Abstract:
A customer lead management system that relates to a system and method for collecting and organizing customer-marketing data, which is then made available to business representatives to assess. Specifically, using a computer network and, data on a potential customer&#39;s Budget, Authority, Needs, Timeline, and other related customer lead data is collected. After this data is collected the customer lead management system stores the customer lead data and ranks the viability of the customer based on the interest level of the customer lead and other variable criteria. The resulting customer lead profile is then stored in a database. The customer lead data is then capable of being accessed via a computer network by various companies that have goods/services that satisfy the needs and requirements of the customer lead. A company representative can be automatically notified when a customer lead profile has been updated.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation of my co-pending application Ser. No. 09/031,443, filed Feb. 26, 1998, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a web-based system and method for using a computer network for generating, capturing, analyzing, storing, disseminating, and managing customer lead data. Specifically, the present invention is directed toward processing customer lead data which includes the following types of information: contact data, data relating to the needs of the customer, and the customer&#39;s interests. Additionally, the present invention manages customer purchase or qualification information, known as BANT data, which includes information relating to Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe of the customer. The present invention captures this data and distributes it via a computer network to the appropriate company representative, preferably via a cryptographically secure web-interface. Further, the present invention allows management to track the progress of each specific customer lead, including data relating to the customer&#39;s needs, and the customer&#39;s request for specific product/service information. As a result, the present invention allows the company that is offering its goods/services to the customer to monitor its customer relationships development, so as to improve its product development, its business and marketing strategies, and its customer&#39;s satisfaction with the business&#39; goods or services.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Typically, sales, marketing and customer service personnel use computers to track customer lead data such as: prospective customer contacts, needs, interests, purchase potential, and satisfaction information in computerized databases and spreadsheets. However, the need to access, distribute and manage this information by many different individuals or entities that were not in the same geographic location presents a problem. People could not access this customer lead data because they did not have the same software program, did not know how to use the software program, or could not read the lead data. Furthermore, the customer lead data was not in a consistent format, so progress on the customer lead could not be tracked. Because of the system&#39;s inability to track a customer lead, lead data that had become obsolete was not updated, and a company&#39;s resources were then wasted on “dead” leads. In addition, numerous companies distribute customer lead data by sending originals or copies of business cards or handwritten “lead sheets” in the company&#39;s interoffice mail which are either lost or illegible and as a result, are not followed up on.  
           [0004]    With the advent of the Internet, companies/sellers are promoting their products and services on their web sites and prospective customers contact the company via e-mail, phone or fax to request additional information regarding a company&#39;s goods or services. Trade shows, business events, and one-on-one sales meetings usually provide a business with the lowest rate of return on investment. This is primarily due to the fact that there is no system in place on the floor of the trade show or event to capture, qualify, distribute, and manage customer lead data. As a result, the company selling the goods or services is unable to provide the customer with requested information regarding the product or service sought by the customer.  
         SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
         [0005]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a web-based system and method of using a computer network for generating, capturing, analyzing, storing, disseminating, and managing potential customer or lead data via a computer network. Thus, the present invention allows the user to input, access and collect customer lead information via a personal computer, or any other similar data acquisition/transmission device that is capable of accessing a computer network. When a company representative is using the present invention, the user is also able to receive automatic updates of new potential customer leads as the customer lead data is entered into a customer lead database, either by a sales representative or a customer. Additionally, the present invention accommodates potential customers who are attending trade shows that have identification cards that contain a unique code corresponding to each customer. Once the card is scanned, the present invention uploads the data to the lead management database. As the company/seller collects customer lead data, the present invention allows the business to develop customer profiles that are based on the customer lead data. These profiles may include the business&#39;s customer contact information, the customer&#39;s specified needs, specified interests, and the customer&#39;s purchase potential.  
