Business support device, business support program, and business support system

Abstract

This business support device 100 comprises: a client selection unit 164 that acquires a region to be visited by a person in charge of business, and selects a client to be visited by the person in charge of business from among clients located in the region on the basis of a business status, which indicates a stage of a business process of the client, or quotation information indicating a request status of a quotation for a product for the client; and a client information output unit 167 that outputs the business status or the quotation information of the client together with identification information about the client selected by the client selection unit 164.

Description

Sales support device, sales support program, and sales support system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sales support device, a sales support program, and a sales support system.

[0002] In sales activities for visiting customers to sell products or services, in order to enhance the results of such sales activities, it is required to efficiently visit customers. Therefore, conventionally, techniques for creating a sales activity route (visit route) are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that when conducting cold calling without appointments, a list of visit candidate destinations is output based on the distance from the current location of the person in charge. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses that when determining a sales activity route, the priority order of visit destinations is determined based on the expiration date of a contract, the visit interval, etc.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-056364, Patent No. 5108831

[0004] However, simply determining the necessity of a visit based only on specific indicators (for example, contract expiration date or visit interval) does not necessarily fully achieve the results of sales activities, and it is required to conduct optimal sales activities according to the status of customers.

[0005] In view of such problems, the present disclosure has been made, and its purpose is to provide a technology for supporting effective and efficient sales activities by salespersons.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a sales support device according to an aspect of the present disclosure acquires an area that a salesperson intends to visit, and selects a business destination that the salesperson should visit from business destinations located in the area based on a business status indicating the stage of the business process of the business destination or estimate information indicating the status of a request for an estimate of a product for the business destination. The sales support device includes a business destination selection unit and a business destination information output unit that outputs the identification information of the business destination selected by the business destination selection unit together with the business status or estimate information of the business destination.

[0007] Another aspect of this disclosure is a sales support system. This sales support system comprises a sales support device that supports sales activities by sales representatives, a schedule management device that manages the sales representatives' schedules, and a terminal device used by sales representatives. The sales support device includes a sales target selection unit that acquires the region that the sales representative intends to visit and selects sales targets to be visited by the sales representative from among the sales targets located in the region, based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the sales target or the status of the request for a product quotation from the sales target; a visit date and time determination unit that determines the visit date and time of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit; and a sales target information output unit that outputs the visit date and time determined by the visit date and time determination unit along with the identification information of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit to the schedule management device. The schedule management device includes a schedule holding unit that holds the visit dates and times of sales targets acquired from the sales support device as the sales representative's schedule, and a schedule output unit that outputs the sales representative's schedule to the terminal device. The terminal device includes a schedule display unit that displays the sales representative's schedule on a display device.

[0008] Furthermore, any combination of the above components, as well as any conversion of the expressions of this disclosure between methods, apparatus, systems, recording media, computer programs, etc., are also valid forms of this disclosure.

[0009] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the sales support system according to the first embodiment. This is a diagram showing the configuration of the sales support device according to the first embodiment. This is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the customer database. This is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the daily report database. This is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the quotation database. This is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the sales status. This is a diagram showing the configuration of the schedule management device according to the first embodiment. This is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the sales representative terminal according to the first embodiment. This is a flowchart showing the procedure for the sales support method according to the first embodiment. This is a diagram showing an example of the customer selection request screen displayed on the display device of the sales representative terminal. This is a diagram showing an example of the customer information display screen displayed on the display device of the sales representative terminal.

[0010] As an embodiment of this disclosure, we will describe a technology that supports sales activities by sales representatives.

[0011] In the fields of building materials and housing equipment, there is a distribution channel in which manufacturers wholesale products to agents and distributors, and these products are then sold to end users through contractors and builders, including house builders. By providing sales support activities to agents and distributors tailored to their specific circumstances, manufacturers can efficiently increase the number of deals closed and the average customer value. For example, by providing sales support for the products being quoted and related products, triggered by a request for a quote from a contractor to an agent or distributor, it is possible to promote the closing of deals for those products and related products, thereby increasing the average customer value.

[0012] The sales support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure acquires the region that a sales representative intends to visit when the sales representative visits a client, and selects clients to visit from among the clients located in that region based on the sales status indicating the stage of the client's sales process and information on product quotations requested by the client's customer. The sales support device outputs the identification information of the selected clients, along with the sales status and quotation information of those clients. This enables effective and efficient sales activities by sales representatives.

[0013] (First Embodiment) Figure 1 shows the configuration of the sales support system 1 according to the first embodiment. The sales support system 1 comprises a sales support device 100, a product purchase support device 3, a schedule management device 200, a sales representative terminal 300, and a communication network 2 that connects them in a communicative manner.

