, etc.

[0074] The collected data analysis program 314 is a program for analyzing the collected data 341 provided from the field investigation terminal 20. The collected data analysis program 314 includes, for example, a text data analysis program 3141 that extracts words from text data 3411, a voice-to-text program 3142 that converts voice data 3412 into text data 3411, and an image analysis program 3143 that detects objects (photographed objects) from image data 3413. The collected data analysis program 314 may also include a deep learning program 3144 that can extract features of complex information included in the text data 3411, voice data 3412, image data 3413, etc. using deep learning technology.

[0075] The issue sorting database 321 is a database that has been constructed taking into consideration the flow of business negotiations. The issue sorting database 321 is a database that has been constructed based on the results of analyzing issues from a vast amount of past cases of sales performance and business negotiations, and as an example, has a structure in which business goals, issues, measures, and solutions are arranged hierarchically. Details of the issue sorting database 321 will be described later.

[0076] The various table group 322 represents a plurality of tables storing various settings related to the issue organizing database 321, including a weighting table by company classification that stores weighting values ​​related to the issue organizing database 321. The various table group 322 includes a scenario table, a case management table, a company classification table, a weighting table by company classification, an existing word dictionary and weighting table, an object list table, an existing object dictionary and weighting table, etc., which will be described later.

[0077] The negotiation result data 331 is negotiation result data input at the sales terminal 10. The negotiation result data 331 includes various information related to negotiations conducted by sales representatives with each company, such as text data, voice data, and image data. The sales support device 30 analyzes the negotiation result data 331 by executing the collected data analysis program 314, and can update the weighting values ​​for the issue sorting database 321 based on the analysis results.

[0078] The collected data 341 is the collected data 213 collected by the field investigation terminal 20. The collected data 341 includes various information related to the field investigation conducted by the field investigator, and for example, as shown in Fig. 4, includes text data 3411, voice data 3412, and image data 3413. The sales support device 30 analyzes the collected data 341 by executing the collected data analysis program 314, and can update the weighting values ​​for the issue sorting database 321 based on the analysis results.

[0079] 4 shows a state in which multiple programs and multiple data are stored in one storage 306, but each program and each data may be distributed across multiple devices. For example, a device that manages the issue organization database 321 and various tables 322, a device that manages negotiation result data, and a device that manages collected data may be distributed over a network such as an in-house LAN, and the sales support device 30 may acquire necessary data from these devices as needed.

[0080] <Sales support system functions> The functions of the sales support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functions of the sales support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The sales support system 1 according to the present invention is not limited to the functions shown in Fig. 5.

[0081] The sales support device 30 has the functions of a sales support processing unit 32, a weighting processing unit 33, and a collected data analysis unit .

[0082] The sales support processing unit 32 is a function realized by executing the sales support program 312. The sales support processing unit 32 is configured to provide sales support to the sales terminal 10. In response to a request from the sales terminal 10, the sales support processing unit 32 can read company information of a specific company from the customer database 45 and provide it to the sales terminal 10. In response to a request from the sales terminal 10, the sales support processing unit 32 can refer to the issue organizing database 321 and the various table groups 322, process the information contained in the issue organizing database 321, and provide it to the sales terminal 10. The sales support processing unit 32 can also receive data entered by a sales representative at the sales terminal 10 and save it as negotiation result data 331. Furthermore, the sales support processing unit 32 can reconstruct the issue organizing database 321 (for example, edit nodes and edges, as described below) and reconfigure the various table groups 322 in cooperation with the weighting processing unit 33 (for example, change the weighting values ​​set for the issue organizing database 321).

[0083] The weighting processing unit 33 is a function realized by executing the weighting processing program 313. The weighting processing unit 33 can change the weighting values ​​set for the issue organizing database 321 based on the company information, the negotiation result data 331, and the analysis results by the collected data analysis unit 34. The weighting processing unit 33 also cooperates with the collected data analysis unit 34 to cause the collected data analysis unit 34 to appropriately analyze the text, audio, and images included in the negotiation result data 331 and the collected data 341.

[0084] The collected data analysis unit 34 is a function realized by executing the collected data analysis program 314. The collected data analysis unit 34 analyzes the text, audio, and images contained in the negotiation result data 331 and the collected data 341, and can provide the weighting processing unit 33 with the analysis results including words contained in the text and audio, objects contained in the images, etc.

[0085] <Issue sorting database> The concept of the problem organizing database 321 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of the problem organizing database 321 in this embodiment of the present invention.

[0086] Typically, when proposing a product (service) to a client company, the process involves examining the issues the client is facing and the product they are looking for. The process can be divided into four steps: creating business goals, creating a workflow, creating themes and issues, and creating measures and services.

[0087] In the first step, creating business goals, work is done to organize the client's business vision, themes, sub-themes, etc. by examining, for example, the client's financial results presentation materials. In the second step, creating business flow, work is done to divide the client's business activities into areas and organize the business environment in each area. In the third step, creating themes and issues, work is done to identify specific themes and issues in line with the client's business environment. In the fourth step, work is done to organize measures to solve the identified themes and issues and identify services that will contribute to the measures.

[0088] The problem sorting database 321 in this embodiment is constructed in accordance with the above-mentioned flow of consideration. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, in the problem sorting database 321, business goals, issues, measures, and services are arranged hierarchically, and upper and lower layers are appropriately associated with each other.

[0089] A hierarchy of management goals is arranged at the top level of the issue sorting database 321. The hierarchy of management goals is made up of the hierarchy of management vision, strategic theme, and strategic sub-theme.

[0090] The management vision hierarchy clarifies the company's future vision to realize the goals and management philosophy of the client company. The strategic theme hierarchy specifies the company's points of emphasis and the goals that the company should work towards to realize the management vision. The strategic subtheme hierarchy further specifies the strategic theme.

[0091] With the above structure, in the hierarchy of business objectives, strategic themes can be identified from the business vision, and strategic sub-themes can then be identified.

[0092] Below the management objectives hierarchy is the issue / measure hierarchy, which is made up of the following hierarchies: area of ​​action, theme (needs), issue, and measure.

[0093] The hierarchy of the initiative areas classifies the departments and businesses (tasks) required to achieve the goals specified in the strategic sub-themes. The hierarchy of the initiative areas allows the flow of work (value chain) to be identified.

[0094] The level of the initiative theme is a further classification of the work content in the level of the initiative area. In the level of the initiative theme, it is possible to further classify the specific work content of the work content specified in the level of the initiative area.

[0095] The issue hierarchy classifies specific issues related to the business content identified in the initiative theme hierarchy. The measure hierarchy classifies solutions to solve the issues identified in the issue hierarchy.

[0096] With the above structure, in the issue / measure hierarchy, it is possible to identify action areas from the strategic subthemes identified in the management goal hierarchy, identify action themes from the action areas, identify issues from the action themes, and identify measures from the issues. Note that the layers above the issue hierarchy correspond to the series of processes for deriving issues, and can be said to be layers that contain issue derivation items for deriving issues. In the example in Figure 6, the hierarchy of management vision, strategic themes (including strategic subthemes), action areas (value chain), and action themes is a layer that contains issue derivation items, and issues can be derived by passing through the layers that contain issue derivation items.

[0097] Below the issue / measures level is the service level. In the service level, specific solutions (commercial services) corresponding to the measures are associated. This makes it possible to identify services in the service level that will realize the measures identified in the issue / measures level.

[0098] As described above, the issue sorting database 321 is composed of multiple layers, and each layer contains multiple nodes (also called components or elements). The nodes in each layer are connected to nodes in the adjacent upper and lower layers by edges (also called links) that indicate the associations between the nodes. In particular, the nodes in the intermediate layers, excluding the top layer, the management vision layer, and the bottom layer, the service layer, are connected to nodes in both the adjacent upper and lower layers by edges.

[0099] Edges connect nodes that are highly related to each other. Specifically, it is preferable that edges connect nodes that are recognized to have a corresponding relationship based on various knowledge, such as strategic themes corresponding to a specific management vision, action themes corresponding to a specific strategic theme, issues that may arise in a specific action theme, measures that can solve specific issues, and services that can realize specific measures.

[0100] With this configuration, in the problem sorting database 321 of this embodiment, it is possible to trace from the upper layer to the lower layer by drilling down, and by starting from the top node and selecting a node in the lower layer while descending the hierarchical structure, it is possible to reach the bottom node.

