Abstract:
A method comprises receiving a customer&#39;s service cancellation request associated with a selected service, generating and moving a ticket to a service queue, determining a discount amount to offer to the customer, updating a ticket with the discount offer, notifying the customer of the discount offer, receiving an acceptance of the discount offer from the customer, assigning the accepted discount amount to at least one billing item associated with the selected service, receiving a confirmation of the assigned discount by the user, updating the ticket with the confirmed discount assignment, receiving an approval of the discount assignment by a user, generating and storing a billing item record including the approved discount assignment for each of the at least one billing item, updating the ticket with the approved discount assignment, closing the ticket, and generating a customer invoice for a reduced invoice amount in response to the approved discount assignment.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to a system and method for customer discount management. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    For many service providers, attaining and maintaining a sizable customer-base is an important component of staying competitive in the marketplace. Customers comparison-shop for lower prices and are often willing to switch companies to get the cost savings. Accordingly, it becomes vital that a service provider company manage customer discounts in a organized and strategic manner. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    A system and method have been envisioned for managing customer discounts for a service provider. 
         [0004]    A method of managing customer discounts comprises receiving a customer&#39;s service cancellation request associated with a selected service electronically, generating a ticket for tracking the service cancellation request, moving the ticket to a service queue, assigning the ticket to a customer service representative, determining customer eligibility for a discount for the selected service, determining a discount amount to offer to the customer in response to the customer being eligible for a discount, updating the ticket with the discount offer, notifying the customer of the discount offer electronically, receiving an acceptance of the discount offer from the customer electronically, in response to the acceptance, assigning the accepted discount amount to at least one billing item associated with the selected service, receiving a confirmation of the assigned discount by the customer service representative, updating the ticket with the confirmed discount assignment, moving the ticket to an accounting queue, receiving an approval of the discount assignment by an accounting associate, generating and storing a billing item record including the approved discount assignment for each of the at least one billing item associated with the selected service, updating the ticket with the approved discount assignment, closing the ticket, and generating a customer invoice for a reduced invoice amount in response to the approved discount assignment stored in the billing item records. 
         [0005]    A computerized system and a computer-readable medium having stored therein computer code implementing a method of managing customer discounts are also disclosed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary operating environment of a system and method for customer discount management; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary customer process of a system and method for customer discount management; 
           [0008]      FIG. 3  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary customer service process of a system and method for customer discount management; 
           [0009]      FIG. 4  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary accounting process of a system and method for customer discount management; 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a simplified diagram representation of an exemplary data model of a system and method for customer discount management; 
           [0011]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for cancelling a service by a customer; 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for entering reasons for cancelling a service by a customer; 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for viewing a service cancelation request by a customer service representative; 
           [0014]      FIG. 9  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for entering discount amounts by a customer service representative; 
           [0015]      FIG. 10  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for confirming entered discount amounts by a customer service representative; 
           [0016]      FIG. 11  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary internal note page for viewing and applying discounts associated with a cancellation ticket by an accounting associate; 
           [0017]      FIG. 12  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for editing entered discount amounts by a customer service representative; 
           [0018]      FIG. 13  is an exemplary graphical user interface of an exemplary web page for reviewing and applying a discount by a customer service representative; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 14  is a exemplary representation of a report providing information about a customer&#39;s account and discounts. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary operating environment  10  of a system and method for customer discount management. The cloud represents any type of Internet service provider  12  that provides hosting services accessible to customers  14  over a global computer network  16 . For example, the Internet service provider  12  may be a cloud hosting provider that provides servers and software to its customers. Alternatively, the system and method described herein are applicable to any service provider which may communicate with its customers electronically via email, text message, multimedia message, web-based interface, etc. The term “service provider” is hereinafter used to refer to a provider of any type of service that may communicate with its customer over the global computer network and/or telecommunications network. For example, the term service provider may apply to telephone service providers, mobile telephone and data service providers, cable television service providers, satellite television service providers, newspaper, periodical or online information publishers, etc. 