[0014] The product purchase support device 3 assists end users in purchasing products from manufacturers through contractors, builders, and other parties. The product purchase support device 3 provides customers such as end users, contractors, and builders with information about products and information about retailers that sell the products. The product purchase support device 3 mediates requests for product quotations from customers to retailers. The product purchase support device 3 provides the sales support device 100 with information such as the timing of the quotation request and the target products.

[0015] The sales support device 100 assists sales representatives in their sales activities. The sales support device 100 selects sales targets that the sales representative should visit and provides information on the selected targets to the sales representative's terminal 300.

[0016] The schedule management device 200 manages the schedules of sales representatives. The schedule management device 200 receives and stores the schedules of sales representatives from the sales representative terminal 300 and the sales support device 100. Upon receiving a request from the sales representative terminal 300, the schedule management device 200 presents the stored schedules of sales representatives to the sales representative terminal 300.

[0017] The sales representative terminal 300 is a terminal used by sales representatives of the product manufacturer. The sales representative terminal 300 accesses the sales support device 100 to obtain information on sales targets to be visited. The sales representative terminal 300 accesses the schedule management device 200 to view its own schedule.

[0018] Figure 2 shows the configuration of the sales support device 100 according to the first embodiment. The sales support device 100 includes a communication device 101, a processing device 160, and a storage device 170.

[0019] The communication device 101 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 101 may communicate using any communication method, such as wired or wireless.

[0020] The storage device 170 stores programs, data, etc., used by the processing device 160. The storage device 170 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like. The storage device 170 includes a customer database 171, a daily report database 172, and a quotation database 173.

[0021] The customer database 171 stores information about customers, such as retailers. Figure 3 shows an example of the configuration of the customer database 171. The customer database 171 stores information such as the name of the customer, address, products handled, sales, sales status, a flag indicating whether or not it is a key customer, a flag indicating whether or not it handles key products, and the market share of the company's products. The sales status indicates the stage of the sales process and serves as an indicator for determining the necessity, priority, and content of sales activities by the sales representative. The stages of the sales process may include, for example, the stage in which the sales representative builds a relationship with the customer, the stage in which the sales representative has already built a relationship with the customer, the stage in which the sales representative rebuilds the relationship with the customer, and the stage in which the sales representative conducts business negotiations with the customer. The flag indicating whether or not it is a key customer may be entered by the person in charge, or it may be automatically determined based on sales in the most recent specified period, cumulative sales, market share of the company's products, etc.

[0022] The daily report database 172 stores data from the sales representatives' daily reports. Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of the daily report database 172. The daily report database 172 stores information such as the sales representative's name, identification information of the client they are responsible for, the date and time of the visit to the client, the purpose of the sales activity, the target product, the details of the activity, the client's reaction, and the items to be done in the next sales activity. The daily report database 172 also functions as a visit history storage unit that holds the history of visits made by sales representatives to clients.

[0023] The quotation database 173 stores information related to product quotations requested by customers to retailers and other parties. Figure 5 shows an example of the configuration of the quotation database 173. The quotation database 173 stores information such as the identification information of the customer who requested the product quotation, the identification information of the sales party that requested the product quotation, the date and time of the quotation request, and the product to be quoted.

[0024] The processing unit 160 includes a quotation information acquisition unit 161, a daily report management unit 162, a sales status management unit 163, a sales target selection unit 164, a visit date and time determination unit 165, a sales activity content recommendation unit 166, and a sales target information output unit 167. These configurations can be implemented as hardware using arbitrary circuits, a computer CPU, memory, or other LSIs. These configurations can also be implemented as software using programs loaded into memory. Here, we are illustrating the functional blocks realized through the cooperation of these components. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be implemented in various forms, such as hardware only or a combination of hardware and software.

[0025] The quotation information acquisition unit 161 acquires information regarding product quotations requested by customers from sales outlets from the product purchase support device 3 and stores it in the quotation database 173. The quotation information acquisition unit 161 may acquire only the quotation information that sales outlets have made public in the product purchase support device 3. The quotation information acquisition unit 161 may also acquire quotation information from sales outlet terminals or the like.

[0026] The daily report management department 162 acquires information regarding sales activities by sales representatives from the sales representative terminals 300 and stores it in the daily report database 172.