[0101] In this embodiment, the problem organizing database 321 has a hierarchical structure as described above, and it is possible to select multiple nodes in lower layers in each layer. As will be described later, when a salesperson selects one or multiple nodes in a certain layer, all nodes in lower layers connected to the selected nodes are displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10. The salesperson can select multiple problems and multiple measures as appropriate, and ultimately identify multiple services to propose to the customer.

[0102] In the hierarchical problem-organizing database 321, there are multiple paths that lead from a node in the top layer to a node in the bottom layer by tracing intermediate layers. In this embodiment, it is possible to set a weighting value for each of these multiple paths, that is, for each path. The weighting value is not set arbitrarily by the user, but is set based on company attributes (including the company's industry classification, size, listed category, region, etc.), the status of negotiations, history with similar companies (negotiation result data with similar companies), etc. The display order of services is determined based on these weighting values, and the services are displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 based on this display order.

[0103] 6 is merely one example of the problem-organizing database used in this embodiment, and the type and number of hierarchies provided in the problem-organizing database 321 can be set as appropriate. Furthermore, the problem-organizing database 321 is not particularly limited as long as it has a hierarchical structure that allows nodes in the lowest layer to be reached from nodes in the highest layer. For example, the problem-organizing database 321 may be a directed tree-type database in which edges have directionality from higher layers to lower layers, or a directed acyclic graph-type database in which nodes in lower layers are connected to multiple nodes in higher layers.

[0104] <Weighting values ​​for each scenario> The weighting values ​​set in the task organizing database 321 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining the concept of weighting the task organizing database 321 in this embodiment of the present invention.

[0105] Figure 7 shows a portion of the problem-organizing database 321 in Figure 6. Note that, for the sake of explanation, multiple layers have been simplified by combining them into a single layer. The simplified problem-organizing database 321 in Figure 7 shows a "Business Problem" node, which is an upper-layer node, three "Solution 1," "Solution 2," and "Solution 3" nodes, which are middle-layer nodes, and three "Service 1" and "Service 2" nodes, which are lower-layer nodes.

[0106] The "Business Problem" node is connected to three nodes: "Solution 1", "Solution 2", and "Solution 3". From the "Business Problem" node, you can select one of the three nodes: "Solution 1", "Solution 2", and "Solution 3". The "Solution 1" node is connected to the "Service 1" node. The "Solution 2" node is connected to two nodes: "Service 1" and "Service 2". The "Solution 3" node is connected to two nodes: "Service 2" and "Service 3".

[0107] In this specification, the path from a node in an upper layer through an intermediate layer to a node in a lower layer is sometimes referred to as a "scenario." A scenario corresponds to the series of steps a salesperson takes during a sales negotiation, from determining business issues to deciding on a service. The starting layer of a scenario can be any layer; for example, the layer of a strategic theme, which is the highest level of issues and measures, can be the starting layer of a scenario. The ending layer of a scenario can also be any layer, but it is preferable to use the layer of a service (product), which is the lowest level.

[0108] In the simplified problem sorting database 321 shown in Figure 7, there are five different paths (Scenarios 1 to 5) from the "Business Problem" node in the upper layer to the "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3" nodes in the lower layer. Scenario 1 is a path that follows the "Business Problem," "Solution 1," and "Service 1" nodes. Scenario 2 is a path that follows the "Business Problem," "Solution 2," and "Service 1" nodes. Scenario 3 is a path that follows the "Business Problem," "Solution 2," and "Service 2" nodes. Scenario 4 is a path that follows the "Business Problem," "Solution 3," and "Service 2" nodes. Scenario 5 is a path that follows the "Business Problem," "Solution 3," and "Service 3" nodes.

[0109] A weighting value is assigned to each of scenarios 1 to 5. In the example shown in Fig. 7, scenario 1 is assigned a weighting value of "20," scenario 2 a weighting value of "32.2," scenario 3 a weighting value of "26.6," scenario 4 a weighting value of "2.2," and scenario 5 a weighting value of "8.8." The larger the weighting value, the higher the priority of the scenario.

[0110] In the simplified problem-organizing database 321 shown in Fig. 7, suppose a salesperson selects "Business Problem" and then selects "Solution 1," "Solution 2," and "Solution 3" associated with the "Business Problem." In this case, "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3" associated with "Solution 1," "Solution 2," and "Solution 3" are displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 with display priorities based on the weighting values ​​of each scenario. Specific display examples on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 will be described later.

[0111] The method for determining the display priority based on the weighting value is not particularly limited. For example, the sum of the weighting values ​​for "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3" may be calculated and compared. In the above example, the sum of the weighting values ​​for "Service 1" is "52.2," the sum of the weighting values ​​for "Service 2" is "28.8," and the sum of the weighting values ​​for "Service 3" is "8.8." The display priority order is therefore "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3." Alternatively, the maximum weighting values ​​for "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3" may be selected and compared. In the above example, the maximum weighting value for "Service 1" is "32.2," the maximum weighting value for "Service 2" is "26.8," and the maximum weighting value for "Service 3" is "8.8." In this case, the display priority order is also "Service 1," "Service 2," and "Service 3."

[0112] As another example, in the simplified problem-organizing database 321 shown in Fig. 7, suppose a salesperson selects "Business Problem" and then selects only "Solution 3" associated with "Business Problem." In this case, "Service 2" and "Service 3," which are associated with "Solution 3," are displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 with display priorities based on the weighting values ​​of each scenario. The scenarios associated with "Solution 3" are Scenario 4 and Scenario 5, and the display priorities based on the weighting values ​​are "Service 3" and "Service 2," in that order.

[0113] The display mode reflecting the display priority is not particularly limited, and for example, the items may be displayed in descending order of display priority from left to right (or from top to bottom) on the display screen. Also, the items with higher weighting values ​​may be highlighted using a different color or shade, or may be displayed larger on the display screen.

[0114] By referring to the display that reflects the display priority, the salesperson can understand the order determined by the weighting values. However, the final proposal made by the salesperson to the customer is not bound by this display priority. For example, in the above example, "Service 3" and "Service 2" are displayed in that order, but if it is determined that "Service 2" is selected more often than "Service 3," the salesperson may propose "Service 2" to the customer.

[0115] Furthermore, the weighting values ​​set for each scenario may be set to different values ​​depending on the company attributes, such as the industry (industry classification) and size of the company proposing the service. Companies in different industries, or companies in the same industry but with different scales, tend to have significantly different business goals, challenges, and solutions and services to address those challenges. In other words, companies with the same corporate attributes tend to have similar business goals, challenges, and solutions and services to address those challenges. Taking this into consideration, setting different weighting values ​​depending on the company attributes can increase the display priority of services suited to each company. While this embodiment primarily describes an example in which the company's industry (industry classification) and size are used as company attributes, the company attributes may be any criteria that can categorize each company. Specifically, in addition to the company's industry (industry classification) and size, the company's listing classification, region (including country), and sales growth rate, operating profit growth rate, labor productivity, and the like calculated from financial statements, etc., can be used as company attributes. Similar companies and dissimilar companies can be classified according to each of these conditions, and the same weighting value can be set for similar companies, and different weighting values ​​can be set for dissimilar companies.

[0116] Furthermore, in the problem-organizing database 321 having a hierarchical structure as described above, there are multiple paths that lead from a node in the top layer to a node in the bottom layer by tracing intermediate layers. In this embodiment, it is possible to set a weighting value for each of these multiple paths, i.e., for each path. As will be described later, the weighting value is set based on company attributes (including the company's industry classification, size, listed category, region, etc.), the status of negotiations, the history of services applied to similar companies (negotiation result data for similar companies), etc. The sales support device 30 is configured to determine the display order of services based on the weighting value and display the services on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 based on this display order.

[0117] <Example of display screen on sales terminal> Specific operation examples in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 8 to 17. Figure 8 is a diagram showing a part of the problem sorting database 321 used to explain specific operation examples in this embodiment. Figures 9 to 17 respectively show a customer selection screen 151, a business goal selection screen 152, a business flow selection screen 153, an initiative theme selection screen 154, an issue selection screen 155, a measure selection screen 156, a service selection screen 157, an optimal solution proposal screen 158, and a negotiation result registration screen 159, which are displayed on the sales terminal 10 of this embodiment.