           [0006]    Additionally, the needs that the customer lead has specified are synchronized with the products or services in the lead management database. Here, the present invention matches the customer&#39;s product/service need requirements to the products and services that the company or its business partners provide. As a result, the company&#39;s representative is automatically apprised of the match between customer and company/seller. The present invention also allows a business to respond to customer requests by sending product and service information in an e-mail to the inquiring customer. In addition, the present invention allows the user to determine customer lead priority and may include information regarding the customer&#39;s BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe) purchase potential information, and can calculate the level of priority needed. Furthermore, the business using the present invention can access the customer lead information immediately upon the lead data being stored in the lead management database. Finally, the present invention allows the business to track performance, respond to customer needs or inquiries, via the computer network. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating the functionality of the components of the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 is a chart that illustrates a sample customer feedback form that is accessed by a customer lead via a computer network.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a chart that illustrates a sample lead management form that is used by the seller of goods/services to input lead qualification information (BANT data) and product and/or service interest information. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0010]    An embodiment of the customer lead management system  10  is illustrated in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the customer lead management system  10  is designed to capture and store customer lead and customer needs data concerning particular products and/or services using real time database synchronization for multiple end-users on a computer network. This system is for tracking the progress of prospective buyer “leads” into buying customers and following up to ensure customers are satisfied and remain customers. (In marketing terms, this is called customer acquisition and retention.)  
         [0011]    Customer lead  12  may access the business&#39;s web site  14  via a connection on a computer network such as the Internet using a personal computer, or any other type of similar device, capable of accessing a computer network. Once the customer lead  12  accesses the company&#39;s web site  14 , the customer lead  12  proceeds to view various marketing promotions that the business has created. Upon selecting a desired marketing promotion, the customer lead  12  has two main methods in which he can request additional information regarding the desired product or service. The customer lead  12  can also request additional information at the end of the customer needs feedback form  18  (See  116  in FIG. 2). The first method in which a customer lead  12  can request additional information is by sending an e-mail message to the designated seller&#39;s (company representative  20 ) e-mail address  16  requesting the additional product/service information. The specific nature or content of the request is detected automatically by web administrative software and the appropriate response is e-mailed back to the lead or customer lead  12 . This response back to the customer lead  12  may be comprised of an e-mail text message or an e-mail text message with a file attachment containing an “e-brochure” or “e-collateral.” An “e-brochure” or “e-collateral” contains information relating to the products or services that the company is promoting and allows the customer lead  12  to print the information out at his or her local printer. The second method a customer lead  12  can use to respond to a business&#39;s marketing promotion is to fill out a customer needs/feedback form  18 , illustrated in FIG. 2, and is linked to the promotional marketing offer, located on the company&#39;s corporate (Internet) web site  14 .  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a sample form that illustrates the components of a sample customer needs/feedback form  18 . The questions on this form  18  are designed to be incorporated into a virtual reality activity or a regular CGI script form, which can be integrated into the company/seller&#39;s existing Internet web site  14  and linked to the seller&#39;s Lead Management Intranet site  22  (See  34  in FIG. 1). This form  18  could be a fun game-type virtual reality activity to be integrated into an existing Internet web site and linked to a Lead Management Intranet site  34 . This is to give a complete picture of how the company can help the customer. It becomes possible to match what the customer lead  12  indicates they really want or need to the solutions the company representative says the customer lead  12  is interested in to provide a total solution. This form  18  is designed to be filled-out by the customer lead  12  and should be needs oriented, in contrast to the Lead Management Form  24 ,  26 , which is designed to be filled out by the company representative  20  and is qualifications and solutions oriented. These two forms  12  and  24 ,  26  are linked to form a lead profile record  32  in the lead management database  44  and will be accessible via the lead management intranet site  34 . The first field that the customer lead is prompted to enter information into is entitled Marketing Information  60 . The user has the option of entering text or selecting a check box to indicate his or her desired selection. Specifically the customer lead  12  is prompted to answer the question “How did the customer lead come to know of the business?”  