[0027] The Sales Status Management Unit 163 manages the sales status of a target customer by referring to information on quotations stored in the Quotation Database 173 and information on sales activities by sales representatives stored in the Daily Report Database 172. The sales status indicates the stage of the sales process and serves as an indicator for determining the necessity, priority, and content of sales activities by sales representatives. The Sales Status Management Unit 163 changes the sales status of a target customer according to the status of requests for product quotations from the target customer and the sales activities by sales representatives towards the target customer. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure for determining the sales status. The Sales Status Management Unit 163 calculates the cumulative number of visits and cumulative time by sales representatives, the cumulative number of contacts by sales representatives by telephone, etc., the cumulative sales of the company's products, the market share of the company's products, and changes in sales and market share by referring to the target customer database 171 and the Daily Report Database 172. The sales status of a target customer where the calculated value is less than a predetermined value (Y in S1) is set to the stage where sales representatives are building relationships with the target customer (S2). Among the customers whose calculated values ​​are above a predetermined value (N in S1), the sales status of customers who have requested a quote for products in the most recent predetermined period (Y in S3) is defined as the stage where the sales representative conducts business negotiations with the customer (S4). Among the customers whose calculated values ​​are above a predetermined value (N in S1) and who have not requested a quote for products in the most recent predetermined period (N in S3), the sales status of customers whose cumulative number of visits, cumulative time, cumulative number of contacts by telephone, etc., by the sales representative, cumulative sales of the company's products, market share of the company's products, and changes in sales and market share are below a predetermined value (Y in S5) is defined as the stage where the sales representative rebuilds the relationship with the customer (S6). The sales status of customers whose values ​​are above a predetermined value (N in S5) is defined as the stage where the sales representative has already established a relationship with the customer (S8). The sales status management unit 163 may consider the sales status of a customer who has requested a quote for a product during the most recent specified period to be the stage at which a sales representative is conducting business negotiations with the customer, regardless of the magnitude of the calculated value above.

[0028] The target selection unit 164 selects potential clients that a sales representative should visit from among those located in the area the sales representative intends to visit. The target selection unit 164 may also select potential clients that a sales representative should visit based on the client's sales status. This allows the sales representative to conduct effective sales activities at the optimal timing according to the client's sales status. The target selection unit 164 may also prioritize selecting clients that are in the stage where the sales representative is conducting business negotiations. The target selection unit 164 may also prioritize selecting clients that are in the stage where the sales representative is building a relationship with the client, a stage where the sales representative has already built a relationship with the client, or a stage where the sales representative is rebuilding a relationship with the client. The target selection unit 164 may also select potential clients that a sales representative should visit based on the client's visit history. The target selection unit 164 may also prioritize selecting clients that have been visited infrequently in the most recent predetermined period. The sales target selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting sales targets whose matters to be addressed in the next sales activity are registered in the daily report database 172. The sales target selection unit 164 may also prioritize selecting sales targets that are key customers.

[0029] The customer selection unit 164 may select one customer or multiple customers. The customer selection unit 164 may select a number of customers corresponding to the time the sales representative plans to spend on sales activities. The customer selection unit 164 may accept a time slot specification such as morning, afternoon, or all day, and select a number of customers corresponding to the specified time slot, for example, two customers in the morning, four in the afternoon, and six all day. The customer selection unit 164 may maintain or estimate the time required for sales activities and determine the number of customers to select based on the required time and the time the sales representative plans to spend on sales activities. The customer selection unit 164 may also determine the number of customers to select based on the distance from the starting point to the customer and the travel time when the sales representative will be conducting sales activities.

[0030] The sales target selection unit 164 may select sales targets that a sales representative should visit based on the sales representative's attributes, years of experience, sales performance, visit history, etc. For example, the sales target selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting key customers for sales representatives with many years of experience and sales performance, and prioritize selecting non-key customers for sales representatives with few years of experience and sales performance.

[0031] The sales target selection unit 164 may select sales targets that sales representatives should visit according to selection criteria that define the priority of sales targets. The sales target selection unit 164 may also change the selection criteria automatically in response to external instructions or based on information stored in the storage device 170. For example, it may switch between selection criteria that prioritize sales targets in the stage where sales representatives are building relationships with the target in order to develop new customers, and selection criteria that prioritize sales targets in the stage where sales representatives have already built relationships with the target in order to improve sales to existing customers.