[0118] The transition of the display screen that a salesperson views and inputs during negotiations will be explained below with reference to Figs. 9 to 17. Here, the explanation will be given on the assumption that the issue sorting database 321 has the configuration shown in Fig. 8. The issue sorting database 321 shown in Fig. 8 is composed of layers of management vision, strategic theme, business flow (value chain), initiative theme (needs), issues, measures, and services. Furthermore, among the nodes between adjacent layers, nodes that are highly related to each other are pre-associated by edges.

[0119] When negotiating with a customer, a sales representative accesses the sales support device 30 using the sales terminal 10. Specifically, the sales representative can access the sales support device 30 by specifying an address (URL) for using the sales support function implemented in the sales support device 30 in the web browser of the sales terminal 10.

[0120] The relationship between the sales terminal 10 and the sales support device 30 is similar to that of a normal Web system. The sales terminal 10 makes a request to the sales support device 30, and the sales support device 30 processes the request and sends a response to the sales terminal 10. The sales terminal 10 displays data such as a Web page received from the sales support device 30 on a Web browser, allowing the salesperson to view the display screen and perform operations for the next request.

[0121] When a salesperson negotiates with a customer, the salesperson advances the negotiation while viewing the display screen of the sales terminal 10. When the salesperson accesses the sales support device 30 from the sales terminal 10, the sales support device 30 may first provide a login page to the sales terminal 10. The salesperson can be authenticated by the user ID and password entered on the login page.

[0122] If the authentication of the sales representative is successful, a customer selection screen 151 shown in Fig. 9 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10. The customer selection screen 151 has a customer list display area 1511 that displays a list of customers, a management button 1512, a customer visit button 1513, and an advance preparation button 1514.

[0123] A list of companies is displayed in the customer list display area 1511, and the salesperson can select a company from the list of companies with which to negotiate.

[0124] The Manage button 1512 is a button for instructing transition to the management screen. A detailed explanation of the management screen will be omitted, but the management screen allows editing of the issue organizing database 321 (for example, adding, deleting, changing nodes and edges).

[0125] The customer visit button 1513 is a button for instructing a transition to a management goal selection screen.

[0126] The advance preparation button 1514 is a button for instructing transition to an advance preparation screen. A detailed explanation of the advance preparation screen will be omitted, but on the advance preparation screen, company information and the like regarding each company obtained through advance research can be viewed.

[0127] On the customer selection screen 151 , the sales representative selects a company with which to negotiate from the list of companies displayed in the customer list display area 1511 and presses the customer visit button 1513 .

[0128] The sales support device 30 reads company information (customer information) related to the selected company from the customer database 45, and provides data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying the business objective selection screen 152 to the sales terminal 10. The business objective selection screen 152 shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0129] The management goal selection screen 152 has a management vision display area 1521 , a strategic theme display area 1522 , a free description area 1523 , a back button 1524 , and a forward button 1525 .

[0130] In the management vision display area 1521, the management vision of the customer identified from the company information is displayed.

[0131] The strategic theme display area 1522 displays all strategic themes that are connected to the management vision by edges in the issue sorting database 321. If there are many strategic themes, the display in the strategic theme display area 1522 may be made scrollable so that all of the strategic themes can be confirmed. Furthermore, the strategic themes displayed in the strategic theme display area 1522 are displayed so that they can be selected, allowing the sales representative to select one or more strategic themes.

[0132] The free description area 1523 displays a text input area where the salesperson can write freely and a registration button. If there is no appropriate strategic theme in the strategic theme display area 1522, the salesperson may set a new strategic theme as appropriate. When the salesperson writes information about the new strategic theme in the text input area and presses the registration button, the new strategic theme is displayed in the strategic theme display area 1522. When the new strategic theme is added, the sales support device 30 may add the new strategic theme to the issue sorting database 321.

[0133] The back button 1524 is a button for instructing a transition to the previous display screen (customer selection screen 151), and the forward button 1525 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (business flow selection screen 153).

[0134] The salesperson interviews the customer, selects one or more strategic themes that fit the customer's situation from the strategic themes displayed in strategic theme display area 1522, and presses next button 1525. In this example, it is assumed that one strategic theme, "Developing new social innovation businesses," has been selected. The items selected by the salesperson are shown shaded in FIG. 10.

[0135] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying a business process selection screen 153 based on the selected strategic theme. The business process selection screen 153 shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0136] The business flow selection screen 153 has a selection history display area 1531 , a business flow display area 1532 , a free description area 1533 , a back button 1534 , and a forward button 1535 .

[0137] The selection history display area 1531 displays the items (selection history) that the salesperson has selected up to the time of the relevant business flow selection screen 153. The salesperson can check the items that he or she has selected up to that point by referring to the selection history display area 1531. When there are many display items in the selection history display area 1531, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0138] The business flow display area 1532 displays all business flows (value chains) that are connected by edges to the selected strategic theme in the issue organization database 321. If there are many business flows (value chains), the display in the business flow display area 1532 may be made scrollable so that all business flows (value chains) can be confirmed. Furthermore, the business flows (value chains) displayed in the business flow display area 1532 are displayed so that they can be selected, allowing the sales representative to select one or more business flows (value chains).

[0139] A text input area in which the salesperson can freely write and a registration button are displayed in the free description area 1533. As with the free description area 1523 of the business goal selection screen 152 described above, the salesperson can set a new business flow (value chain) in the free description area 1533.

[0140] The back button 1534 is a button for instructing a transition to the previous display screen (business goal selection screen 152), and the forward button 1535 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (activity theme selection screen 154).

[0141] The sales representative interviews the customer, selects one or more business flows (value chains) that suit the customer's circumstances from the business flows (value chains) displayed in business flow display area 1532, and presses next button 1535. Here, it is assumed that one business flow (value chain) "Asset Management" has been selected. The items selected by the sales representative are shown shaded in FIG. 11.

[0142] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying an action theme selection screen 154 based on the selected business flow (value chain). The action theme selection screen 154 shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0143] The activity theme selection screen 154 has a selection history display area 1541 , an activity theme display area 1542 , a free description area 1543 , a back button 1544 , and a forward button 1545 .

[0144] The selection history display area 1541 displays the items (selection history) that the salesperson has selected up to the time of the action theme selection screen 154. The salesperson can check the items that he or she has selected up to that point by referring to the selection history display area 1541. When there are many display items in the selection history display area 1541, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0145] The initiative theme display area 1542 displays all initiative themes (needs) that are connected by edges to the selected business flow (value chain) in the issue organization database 321. If there are many initiative themes (needs), the display in the initiative theme display area 1542 may be made scrollable so that all of the initiative themes (needs) can be confirmed. In addition, the initiative themes (needs) displayed in the initiative theme display area 1542 are displayed so that they can be selected, and the salesperson can select one or more initiative themes (needs).

[0146] A text input area in which the salesperson can freely write and a registration button are displayed in the free description area 1543. As with the free description area 1523 of the management goal selection screen 152 described above, the salesperson can set a new initiative theme (needs) in the free description area 1543.

[0147] The back button 1544 is a button for instructing a transition to the previous display screen (business flow selection screen 153), and the forward button 1545 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (task selection screen 155).

[0148] The salesperson interviews the customer, selects one or more action themes (needs) that fit the customer's actual situation from the action themes (needs) displayed in the action theme display area 1542, and presses the proceed button 1545. Here, it is assumed that two action themes (needs), "mold management" and "spare parts management," have been selected. The items selected by the salesperson are shown shaded in FIG. 12.

[0149] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying an issue selection screen 155 based on the selected initiative theme (needs). The issue selection screen 155 shown in FIG. 13 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0150] The assignment selection screen 155 has a selection history display area 1551 , an assignment display area 1552 , a free description area 1553 , a back button 1554 , and a forward button 1555 .

[0151] The selection history display area 1551 displays the items (selection history) that the salesperson has selected up to that point on the issue selection screen 155. The salesperson can check the items that he or she has selected up to that point by referring to the selection history display area 1551. When there are many display items in the selection history display area 1551, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0152] The task display area 1552 displays all tasks that are connected by edges to the selected initiative theme in the task organization database 321. If there are many tasks, the display in the task display area 1552 may be made scrollable so that all tasks can be checked. Furthermore, the tasks displayed in the task display area 1552 are displayed so that they can be selected, and the sales representative can select one or more tasks.

[0153] A text input area in which the salesperson can freely write and a registration button are displayed in the free writing area 1553. As with the free writing area 1523 of the management goal selection screen 152 described above, the salesperson can set a new task in the free writing area 1553.