62  The customer lead  12  is given the option of several answers that he or she may select that include: by published article, by published advertisement, by direct mail invitation, by e-mail invitation, by internet web site, or by other. The customer lead  12  is further prompted to answer “How did the particular promotional method make the customer want to come the meeting, campaign event, or web site?”  64 . A list  64   a  of possible choices is presented to the customer lead  12  to select from. The customer lead  12  is also prompted for contact information  66  including his or her first name  68 , last name  70 , the customer&#39;s title or position  72 , job responsibilities  74 , company name  76 , type of business  78 , e-mail address  80 , internet address  82 , street address  84 , city  86 , country  88 , state  90 , zip code  92 , customer&#39;s telephone number  94 , fax number  96 , mobile phone number  98 , and pager number  100 . The next section that the customer lead  12  must enter data into on the customer needs/feedback web page  18  is entitled “Needs/Solutions Information”  102 . In this section  102 , the customer lead  12  will be required to rank specific attributes of the business&#39;s products or services based on importance to the customer lead  12 . After all of the preceding data is entered by the customer lead  12 , the Customer Needs/Feedback form  18  prompts the customer lead  12  with a series of targeted questions  104  that allow the customer lead management system  10  to compute a solution to the customer lead&#39;s  12  problem. Furthermore, for the sample customer needs/feedback form  18 , the customer lead management system  10  computes a monetary amount  106  that the customer lead  12  may be losing by not employing the company&#39;s goods or services. After the feedback form  18  has selected an optimized solution to the customer lead&#39;s  12  problem, the customer lead management system lists a range of potential product/service solutions that the customer lead  12  may be interested in. The customer lead  12  is prompted to select the goods or services that it desires to view  108 . The customer lead  12  is also prompted to provide an explanation  108   a  of what the selected products/services do for him. Additionally, the feedback form  18  provides the customer lead  12  with the ability to comment on the company&#39;s products and services in the comments/feedback section  110 . Finally, the customer feedback form  18  provides the customer lead  12  with a series of options  112  that allows the customer lead  12  to choose a particular course of action regarding the business&#39;s goods and services. These options  112 , include the ability of the customer lead  12  to request to ask the company questions regarding the its offered goods and services  114 . If the customer lead  12  selects this option  114 , a company representative  20  is automatically notified with the customer lead&#39;s request via e-mail or by a pop-up window via the Lead Management Intranet  22 . The customer lead  12  may also request detailed information or brochures  116 . If the customer lead  12  selects this option, collateral web pages from the company&#39;s Internet site  14  appear allowing customer to have the product/service documentation e-mailed, faxed, or printed out for the customer lead  12 , locally on demand. The customer lead  12  can also select to view a specific solution in action  118 . If the customer lead  12  selects this option  118 , collateral web pages from the company&#39;s Internet site  14  appear allowing the customer lead  12  to select which product or service the customer lead  12  would like to view an online video clip of. Additionally, if the customer lead  12  is attending a trade show, the company representative  20  could demonstrate the product or service for the customer lead  12  in person. The customer lead  12  may also select to schedule an offsite meeting  120 . If this option  120  is selected, the customer lead  12  is connected to Lotus Notes Calendar and the appropriate company representative  20  will be automatically notified, by e-mail or an on-screen message alert, of the customer lead&#39;s  12  desire to schedule a meeting. The final option that the customer lead  12  is provided with is a promotional offer from the company  122 . If the customer lead selects this option  122 , the appropriate company representative  20  that deals in the specified goods or services is automatically notified by an e-mail message or pop up computer screen messages via the lead management intranet  22 . The last item on the customer needs/feedback form  18  is the name of the solutions/account executive  124 , the title of the executive  126 , telephone number  128 , fax number  130 , pager number  132 , e-mail address  134 , and Internet address  136  of the executive.  
