JP4167164B2 - Sales support system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sales support system and relates to a system for notifying a sales employee of location information of customers located around the sales employee.

  Sales employees regularly visit existing customers and conduct sales activities such as visiting new customers. At this time, when visiting an existing customer, the customer visits the customer by relying on an address book, a map, or a memory on hand. In the case of new customers, customers are cultivated by relying on maps or visiting the local area.

  In order to make sales activities quick and efficient, sales employees need to visit customers efficiently on the go.

  When visiting a known customer, it is possible to make the sales activities efficient by setting a schedule for the destination in advance and moving according to this schedule, but the target customer is absent or moved, etc. In many cases, it does not proceed according to the schedule due to various factors. In such a case, the sales employee's memory is relied on to find a customer located near the current position of the sales employee. However, the customer's location information changes due to changes or movements of the customer, However, it is difficult to grasp the location of all customers due to variable factors such as changes in the business scope in charge, and it is difficult to increase the efficiency of sales activities.

  Further, when developing new customers, it is difficult to increase the efficiency of sales activities because it is unclear whether or not a new customer should be near the current position of a sales employee. As described above, in the sales activities of sales employees, it is difficult to increase the efficiency of sales activities because it is impossible to obtain customer information only from the information that the sales employees can obtain from the field.

  As a sales support device that supports the sales activities of sales employees, information such as the customer's name, address, and sales performance is recorded on a mobile terminal, and this information can be used for sales activities. Since it is impossible to know the customers who are in the vicinity of the employee's current location, it has not been able to support efficient customer visits.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide sales support by providing the sales employee with location information of customers located around the current location of the sales employee.

  The sales support system of the present invention provides a customer with location information of a customer by extracting customers located in the vicinity of a certain location based on location information of the customer registered in advance.

  The first form is the current position of the sales employee as the above-mentioned certain position, and is located near the current position of the sales employee based on the current position of the sales employee and the location information of the customer registered in advance. Extract customers and provide location information for customers located near the current location of sales employees.

  According to the first form, the sales employee can know the location of the customer located near the current position of the sales employee.

  In the second mode, the above-mentioned certain position is set as a predetermined position. Based on the predetermined position and the customer's location information registered in advance, a customer located near the predetermined position is extracted. , Providing customer location information to sales staff located near a given location.

  According to the second form, the sales employee can know the location of the customer located near a predetermined position such as the destination.

  The business support system of the present invention is a business support system for sending information related to business support from a server to a terminal. The server records at least customer information including customer location information, and current position information or designated position information of the terminal. Based on the positional relationship between the current location of the terminal and the customer's location, or the positional relationship between the specified location and the customer's location, obtained from the location information of the customer and the customer's location information, a predetermined range from the current location or the specified location of the terminal A peripheral information setting means for extracting customers existing in the network as peripheral customers, setting customer information relating to the extracted peripheral customers as peripheral information, and communication means for transmitting the peripheral information set by the peripheral information setting means to the terminal .

  The peripheral information setting means is based on the positional relationship between the current location information of the terminal and the customer location information, or the positional relationship between the specified location information and the customer location information. The customer who exists in is extracted and peripheral information is set.

  The first aspect of the customer extraction method by the peripheral information setting means uses the current location information or designated location information of the terminal and the customer location information, and the distance between the current location or designated location of the terminal and the customer location. And the calculated distance is compared with the set extraction range setting distance, and a customer whose calculated distance is within the extraction range setting distance is extracted and set as peripheral information.

  The calculated distance can be a linear distance between the current position or designated position of the terminal and the customer location, or a distance on the route connecting the current position or designated position of the terminal and the customer location. In addition, the travel time required to move between the current position or designated position of the terminal and the customer location can be obtained as the calculated distance.

  According to a second aspect of the customer extraction method by the peripheral information setting means, the peripheral information setting means includes a table associating the position on the map with a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the map, and using the table, An area corresponding to the current position or specified position information and an area corresponding to the customer's location are obtained, and a customer is extracted using the proximity between the obtained areas as an index.

  The proximity is defined as an adjacent distance between regions, and the adjacent distance is compared with the set extracted adjacent distance to extract customers whose adjacent distance is equal to or smaller than the extracted adjacent distance.

  The peripheral information setting means sets the peripheral information including the position of the terminal or the designated position, the extracted peripheral customer position, and the map information for displaying them, and each position is represented by a corresponding position on the map.