[0032] The sales target selection unit 164 may use artificial intelligence, such as a generative AI, to select sales targets that sales representatives should visit. In this case, the sales target selection unit 164 may input conditions such as the sales representative's identification information, the date and time the sales representative intends to conduct sales activities, and the region to the generative AI prompt, and output the sales targets that the sales representative should visit. The sales target selection unit 164 may also use a selection model that has been trained by supervised learning, using information such as the sales representative's visit history to sales targets, changes in sales due to sales activities, the sales targets' reactions, and evaluations by superiors as training data, to select sales targets that sales representatives should visit. The selection model may be implemented using a neural network or the like. The selection model may be one in which, when conditions such as the identification information of the sales representative, the date and time when the sales representative intends to conduct sales activities, and the region are input to the input layer, the probability of outputting a sales target that showed a positive change in sales due to sales activities, the customer's response, and evaluation by superiors, etc., is higher, and the probability of outputting a sales target that showed a negative change in sales due to sales activities, the customer's response, and evaluation by superiors, etc., is lower.

[0033] The visit date and time determination unit 165 determines the date and time to visit the customer selected by the customer selection unit 164. The visit date and time determination unit 165 may also determine the route to visit the customer based on the starting point from which the salesperson begins their visit to the customer and the address of the customer. The visit date and time determination unit 165 may also determine the route to visit the customer in order of proximity from the starting point. The visit date and time determination unit 165 may also determine the date and time to visit the customer based on the determined route and the time required for sales activities at the customer. The visit date and time determination unit 165 may also determine the date and time to visit the customer by referring to the salesperson's schedule held in the schedule management device 200. The visit date and time determination unit 165 may also determine a date and time when it is possible to visit the customer during a time when the salesperson's schedule is not held in the schedule management device 200.

[0034] The sales activity recommendation unit 166 recommends the content of sales activities for customers selected by the customer selection unit 164. The sales activity recommendation unit 166 may determine the content of sales activities that the sales representative should perform based on the sales status of the customer. If the sales status of the customer is at the stage where the sales representative is building a relationship with the customer, the sales activity recommendation unit 166 may recommend activities such as interviewing the customer about their situation or introducing key products. If the sales status of the customer is at the stage where the sales representative has already built a relationship with the customer, the sales activity recommendation unit 166 may recommend activities such as introducing products other than those already traded or proposing to expand the market share of the company's products. If the sales status of the customer is at the stage where the sales representative is rebuilding the relationship with the customer, the sales activity recommendation unit 166 may recommend activities such as interviewing the customer about their situation, introducing products other than those already traded, or introducing key products. If the items to be implemented in the next sales activity are registered in the daily report database 172, the sales activity recommendation unit 166 may recommend the registered items.

[0035] The sales activity recommendation unit 166 may determine the content of sales activities that the sales representative should carry out based on quotation information that shows the status of requests for product quotations from sales targets. The sales activity recommendation unit 166 may recommend negotiations for the products subject to the quotation or proposals for related products. Even if a sales target has requested a product quotation in the most recent specified period, if the sales representative is in the stage of building a relationship with the sales target, the sales activity recommendation unit 166 may prioritize recommending sales activities that build a relationship, such as hearing about the sales target's situation.

[0036] The customer information output unit 167 outputs the sales status of a customer, along with the identification information of the customer selected by the customer selection unit 164, to the sales representative terminal 300 or the schedule management device 200. If the customer selected by the customer selection unit 164 has requested a product quote, the customer information output unit 167 outputs the quote information, indicating the status of the product quote request to the customer, along with the customer identification information, to the sales representative terminal 300 or the schedule management device 200. The customer information output unit 167 may also output, as part of the quote information, quote request timing information indicating when the customer requested a product quote, and quote target product information indicating the products subject to the quote. The customer information output unit 167 may also output the visit date and time of the customer, determined by the visit date and time determination unit 165, to the sales representative terminal 300 or the schedule management device 200. The customer information output unit 167 may also output the content of the sales activities recommended by the sales activity content recommendation unit 166 to the sales representative terminal 300 or the schedule management device 200.

[0037] Figure 7 shows the configuration of the schedule management device 200 according to the first embodiment. The schedule management device 200 includes a communication device 201, a processing device 260, and a storage device 270.

[0038] The communication device 201 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 201 may communicate using any communication method, such as wired or wireless.

[0039] The storage device 270 stores programs, data, etc. used by the processing device 260. The storage device 270 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like. The storage device 270 includes a schedule database 271.

[0040] The schedule database 271 stores the schedules of sales staff. The schedule database 271 stores information such as the identification information of the sales staff, the date and time of the schedule, the content, and the importance. The content of the schedule includes the name, address, contact information of the visited business, the content of the business activities, related information, etc. The related information includes the business status of the business, quotation information, quotation request time information, quotation target product information, etc.

[0041] The processing device 260 includes a schedule registration unit 261 and a schedule output unit 262. These configurations can be realized by arbitrary circuits, a CPU of a computer, a memory, other LSIs, etc. as hardware. These configurations can be realized by a program loaded in the memory, etc. as software. Here, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are depicted. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms such as only hardware or a combination of hardware and software.