         [0013]    Alternatively, the company representative  20  can enter customer lead data into one of the lead management forms  24 ,  26  (a sample form  24 ,  26  is shown in FIG. 3) as he or she is engaging a potential customer lead  12  in a conversation. Lead management form  24  is a web based form and lead management form  26  can be used when the company representative  20  is using a portable computer. The form content may be similar for both forms  24 ,  26  or form  26  may be condensed and reformatted to accommodate the smaller screen of a portable device such as an IBM Workpad®. In a trade show scenario or any one-on-one interpersonal contact scenario, it would be more advantageous if the customer lead  12  filled out the Customer Needs Feedback form  18  before he talks to the seller or company representative  20 , however this is not required. Furthermore, by allowing the company to have access to the customer lead  12  information, it allows the company representative  20  to initiate a personalized conversation such as: “Hi, my name is Ed. Glad to meet you John Doe. Let me pull up your profile . . . ”. The seller or company representative  20  can then type in the person&#39;s name and search the lead management database  44  for their name. If the customer lead&#39;s  12  profile appears, then the seller or company representative  20  can talk intelligently about what goods/services that the customer lead  12  indicated they needed. If the customer lead&#39;s profile does not appear, then the seller or company representative  20  can enter the customer lead&#39;s contact, needs, product/service interests and marketing campaign information, what brought them to the web site or event, etc. data into the Customer Needs Feedback form  18  as the representative  20  proceeds to talk with the customer or while showing the product/service features/benefits to the customer lead  12 . During or at the end of the meeting, with the customer, the company representative  20  can then input the data needed for the Lead Management form  24 ,  26 . If a mobile device is used, such as an IBM Workpad®, then the input by the company representative  20  could be entered into  26  during the customer lead  12  engagement/interaction. If a Customer Needs/Feedback form  18  has been filled out completely, the company representative  20  will not have to enter any other type of information except for Campaign/Event Information  152 , Qualification or BANT information  174 , Solutions Information  342  and Follow-Up Information  352 .  
         [0014]    In order for the company representative  20  to access and input customer data into the sample lead data form  24 ,  26  illustrated in FIG. 3, the seller/company representative  20  accesses the company&#39;s Intranet site  22  by entering a security code or password to access the seller&#39;s virtual private network or intranet for the lead management database  44 . The company representative  20  may access the lead management Intranet site  22  in a variety of ways that include using a personal computer, or any other device that is capable of transmitting and receiving data via a computer network. The company representative  20  may or may not physically be at a trade show, business event or at another one-on-one kind of interpersonal meeting with customer leads  12 . The seller or company representative  20  accesses the lead management form  24 ,  26  illustrated on FIG. 3 on any of the following mobile telecomputing systems and proceeds to ask the lead or customer for answers to the questions on the lead management form, which include contact, product and/or services interest, and BANT information, solutions, campaign/event, follow-up/tracking, marketing awareness, etc.:  
         [0015]    Microcassette recorder  
         [0016]    Portable computer  
         [0017]    Digital portable dictation system with voice recognition software  
         [0018]    Hand-held electronic input device  
         [0019]    Business card, identification card, or trade show badge scanner.  
         [0020]    With a microcassette recorder, the company representative  20  records the customer lead  12  information and later plays the recorder into a digital recorder program such as Media Player, saves the recording as a WAVE file (.WAV) and imports it into any word processing program. The customer lead  12  information is then saved as an HTML file and published to the Lead Management Intranet Site  22  (WordPro™ allows the publication of documents directly to an Internet site if you have access to a POP server) or copied to a Lotus Domino-enabled, Lotus Notes® Workroom for distribution, follow-up and tracking. A customer representative  20  can access the .WAV file, listen to the responses and input the responses into the lead management form  24 ,  26  and customer needs feedback form  18 .  
         [0021]    When using a portable computer, if the portable computer has voice recognition software, the company representative  20  runs the voice recognition software, such as ViaVoice®, in a background session, while running a marketing campaign/event or demo/presentation on the active portable computer session. The company representative  20  plugs in the ViaVoice® headset into the portable computer and can talk into it after the demo/presentation or to record responses to the lead management form  24 ,  26  and customer needs feedback form  18 . The company representative  20  can then switch to ViaVoice® to record what the customer lead  12  says about the demo/presentation. If the portable computer has internet/intranet access, the company representative  20  enters the information into the online Lead Management Form  26  or customer needs feedback form  18 , if necessary on the Lead Management Intranet  22 . Passwords for company representatives  20  can be assigned according to sales territory, need to know, etc. If the marketing campaign, event, demonstration or presentation is on a portable computer with network access such as the Internet and the computer has voice recognition functionality, these two tasks can be performed simultaneously.  