  The peripheral information setting means can fix or set the range to be set. In the first mode in which the setting range is variable, the setting range is determined based on the extraction range setting distance. By changing the extraction range setting distance, the range in which the peripheral information is set can be determined.

  In the second mode in which the setting range is variable, the map information extraction range is set based on the scale information sent from the terminal, and the range for setting the peripheral information is determined by changing the scale information. Can do.

  The server includes customer information registration means for registering customer information including at least customer location information in the recording means.

  In the first mode of the present invention using the current position of the terminal, the current position of the terminal can be acquired in a plurality of modes.

  In the first aspect, the terminal includes position information acquisition means for acquiring position information indicating the current position of the terminal, and transmission means for transmitting the acquired current position to the server. For example, a GPS receiver that receives a position signal from a GPS satellite is provided as position information acquisition means, and the current position is calculated based on the position signal acquired by the GPS receiver.

  In the second aspect, the peripheral information setting means receives the transmission signal transmitted from the terminal, acquires the transmission position from the base station that calculates the transmission position using the transmission signal, and sets the transmission position to the current position of the terminal. It is input as the position information shown. This aspect can be applied to a communication mode using PHS.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention that uses the designated position, the terminal includes a position designation unit that designates the position, and a transmission unit that transmits the position designated by the position designation unit to the server. The designated position can be designated by, for example, a customer name or a region name.

  Further, the terminal can be provided with an input means for inputting customer information. The input means is connected to the position information acquisition means, and the current state of the terminal acquired by the position information acquisition means such as a GPS receiver or a PHS position detection mechanism. Input position information indicating the position. The input means can also input the customer's address.

  Further, the terminal includes a display unit, and displays peripheral information transmitted from the communication unit of the server. The sales employee can know the customers who are located near the current position of the sales employee by referring to the peripheral information displayed on the display means.

  The peripheral information includes map information for displaying the terminal and the extracted peripheral customers, and the display means displays the terminal position or the designated position and / or the extracted customer location on the map. By displaying the customer position on the map, the location on the map can be confirmed. At this time, the current position of the sales employee is also displayed on the map, so that the positional relationship between the current position and the customer's location can be confirmed.

  According to the sales support system of the present invention, it is possible to provide sales support to the sales employee by providing the customer's location around the current position of the sales employee.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the sales support system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11, and the second embodiment of the sales support system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The first form of the sales support system of the present invention extracts a customer located near the current position of the sales employee based on the current position of the sales employee and the location information of the customer registered in advance, and the sales employee Provides location information for customers located near the current location of the customer.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of the sales support system of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the sales support system 1 sends information related to sales support from the sales support server 10 to the terminals 2A and 2B.

  The sales support server 10 includes means for registering or setting various information in addition to the recording means 10A for recording customer information including at least customer location information. As registration means, there are provided customer information registration means 10a for registering customer information in the recording means 10A, and position information registration means 10b for registering location information of the customer's location in the recording means 10A. Moreover, the peripheral information setting means 10c is provided as a setting means.

  Peripheral information setting means 10c is means for setting position information of a customer located in the vicinity of a certain position as peripheral information, and can be set as a current position of the terminal as a certain position or a designated position determined by the terminal. The position information of the customer located around the current position or the specified position is set.

  When setting the peripheral information based on the position information of the customer located near the periphery of the current position of the terminal, the terminal is based on the positional relationship between the two positions obtained using the current position information of the terminal and the customer's location information. A customer existing within a predetermined range from the current position is extracted as a peripheral customer, and customer information relating to the extracted peripheral customer is set as peripheral information.

  In addition, when setting the peripheral information based on the location information of the customer located in the vicinity of the specified location determined by the terminal, the specification is based on the positional relationship between the two locations obtained using the specified information and the customer location information. Customers existing within a predetermined range from the position are extracted as peripheral customers, and customer information relating to the extracted peripheral customers is set as peripheral information.

  Further, the sales support server 10 includes communication means (not shown in FIG. 1) for transmitting the peripheral information set by the peripheral information setting means 10c to the terminals 2A and 2B.

  The sales support server 10 is connected to the menu server 8 via the local LAN 7 or the like. The terminals 2A and 2B are connected to the local LAN 7 via the Internet network 5 or the public line network 6. When the sales support server 10 is used from the terminal 2, it can be executed by selecting a function to be executed by the sales support server 10 from the menu in the menu server 8 and connecting to the sales support server 10.

