Patent ID: 8271326

Claim:
A computer system for processing referrals of business opportunities between one or more referral partners and at least one service provider providing a service, the system comprising: a tracking processor; and one or more data storage devices operatively associated with the tracking processor, the one or more data storage devices configured to store referral data in compliance with at least one regulatory requirement, wherein the processor is configured to process the referrals by: receiving referral data submitted by the referral partners, operatively associated with the tracking processor; determining that the service provider has accepted the referral and begun to provide the service; updating the status of at least one submitted business opportunity with at least one communication or milestone, after the service provider has accepted the business opportunity and begun to provide the service, each status update including a predefined service-dependent status code that describes workflow for the service; using at least one system intercommunication standard to operate the referral system with at least two different systems configured for the referral partners to submit the referral data to the referral system; generating a revenue forecast based at least on a referral conversion rate; and issuing payment of a referral fee to at least one referral partner when a submitted referral successfully closes.