[0154] The back button 1554 is a button for instructing a transition to the previous display screen (the action theme selection screen 154), and the forward button 1555 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (the action selection screen 156).

[0155] The sales representative interviews the customer, selects one or more issues that fit the customer's situation from the issues displayed in issue display area 1552, and presses the proceed button 1555. Here, it is assumed that three issues, "asset management is complicated," "management is dependent on individual skills," and "inventory is a heavy burden," have been selected. The items selected by the sales representative are shown shaded in FIG. 13.

[0156] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (for example, a Web page) for displaying a measure selection screen 156 based on the selected issue. The measure selection screen 156 shown in FIG. 14 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0157] The measure selection screen 156 has a selection history display area 1561 , a measure display area 1562 , a free description area 1563 , a back button 1564 , and a forward button 1565 .

[0158] The selection history display area 1561 displays the items (selection history) that the salesperson has selected up to the time of the policy selection screen 156. The salesperson can check the items that he or she has selected up to that point by referring to the selection history display area 1561. When there are many display items in the selection history display area 1561, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0159] The measure display area 1562 displays all measures that are connected by edges to the selected issue in the issue organizing database 321. If there are many measures, the display in the measure display area 1562 may be made scrollable so that all of the measures can be confirmed. Furthermore, the measures displayed in the measure display area 1562 are displayed so that they can be selected, and the sales representative can select one or more measures.

[0160] A text input area in which the salesperson can freely write and a registration button are displayed in the free description area 1563. As with the free description area 1523 of the management goal selection screen 152 described above, the salesperson can set new measures in the free description area 1563.

[0161] The back button 1564 is a button for instructing a transition to the immediately previous display screen (task selection screen 155), and the forward button 1565 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (service selection screen 157).

[0162] The salesperson interviews the customer, selects one or more measures that suit the customer's situation from the issues displayed in the measure display area 1562, and presses the proceed button 1565. Here, it is assumed that two issues, "inventory work support" and "product management system implementation," have been selected. The items selected by the salesperson are shown shaded in FIG. 14.

[0163] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (for example, a Web page) for displaying a service selection screen 157 based on the selected measure. The service selection screen 157 shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0164] The service selection screen 157 has a selection history display area 1571 , a measure display area 1572 , a free description area 1573 , a back button 1574 , and a forward button 1575 .

[0165] Selection history display area 1571 displays the items (selection history) that the salesperson has selected up to that point on service selection screen 157. The salesperson can check the items that he or she has selected up to that point by referring to selection history display area 1571. When there are many display items in selection history display area 1571, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0166] The service display area 1572 displays all services that are connected by edges to the selected measure in the issue organizing database 321. If there are many services, the display in the service display area 1572 may be made scrollable so that all services can be confirmed. Furthermore, the services displayed in the service display area 1572 are displayed so that they can be selected, allowing the salesperson to select one or more services.

[0167] The services displayed in the service display area 1572 are arranged in the lowest layer of the issue sorting database 321 shown in Fig. 8. There are many scenarios (paths) that lead from the management vision in the top layer to the service in the bottom layer. The sales support device 30 extracts scenarios that pass through only the items (nodes) selected by the sales representative, and determines the display priority of the services based on the weighting value of each extracted scenario, as described above with reference to Fig. 7.

[0168] 8, two issues selected by the salesperson, "inventory work support" and "materials management system implementation," are associated with three services, "on-site improvement support," "inventory work policy formulation support," and "materials management system implementation." When creating the service selection screen 157, the sales support device 30 identifies all scenarios that reach these three services from the layer that is the starting point of the scenario (for example, the strategic theme layer), via the items selected by the salesperson.

[0169] Next, the sales support device 30 reads out the weighting values ​​for each scenario by referring to a table corresponding to the company attributes identified from the company information (for example, a weighting table by company classification corresponding to the company industry and company size shown in Figures 23(a) and (b)). Then, based on these weighting values, it determines the display priorities of the three services, "on-site improvement support," "inventory work policy formulation support," and "item management system implementation," and rearranges the display order of the services in the service display area 1572 according to the determined display priorities.

[0170] Here, the service "On-site improvement support" has the highest display priority, and the service "Inventory work policy formulation support" has the lowest display priority. Services with high display priority are arranged on the left side of the service display area 1572, and the items "On-site improvement support," "Inventory work policy formulation support," and "Inventory work policy formulation support" are displayed from left to right in order of display priority.

[0171] A text input area in which the salesperson can freely write and a registration button are displayed in the free description area 1573. As with the free description area 1523 of the management goal selection screen 152 described above, the salesperson can set new measures in the free description area 1573.

[0172] The back button 1574 is a button for instructing a transition to the previous display screen (measure selection screen 156), and the forward button 1575 is a button for instructing a transition to the next display screen (optimal solution proposal screen 158).

[0173] The salesperson interviews the customer, selects one or more services that best suit the customer's situation from the services displayed in the service display area 1572, and presses the proceed button 1565. In this example, it is assumed that two services, "on-site improvement support" and "introduction of an inventory management system," have been selected. The items selected by the salesperson are shown shaded in FIG. 15.

[0174] The sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying an optimum solution proposal screen 158 based on the selected service. The optimum solution proposal screen 158 shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0175] The optimum solution proposal screen 158 has a selection history display area 1581 , a back button 1584 , and a forward button 1585 .

[0176] By making a series of selections from the management goal selection screen 152 to the service selection screen 157, the salesperson can select from the top-level management vision to the bottom-level service in the issue sorting database 321 shown in FIG. 8 in accordance with the flow of consideration. In the selection history display area 1581, each item selected by the salesperson (all nodes shown in shaded areas in FIG. 8) is displayed together on one display screen. By referring to the selection history display area 1581, the salesperson can comprehensively grasp the overall picture of the items that he or she has selected so far. When there are many display items in the selection history display area 1581, the display may be made scrollable, or the display may be reduced or simplified.

[0177] Additionally, a display button 1582 is provided for each service item displayed in selection history display area 1581. Display button 1582 is a button for instructing transition to a screen including detailed information about each service. Services are candidates for merchandise that should be considered for proposal to the customer. A salesperson can explain the details of a service to a customer by selecting display button 1582 and checking the detailed information about the service.

[0178] The back button 1584 is a button for instructing transition to the previous display screen (service selection screen 157), and the forward button 1585 is a button for instructing transition to the next display screen (negotiation result registration screen 159). When the forward button 1585 is selected, the sales support device 30 provides the sales terminal 10 with data (e.g., a Web page) for displaying the negotiation result registration screen 159. The negotiation result registration screen 159 shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the monitor 105 of the sales terminal 10.

[0179] The negotiation result registration screen 159 has a negotiation name input area 1591, a hearing result input area 1592, a minutes input area 1593, a whiteboard activation button 1594, a recording button 1595, a play button 1596, a volume adjustment button 1597, and a completion button 1598.

[0180] The negotiation name input area 1591 is a text input area for inputting a title to identify the negotiation. The hearing result input area 1592 is a text input area for writing down information obtained during the negotiation as negotiation memos. The minutes input area 1593 is a text input area for writing down minutes summarizing the contents of the negotiation and response policies.

[0181] Whiteboard start button 1594 is a button for instructing the start of a whiteboard application on which drawings, text, etc. can be freely written. Record button 1595, play button 1596, and volume adjustment button 1597 are buttons for instructing audio recording, playback, and volume adjustment, respectively.

[0182] The negotiation result registration screen 159 may be displayed as needed during negotiations. This allows the salesperson to input notes on the negotiation result registration screen 159. It also allows voice recording and playback and the activation of a whiteboard at appropriate times.

[0183] The completion button 1598 is a button for instructing the sales support device 30 to register various pieces of information obtained through the negotiation as negotiation result data 331.

[0184] On the negotiation result registration screen 159, the salesperson can write down negotiation notes in the interview result input area 1592, and can enter minutes and response policies in the meeting minutes input area 1593. When the salesperson enters the necessary information on the negotiation result registration screen 159 and presses the complete button 1598, the sales support device 30 saves the negotiation notes, minutes, and response policies entered on the negotiation result registration screen 159, as well as the scenario selected during the negotiation (the selection history displayed on the optimal solution proposal screen 158), as negotiation result data 331 for the company.