  The terminal 2A can acquire the current position of the terminal by, for example, the GPS function. The terminal 2 </ b> A shown in the figure includes a GPS receiver, and acquires a current position by receiving a signal from the GPS satellite 3. The current position information acquired by the terminal 2A is connected to the sales support server 10 via the Internet network 5 and the local LAN 7, and is recorded in the recording means 10A by the position information registration means 10b.

  Further, the current position of the terminal 2B can be acquired by, for example, the PHS function. The illustrated terminal 2B includes a PHS receiver, and the PHS base station 4 receives a signal from the PHS receiver, thereby grasping the position of the terminal 2B including the PHS receiver. The location information of the terminal 2B acquired by the PHS base station 4 is sent to the sales support server 10 via the public telephone network 6 and the local LAN 7, and is recorded in the recording unit 10A by the location information registration unit 10b. The customer information is recorded in advance in the recording unit 10A by the customer information registration unit 10a.

  Based on the current location of the terminal registered in the recording unit 10A by the location information registration unit 10b, the peripheral information setting unit 10c determines the customer located in the vicinity of the current location from the customer information recorded in the recording unit 10A. Is extracted and set as peripheral information. This peripheral information includes information about the location of the customer located near the current location of the terminal and displays it on the display means (not shown in FIG. 1), so that the sales employee and the customer located nearby You can inform the location.

  FIG. 2 is a display example of the terminal 2. 2A, on the display screen 2a of the display means provided in the terminal 2, the current position P of the terminal and customer positions Q1 to Q3 are displayed together with the map display. 2B, on the display screen A of the display means provided in the terminal 2, the current position P of the terminal and customer positions Q1 to Q6 are displayed together with the map display. Note that FIG. 2B is a display example displayed at a larger scale than FIG. 2A, and the display portion B (the portion surrounded by a broken line) in FIG. This corresponds to the display part A in (a).

  Next, a configuration example of the terminal will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and a configuration example of the sales support server will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the terminal shown in FIG. 3 is a configuration example of a terminal having a GPS function.

  In FIG. 3, the terminal 2 (2A) includes position information acquisition means 2a, input means 2b, recording means 2c, display means 2d, and communication means (I / O means) 2e. The position information acquisition means 2a has a GPS function for receiving a signal from the GPS satellite 3 and acquiring the current position, and can be constituted by, for example, a GPS receiver. In addition, the GPS function can be configured such that a GPS receiver is incorporated in the terminal, a board that performs the GPS function is mounted, and a GPS receiver provided externally.

  The input means 2b is means for inputting the position information of the current position of the terminal acquired by the position information acquisition means 2a. The acquired position information is sent from the I / O means 2e to the sales support server 10 side via the Internet or a local LAN. Sent to. Further, the input means 2b can input customer information in addition to the position information of the current position, whereby a sales employee can send customer information to the sales support server 10 and record it.

  The I / O unit 2e sends identification information (terminal ID) for identifying a terminal and identification information (sales employee ID) for identifying a sales employee when sending position information and customer information to the sales support server 10. Can do. By transmitting these pieces of identification information, the sales support server side can identify the transmission source of the information and can associate with the provider of the current position information and customer information.

  The I / O unit 2e records the peripheral information set by the sales support server 10 on the recording unit 2c and displays it on the display unit 2d.

  In FIG. 4, the sales support server 10 includes communication means (I / O means) 10e, customer information registration means 10a, location information registration means 10b, which connect to the terminal 2 via the Internet network 5, the public telephone network 6 and the like. Peripheral information setting means 10c and recording means 10A are provided. Recording means 10A records shared database 10f for recording information common to sales employees, individual database 10g for recording information unique to each sales employee, and map information. A database such as the map database 10h and database management means 10d for managing information on these databases are provided. Here, for convenience of explanation, an example is shown in which the shared database 10f, the individual database 10g, and the map database 10h are configured as independent databases. However, one database is divided internally, and a recording area is simply set. It is also possible to record by dividing.

  The customer information registration means 10a is means for registering customer information acquired from the terminal in the common database 10f, and the position information registration means 10b is means for registering position information acquired from the terminal in the individual database 10g.

  Further, the peripheral information setting unit 10c sets the peripheral information based on the position information fetched from the position information registration unit 10b and information read from the shared database 10f, the individual database 10g, and the map database 10h. The set peripheral information is sent from the I / O unit 10e to the terminal 2 via the Internet network 5, the public telephone network 6, and the like.