         [0021]    The service provider  12  may include a plurality of hardware such as servers  18  with accompanying operating system software and application software. The service provider  12  may further include a plurality of databases  20  (which may be in the form of tables or other suitable data stores) operable to store customer data as well as operational data. The databases  20  may store customer account data, service data, discount data, billing data, etc. described in more detail below. 
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary customer process  22  of a system and method for customer discount management. When a customer decides to cancel a service provided by the service provider  12 , he/she may use a web browser to log into a web-based portal or user interface web page that enables the customer to manage desired actions associated with his/her account with the service provider. For example, the web interface may display a list of servers/services the customer currently obtain from the service provider  12 , as shown in  FIG. 6 . Referring to both  FIGS. 2 and 6 , the listed information may include the names of the servers, the public and private IP addresses, the data center location, and the desired action. The customer may click on a particular server/service to highlight that item in the list (block  24  in  FIG. 2 ), and click on the cancel server action link to initiate a service cancellation process. 
         [0023]    Once the customer clicks on “cancel service,” a cancellation form web page such as shown in  FIG. 7  is automatically displayed to enable the customer to enter additional information. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the customer may indicate the reason for cancelling the service and provide additional notes to the service provider, if desired. The customer may then click on the cancel server button or link  27  to submit the cancellation request in block  26  as shown in  FIG. 2 . In response to the customer&#39;s submission of the cancellation request, a cancellation request record is automatically created in block  28 . In block  30 , a “ticket” is also automatically created for the cancellation request to assist in the processing and tracking of this request. The ticket is typically assigned a unique reference number or ticket identifier. In blocks  32  and  34 , the server/service selected for cancellation is further linked to or associated with the cancellation request ticket, as well as the cancellation request record. Further, a cancellation request item record is automatically created, which is linked to or associated with the cancellation request record, and a billing line item record associated with the selected service in block  36 . The cancellation request ticket is then placed in a customer service queue awaiting processing in block  38 . The customer process ends in block  39 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is a simplified diagram representation of an exemplary data model  40  of a system and method for customer discount management. The data model  40  may be a relational database that includes the records created in the steps in  FIG. 2  described above. A ticket data base  42  include information on the ticket contents, the user who submitted the ticket, and update and status data. The records in a cancellation ticket database  42  are linked to records in a service database  44  by a server or hardware identifier, for example. Each ticket has zero to many services attached: there is a lookup table (cross reference) that connects ticket to service. The service database  44  includes information specific to the services such as names, domains, and locations. The records in the cancellation ticket database  42  are further linked to records in the cancellation request database  46 . Each cancellation request has one ticket: there is a foreign key in cancellation request that points to ticket. The cancellation request database  46  includes information such as status, and the employee identifier who approved or denied the cancellation request. The records in the cancellation request database  46  are in turn linked to the corresponding records in the cancellation request item database  48 , which are used to link to records in a billing item database  50 . The records in the cancellation request item database  48  correlate the records in the cancellation request database  46  to the records in the billing item database  50 . Each cancellation request has one or more cancellation request items: there is a foreign key in cancellation request items that points to cancellation request. The cancellation request item database  48  includes the status of the individual billing items and the requested cancellation date. Each cancellation request item has one billing item: there is a foreign key in cancellation request items that points to billing item. The billing item database  50  includes information such as the recurring amount, type, description, and tax information. The “link” or association described herein may be implemented in a variety of ways now known or later developed. For example, relational database technology may be used to associate or link specific records in the databases. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary customer service process  52  of a system and method for customer discount management. As shown in block  54 , the newly created cancellation request ticket described above is automatically displayed on a user interface used by the service provider&#39;s customer service representatives, a web-based interface example of which is shown in  FIG. 8 . The service cancellation management interface may be web-based, for example. The new ticket may be highlighted to catch the attention of a customer service representative. Referring to  FIG. 8 , the ticket displayed in the customer service queue includes detailed information of the requested cancellation, such as the ticket identifier, ticket creation date, title of the ticket, customer&#39;s account identifier, customer&#39;s company name, identifier of the server/service to be cancelled, ticket queue, and the total recurring fee for the service. As shown in block  56  of  FIG. 3 , a particular customer service representative may take ownership of the customer cancellation request by clicking on the “Assign Ticket to Me” link at the bottom of the screen shown in  FIG. 8 . Thereafter, a process  58  is used to determine whether the customer associated with the cancellation request is eligible for a temporary discount and/or a permanent discount. The process may consider several factors, including the total recurring fee for the service being cancelled, the total recurring fee for the customer, and the existence of any discounts the customer already enjoys. For example, if the customer already enjoys a significant discount, additional discounts may not be appropriate for this particular customer. On the other hand, if this customer has a significant business with the service provider as indicated by the total customer recurring fee, it may be appropriate to offer a discount to the customer to maintain the business relationship with this customer. Other suitable factors may be considered. The process may be carried out by a rule-based system, for example, with the opportunity for the customer service representative to override or tweak the amount of discount. 