[0185] As shown in the above specific example, in this embodiment, the issue-organizing database 321 has a hierarchical structure constructed based on the flow of considerations during business negotiations. Lower-level nodes associated with higher-level nodes can be displayed. Furthermore, multiple nodes can be selected from the displayed nodes. When multiple nodes are selected, all lower-level nodes associated with the selected nodes can be displayed. This allows drilling down into the issue-organizing database 321 while selecting multiple nodes, enabling the identification of services suited to a customer while thoroughly considering multiple issues and multiple measures. Note that the layers above the issue hierarchy correspond to a series of processes for deriving issues. In the example of Figure 8, the hierarchies of management vision, strategic themes, business flow (value chain), and initiative themes are layers containing issue derivation items, and issues can be derived through the layers containing the issue derivation items.

[0186] Furthermore, as shown in the above specific example, in this embodiment, the display screen that displays items in a predetermined hierarchy can display items selected in a higher hierarchy as a selection history. In this embodiment, since it is possible to select multiple nodes, it is effective to be able to immediately check what nodes have been selected in the higher hierarchy.

[0187] Furthermore, as shown in the above specific example, in this embodiment, it is possible to display all nodes selected by the salesperson from the top to the bottom layer, as in the optimal solution proposal screen 158 shown in Fig. 16. In this embodiment, it is particularly possible to select multiple nodes, so it is effective to be able to comprehensively grasp the overall picture of the selected nodes in the problem organizing database 321.

[0188] <Processing related to weighting> The following describes the processing related to weighting, and also describes various tables 322 required for the processing related to weighting.

[0189] The sales support device 30 can set weighting values ​​for the scenarios in the problem sorting database 321 based on company information and information obtained directly from customers.

[0190] The company information to be referenced when assigning weighting values ​​can include, for example, company attributes such as the company's industry classification, size, listed category, and region. By setting different weighting values ​​for each company attribute, the sales support device 30 can propose appropriate services according to the company attributes. In addition, the sales support device 30 can consider companies with the same company attributes as similar companies and set weighting values ​​using past application history for similar companies. Furthermore, the sales support device 30 can also set weighting values ​​according to the progress of negotiations with each company.

[0191] Furthermore, information obtained directly from customers can include, for example, negotiation result data and data collected through field surveys. The negotiation result data includes text data such as negotiation notes, minutes, and response policies, while the collected data includes text data, voice data, and image data obtained through field surveys. The sales support device 30 can improve the accuracy of the weighting values ​​by reflecting the analysis results of these data in the weighting values.

[0192] The process of setting weighting values ​​from company information will be described with reference to Fig. 18. Fig. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the process of setting weighting values ​​from company information in this embodiment. The process of setting weighting values ​​according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 18.

[0193] 18, the sales support device 30 reads case information of a specific case ID from the case table (step S101). The case table is a table for managing case information related to each company. The sales support device 30 reads case information of a specific case ID, for example, as shown in FIG.

[0194] 19 is an example of project information referenced in this embodiment. The project information has fields for storing a project ID, company name, industry classification, scale, scenario ID, and project status. The project ID field stores a project ID that allows a project to be uniquely identified. The company name field stores the company name (enterprise name) stored in the project information.

[0195] Industries are defined hierarchically by industry classification, and are classified into industry classification 1, which represents the major classification of industries, industry classification 2, which represents the medium classification of industries, and industry classification 3, which stores the minor classification of industries. In accordance with the above classification, the industry classification item has the items industry classification 1, industry classification 2, and industry classification 3. In the example shown in Figure 19, "Company A" is a company classified into the major classification "steel industry," the medium classification "metal product manufacturing," and the minor classification "non-ferrous metal manufacturing."

[0196] The size field stores the size of the company. The size of the company is defined, for example, by the number of employees. The scenario ID field stores a scenario ID that identifies the scenario registered for the project. The scenario ID is defined by the scenario table shown in Figure 20. Note that, here, we will explain an example in which the company attributes included in the project information are the company's industry classification and size, but the company attributes may also include other conditions such as listing classification and region.

[0197] The project status field stores information that indicates the progress of the project. Project progress is classified into, for example, the order stage, the unofficial announcement stage, the quote presentation stage, the proposal stage, and the inquiry stage. As an example, if the project status is the order stage, "1" is stored, if it is the unofficial announcement stage, "2" if it is the quote presentation stage, "3" if it is the proposal stage, "4" if it is the inquiry stage, and "5" if it is the inquiry stage. When a project is registered for the first time, the project status will be blank (null).

[0198] The scenario table will be described with reference to Fig. 20. Fig. 20 is an example of a scenario table referenced in this embodiment. The scenario table is a table for defining a scenario ID for each scenario, which is a path from the starting layer to the end layer in the problem organizing database 321. In the scenario table shown in Fig. 20, a scenario is specifically defined in which the initiative area is the starting layer and the commodity is the end layer.

[0199] The scenario table has items for storing a scenario ID, an action area, an action theme, an issue, a measure, and a product.

[0200] The scenario ID field stores a scenario ID that allows a scenario to be uniquely identified. The initiative area field stores information that identifies a node placed in the initiative area hierarchy. The initiative theme field stores information that identifies a node placed in the initiative theme hierarchy. The issue field stores information that identifies a node placed in the issue hierarchy. The measure field stores information that identifies a node placed in the measure hierarchy. The product field stores information that identifies a node placed in the service (product) hierarchy.

[0201] The scenario table lists all scenarios that start from the target area and end with the product, and defines a different scenario ID for each scenario. This allows the sales support device 30 to identify all scenarios that are envisioned in the issue organization database 321 by their scenario IDs.

[0202] Next, the sales support device 30 refers to the case management table and checks whether a case with the same case ID as the case information exists in the case management table (step S102).

[0203] FIG. 21 is an example of a case management table referenced in this embodiment. The case management table is a table for managing the scenarios and case status registered for each case. The case management table has fields for storing a case ID, a scenario ID, a weighting score, and a case status. The case ID field stores a case ID that allows a case to be uniquely identified. The scenario ID field stores a scenario ID that identifies a scenario registered for the case.

[0204] The weighting score field stores a numerical value corresponding to the project status. As an example, the weighting score is set so that the further the negotiation progresses, the greater the weighting value. For example, if the project status is in the order stage, "1" (100%) is stored; if it is in the preliminary announcement stage, "0.8" (80%) is stored; if it is in the quotation presentation stage, "0.6" (60%) is stored; if it is in the proposal stage, "0.4" (40%) is stored; and if it is in the inquiry stage, "0.2" (20%) is stored. In this way, in this embodiment, different weighting values ​​can be set depending on the project status. In addition, the project status field stores the current progress of the project.

[0205] If a case with the same case ID as the case information exists in the case management table (Yes in step S102), the sales support device 30 compares the cases with the same case ID and checks whether the scenario IDs are different (step S103).

[0206] If the scenario IDs are different (Yes in step S103), the sales support device 30 performs an update based on the scenario ID. In this case, the sales support device 30 deletes the scenario ID and weighting score of the case having the same case ID in the case management table (step S104), and stores the scenario ID of the case information in the case management table, thereby reflecting the scenario ID of the case information in the case management table (step S105).

[0207] The sales support device 30 subtracts the numerical value deleted from the case management table from the weighting score of the scenario ID that is the same as the deleted scenario ID in the company classification weighting table (step S106). This process is a process that reflects the deletion of the scenario ID in the case management table in the weighting score of the company classification weighting table.

[0208] A weighting table by company classification is provided for each company classification. The sales support device 30 can identify the company classification of the company involved in the case by referring to the company classification table, and can read out the weighting table by company classification corresponding to the identified company classification.

[0209] The company classification table will be described with reference to Fig. 22. Fig. 22 is an example of a company classification table in this embodiment. The company classification table is a table for defining a company classification ID for the industry and size of a company, which are examples of company attributes.

[0210] The company classification table has fields for storing company classification ID, industry classification (industry classification 1, industry classification 2, industry classification 3), and size. The company classification ID field stores a company classification ID that allows a company classification to be uniquely identified. The industry classification 1 field stores industry classification 1, which represents a major industry classification, the industry classification 2 field stores industry classification 2, which represents a medium industry classification, and the industry classification 3 field stores industry classification 3, which stores a minor industry classification. The size field stores the size of the company.