  The peripheral information setting means 10c acquires the current position from the position information registration means 10b or the individual database 10g, searches the shared database 10f, and acquires customers located near the current position. Further, the map database 10h is searched to acquire map information in the vicinity of the current position. The peripheral information setting unit 10c sets the peripheral information based on the acquired customer information. Peripheral information may be customer information only, but may be information obtained by placing customer position information or terminal position information on the acquired map. By placing customer position information and terminal position information on the map, the position of the customer relative to the current position of the terminal can be confirmed on the map.

  FIG. 5 is an example of customer information data recorded in the shared database 10f, and FIG. 6 is an example of personal information data recorded in the individual database 10g.

  In FIG. 5, customer information includes, for example, an address, a telephone number, a FAX number, credit information, and the like, and is recorded together with a customer number and a customer name assigned to each customer in order to identify the customer. Further, the customer position information can be numerical data as well as latitude and longitude, as well as area data and in-area position data when the map is represented by an area obtained by dividing the map into a plurality of areas.

  In FIG. 6, the personal information specifies the sales employee by the employee number or ID, and records the position information for each sales employee together with the acquisition date and time. Here, as the position information, an example of latitude and longitude data acquired from the GPS position information is shown.

  Next, location information registration processing and customer information registration processing will be described with reference to FIG. 7, and peripheral information setting processing and customer information transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. The numbers shown in parentheses below correspond to the numbers given in the figure.

  In the position information registration process shown in FIG. 7, the terminal 2A having the GPS function acquires the position information of the current position (1), and transmits the acquired position information to the sales support server (2).

  The terminal 2B equipped with the PHS receiver transmits a response signal in response to the inquiry signal from the PHS base station 4 (11 to 13), and the PHS base station 4 transmits the response signal from the terminal 2B to which PHS base station. The position information is acquired depending on whether it is received at (14, 15), and the acquired position information is transmitted to the sales support server 10 (16). The location information registration unit 10b of the sales support server 10 receives the location information acquired from the terminal 2 (3) and registers it in the recording unit 10A (4, 5).

  In the customer information registration process shown in FIG. 7, the sales employee inputs the customer information from the terminal 2 (21, 23), and transmits the customer information of the sales support server 10 from the terminal 2 (22, 24). The customer information registration means 10a of the sales support server 10 receives the customer information from the terminal 2 (25) and registers it in the recording means 10A (26, 27).

  In the surrounding information setting process shown in FIG. 8, the surrounding information setting means 10c of the sales support server acquires the current position information from the position information registration means 10a or the individual database 10g of the database 10A (31, 32,), and the current position. The customer information is requested from the shared database 10f of the database 10A based on the above, and the map information is requested from the map database 10h of the database 10A (33). The shared database 10f searches for customer information of customers located near the current position based on the current position. Further, the map database 10h searches for map information in the vicinity of the current position based on the current position. (34).

  The peripheral information setting means 10c acquires customer information and map information (35), forms and sets acquisition information together with current position information (36), and transmits it to the terminal 2 (37).

  In the customer information transmission process shown in FIG. 8, when customer information is requested from the terminal (41), the peripheral information setting means 10c requests customer information from the shared database 10f of the database 10A (42). The shared database 10f searches for customer information and passes it to the peripheral information setting means 10c (43). The peripheral information setting means 10c acquires customer information (44) and transmits it to the terminal (45). The terminal receives the customer information and displays it on the display means (46).

  In the setting of the peripheral information by the peripheral information setting means, a process for extracting customers located in the vicinity of the current position is performed. This extraction process can take a plurality of forms.

  In the first aspect of the extraction process, a customer located within a predetermined distance range is extracted based on a distance between the current position and the customer's location information. Using the location information, calculate the distance between the current location of the terminal and the customer location, compare the calculated distance with the set extraction range setting distance, and select customers whose calculated distance is less than or equal to the extraction range setting distance. Extract and set as peripheral information.

  Here, the calculation of the distance between the current position and the customer's location can be obtained by converting the difference between the latitude and longitude when the position information is expressed in latitude and longitude. . Further, the distance between the current position and the customer's location can be an actual distance along a route such as a road on the map in addition to the distance on a straight line. In this case, it can be obtained by acquiring map information from the map database, setting a route connecting the current position and the customer's location on the map, and obtaining a distance along the route.

  Further, the degree of separation between the current position and the customer's location can be evaluated by the time required to move from the current location to the customer's location. In this case, when walking, the walking time is used, and when using transportation such as a car, bus, train, subway, etc., the calculation is performed using the required time according to the transportation. At this time, it can also be calculated according to the timetable of the transportation facility.