[0042] The schedule registration unit 261 acquires information regarding the schedules of the sales staff from the sales staff terminal 300 or the sales support device 100, and registers the acquired information in the schedule database 271.

[0043] The schedule output unit 262 outputs information regarding the schedules of the sales staff held in the schedule database 271 to the sales staff terminal 300 in response to a request from the sales staff terminal 300.

[0044] FIG. 8 shows the functional configuration of the sales staff terminal 300 according to the first embodiment. The sales staff terminal 300 includes a communication device 301, a display device 302, an input device 303, an audio output device 304, an audio input device 305, a processing device 360, and a storage device 370.

[0045] The communication device 301 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 301 may communicate using any communication method, such as wired or wireless. The display device 302 displays a screen generated by the processing device 360. The display device 302 may be a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, or the like. The input device 303 transmits user instructions to the processing device 360. The input device 303 may be a mouse, keyboard, touchpad, or the like. The display device 302 and the input device 303 may be implemented as a touch panel. The audio output device 304 outputs audio generated by the processing device 360. The audio input device 305 acquires audio and inputs it to the processing device 360.

[0046] The storage device 370 stores programs, data, etc., used by the processing device 360. The storage device 370 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like.

[0047] The processing unit 360 includes a customer selection request unit 361, a schedule display unit 362, a schedule registration unit 363, and a daily report input unit 364. These components can be implemented as hardware using arbitrary circuits, a computer CPU, memory, or other LSIs. These components can also be implemented as software using programs loaded into memory. Here, we are illustrating the functional blocks realized through the cooperation of these components. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be implemented in various forms, such as hardware only or a combination of hardware and software.

[0048] The sales prospect selection request unit 361 receives information such as the date and time when the salesperson conducts sales activities and the area to be visited from the salesperson via the input device 303, and requests the sales support device 100 to select sales prospects. The sales prospect selection request unit 361 acquires the information of the sales prospects selected by the sales support device 100 from the sales support device 100 and displays it on the display device 302. When the sales prospect selection request unit 361 acquires information such as the business status of the sales prospect, quotation information, quotation request time information, quotation target product information, visit date and time, and content of recommended sales activities from the sales support device 100, it displays these information together with the identification information of the sales prospect on the display device 302. When the sales prospect selection request unit receives an instruction from the salesperson to register the visit schedule of the sales prospect in the schedule management device 200, it requests the schedule management device 200 to register the visit schedule of the sales prospect. Information regarding the visit schedule of the sales prospect may be transmitted from the sales support device 100 to the schedule management device 200, or may be transmitted from the salesperson terminal 300 to the schedule management device 200.

[0049] The schedule display unit 362 accesses the schedule management device 200, acquires the schedule of the salesperson registered in the schedule management device 200, and displays it on the display device 302. The schedule display unit 362 may display information such as the business status of the sales prospect with a visit schedule, quotation information, quotation request time information, quotation target product information, visit date and time, and content of recommended sales activities together with the identification information of the sales prospect on the display device 302. The schedule display unit 362 may display related information on the display device 302 according to the business status of the sales prospect with a visit schedule. When the sales prospect with a visit schedule has already received a request for a product quotation, the schedule display unit 362 may display on the display device 302 the quotation request time information indicating the time when the sales prospect requested the product quotation or the quotation target product information indicating the product targeted by the quotation requested by the sales prospect.

[0050] The schedule registration unit 363 receives information regarding the schedule of the salesperson from the salesperson via the input device 303 and registers it in the schedule management device 200.

[0051] The daily report input unit 364 receives information about sales activities from sales representatives via the input device 303 and transmits it to the sales support device 100. The daily report input unit 364 receives information from sales representatives such as the name of the client visited, the name of the person in charge at the client, the date and time of the visit, the purpose of the visit, the target products, the content of the sales activities carried out, the client's reaction, and matters to be carried out in the next sales activity, and transmits it to the sales support device 100.

[0052] The daily report input unit 364 may receive voice spoken by the sales representative via the voice input device 305, and use voice recognition technology or natural language processing technology to identify and automatically format information such as the name of the client visited by the sales representative, the name of the person in charge at the client, the date and time of the visit, the purpose of the visit, the target products, the content of the sales activities carried out, the client's reaction, and the matters to be carried out in the next sales activity, thereby obtaining information related to the sales activity.