         [0026]    Continuing to refer to  FIG. 3 , in block  60 , if it is determined that the customer is not eligible for a discount, the method proceeds to block  62  to terminate the selected service in the customer&#39;s account, and the process ends in block  64 . Alternatively, if the determination is that the customer is eligible for a discount, then a determination is made as to the type and amount of discount to offer to the customer in block  66 . A customer discount may be temporary, which has an expiration date, or it may be permanent, which is on-going with no expiration date. The permanent discount specifies a monetary amount reduced from the billing item each time the customer is billed for the service. Once a customer discount is decided, the discount information is added to the service cancellation ticket in block  68 . The customer is then notified that an update to the service cancellation ticket has been made, and the discount information is displayed to the customer via the web page interface in blocks  70  and  72 . The notification to the customer may be via any type of electronic communication now known or later developed, such as email, text message, multimedia message, web-based interface, etc. The customer notification includes options that the customer may use to reply to the discount offer. A determination is made as to whether the customer accepts the offered discount in block  74 . If the customer did not accept the discount but instead made a counteroffer, as determined in block  76 , then the process returns to block  66  to determine a new discount to offer to the customer by considering the customer&#39;s counteroffer. The new discount may be identical or different from the customer&#39;s counteroffer. If instead the customer turned down the offer and also did not provide a counteroffer, then the process proceeds to block  62  to cancel the selected service. On the other hand, the customer may indicate an acceptance of the discount, which leads the process to block  78 . 
         [0027]    In block  78 , the customer service representative, upon notification of the customer&#39;s acceptance of the discount offer, may use a web-based interface such as that shown in  FIG. 9  to enter the customer&#39;s discount into the system. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the web page displays the billing items associated with the selected server/service. The web interface displays the customer&#39;s billing items in two sections, the first section for the entry of permanent discounts and the second section for the entry of temporary discounts. The web page displays the billing item identifiers, descriptions, and recurring fee amounts of the billing items associated with the selected server/service. The customer service representative may associated the agreed-upon permanent discount on one or more billing items associated with the selected server. The customer service representative may enter a dollar amount or a percentage that would be discounted. In response to the entry of a discount amount on a billing item, a percentage of the discount is automatically calculated and displayed. A temporary discount is entered as an amount or a percentage, along with a specification of a duration in months that the discount would be in effect. Accordingly, the customer service representative enters the agreed-upon discounts into the system for processing by the accounting department. Instead storing the entered discount amounts or percentages into the system to be processed by the accounting department, a checkbox located at the bottom the page enables the customer service representative to save the entered data as a note associated with the cancellation request ticket only. 