  When evaluating the distance between the current position and the customer's location based on the travel time, the extraction delivery setting time is used instead of the extraction range setting distance. The extraction range setting distance and the extraction distribution setting time set the scale of the map displayed on the display means of the terminal.

  In addition, the extraction range setting distance and the extraction distribution setting time can be changed by an instruction from the terminal in addition to using a preset fixed value. By setting the extraction range setting distance and extraction delivery setting time large, customers distributed over a wide range can be extracted, and by setting the extraction range setting distance and extraction delivery setting time small, the display means of the terminal The resolution of the displayed map can be increased.

  In the second aspect of the extraction process, the map is divided into a plurality of areas, the current position or the customer's location is determined to be included in any of these divided areas, and based on the distance between the areas. Thus, a customer located within a predetermined distance is extracted. The peripheral information setting means includes a table that associates a position on the map with a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the map, and using this table, an area that includes the current position of the terminal and an area that includes the customer's location The customer is extracted using the proximity between the obtained areas as an index.

  This proximity is defined as an adjacent distance between regions, and the adjacent distance is compared with the set extracted adjacent distance to extract customers whose adjacent distance is equal to or smaller than the extracted adjacent distance. For example, the adjacent distance between the areas is set to “1”, and customers in the adjacent areas are extracted. When the adjacent distance between regions is “0”, customers in the same region are extracted.

  Further, similarly to the first aspect based on the distance described above, the degree of separation between regions can be evaluated by the time required for movement between the regions. Further, the extraction range setting distance and the extraction delivery setting time as a reference used for the determination are a distance between regions and a time required to move between the regions. These values can be changed by an instruction from the terminal, in addition to using fixed values set in advance.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a second mode of the extraction process. In FIG. 9, the peripheral information setting unit 10c includes a positional information-region data table 10c2 that defines the correspondence between the positional information and the region, and a peripheral information forming unit 10c1.

  The matrix shown in FIG. 11A shows a state where the map is divided into a plurality of regions by dividing the map by a predetermined distance. Here, for example, a case where the latitude and longitude are divided in units of a predetermined frequency is shown. In the case of FIG. 11A, for example, the latitude and longitude are divided in units of seconds and divided into areas A1 to A5, B1 to B5,..., G1 to G5.

  The position information-area data table 10c2 records the correspondence relationship between the numerical ranges of latitude and longitude and the area, and can determine the area corresponding to the current position acquired from the terminal and the customer's location.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c obtains an area for the position information based on the position information-area data table 10c2, and obtains an area close to this area. The adjacent region can be determined by the above-described proximity. For example, when the adjacent area is set as the proximity area according to the proximity, the area obtained by the position information-area data table 10c2 and the area adjacent to the area are set as the proximity areas. For example, when the acquired position information is included in the area A1, the areas B1, B2, and A2 are set as the proximity areas in addition to the area A1, and the customers included in the proximity area are retrieved from the shared database 10f. Search for. The peripheral information forming unit 10c1 takes in the customer information obtained by the search.

  Similarly, the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 extracts the map information of the proximity region from the map database 10g.

  The peripheral information forming unit 10c1 forms peripheral information related to the customer based on the customer information and the map information obtained by the search. This peripheral information relates to customers located in the vicinity of the input location information. When the location information is the current location of the sales employee, the customer located near the sales employee and its location (map information) If it is included, it becomes the position on the map), and the position of the customer can be known by displaying it on the display means of the portable terminal designated by the sales employee.

  At this time, it is possible to know the relationship between the current position and the customer's position by inputting the position information into the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 and incorporating the position information into the peripheral information. The position information input to the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 may be input directly to the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 together with the input to the position information-region data table 10c2, or may be input from the position information-region data table 10c2. Also good.

  The customer search range is also linked to the map range displayed on the display surface. If the customer search range is set large, the map displayed on the display screen is a large scale that represents a wide range. Thus, when the range for searching for customers is set small, the map displayed on the display screen is a small scale representing the small range.

  Here, the setting of the position information-region data table 10c2 determines the extraction range for extracting customer information. If the region to be set is set large, the extraction range for extracting customer information in each region unit is set large. Will be.

  Therefore, the degree of the vicinity for searching for a customer is determined by the size of each area itself and the range of the area, and the range for searching for a customer can be changed by changing at least one of the areas. It should be noted that a predetermined area is set in the position information-area data table 10c2, and the above change can be accommodated by adopting a configuration that can be arbitrarily changed according to the scale information.