[0053] The daily report input unit 364 may receive audio from a telephone conversation between a sales representative and a client's representative, and use speech recognition technology or natural language processing technology to identify and automatically format information such as the name of the client visited by the sales representative, the name of the client's representative, the date and time of the visit, the purpose of the visit, the target products, the content of the sales activities performed, the client's reaction, and the items to be done in the next sales activity, thereby obtaining information related to sales activities.

[0054] If the audio recordings of a sales representative speaking verbally or a telephone conversation between a sales representative and a client's representative contain information about the sales representative's schedule, the schedule registration unit 363 may transmit the information about the sales representative's schedule to the schedule management device 200 for automatic registration.

[0055] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the sales support method according to the first embodiment. When the sales target selection request unit 361 of the sales representative terminal 300 requests the sales support device 100 to select a sales target (S10), the sales target selection unit 164 of the sales support device 100 selects a sales target that the sales representative should visit from among the sales targets located in the area the sales representative intends to visit, based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the sales target, or the quotation information indicating the status of the request for a product quotation to the sales target (S12). The sales target information output unit 167 of the sales support device 100 transmits information about the selected sales target, as well as information such as the sales status of the sales target, quotation information, quotation request timing information, quotation target product information, visit date and time, and recommended sales activities to the sales representative terminal 300 (S14). The sales representative terminal 300's customer selection request unit 361 displays information about the selected customer, including the customer's sales status, quotation information, quotation request timing information, quotation target product information, visit date and time, and recommended sales activities on the display device 302 (S16). If the sales representative wishes to re-select a customer, the process returns to S10, and the sales representative terminal 300's customer selection request unit 361 again requests the sales support device 100 to select a customer.

[0056] When the sales representative terminal 300 requests that the sales representative's schedule be registered in the schedule management device 200 (S20), the sales destination information output unit 167 of the sales support device 100 transmits the sales representative's schedule to the schedule management device 200 (S22). The schedule registration unit 261 of the schedule management device 200 registers the information regarding the sales representative's schedule in the schedule database 271 (S24). To prevent arbitrary selection of sales destinations by sales representatives, it may be made impossible to register only some of the multiple sales destinations selected by the sales support device 100 as scheduled visits, and all of the multiple sales destinations selected by the sales support device 100 may be registered as scheduled visits.

[0057] When the salesperson instructs the salesperson terminal 300 to display the schedule, the schedule display unit 362 requests the schedule management device 200 to send the salesperson's schedule (S30). The schedule output unit 262 of the schedule management device 200 reads information about the salesperson's schedule from the schedule database 271 and sends it to the salesperson terminal 300 (S32). The schedule display unit 362 of the salesperson terminal 300 displays the salesperson's schedule on the display device 302 (S34).

[0058] The daily report input unit 364 of the sales representative terminal 300 receives input of information regarding the sales representative's sales activities (S40), and then transmits the received daily report information to the sales support device 100 (S42). The daily report management unit 162 of the sales support device 100 registers the daily report information obtained from the sales representative terminal 300 in the daily report database 172 (S44). The sales status management unit 163 of the sales support device 100 manages the sales status of the sales target by referring to the information regarding estimates stored in the estimate database 173 and the information regarding the sales activities of the sales representative stored in the daily report database 172 (S46).

[0059] Figure 10 shows an example of a customer selection request screen displayed on the display device 302 of the sales representative terminal 300. The customer selection request screen includes fields for inputting the starting point of the sales activity, the region the sales representative intends to visit, the date, and the time slot. Once the sales representative has entered this information, the customer selection request unit 361 of the sales representative terminal 300 requests the sales support device 100 to select a customer.

[0060] Figure 11 shows an example of a customer information display screen displayed on the display device 302 of the sales representative terminal 300. The customer information display screen shows the identification information of the customer selected by the sales support device 100, as well as information such as the customer's sales status, quotation information, quotation request timing information, product information subject to quotation, visit date and time, and recommended sales activities. This allows the sales representative to understand the customer's sales status, the status of obtaining quotation requests, and the status of relationship building with the customer, enabling them to conduct sales activities with the optimal content at the optimal time. They can also check the sales activities recommended by the sales support device 100 and conduct sales activities with the optimal content at the optimal time. When the sales representative presses the schedule registration button, the customer visit schedule is registered in the schedule management device 200. This allows the sales representative to check the customer visit schedule and information such as the customer's sales status, quotation information, quotation request timing information, product information subject to quotation, visit date and time, and recommended sales activities at any time, enabling them to conduct effective and efficient sales activities.