[0211] The company classification table lists all possible combinations of industry and scale, and defines a different company classification ID for each combination. This enables the sales support device 30 to identify the company classification ID corresponding to a company from the company information included in the case information.

[0212] The company classification weighting table will be described with reference to FIGS. 23(a) and 23(b).

[0213] The weighting table by company classification is a table for managing the weighting score set for each scenario. The weighting table by company classification has fields for storing a scenario ID and a weighting score.

[0214] The "Scenario ID" field stores a scenario ID that allows a scenario to be uniquely identified. The "Weighting Score" field stores a weighting score assigned to the scenario. That is, in the weighting table by company classification, a weighting value is assigned to each scenario ID.

[0215] In addition, a weighting table by company category is provided for each company category ID.

[0216] For example, the weighting table by company category shown in Figure 23(a) is a weighting table by company category for company category ID "1" and a weighting table by company category for company category ID "2", and has a weighting score of "2.6" set for scenario ID "1", a weighting score of "3.2" set for scenario ID "2", and a weighting score of "1.4" set for scenario ID "3".

[0217] On the other hand, the weighting table by company category shown in Figure 23(b) is a weighting table by company category for company category ID "2", and a weighting score of "4.6" is set for scenario ID "1", a weighting score of "2.2" for scenario ID "2", and a weighting score of "1.2" for scenario ID "4".

[0218] In this way, by preparing a different weighting table for each company classification ID, it is possible to set a weighting score according to the industry and size of the company.

[0219] The weighting scores stored in the company category weighting table are read out based on the company category ID and scenario ID of the company when visiting the company, and are used to sort and display the scenarios in order of their weighting.

[0220] Next, the sales support device 30 reflects the weighting score in the case management table based on the case status of the case information and updates the case status in the case management table (step S107).Then, the sales support device 30 updates the weighting value of the corresponding scenario ID in the company classification weighting table using the weighting score reflected in the case management table (step S108).

[0221] If the case information is not registered as an ongoing case, it is determined in step S102 that a case with the same case ID as the case information does not exist in the case management table. In this case (No in step S102), the sales support device 30 proceeds to a new registration procedure and registers the case ID and scenario ID in the case management table (step S109). Then, the sales support device 30 determines the company classification by referring to the business category and size of the company (step S110), and then reflects the weighting score in the case management table in step S107 and updates the weighting value of the corresponding scenario ID in the company classification weighting table in step S108.

[0222] If it is confirmed in step S103 that the scenario IDs are the same (Yes in step S103), the sales support device 30 skips updating based on the scenario ID. Then, in step S107, the weighting score in the case management table is reflected, and in step S108, the weighting value of the corresponding scenario ID in the company classification weighting table is updated.

[0223] Through the above process, the sales support device 30 can set weighting values ​​from company information.

[0224] The process of setting weighting values ​​based on text data (negotiation notes, minutes, response guidelines, etc.) included in negotiation result data will be described with reference to Fig. 24. Fig. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the process of setting weighting values ​​from text data in this embodiment. The process of setting weighting values ​​according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 24.

[0225] For the sake of simplicity, the process shown in Fig. 24 is assumed to be performed following the process of setting weighting values ​​from company information described above (the flowchart shown in Fig. 18). However, the process of setting weighting values ​​from text data does not necessarily have to be performed after the process of setting weighting values ​​from company information.

[0226] The sales support device 30 can set weighting values ​​from text data after setting weighting values ​​from company information. As shown in Fig. 24, the sales support device 30 checks whether text data (negotiation notes, minutes, etc.) corresponding to a specific case exists (step S201). If no text data exists (No in step S201), the process ends.

[0227] If text data exists (Yes in step S201), the sales support device 30 reads the text data (step S202) and checks whether the text data has been updated (step S203). The sales support device 30 may, for example, refer to the update date and time of the text data to check whether the text data has been updated since the last processing date and time. If the text data has not been updated (No in step S203), the processing ends.

[0228] If the text data has been updated (Yes in step S203), the sales support device 30 performs a text data analysis process to extract words from the text data (step S204).Then, the sales support device 30 refers to the word list table to identify the word ID of each extracted word (step S205).

[0229] FIG. 25 is an example of a word list table that is referred to when extracting words in this embodiment.

[0230] The word list table is a table for managing word IDs assigned to a list of words, and has fields for storing word IDs and words.

[0231] The word ID field stores a word ID that allows a word to be uniquely identified. The word field stores words that have already been extracted from text data in the past. In other words, in the word list table, a word ID is assigned to each word that has been extracted in the past.

[0232] Furthermore, words extracted from text data are assigned word IDs assigned in the word list table. FIG. 26 shows an example of word information obtained by extracting words from text data in this embodiment. Words extracted from text data are stored in a table having fields for word, word ID, and new flag. The word field stores the word extracted from the text data. The word ID field stores the word ID identified for each word from the word list table. The new flag field stores a flag indicating that the word is a new word not registered in the word list table. When a new word not stored in the word list table is extracted, a flag is stored in the new flag field, the new word is added to the word list table, and a new word ID is registered.

[0233] When the word ID of each word extracted from the text data is identified, the sales support device 30 reads the existing word dictionary / weighting table, updates the number of occurrences and the number of past texts in the existing word dictionary / weighting table, and updates the appearance rate of each word (number of occurrences / number of past texts) calculated from the number of occurrences and the number of past texts (step S206).

[0234] 27 shows an example of an existing word dictionary and weighting table in this embodiment. The existing word dictionary and weighting table is a table provided for each scenario ID, and is a table for storing the appearance rate of words used in each scenario ID. For example, if the scenario ID set in the loaded case information is "1," the sales support device 30 refers to the existing word dictionary and weighting table for scenario ID "1" generated from a past case with scenario ID "1" as the processing target.

[0235] The existing word dictionary and weighting table has items for storing scenario ID, word ID, exclusion flag, number of occurrences, number of past texts, and occurrence rate.

[0236] The scenario ID field stores a scenario ID that uniquely identifies a scenario. The word ID field stores a word ID that uniquely identifies a word. The exclusion flag field stores a flag that indicates that the word is a frequently occurring word regardless of the service (product). A word with an exclusion flag set is considered to be a word that exists across multiple products.

[0237] The "Number of occurrences" field stores the number of times the word has been extracted from past text data. The "Number of past texts" field stores the total number of past text data. The "Occurrence rate" field stores the occurrence rate obtained by dividing the number of occurrences by the number of past text data. For example, in the existing word dictionary weighting table shown in Figure 27, the word with word ID "2" has appeared in 8 pieces of text data out of the total number of past text data (10 times), and its occurrence rate is calculated as "80%."

[0238] The word occurrence rate represents the percentage of a word that has been used in past business negotiation notes or minutes in relation to a specific scenario (usage rate in business negotiations). In other words, the higher the occurrence rate of a specific word, the more appropriate the service related to the scenario in which that word occurs. In this respect, the word occurrence rate has properties similar to a weight value, and it is effective to reflect this in the display priority of services. For example, the word occurrence rate may be merged with the weight value to determine the display priority of services. Alternatively, services may be displayed by determining the display priority for each of the weight value and the word occurrence rate, for example, by displaying services sorted based on the weight value and services sorted based on the word occurrence rate in parallel (e.g., in two columns).

[0239] The process of visualizing weights will be described with reference to Fig. 28. Fig. 28 is a diagram showing an example of the process of visualizing weights in this embodiment. The process of visualizing weights according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 28.

[0240] 28, the sales support device 30 reads company information related to a specific company from the company database 45 based on an instruction from the sales terminal 10 (step S301). The sales support device 30 extracts the business category and size of the company from the company information to identify a company category ID (step S302), and selects a company category weighting table corresponding to the company category ID (step S303).

[0241] Next, the sales support device 30 checks whether text data such as minutes of a meeting exists (step S304). If no text data exists (No in step S304) or if text data is not considered, the sales support device 30 obtains the weighting values ​​set for the scenario IDs from the weighting table by company category when displaying services on the service selection screen described above. The sales support device 30 displays the services, which are commercial products, according to the scenarios ranked based on the weighting values ​​(step S307).