  When the scale information is set according to the travel time from the current position to the customer's location, the position information-area data table 10c2 is a table in which the area is converted based on the travel time instead of the position information. Used, map information can be dealt with by extracting it from the map data corresponding to this area.

  Hereinafter, an example of processing performed by the peripheral information setting unit in the second aspect of the extraction processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10 and the state diagram of FIG. In addition, the following (step S) respond | corresponds with the code | symbol shown in the flowchart in FIG.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c acquires position information (step S1), and obtains an area including the position acquired from the position information-area data table 10c2. In the example shown in FIG. 11A, the area A1 corresponds to the area (step S2). Next, the customer included in the area A1 is searched in the shared database 10f. In the example shown in FIG. 11B, customers A-001, A-010, and B-032 are included in the area A1 (step S3).

  Map data corresponding to this area A1 is read from the map database 10g (step S4), and the position of the customer (for example, 2-**, c2-**, b4- * shown in FIG. 11B) is read in the read map data. *) To incorporate peripheral information. If the area A1 and the area classified on the map data do not have a one-to-one correspondence, the map data corresponding to the area A1 is searched for. FIG. 11D shows a state where the customer position is incorporated on the map. In addition, the current position information can be incorporated into the peripheral information to represent the current position on the map (step S5). The formed peripheral information is transmitted to the mobile terminal (step S6).

  The mobile terminal that has received the peripheral information can display the peripheral information on the display screen and check the customer position and the current position displayed on the map. When changing the display scale, a scale change request is sent to the sales support server. Upon receiving this scale change request (step S7), the business support server obtains an area corresponding to the changed scale (step S8), and forms the peripheral information by repeating the steps S3 to S6 based on this area. To do.

  When the business support server receives a request for customer information from the mobile terminal (step S9), it extracts the customer information from the shared database 10f (step S10) and transmits it to the mobile terminal (step S11).

  Next, the 2nd form of the sales support system of this invention is demonstrated.

  The second form of the sales support system according to the present invention extracts a customer located near a predetermined position on the basis of a predetermined position and customer location information registered in advance, and sales located near the predetermined position. The location information of the customer is provided to the employee, and the predetermined position can be arbitrarily set from the mobile terminal. For example, the sales employee sets the destination as the predetermined position, which is different from the current position. It is possible to know the location of a customer located near the destination of the location.

  Since the configuration of the second form of the sales support system of the present invention can be the same as the configuration of the first form shown in FIG. 1, the description here is omitted and it is applied to the second form. A configuration example of the terminal and a configuration example of the sales support server will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In FIG. 12, the terminal 2 includes a recording unit 2c, a display unit 2d, and a communication unit (I / O unit) 2e as in the terminal configuration shown in FIG. A designation unit 2f is provided instead of the unit 2b.

  The position information acquisition means 2a and the input means 2b of the first form acquire the current position by GPS or PHS, whereas the designation means 2f of the second form designates a predetermined position that is arbitrarily determined. . The sales employee inputs a customer name, a region name, and the like from the specifying means 2f, specifies a predetermined position, and acquires peripheral information related to the customer located in the vicinity of the predetermined position. The designation unit 2f can also be used as an input unit included in the mobile terminal, for example, and designates a predetermined position by inputting a customer name, a region name, or the like from a key.

  The designation unit 2f sends information on the designated customer name and area name from the I / O unit 2e to the sales support server 10 side via the Internet or a local area LAN. In addition to the customer name and the area name, the designation means 2 f can input customer information, so that a sales employee can send customer information to the sales support server 10 and record it.

  The I / O unit 2e, the recording unit 2c, and the display unit 2d are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Next, in FIG. 12, the sales support server 10 connects to the terminal 2 via the Internet network 5, the public telephone network 6, etc., excluding the customer information registration means 10b, in the terminal configuration shown in FIG. Communication means (I / O means) 10e, customer information registration means 10a, peripheral information setting means 10c, and recording means 10A are provided.

  As in the configuration of FIG. 4, the recording means 10A includes a shared database 10f that records information common to sales employees, an individual database 10g that records information unique to each sales employee, a map database 10h that records map information, and the like. A database and database management means 10d for managing information on these databases are provided. Here, for convenience of explanation, an example is shown in which the shared database 10f, the individual database 10g, and the map database 10h are configured as independent databases. However, one database is divided internally, and a recording area is simply set. It is also possible to record by dividing.