[0061] (Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the sales support system 1 of this disclosure will be described. In the sales support system 1 of the first embodiment, the sales target selection unit 164 of the sales support device 100 selects sales targets that the sales representative should visit based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the sales target, and the sales target information output unit 167 outputs the sales information of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit 164 along with the identification information of the sales target. In the sales support system 1 of the second embodiment, the sales target selection unit 164 of the sales support device 100 selects sales targets that the sales representative should visit based on quotation information indicating the status of requests for product quotations from the sales target, and the sales target information output unit 167 outputs the quotation information of the sales target along with the identification information of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit 164. This allows the sales representative to conduct effective sales activities at the optimal timing to enter into negotiations. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the sales support system 1 of the first embodiment.

[0062] The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers who have requested a quote for a product in the most recent predetermined period. The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers who have received a large number of requests for product quotes in the most recent predetermined period. The customer selection unit 164 may select customers that sales representatives should visit based on quote request timing information, which indicates when a customer requested a quote for a product. The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers who made an early quote request. The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers who made a late quote request. The customer selection unit 164 may select customers that sales representatives should visit based on quote target product information, which indicates the products that are the subject of the quote. The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers whose quote target product is one of the company's own products. The customer selection unit 164 may prioritize selecting customers whose quote target product is a key product. The sales target selection unit 164 may select sales targets that the sales representative should visit based on the estimated price.

[0063] The customer information output unit 167 may output information on the timing of quotation requests from customers selected by the customer selection unit 164. The customer information output unit 167 may also output information on the products to be quoted from customers selected by the customer selection unit 164.

[0064] When the schedule display unit 362 displays the schedules of sales representatives registered in the schedule management device 200 on the display device 302, it may also display information such as quotation information for the sales client to be visited, quotation request timing information, information on the products to be quoted, visit date and time, and recommended sales activities, along with the sales client identification information, on the display device 302. If the sales client to be visited has already requested a quote for a product, the schedule display unit 362 may also display quotation request timing information indicating when the sales client requested a quote for a product, or information on the products to be quoted indicating the products for which the sales client requested a quote, on the display device 302.

[0065] In the sales support system 1 of the second embodiment, the sales support device 100 does not need to include a sales status management unit 163.

[0066] Any combination of the technical features described in the first embodiment and the technical features described in the second embodiment is also valid as an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0067] The present disclosure has been described above based on embodiments, but embodiments merely illustrate the principles and applications of the present invention. Furthermore, many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible in the embodiments, without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined in the claims.

[0068] The sales support device 100, the product purchase support device 3, the schedule management device 200, and the sales representative terminal 300 may each be configured as separate devices, or any combination of two or more may be configured as the same device. Some of the configurations of the sales support device 100, the product purchase support device 3, the schedule management device 200, and the sales representative terminal 300 may be provided in a device other than the device described in the above embodiment, or may be shared by any two or more devices.

[0069] This disclosure relates to sales support devices, sales support programs, and sales support systems.

[0070] 1...Sales support system, 2...Communication network, 3...Product purchase support device, 100...Sales support device, 161...Quotation information acquisition unit, 162...Daily report management unit, 163...Sales status management unit, 164...Sales target selection unit, 165...Visit date and time determination unit, 166...Sales activity content recommendation unit, 167...Sales target information output unit, 171...Sales target database, 172...Daily report database, 173...Quotation database, 200...Schedule management device, 261...Schedule registration unit, 262...Schedule output unit, 271...Schedule database, 300...Sales representative terminal, 301...Communication device, 302...Display device, 303...Input device, 304...Voice output device, 305...Voice input device, 360...Processing device, 361...Sales target selection request unit, 362...Schedule display unit, 363...Schedule registration unit, 364...Daily report input unit, 370...Storage device.

Claims

1. A sales support device comprising: a sales target selection unit that acquires the region a sales representative intends to visit, and selects sales targets to be visited by the sales representative from among sales targets located in the region, based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the sales target, or the quotation information indicating the status of the request for a product quotation from the sales target; and a sales target information output unit that outputs the sales status or quotation information of the sales target along with the identification information of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit.

2. The sales support device according to claim 1, further comprising a sales status management unit that manages the stages of the sales process according to quotation information indicating the status of requests for product quotations from sales targets.

3. The sales support device according to claim 2, wherein the quotation information includes quotation request timing information indicating when a sales representative requested a quotation for a product, the sales representative selection unit selects sales representatives to visit based on the quotation request timing information, and the sales representative information output unit outputs the quotation request timing information for the sales representatives selected by the sales representative selection unit.

4. The sales support device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the quotation information includes quotation target product information indicating the products to be quoted, the sales target selection unit selects sales targets that the sales representative should visit based on the quotation target product information, and the sales target information output unit outputs quotation target product information for the sales targets selected by the sales target selection unit.