[0242] On the other hand, if text data exists (Yes in step S304), the sales support device 30 extracts words from the text data (step S305). The sales support device 30 uses the extracted word information to identify the appearance rate of each word from the word list table, determines a display priority based on the appearance rate of each word, and sorts the scenarios in descending order of likelihood (step S306). The sales support device 30 then displays the services, which are commercial products, in accordance with the scenarios ranked based on the weighting values ​​obtained from the company-classification weighting table and the appearance rates of the words identified from the text data (step S307). At this time, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services by merging the weighting values ​​and the appearance rates of the words, as described above. Alternatively, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services based on both the weighting values ​​and the appearance rates of the words, and display the services in parallel (for example, in two columns) based on their respective display priorities.

[0243] In the weighting value setting process described using Figure 24, the occurrence rate of words with properties similar to the weighting value is calculated based on words extracted from text data, but words may also be extracted from audio data recorded during business negotiations or audio data obtained from field surveys.

[0244] Hereinafter, a process for setting weighting values ​​based on audio data will be described with reference to Fig. 29. Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a process for setting weighting values ​​from audio data in this embodiment. The process for setting weighting values ​​according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 29.

[0245] For the sake of simplicity, the process shown in Fig. 29 is assumed to be performed following the process of setting weighting values ​​from company information (the flowchart shown in Fig. 18) described above. However, the process of setting weighting values ​​from voice data does not necessarily have to be performed after the process of setting weighting values ​​from company information.

[0246] After setting the weighting values ​​from the company information, the sales support device 30 can set the weighting values ​​from the voice data. As shown in Fig. 29, the sales support device 30 checks whether voice data (recorded data during negotiations, voice data obtained during field surveys, etc.) corresponding to a specific case exists (step S401). If no voice data exists (No in step S401), the process ends.

[0247] If voice data exists (Yes in step S401), the sales support device 30 reads the voice data (step S402) and checks whether the voice data has been updated (step S403). The sales support device 30 may, for example, refer to the update date and time of the voice data to check whether the voice data has been updated since the last processing date and time. If the voice data has not been updated (No in step S403), the process ends.

[0248] If the voice data has been updated (Yes in step S403), the sales support device 30 converts the voice data into text by performing a voice-to-text process (step S410), and then performs a text data analysis process to extract words from the text data (step S404).The sales support device 30 then refers to the word list table to identify the word ID of each extracted word (step S405).

[0249] When the word ID of each word extracted from the text data is identified, the sales support device 30 reads the existing word dictionary / weighting table, updates the number of occurrences and the number of past texts in the existing word dictionary / weighting table, and updates the appearance rate of each word (number of occurrences / number of past texts) calculated from the number of occurrences and the number of past texts (step S406).

[0250] Comparing the processing for text data shown in Fig. 24 with the processing for speech data shown in Fig. 29, the only difference is that when processing speech data, speech data is converted into text in step S410. However, it is preferable to separate the word list table and existing word dictionary / weighting table into one for processing text data and one for processing speech data. The words and phrases used in literary language (written language) and colloquial language (spoken language) differ, and by using separate tables for each, it becomes possible to calculate the occurrence rate of words more accurately.

[0251] The process of visualizing weighting based on audio data will be described with reference to Fig. 30. Fig. 30 is a diagram showing an example of the process of visualizing weighting based on audio data in this embodiment. The process of visualizing weighting according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 30.

[0252] For the sake of simplicity, the process shown in Fig. 30 is assumed to be performed following the weight visualization process described above (the flowchart shown in Fig. 28). However, the visualization process of weights based on audio data does not necessarily have to be performed after the weight visualization process described above.

[0253] The sales support device 30 can perform visualization processing of weights based on voice data, following visualization processing of weights based on company information and text data.

[0254] 30, the sales support device 30 checks whether voice data exists (step S501). If voice data does not exist (No in step S501) or if voice data is not considered, the process ends.

[0255] On the other hand, if voice data exists (Yes in step S501), the sales support device 30 converts the voice data into text and extracts words from the text data (step S502). Then, using the extracted word information, the sales support device 30 identifies the appearance rate of each word from a word list table. The sales support device 30 determines a display priority based on the appearance rate of each word and sorts the scenarios in descending order of accuracy (step S503). The sales support device 30 then displays the services, which are commercial products, according to the scenarios ranked based on the appearance rates of the words identified from the voice data (step S504). At this time, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services by merging some or all of the weighting values, the appearance rates of words obtained from the text data, and the appearance rates of words obtained from the voice data. Alternatively, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services based on both the weighting values ​​and the appearance rates of words.

[0256] The process of setting weighting values ​​based on image data will be described below with reference to Fig. 31. Fig. 31 is a diagram showing an example of the process of setting weighting values ​​from image data in this embodiment. The process of setting weighting values ​​according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 31.

[0257] For the sake of simplicity, the process shown in Fig. 31 is assumed to be performed following the process of setting weighting values ​​from audio data (the flowchart shown in Fig. 29). However, the process of setting weighting values ​​from image data does not necessarily have to be performed after the process of setting weighting values ​​from audio data.

[0258] After setting the weighting values ​​from the voice data, the sales support device 30 can set the weighting values ​​from the image data. As shown in Fig. 31, the sales support device 30 checks whether image data corresponding to a specific case (image data taken during negotiations, image data obtained during field surveys, etc.) exists (step S601). If no image data exists (No in step S601), the process ends.

[0259] If image data exists (Yes in step S601), the sales support device 30 reads the image data (step S602) and checks whether the image data has been updated (step S603). The sales support device 30 may, for example, refer to the update date and time of the image data to check whether the image data has been updated since the last processing date and time. If the image data has not been updated (No in step S603), the process ends.

[0260] If the image data has been updated (Yes in step S603), the sales support device 30 performs image analysis processing to detect objects (photographed objects) from the image data (step S604).Then, the sales support device 30 refers to the object list table and identifies the object ID of each extracted object (step S605).

[0261] FIG. 32 is an example of an object list table that is referenced when extracting words in this embodiment.

[0262] The object list table is a table for managing object IDs assigned to a list of objects, and has fields for storing object IDs, object names, and object model information.

[0263] The object ID field stores an object ID that allows an object to be uniquely identified. The object name field stores the name of the object. The object model information field stores information that identifies the object model used during object detection. Deep learning technology can be applied to object detection, and by using a trained model as the object model, objects that match the object model can be detected from image data. As described above, in the object list table, object IDs are assigned to objects that can be detected by object detection.

[0264] Furthermore, objects extracted from image data are assigned object IDs assigned in the object list table. FIG. 33 shows an example of object information obtained by extracting objects from image data in this embodiment. Objects extracted from image data are stored in a table having an object ID field. The object ID field stores the object ID identified from the object list table for each object extracted from image data.

[0265] When the object ID of each object extracted from the image data is identified, the sales support device 30 reads the existing object dictionary / weighting table, updates the number of appearances and the number of past images in the existing object dictionary / weighting table, and updates the appearance rate (number of appearances / number of past images) of each object calculated from the number of appearances and the number of past images (step S606).

[0266] 34 shows an example of an existing object dictionary and weighting table in this embodiment. The existing object dictionary and weighting table is a table provided for each scenario ID, and is a table for storing the appearance rate of objects related to each scenario ID. For example, if the scenario ID set in the loaded case information is "1," the sales support device 30 refers to the existing object dictionary and weighting table for scenario ID "1" generated from a past case with scenario ID "1" as the processing target.

[0267] The existing object dictionary and weighting table has items for storing the scenario ID, object ID, exclusion flag, number of occurrences, number of past images, and occurrence rate.

[0268] The scenario ID field stores a scenario ID that uniquely identifies a scenario. The object ID field stores an object ID that uniquely identifies an object. The exclusion flag field stores a flag that indicates that the object is a frequently occurring object regardless of the service (product). An object with an exclusion flag set is considered to be an object that exists across multiple products.

[0269] The "Number of occurrences" field stores the number of times the object was detected in past image data. The "Number of past images" field stores the total number of past image data. The "Occurrence rate" field stores the occurrence rate obtained by dividing the number of occurrences by the number of past images. For example, in the existing object dictionary and weighting table shown in Figure 34, the word with object ID "1" has appeared in 80 pieces of image data out of the total number of past image data (100 times), and its occurrence rate is calculated as "80%."

[0270] The appearance rate of an object represents the proportion of objects previously detected in image data in relation to a particular scenario. In other words, the higher the appearance rate of a particular object, the more appropriate the service associated with the scenario in which the object appears. In this respect, the appearance rate of an object has properties similar to those of a weighting value, and it is effective to reflect this in the display priority of the service. The appearance rate of an object may be merged with the weighting value, for example, to determine the display priority of the service, or the display priority of the service may be determined based on both the weighting value and the appearance rate of the object.