         [0022]    When using a digital portable dictation system, the company representative  20  talks into the digital portable dictation system, such as the Digital Portable Dictation System co-produced by IBM and Olympus with ViaVoice® speech recognition speech-to-text conversion software, during product demonstrations and paraphrases the thoughts that the customer lead  12  speaks during the demonstration to record how the customer lead  12  responded to what he heard and saw and to record responses to the lead management form  24 ,  26  and customer needs feedback form  18 . To transfer the information into Lotus Notes®, the converted recorded information is saved in any word processing program as an ASCII text file (.TXT) or rich text format (.RTF). The file contents are then copied to a Lotus Notes® Workroom named the Marketing Campaign/Eventroom. To transfer the information into the Lead Management Intranet Site  22 , the converted recorded information is saved as an HTML file. Next, the HTML file is published by using a Publish to Internet feature in a program such as WordPro™ to the Lead Management Web Site  22  or is copied to a Lotus-Domino-enabled Lotus Notes® Workroom for distribution, follow-up and tracking.  
         [0023]    With a hand-held electronic input device, such as an IBM WorkPad® or a PalmPilot®, the customer representative  20  enters the customer lead&#39;s  12  responses into a customized lead management form  26  that is essentially the same as the Lead Management Form  24 , only customized to accommodate a smaller display screen. If the hand-held electronic input device is Internet ready, the information can be hot-synced and transmitted electronically to the Lead Management Intranet site  22  in real time. If the device is not Internet ready, the information is saved on the device as an ASCII text file (.TXT) or a rich text format file (.RTF). The file contents are then copied to a Lotus Notes® Workroom Marketing Campaign/Eventroom. To transfer the information into the Lead Management Intranet Site  22 , the entered information is saved as an HTML file. Next, the HTML file is published by using a Publish to Internet feature in a program such as WordPro™ to the Lead Management Web Site  22  or is copied to a Lotus-Domino-enabled Lotus Notes® Workroom for distribution, follow-up and tracking.  
         [0024]    Finally, the company representative  20  can enter customer lead  12  information from a business card using an electronic business card scanning device, such as Card Scan®, or from an identification card such as a trade show visitor badge with a magnetic stripe , bar code, or other form of encoded information using an appropriate scanner. The scanned information is later uploaded or transmitted electronically to the Intranet site  34  using forms software such as that which comes with Card Scan® or other scanners.  
         [0025]    Next, FIG. 3 illustrates the lead management form  24 ,  26  of the customer lead management system  10  and the information concerning the customer lead  12  that is entered by the company representative  20 . The first section of the lead management form  24 ,  26  is entitled Campaign/Event Information  152 . This section is adapted by the company in accordance with its marketing promotions and campaign events. Specifically, this information comprises the name  154 , date  156 , location  158 , type  160 , and demographics  162  information that relate to the marketing campaign and event. Additionally, the company representative  20  is prompted to specify if the event will be a trade show or other type of event  164 . If the event is a trade show the company representative  20  is further prompted to enter information relating to the booth presentation schedule  166 , speaker session schedule  168 , the social events that are taking place at the trade show  170 , and any other activities that a customer lead  12  can be involved in  172 .  
         [0026]    The next section of the lead management form  24 ,  26  is entitled Qualification Information  174 , requires the company representative  20  to enter his or her name to indicate the name of the person who is filling out the form  176 , and the date on which the form  24 ,  26  is being filled out  178 . The following paragraphs define BANT, Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe.  