5. A sales support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a visit history holding unit that stores the visit history of the sales representative to the sales destination, wherein the sales destination selection unit selects the sales destination that the sales representative should visit based on the visit history.

6. The sales support device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, comprising a visit history storage unit that stores the visit history of the sales representative to the customer, wherein the sales status management unit manages the stages of the sales process according to the visit history.

7. A sales support program that causes a computer to function as: a customer selection unit that acquires the region a sales representative intends to visit, and selects customers that the sales representative should visit from among the customers located in the region, based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the customer, or the quotation information indicating the status of the request for a product quotation from the customer; and a customer information output unit that outputs the sales status or quotation information of the customer along with the identification information of the customer selected by the customer selection unit.

8. The sales support program according to claim 7, which causes a computer to function as a sales status management unit that manages the stages of the sales process according to quotation information indicating the status of requests for product quotations from sales targets.

9. The sales support program according to claim 8, wherein the quotation information includes quotation request timing information indicating when a sales representative requested a quotation for a product, the sales representative selection unit selects sales representatives to visit based on the quotation request timing information, and the sales representative information output unit outputs the quotation request timing information for the sales representatives selected by the sales representative selection unit.

10. The sales support program according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the quotation information includes quotation target product information indicating the products to be quoted, the sales target selection unit selects sales targets that the sales representative should visit based on the quotation target product information, and the sales target information output unit outputs quotation target product information for the sales targets selected by the sales target selection unit.

11. A sales support program according to any one of claims 7 to 10, comprising a visit history holding unit that stores the visit history of the sales representative to the customer, and the customer selection unit that selects the customer to be visited by the sales representative based on the visit history.

12. A sales support program according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein a computer functions as a visit history storage unit that stores the history of visits made by the sales representative to a client, and the sales status management unit manages the stages of the sales process according to the visit history.

13. A sales support system comprising: a sales support device that supports sales activities by a sales representative; a schedule management device that manages the schedule of the sales representative; and a terminal device used by the sales representative, wherein the sales support device includes: a sales target selection unit that acquires the region the sales representative intends to visit and selects a sales target to be visited by the sales representative from among sales targets located in the region, based on the sales status indicating the stage of the sales process of the sales target or the status of the request for a product estimate from the sales target; a visit date and time determination unit that determines the visit date and time of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit; and a sales target information output unit that outputs the visit date and time determined by the visit date and time determination unit along with the identification information of the sales target selected by the sales target selection unit to the schedule management device; the schedule management device includes: a schedule holding unit that holds the visit date and time of the sales target acquired from the sales support device as the sales representative's schedule; and a schedule output unit that outputs the sales representative's schedule to the terminal device; and the terminal device includes a schedule display unit that displays the sales representative's schedule on a display device.

14. The sales support system according to claim 13, wherein the visit date and time determination unit determines the date and time of the visit to the sales destination according to the distance from the starting point to the sales destination when the sales representative visits the sales destination.

15. The sales support system according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the customer information output unit outputs the sales status of the customer to the schedule management device, the schedule output unit outputs the sales status of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative, and the schedule display unit displays the sales status of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative on the display device.

16. The sales support system according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the customer information output unit outputs the quotation information of the customer to the schedule management device, the schedule output unit outputs the quotation information of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative, and the schedule display unit displays the quotation information of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative on the display device.

17. The sales support system according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the customer information output unit outputs quotation request timing information indicating the time when the customer requested a quotation for a product to the schedule management device, the schedule output unit outputs the quotation request timing information of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative, and the schedule display unit displays the quotation request timing information of the customer together with the schedule of the sales representative on the display device.

18. The sales support system according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein the customer information output unit outputs information on products subject to a quotation requested by the customer to the schedule management device, the schedule output unit outputs the customer's information on products subject to a quotation together with the schedule of the sales representative, and the schedule display unit displays the customer's information on products subject to a quotation together with the schedule of the sales representative on the display device.

19. The sales support system according to any one of claims 13 to 18, wherein the schedule display unit displays on the display device information indicating the time when the customer requested a quote for a product, or information indicating the product for which the customer requested a quote.

20. The sales support device comprises a sales activity recommendation unit that recommends the content of sales activities to be carried out by the sales representative to the customer; the customer information output unit outputs the content of sales activities recommended by the sales activity recommendation unit to the schedule management device; the schedule output unit outputs the recommended content of sales activities together with the schedule of the sales representative; and the schedule display unit displays the recommended content of sales activities together with the schedule of the sales representative on the display device, according to any one of claims 13 to 19.

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