[0271] The process of visualizing weighting based on image data will be described with reference to Fig. 35. Fig. 35 is a diagram showing an example of the process of visualizing weighting based on image data in this embodiment. The process of visualizing weighting according to the present invention is not limited to the process shown in Fig. 35.

[0272] For the sake of simplicity, the processing shown in Fig. 35 is assumed to be performed following the weight visualization processing (the flowchart shown in Fig. 30) described above. However, the visualization processing of weights based on image data does not necessarily have to be performed after the weight visualization processing described above.

[0273] The sales support device 30 can perform visualization processing of weights based on image data, following visualization processing of weights based on company information, text data, and voice data.

[0274] 35, the sales support device 30 checks whether image data exists (step S701). If image data does not exist (No in step S701) or if image data is not considered, the process ends.

[0275] On the other hand, if image data exists (Yes in step S701), the sales support device 30 extracts objects from the image data, converts the object list information into text, and extracts the objects from the text data (step S702). The sales support device 30 uses the extracted object information to identify the appearance rate of each object from the object list table, determines a display priority based on the appearance rate of each object, and sorts the scenarios in descending order of likelihood (step S703). The sales support device 30 then displays the commercial services according to the scenarios ranked based on the appearance rates of the objects detected from the image data (step S704). At this time, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services by merging some or all of the weighting values, the appearance rates of words obtained from the text data, the appearance rates of words obtained from the voice data, and the appearance rates of objects detected from the image data. Alternatively, the sales support device 30 may determine the display priority of the services based on each of the weighting values, the appearance rates of words, and the appearance rates of objects.

[0276] According to the above embodiment, a sales support system 1 is provided that supports the sales activities of related parties, including sales representatives who negotiate with customer companies, or that is used by the customers themselves, and is equipped with a sales terminal 10 that can be operated by related parties, including sales representatives, or by the customers themselves, and a sales support device 30 that can communicate with the sales terminal 10, wherein the sales support device 30 has an issue sorting database 321 in which at least issues, measures to solve the issues, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected, and a sales support processing unit 32 that displays multiple issues set in the issue sorting database 321 on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 so that they can be selected, and when multiple issues displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 are selected, displays multiple measures connected to the lower levels of the selected multiple issues on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 so that they can be selected, and when multiple measures displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 are selected, displays multiple services connected to the lower levels of the selected multiple measures on the display screen of the sales terminal 10.

[0277] According to the above embodiment, a sales support method is provided in a sales support system 1 that supports the sales activities of related parties, including sales representatives who negotiate with client companies, or that is used by the client themselves, and that is characterized by preparing an issue sorting database 321 in which at least issues, measures to solve the issues, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected, and displaying multiple issues set in the issue sorting database 321 so that they can be selected on the display screen of a sales terminal 10 that can be operated by the related parties, including sales representatives, or the client themselves, and when multiple issues displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 are selected, displaying multiple measures connected to the lower levels of the selected issues so that they can be selected, and when multiple measures displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal 10 are selected, displaying multiple services connected to the lower levels of the selected measures.

[0278] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and design changes are included within the technical scope of the present invention without departing from the technical idea of ​​the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0279] 1. Sales support system 10 Sales terminal 20 Field survey terminal 30 Sales support equipment 32 Sales Support Department 33 Weighting processing unit 34 Collected Data Analysis Section 40 Customer Management System 45 Customer Database 50 Network 101, 201, 301 processors 102, 202, 302 memory 103, 203, 303 Communications Department 104, 204, 304 Operation input section 105, 205, 305 monitor 106, 206 Mike 107, 207 Camera 108, 208, 306 Storage 111 Web browser program 150, 250, 350 buses 211 Recording Processing Program 212 Photo Processing Program 213, 341 collected data 311 Web Server Program 312 Sales Support Program 313 Weighting Processing Program 314 Collected Data Analysis Program 321 Issues Database 322 Various tables 331 Negotiation result data 2131, 3411 text data 2132, 3412 audio data 2133, 3413 Image data 3143 Image Analysis Program 3144 Deep Learning Program

Claims

1. A sales support system that supports sales activities of parties including salespeople who negotiate with a client company, or that is used by the client itself, a sales terminal operable by the related parties including the sales representative or the customer, and a sales support device capable of communicating with the sales terminal, The sales support device a problem sorting database in which at least problems, measures to solve the problems, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected; a sales support processing unit that displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of issues set in the issue organizing database so as to be selectable, and when a plurality of issues displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of measures connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of issues so as to be selectable, and when a plurality of measures displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, displays, on the display screen of the sales terminal, a plurality of services connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of measures; a collected data analysis unit that analyzes business negotiation result data or collected data including text data, voice data, or image data obtained through business negotiations or surveys; a weighting processing unit that updates, in the problem organizing database, weighting values ​​set for each of a plurality of connection paths that start from a problem level, pass through a measure level, and end at a service level, based on the analysis results of the negotiation result data or the collected data; and A sales support system characterized in that, when the sales support processing unit displays multiple services on the display screen of the sales terminal, it determines the display priority of the multiple services to be displayed based on the weighting value set on the connection path ending at each of the multiple services to be displayed, which is updated based on the analysis results of the negotiation result data or the collected data.

2. The sales support system described in claim 1, characterized in that the sales support processing unit displays the selected multiple issues, the selected multiple measures, and the multiple services connected to the lower layer of the selected multiple measures together on the display screen of the sales terminal.

3. 3. The sales support system according to claim 1, wherein the weighting value processing unit updates the weighting values ​​set based on company attributes based on the analysis results of the collected data analysis unit.

4. 4. The sales support system according to claim 3, wherein the company attributes include at least one of the company's industry, size, listing category, and region.

5. 5. The sales support system according to claim 3, wherein the weighting value is set using a past application history of similar companies having the same corporate attributes.

6. 6. The sales support system according to claim 1, wherein the weighting value is set in accordance with the progress of the sales negotiation.

7. 7. The sales support system according to claim 1, wherein the collected data analysis unit analyzes the text data by a text data analysis process to extract words.

8. The sales support system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the collected data analysis unit performs a speech-to-text process to convert the speech data into text, and then extracts words by a text data analysis process.

9. 7. The sales support system according to claim 1, wherein the collected data analysis unit extracts an object from the image data.

10. The sales support system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the collected data analysis unit extracts features contained in the text data, the voice data, or the image data using deep learning technology.

11. In the problem organizing database, a layer including problem derivation items for deriving the problem is connected as a higher layer of the problem, The sales support system described in any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the sales support processing unit displays on the display screen of the sales terminal multiple problem derivation items for deriving the problem so that multiple selections can be made, and when multiple problem derivation items displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal are selected, multiple problems connected to the lower level of the selected multiple problem derivation items are displayed on the display screen of the sales terminal.

12. 12. The sales support system according to claim 11, wherein in the layer including the problem-deriving items, a management vision, a strategic theme, a business process, and an action theme are hierarchically connected.

13. A sales support method executed by a processor in a sales support system that supports sales activities of related parties, including sales representatives who negotiate with a client company, or that is used by the client itself, comprising: The processor displays, on a display screen of a sales terminal that can be operated by the parties including the sales representative or the customer himself, a plurality of issues set in an issue organizing database in which at least issues, measures to solve the issues, and services that contribute to the measures are hierarchically connected, so as to be selectable; When a plurality of issues are selected from the display screen of the sales terminal, the processor displays a plurality of measures connected to a lower layer of the selected issues so that the measures can be selected; When a plurality of measures are selected from the display screen of the sales terminal, the processor displays a plurality of services connected to a lower layer of the selected plurality of measures; and The processor analyzes business negotiation result data or collected data obtained from the business negotiation or survey, the data including text data, voice data, or image data; a step in which the processor updates, in the problem organizing database, weighting values ​​set for each of a plurality of connection paths that start from a problem level, pass through a measure level, and end at a service level, based on the analysis results of the negotiation result data or the collected data; a step in which the processor, when displaying a plurality of services on the display screen of the sales terminal, determines a display priority of the plurality of services to be displayed based on the weighting values ​​set on connection paths ending at each of the plurality of services to be displayed, the weighting values ​​being updated based on the analysis results of the negotiation result data or the collected data; A sales support method further comprising:

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