         [0027]    Budget  
         [0028]    In this section  174 , the company representative  20  is prompted to answer several questions that relate to the budget  180  of the customer lead  12 . Specifically, the company representative  20  is required to select from a series of check boxes that describe the funding characteristics of the customer lead  12 , which include “This project will not get funding”  182 ; “Funding will not be applied for or the budget would be insufficient for the solution”  184 ; “Funding will be applied for and/or the budget size may be sufficient for the solution”  186 ; “Funding has been applied for and/or the size of the budget may be sufficient for the solution”  188 ; “Funding has been accepted but the amount has not been defined and/or the budget size is sufficient for the solution”  190 ; and “A defined amount of money is allocated and accepted to be used to fund this project and/or the budget size is sufficient for the solution”  192 , and the company representative  20  then enters the defined amount  193 .  
         [0029]    Authority  
         [0030]    The company representative  20  is next prompted to enter information relating to what kind of authority the customer lead  12  has  194 . The company representative  20  is required to choose from a list, the business role, signature authority, or financial decision making attributes that most resemble that of the customer lead  12 . Specifically, these attributes include: “This person (customer lead) is not involved or has no influence with the project”  196 ; “This person (customer lead) is an important person, but he/she is not involved in the project”  198 ; “This person (customer lead) is involved with the project, but is not an influencer”  200 ; “This person (customer lead) is a main technical/business influencer”  202 ; “This person (customer lead) is preparing the request for proposal/requirements”  204 ; or “This person (customer lead) is a decision-maker”  206 .  
         [0031]    Needs  
         [0032]    The company representative  20  is next required to select from a list of attributes that most closely characterizes the specific needs  208  of that customer lead  12 . Specifically, the company representative  20  may select from the following characterizations: “This person does not have a need”  210 ; “This person is not aware of the problem and is proposing a solution”  212 ; “This person has identified a potential problem, but has not identified a problem scope or requirements”  214 ; “This person has identified a potential problem, but has not identified its full scope or requirements”  216 ; “This person recognizes a problem and has defined some of the requirements”  218 ; and “This person recognizes a problem and has defined all requirements”  220 . Additionally, if the customer lead  12  had defined requirements and the company representative  20  checked this last item  220 , a checkbox bulleted list could be provided to assist the company representative  20  in filling in the defined requirements.  
         [0033]    Timeframe  
         [0034]    The next set of information that the company representative  20  is required to submit relates to the time frame  222  for a purchasing decision on the part of the of the person (customer lead  12 ). The company representative  20  is prompted to select from a list of attributes, the characteristics that most closely resemble the expected time frame of the customer lead  12 . Specifically, the company representative  20  can select from the following attributes which include: “The project will not be executed”  224 ; “This person is not ready to decide and has not identified a time frame for the decision.”  226 ; “This person is not ready to decide and has identified a time frame outside of the next  12  months”  228 ; “This person is not ready to decide, but has determined a decision date.”  230 . For this attribute  230 , the user is further prompted to select a decision date from a list that comprises the following selections: “Next few weeks”  232 ; “Next few months”  234 ; “Next year”  236 ; and “Next few years”  238 . The next attribute that the company representative  20  may select is “This person is ready to decide and has a general time frame”  240 . For this attribute, the user is further required to select from the following selections: “Next few weeks”  242 ; “Next few months”  244 ; “Next year”  246 ; and “Next few years”  248 . The final attribute that the company representative  20  can select is “This person is ready to decide and has specific time frame dates”  250 . If the company representative  20  selects this attribute  250 , the time frame dates must be specified by inputting them into the “Specify time frame dates” field  252 .  
         [0035]    After all of the questions relating to budget  180 , authority  194 , needs  208 , and time frame  222  of the customer lead  12  are answered, a BANT score  254  is calculated in real time and displayed immediately. This BANT score  254  is used to determine the customer lead  12  priority on the Follow-up/Tracking section of the form and will be used to determine what type of follow-up approach the company representative  20  will pursue with respect to the customer lead  12 .  
