Sales Force Call Routing Automation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Field-based sales teams and call center services often operate separately, leading to delayed and improperly handled service issues, with no structured communication or process control, resulting in missed sales opportunities and inefficiencies in client management.
Innovation Solution
A system that automatically switches incoming client calls from a client manager to a call center representative, capturing and forwarding relevant relationship data, and analyzing call data to improve client service and sales processes, while providing notifications and reports to stakeholders for process improvement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If client managers handle all client calls directly, then they can provide personalized service, but they cannot focus on sales and add-on features due to service-related issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments client management functions by separating service-related calls from sales-related responsibilities. Call center representatives handle service inquiries, technical issues, and account management, while client managers focus exclusively on sales and relationship building. This functional segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing client managers to maintain sales productivity without being burdened by service-related time losses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces call center representatives as intermediaries between clients and client managers. These intermediaries handle service-related communications, filtering out routine service issues from the client manager's workload. The intermediary mechanism allows client managers to remain accessible to clients for sales purposes while delegating service matters to specialized support staff.
2Reliability
If call center services operate independently without structured communication, then they can maintain operational autonomy, but service issues are delayed and improperly handled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes feedback loops between call center representatives and client managers through standardized communication protocols. Service issues are tracked, reported, and followed up upon with clear accountability metrics. This feedback mechanism ensures reliable service issue resolution while maintaining manageable communication structures through defined processes and performance measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of inter-departmental communication by establishing standardized protocols, response time SLAs, and structured handoff procedures. These parameter changes transform ad-hoc, unstructured communications into reliable, measurable processes that improve service issue resolution without creating excessive complexity.
3Reliability
If client managers respond to all client requests, then complete client service is provided, but gaps occur where requests go hours or days before being addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having call center representatives immediately acknowledge and triage client requests upon receipt. Service issues are logged, categorized, and routed to appropriate personnel before the client manager would otherwise need to respond. This preliminary handling eliminates response gaps while maintaining reliable client service through proactive case management.
4Productivity
If no process owners monitor sales force and call center interactions, then operational flexibility is maintained, but effectiveness of collaboration cannot be controlled or improved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces process owners who monitor and measure collaboration effectiveness between sales force and call center through defined metrics and reporting structures. This feedback system tracks key performance indicators such as service issue resolution times, lead conversion rates, and inter-departmental communication efficiency. The feedback mechanism improves collaboration productivity while maintaining acceptable process control complexity through focused measurement and continuous improvement.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention provide systems, methods, and computer program products for sales force management that improves sales contacts, improves client service experience, and provides objective data on the end-to-end sales and service process. When a client calls his/her client manager the call will be automatically switched to a call center representative. Systems will capture relationship and call data associated with the clients making the call and the client managers that are being called. The relationship data is sent to the call center representative taking the call to help serve the client. The call data is sent to process owners to review and track the sales force management system as a whole. The call center representatives will either answer the customer's questions or prepare a notification form to capture the reason for the call and send the notification to the appropriate client manager.