  Note that communication means (I / O means) 10e, customer information registration means 10a, peripheral information setting means 10c, and recording means 10A for connecting to the terminal 2 via the Internet network 5, the public telephone network 6, etc. are shown in FIG. Therefore, the description of the common parts is omitted.

  The peripheral information setting means 10c inputs customer name and area name information in place of the position information fetched from the position information registration means 10b, and displays the peripheral information together with information read from the shared database 10f, the individual database 10g, and the map database 10h. Set. The set peripheral information is sent from the I / O unit 10e to the terminal 2 via the Internet network 5, the public telephone network 6, and the like.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c searches the shared database 10f based on a predetermined position designated by a customer name, a region name, or the like, and acquires a customer located near the predetermined position. Further, the map database 10h is searched to acquire map information in the vicinity of the predetermined position. The peripheral information setting unit 10c sets the peripheral information based on the acquired customer information. Peripheral information may be customer information only, but may be information obtained by placing customer position information or terminal position information on the acquired map. By placing customer position information and terminal position information on the map, the position of the customer relative to the current position of the terminal can be confirmed on the map.

  Next, peripheral information setting processing and customer information transmission processing will be described with reference to FIG. The numbers shown in parentheses below correspond to the numbers given in the figure.

  In the peripheral information setting process shown in FIG. 14, the peripheral information setting unit 10c of the sales support server acquires a predetermined position (51, 52) designated by the customer name or the region name transmitted from the terminal (53), Based on the predetermined position, the customer information is requested from the shared database 10f of the database 10A, and the map information is requested from the map database 10h of the database 10A (54). The shared database 10f searches for customer information of customers located near the current position based on a predetermined position. Further, the map database 10h searches for map information in the vicinity of the current position based on the predetermined position (55).

  The peripheral information setting means 10c acquires customer information and map information (56), forms and sets acquisition information together with predetermined position information (57), and transmits it to the terminal 2 (58, 59, 60).

  The customer information transmission process shown in (41) to (46) of FIG. 8 can be similarly performed.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a configuration to which the second aspect of the extraction process is applied. As described above, in the second aspect of the extraction process, the map is divided into a plurality of areas, and the current position and the customer's location are included in these divided areas. Based on the degree of separation, customers located within a predetermined degree of separation are extracted.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c includes an area data table 10c3 that associates a position on the map with a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the map, and by using this table, the area including the current position of the terminal and the customer's location can be determined. The included areas are obtained, and customers are extracted using the proximity between the obtained areas as an index.

  In FIG. 15, the peripheral information setting unit 10c includes an area data table 10c3 that defines the correspondence between customer names and area names and areas, and a peripheral information forming unit 10c1.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c obtains an area for a designated position determined by a customer name or an area name based on the area data table 10c3, and obtains an area adjacent to this area. The adjacent region can be determined by the proximity shown in the above example. For example, when the adjacent area is set as the proximity area according to the proximity, the area obtained in the area data table 10c3 and the area adjacent to the area are set as the proximity area, and the customers included in the proximity area are shared. Search from database 10f. The peripheral information forming unit 10c1 takes in the customer information obtained by the search.

  Similarly, the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 extracts the map information of the proximity region from the map database 10g.

  The peripheral information forming unit 10c1 forms peripheral information related to the customer based on the customer information and the map information obtained by the search. This peripheral information relates to a customer located in the vicinity of the designated position.

  At this time, it is possible to know the relationship between the designated position and the customer's position by inputting the position information into the peripheral information forming means 10c1 and incorporating the position information into the peripheral information. The position information of the designated position to the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 may be input directly to the peripheral information forming unit 10c1 together with the input to the region data table 10c3, or may be input from the region data table 10c3.

  Note that the scale of the display range can be the same as in the first embodiment described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  Hereinafter, an example of processing performed by the peripheral information setting unit in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 16 and the state diagram of FIG. In addition, the following (step S) respond | corresponds with the code | symbol shown in the flowchart in FIG.

  The peripheral information setting unit 10c acquires information related to the specified position based on the customer name and the area name (step S21), and obtains an area including the specified position acquired from the area data table 10c3. Here, it is assumed that the area A1 is obtained (step S22).

  Next, the customer included in the area A1 is searched in the shared database 10f. In the example shown in FIG. 171 (a), customers A-001, A-010, and B-032 are included in the area A1 (step S23).