         [0028]    Returning to  FIG. 3 , the customer service representative&#39;s entries are received by the system in block  78  and stored in a discount database  82  ( FIG. 5 ) as shown in block  80 . The discount database  82  includes information such as the discount amount, whether the discount is permanent or temporary, an end date if the discount is temporary, and whether the discount has been applied. There are zero to many discounts for each cancellation request: there is a foreign key in discount that points to cancellation request. A discount record is generated for each billing item that received an assignment of a discount on the web-interface shown in  FIG. 9 . Further, an internal note that is only visible to the service provider describing the discounts offered to the customer is added to the cancellation ticket in block  82 . An example of the internal note is shown in  FIG. 11 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , a confirmation of the discounts providing a summary of the discounts is displayed for final review by the customer service representative in block  84 . If necessary, the customer service representative may return to the web interface shown in  FIG. 12  to edit or change the discount by clicking on the appropriate link at the bottom of the page shown in  FIG. 10 . When the discounts are finalized, the cancellation request ticket is unassigned from the customer service representative in block  86 , and the ticket is moved or transferred to an accounting ticket queue for processing. The customer service process ends in block  88 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a simplified flowchart of an exemplary accounting process  90  of a system and method for customer discount management. In block  92 , the internal note page with the customer discount information associated with the cancellation ticket ( FIG. 11 ) is displayed for viewing by an accounting associate. At the bottom of this note page is a link that may be clicked on to proceed to apply the discounts. In blocks  94  and  96 , the process receives the apply discount user input, which leads to a display of the detailed customer discount information such as shown in  FIG. 13 . A suggested note to be added to the cancellation ticket is also displayed for review and editing, if desired. This note will be relayed to the customer as a notification that the discounts have been applied. Even at this step of the process, the discount may be edited by clicking on the appropriate link on this page. Once everything appears to be in order, the accounting associate may approve the discounts and apply them to the customer&#39;s account. The process receives the apply discount approval in block  98 . The discounts are automatically added to the billing item records in the database  50  ( FIG. 5 ) in block  100 , and the billing item records in the billing item database  50  are automatically linked to the discount records in the discount database  82  by the billing item identifiers. Further, the status of the corresponding records in the discount database  82  is updated to “applied” in block  102 . In block  104 , the ticket is updated with the note that will be used to inform the customer of the discount described above and also any internal note that provides the status of the discounts. Further in block  106 , the cancellation request ticket is closed. In blocks  108  and  110 , the status of both the corresponding cancellation request and cancellation request item records in the databases  46  and  48  are updated to indicate completion. Next time the customer invoice is generated, it automatically reflects the applied discount, as shown in block  112 . The billing process automatically creates a new invoice item record in an invoice items database  114  which is linked to the billing item record in the database  50  and invoice record in the invoices database  116 . The invoice items database  114  includes information such as the associated billing items, amounts, tax information, name, and description. There are one to many invoice items for each invoice: there is a foreign key in invoice item that points to invoice. Both the billing item records in the billing item database  50  and the invoice records in the invoices database  116  are automatically linked to the records in the customer account database  118 . Each invoice item has one billing item: there is a foreign key in invoice item that points to billing item. The invoices database  116  includes information such as status, billing contact information, tax status, and type of invoice. The customer account database  118  includes information such as name and contact information of the customer. There are zero to many billing items for each customer account: there is a foreign key in billing items that points to account. There are zero to many invoices for each customer account: there is a foreign key in invoices that points to account. The accounting process ends in block  120 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 14  is a exemplary representation of a report generated by the system and method that provides information about a customer&#39;s account and discounts. The reporting process is operable to automatically access the records in the databases shown in  FIG. 5  to provide important financial information to the executives of the service provider. The report includes the amount of future revenue retained by offering the discounts to the customers as incentive not to cancel service. The report also includes a comparison of the reduction in revenue due to the discount to the amount of future revenue saved by avoiding the customer cancellation. The report includes this information on an individual cancellation request basis as well as an aggregate monthly basis. The information included in this report enables an analysis for the total number of customer service cancellations that were prevented by using the customer discounts. Other data associated with the customer discounts may also be included in the reports. 
         [0031]    The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth below with particularity in the appended claims. However, modifications, variations, and changes to the exemplary embodiments described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the system and method described herein thus encompass such modifications, variations, and changes and are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein.