WO2005088492A1

WO2005088492A1 - Rich media personal selling system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2005088492A1
Application number: PCT/CA2005/000396
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Haighton; Henri Van Rooyen
Original assignee: Pinpoint Selling Inc.
Priority date: 2004-03-18
Filing date: 2005-03-18
Publication date: 2005-09-22

Abstract

The present invention provides system for an end-to-end rich media selling solution for creating and designing a Web site with a structured conversational interface using custom content based upon a best-practices sales methodology. The system analyzes data obtained by the rich media net agent and generates action-orientated reports to assist a sales professional in interpreting the data. In this manner, a sales professional is provided with information necessary to pre-screen potential customers with a greater probability for a sale before making a first call. The present invention provides a means for a sales professional to create a rich media net agent to conduct a sales communication interaction with the end user, presenting information to and collecting information from the end user in accordance with a best-practice sales methodology. The structure and/or logic of the end user's interaction with the rich media net agent is designed according to a chosen best-practices sales methodology, and is embodied in a Structured Conversational Interface (SCI). The information gathered from the end user's responses to an interaction with the rich media net agent is collected and analyzed by an analytics engine to provide a sales professional with a summary report to determine whether to follow-up with the end user.

Description

RICH MEDIA PERSONAL SELLING SYSTEM ANI METHOD

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of selling systems, in particular selling systems incorporating rich media and based on proven sales methodology. RESERVATION OF COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material to which a claim of copyright protection is made. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves all other rights whatsoever. BACKGROUND

Communication systems for personally interacting with clients have dramatically changed time-intensive aspects of a sales professional's job. Email allows a sales person to interact personally, without travel. Digital video systems allow a sales person to create simple video messages for clients. Sales force automation and customer- relationship management software integrate documents and information into the sales process. Web demonstrations allow a sales professional to point customers to an experience of the product they are selling. As well, online advertising has matured to where it can be used as part of a personal selling strategy.

Salespeople need to filter information for their clients. Similarly, in advertising, it is considered highly desirable to target advertisements to the appropriate potential customer base, rather than to broadcast advertisements in general. It has long been known that, for example, advertisements for computers should generally not appear in magazines on gardening and, conversely, advertisements for gardening tools should not appear in magazines on computers. Similarly, advertisers have generally targeted their advertisements on television to programs appropriate for the desired customer base. Personal selling systems have evolved to help sales professionals target messages to clients. It has also long been known that an advertisement that is repeated too often will eventually become ignored by consumers. Therefore, an advertiser typically wishes to eliminate duplication and reach as many individuals in the advertiser's target group as possible.

The development of on-line networks, such as America On-Line™, CompuServe™- and the Internet, has led to "on-line" advertising. For example, on the Internet, often such on-line advertisements will appear on a web page, such as a banner on the top or the bottom of the page. When a user views a web page using a browser such as Internet Explorer™ or Netscape™, the banner appears at the appropriate location and the user may then try to find out more information regarding the advertisement by selecting the advertisement (clicking through on that banner) through the use of the mouse or other pointing device. This typically causes a HTTP message to be generated by the browser using the information encapsulated in association with the banner to send a request for an object with a given URL address to a different appropriate web site to access, for example, the advertiser's home page.

Nonetheless, such advertising has had, so far, a poor rate of response because it is untargeted advertising. Thus, someone who is totally uninterested in computers other than they happen to be on the Internet, may continually see advertisements for computers. On the other hand, someone who is interested in computers may continually see advertisements for gardening tools when browsing through a particular web site. In addition, if a user of such computer networks is continuously exposed to the same advertisement, the response rate to the advertisement will generally decline. In addition, it is also important for the advertisers to track responses to the advertisements and to acquire as much information as they can about those people responding to the advertisements to target those same people at later dates regarding similar or the same products, for example. Making matters worse, there is a wide variety of digital media employed in corporations for use in marketing - web based training, web demonstrations, multimedia brochures, interactive web-tools and web services, digital video, and streaming audio and video. But the availability of corporate rich-media marketing messages has not necessarily helped people whose job it is to interact personally with clients. Indeed, the lack of targeted sales messages makes it difficult for sales professionals to perform their functions. In particular, United States Patent No. 5,948,061 provides methods and apparatuses for targeting the delivery of advertisements over a network such as the Internet. Statistics are compiled on individual users and networks and the use of the advertisements is tracked to permit targeting of the advertisements of individual users. In response to requests from affiliated sites, an advertising server transmits to people accessing the page of a site an appropriate one of the advertisements based upon profiling of users and networks. To effect such a capability, an advertising server process is provided as a node on the network. The various advertisements are stored on the network of the server and preferably on the server. When, for example, a user using a web browser accesses a web page that is affiliated with the advertising server process, the affiliated page's encoding includes an embedded reference to an object provided by the advertising server process. That causes the user's browser to contact the advertising server process to provide the advertising image or information that will appear on the accessed web page as displayed by the user's browser. Using the address information and/or other information passed by the browser for the user, including the page being accessed by the user, the advertising server process determines an appropriate

' advertisement to select for the particular user. In addition, the advertising server process will use information such as the number of times the user has seen various advertisements, how often the advertisement has been seen by any user and the start and stop date for the various advertisements to select which advertisement to transmit to the user's web page for display.

By compiling the information on networks and user selections, the advertising server process is able to compile information that can be used for targeting the advertising to the appropriate users.

In addition United States Patent Application No. 2002/0094868 provides a method, system and apparatus for interactive Internet advertising. This application discloses an apparatus, system and method for delivering rich-media advertising for the Internet including viewer tracking, an online sales interface and integration with the advertiser/retailer. The rich-media advertising of the invention includes full stereo audio, video and animation capabilities. The viewer tracking of the invention includes demographics of the viewer, geographic location, timing and viewer habits. The online sales interface of the invention includes options to buy online, options to leave the host web-site, options to print promotional offers, mapping tools and options to view other advertiser's promotional offers with search capabilities.

Each of these systems provides a means for directing marketing to potential customers which are of a particular demographic thereby potentially increasing the probability of a sale. However, these systems tend to be transactional in approach rather than consultative. Under the transactional model, sales can be obtained by catching the attention of a large number of viewers belonging to the correct demographics. The majority of selling systems as described above, however, do not take into account a particular customer's preferences enabling improved selection of potential customers for a sales campaign and modification and personalization of a sales presentation (web-site) for a particular potential customer. Because the information gathered by these systems is demographic as opposed to personal, these systems can provide little assistance to a sales representative making a personalized sales call.

In contrast to the transactional model, the consultative model aims to obtain sales by diagnosing the particular needs of a prospective customer through dialog and conversation. The consultative model tends to be more appropriate for sales campaigns conducted with sales representatives.

Currently, support systems for sales representatives exist in the form of Sales Force Automation (SFA) and/or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. CRM systems allow sales professionals to capture information regarding prospective customers thereby enabling sales management to increase sales efficiency. However, sales professionals presently update those databases manually, or by online forms; consequently, CRM encounters resistance in keeping databases up to date. SFA systems provide access to a database of information regarding prospective customers, thereby enabling sales representatives to conduct sales communications more effectively.

Another challenge facing organizations engaging in personalized selling is that sales calls are, in many cases, conducted without adherence to a specific sales methodology, leading to inefficient results. As such, efforts have been made to analyze highly successful sales call practices and techniques and develop a proven and effective sales methodology that can be followed by sales professionals. A methodology that has been selected for its success and/or effectiveness is recognized as a best-practices sales methodology. Examples of currently known methodologies that have been developed are Solution Selling®, Miller-Heiman®, CustomerCentric Selling®, Holden International®, Sandier Institute of Sales Training®, Engage Selling®, as well as other sales methodologies such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