  Map data corresponding to this area A1 is read from the map database 10g (step S24), and the position of the customer (for example, 2-**, c2-**, b4- * shown in FIG. 17A) is read in the read map data. *) To incorporate peripheral information. If the area A1 and the area classified on the map data do not have a one-to-one correspondence, the map data corresponding to the area A1 is searched for. FIG. 17C shows a state in which the customer position is incorporated on the map. In addition, the current position information can be incorporated into the peripheral information to represent the current position on the map (step S25). The formed peripheral information is transmitted to the portable terminal (step S26).

  The mobile terminal that has received the peripheral information displays the peripheral information on the display screen, and can confirm the customer position and the designated position displayed on the map. When changing the display scale, a scale change request is sent to the sales support server. Upon receiving this scale change request (step S27), the sales support server obtains an area corresponding to the changed scale (step S28), and forms the peripheral information by repeating steps S23 to S26 based on this area. To do.

  When the business support server receives a request for customer information from the mobile terminal (step S29), it extracts the customer information from the shared database 10f (step S30) and transmits it to the mobile terminal (step S31).

  The sales support system of the present invention can be applied not only to customer visits by sales employees but also to systems that support collection and delivery of documents and articles delivered to a predetermined location or picked up from a predetermined location.

It is the schematic for demonstrating the structure of the sales support system of this invention. It is an example of a display of the terminal of the sales support system of the present invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the example of a structure of the terminal of the sales support system of this invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the structural example of the sales support server of the sales support system of this invention. It is a data example of the customer information recorded on the shared database of the sales support system of the present invention. It is a data example of the personal information recorded on the separate database 10g of the sales support system of this invention. It is a state diagram for demonstrating the registration process of the positional information of the sales assistance system of this invention, and the registration process of customer information. It is a state figure for demonstrating the setting process of the periphery information of the sales assistance system of this invention, and the transmission process of customer information. It is a figure for demonstrating the 2nd aspect of the extraction process of the sales support system of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the surrounding information setting process of the sales support system of this invention. It is a state diagram for demonstrating the surrounding information setting process of the sales support system of this invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the example of a structure of the terminal applied to the 2nd form of the sales support system of this invention. It is the schematic for demonstrating the structural example of the sales support server applied to the 2nd form of the sales support system of this invention. It is a state figure for demonstrating the setting process of the periphery information of the sales assistance system of this invention, and the transmission process of customer information. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure to which the 2nd aspect of the extraction process of the sales support system of this invention is applied. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process example of the periphery information setting of the sales support system of this invention. It is a state diagram for demonstrating the process example of the periphery information setting of the sales support system of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sales support system 2,2A, 2B Terminal 2a Position information acquisition means 2b Input means 2c Recording means 2d Display means 2e I / O means 2f Specification means 3 GPS satellite 4 PHS base station 5 Internet network 6 Public telephone network 7 Private LAN
8 Menu server 10 Sales support server 10A Recording means 10a Customer information registration means 10b Location information registration means 10c Peripheral information setting means 10c1 Peripheral information forming means 10c2 Location information-
10c3 area data table 10d database management means 10f shared database 10g individual database 10h map database A display screen B display part P current position display Q1-Q6 customer position display

Claims (3)

In the sales support system that sends information related to sales support from the server to the terminal,
The server includes recording means for recording customer information including at least customer location information;
Based on the positional relationship between the two positions obtained using the current position information of the terminal and the customer's location information, a customer existing within a predetermined range from the current position of the terminal is extracted as a peripheral customer,
Alternatively, based on the positional relationship between the two positions obtained using the specified position information and the customer's location information, a customer existing within a predetermined range from the specified position is extracted as a peripheral customer,
Peripheral information setting means for setting customer information related to the extracted peripheral customers as peripheral information;
Communication means for transmitting the peripheral information set by the peripheral information setting means to the terminal,
The surrounding information setting means includes a position information-area table that associates a position on a map with a plurality of areas obtained by dividing the map.
Using the position information-area table, an area corresponding to the current position or designated position of the terminal and an area corresponding to the location of the customer are obtained, and a customer is extracted using the proximity between the obtained areas as an index. The sales support system according to claim 1. The surrounding information setting means uses the adjacent distance between the areas as a proximity, compares the adjacent distance with the extracted adjacent distance based on the proximity, and extracts customers whose adjacent distance is equal to or less than the extracted adjacent distance. The sales support system according to claim 1. The surrounding information setting means includes
Based on the scale information sent from the terminal, the area of the position information-area table is changed, the map information is read out based on the changed area, the position of the terminal or the specified position, the extracted position of the surrounding customer, and these The sales support system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein peripheral information including the map information for displaying is set.

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