         [0036]    The next category of information that the lead management form requests is directed to Marketing Information  256 . The first question  258  in this field prompts the company representative  20  to select how the customer lead  12  came to know of the company. The company representative  20  enters the information relating to how the customer lead  12  came to know of the company by selecting one or more of the following responses that include: “Published article (specify publication)”  260 ; “Published advertisement (specify publication)”  262 ; “Direct Mail Invitation”  264 ; “E-mail Invitation”  266 ; “Internet” (specify web site)  268 ; or “Other” (please specify)  270 . The listed choices represent types of marketing promotions  
         [0037]    The company representative  20  is also prompted to answer the question “How did the marketing promotion make the customer want to call or come to the marketing event?”  272 . To answer this question the company representative  20  has the option of selecting “Article”  274 ; “Advertisement”  282 ; “Direct Mail”  290 ; and “Internet Web Site”  298 . If the company representative  20  selects “Article”  274 , the company representative  20  is prompted to determine why the customer lead  12  became interested in the article, by selecting one of the following choices based on the customer lead&#39;s  12  answer: “Looked like an interesting article”  276 ; “Liked what they (customer lead  12 ) read”  278 ; or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read”  280 .  
         [0038]    If the customer lead  12  selects advertisement  282 , the company representative  20  may select one of the following options based on the customer&#39;s answer: “Looked like a neat-looking, innovative advertisement”  284 ; “Liked what they read”  286 ; or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read”  288 . If the company representative  20  selects direct mail invitation  290 , the company representative  20  may select one of the following items based on the customer lead&#39;s  12  answer: “Looked like nice, quality, innovative direct mail piece”  292 ; “Liked what they read”  294 ; or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read”  296 . If the company representative  20  selects Internet web site  298 , the company representative  20  may select one of the following items based on the customer lead&#39;s answer: “Looked like neat-looking, innovative announcement”  300 ; “Liked what they read”  302 ; or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read”  304 .  
         [0039]    The next section of the lead management form  24 ,  26  is entitled Contact Information  306 . This section  306  contains contact data relating to the customer lead  12 , so that in the event the customer lead  12  needs to be reached, the customer lead  12  can be easily located. Specifically, in the contact information section  306 , the company representative  20  enters the following information regarding the customer lead  12 : first name  308 , last name  310 , title/position of the customer lead  12  within the company  312 , job responsibilities of the customer lead  314 , company name where the customer lead  12  is employed  316 . Additionally, in the contact information  306  section, the company representative  20  enters the type of business  318  the customer lead  12  is in, and information for contacting the customer lead  12  which includes: e-mail address  320 , internet address  322 , street address  324 , city  326 , state  328 , country  330 , zip code  332 , telephone number  334 , fax number  336 , mobile phone number  338 , and pager number  340 .  
         [0040]    The next section that the company representative  20  is asked to enter information relating to the customer lead  12  is entitled Solutions Information  342 . In this section, the company representative  20  enters information about the customer lead  12  that includes: the product/service name  344  which is determined for each marketing campaign, product/service number  346 , company representative name  348 , and feedback/comments  350 , which will be divided into two categories, positive and negative.  
         [0041]    The final section of the lead management form  24 ,  26  is entitled Follow-Up/Tracking information  352 . In this section, the company representative  20  enters information relating to the following: follow-up date:  354 . The follow-up priority  356  is automatically completed based upon the BANT score  254  with one of the following options: hot business opportunity  358 , very warm lead  360 , warm lead  362 , lukewarm lead  364 , cold lead  366 . In the event this particular customer lead has been directed to the wrong group, the company representative can check misdirected lead  368 . The misdirected lead  368  option allows the company representative  20  to direct the customer lead  12  to another group. This is done by filling in an alternate group name to which the customer lead  12  should be directed  370 . This alternate group is notified by an automatically generated e-mail notification or alert message. Additionally, the company representative  20  is prompted to enter additional information relating to the customer lead  12  that includes follow-up person  372 ; follow-up status  374 ; whether the customer lead  12  was referred to someone else  376 ; and if so, to whom  378  and the reason why  380 . The company representative  20  is also prompted by the lead management form  24 ,  26  to enter information relating to whether a follow-up call has been scheduled  382 , whether a follow-up meeting was scheduled and information sent  384 , whether contract negotiations have been initiated  386 , whether a sale or deal has been reached  388 , and if so for how much  390 , and any other pertinent information  392 , which must be specifically stated  394 .  
         [0042]    The Follow-up/Tracking Information  352  is integrated with Lotus Notes® calendar feature for scheduling individual or group follow-up items. The company representative  20  is permitted to append new Follow-up/Tracking Information  352  to the customer lead profile record  32  and is allowed to group the information  352  together by customer lead  12  or other data fields. The Follow-up/Tracking Information  352  is repeated as necessary for the different required follow-up status action items. The various follow-up status action items are linked together to allow tracking of the progress of the customer lead  12 . Appropriate person(s) are automatically notified by email or an action alert when follow-up status is updated.  
         [0043]    Turning back to FIG. 1, once the company representative  20  finishes entering data into the lead management form  24 ,  26 , the information contained in lead management form  24 ,  26  automatically synchronizes with the information already in the lead management database  44  and populates the form accordingly  32 . If the seller or company representative  20  is on-site with a customer lead  12  at a trade show or other business event or meeting, the seller or company representative  20  may use a voice recorder to capture the lead qualification information  30  or may scan the customer lead&#39;s  12  business card using a business card scanner like the one sold under the trademark CardScan® and/or scan the lead or customer&#39;s identification card using a scanner  28 . The data from these scanning devices automatically synchronizes  32  with the data in the lead management database  44  and populates the lead management form  24 ,  26  in real time with contact information and other information encrypted on the badge or identification card. This may require the card scanning software and the identification card scanning software to convert the captured data into ASCII text that is then converted to HTML.  
         [0044]    After the customer lead  12  data capture options have been utilized, the data from each is merged together to create a complete lead or customer profile  32  which is stored in the lead management database  44 . Lead priority is then calculated in real time by a BANT algorithm  36  that automatically calculates a BANT score ranking from 0 to 5. The BANT score is a numerical identifier that ranks the priority of customer lead  12 , where the higher the BANT score, the higher the lead priority. For example, a BANT score of 5 would be considered a “hot” lead  38 , a BANT score of  3  would be considered a “warm” lead  40 , and a BANT score of  0  would be considered a “cold” lead  42  and distributed accordingly. Once the BANT score is determined, selected data fields in the Follow-Up/Tracking section of the lead management form  24 ,  26 , whose data is contingent upon the BANT score, are populated  
         [0045]    A further aspect of the customer lead management system  10  is to provide global access and distribution of the customer lead data contained in the lead management database  44  via “push” technology such as by automatic e-mail. “Push technology” is computer or electronic based technology that automatically distributes information when a triggering event has occurred. A user does not need to log in or connect to a server to check for updated or changed information. When the information has been updated, the server automatically notifies the user by “pushing” the information out to the user. Here, the customer lead management system  10  sends (“pushes”) the customer lead data to a specific company representative  20 , if certain criteria specified by the company representative  20 , such as goods/services needed, have been selected by the customer lead  12 . Alternatively, the company representative  20  can view the profiles for the customer leads  12  stored in the lead management database  44  via the lead management Intranet site  22 . Passwords are assigned  46  to access the lead management intranet  22  according to the seller&#39;s organizational needs, i.e. market segment divisions, levels of authority, sales territories, business partners, etc. Reports can be generated for tracking purposes of customer lead progress, conversion of customer leads to sales, customer satisfaction levels, and marketing and product development purposes to tabulate demographic information and product and/or service features and benefit information. These reports would be distributed by the Lead Management Intranet Site  34 .  
         [0046]    In addition, information from the customer lead management database  44  can be exported into other company marketing databases.  
         [0047]    The foregoing disclosure is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although one or more embodiments of the invention have been described, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that numerous modifications could be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosed invention. As such, it should be understood that all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention. The written description and drawings illustrate the present invention and are not to be construed as limited to the specific embodiments disclosed.