For example, in one such methodology, namely the CustomerCentric Selling® methodology developed by Bosworth, the seller must identify the "latent needs" of prospective customers — that is to say, needs that affect the prospective customer but are not yet recognized oτ identified by him or her. According to the CustomerCentric Selling® methodology, people who actively "want" a product or service represent only a small portion of the market of buyers. Most of the market is comprised of people with "latent needs". Often, a latent need is based in the buyer not knowing that the seller's product exists or in the buyer's rationalization that a solution does not exist. As such, the best opportunity for generating a sale is to be involved in helping the prospect recognize a latent need. Unfortunately, most sales attempts devote too much time speaking about the qualities of the seller's product and not enough time identifying the needs of the client. Thus, according to the CustomerCentric Selling® methodology, sales representatives should conduct their sales calls by asking more questions so as to identify and focus on the needs of their customers. While sales representative often neglect latent needs and overemphasize talking about their products, this failing is still more pronounced in the domain of Internet advertising and rich media selling. Therefore, there is a need for a rich media personal selling solution that is targeted at latent need buyers using a best-practices sales methodology.

Out of a large number of sales calls, only a small number lead to closing deals. For example, in some cases, out of 100 first calls, perhaps only two lead ultimately to closing a deal. Furthermore, many salespeople, when making first calls, do not follow best sales practices and therefore spend an excessive amount of time talking about their product or their organization and an insufficient amount of time asking questions and identifying customer needs. There is thus a need for a system for conducting rich media marketing so as to generate more qualified leads and assist sales representatives in focusing on the specific needs of each prospect.

SFA and CRM systems are used to support sales professionals in their marketing activities. It is possible to incorporate the use of SFA and CRM systems with a best- practice sales methodology. However, as noted above, most databases are currently updated manually or by online forms, and thus information regarding the needs of prospective clients may not be up-to-date or sufficiently detailed.

Attempts have been made to enhance communications over electronic networks by employing rich media messages. Various means exist for delivering such rich media messages. For example, all or part of the message may be included in an email message as an attachment. All or part of the message can be downloadable by the viewer over an electronic network, for example from a website over the Internet.

Rich message content requires a large amount of time, effort and expertise to produce. As such, there are examples of companies aiming to provide easy assembly of rich media messages (email or wcb-site) such as Brainshark, Virage, Jgenerator, Clipstream, and TalkSender. The latter two focus especially on audio. All of these examples aim at reducing the time it takes to include rich media in messages. Some current systems aim at easy assembly within an end-to-end approach, offering capture, indexing, encoding, management, publishing, distribution, synchronization, assembly, presentation, or tracking of rich media messages,

However, current end-to-end systems do not fill the needs of a sales campaign and are not useful for such applications as personal selling, lead generation and/or lead qualification. In particular, these systems are not optimized for generating an interactive rich media interaction consistent with a best-practices sales methodology. Rich media content, even when personalized as opposed to mass-targeted, is generally geared towards presenting information from the seller, rather than determining the needs of the prospective customer. When attempts are made at obtaining information from the prospective customer, they often come in the form of questionnaires that seem intrusive, time-consuming, unnecessary and unhelpful. As such, there is a need for a system of using rich media messages to obtain information regarding the needs of prospective customers where human factors are taken into account.

Intelligent agents have been developed for a wide variety of purposes, for example negotiation (U.S. Patent No. 6,401,080), or modeling and projecting emotion and personality (U.S. Patent No. 6,212,502 and U.S. Patent No. 6,185,534). Expert system technologies have been developed whereby a base of knowledge can be defined, for example by a set of rules possibly written using a language such as Prolog, and where that knowledge can be applied to information supplied by the user in order to generate solutions, as described in, for example, U.S. Patents Nos. 4,816,994 and 4,803,641.

There is therefore a need for a system for providing automated support for implementing a best-practice sales methodology. There is a need for automating portions of a best- practice sales methodolgy, by providing an interactive rich media experience to the prospective customer or client over an electronic network, wherein the interactive rich media experience is programmed to be consistent with the sales methodology and to elicit information regarding the prosective customer's or client's needs. There is a need for the rich media interaction to be designed according to human factors practices and principles so as to obtain information relating to needs in a way that is attractive to the user. There is a need for an analytic tool for use by a sales representative to view and interpret the information gathered during the automated communication, in order to conduct effective follow-up communications according to the sales methodolgy. There is a need for an automated system for rapidly and easily generating interactive rich media packages to be presented to prospective clients or customers over an electronic network, There is a need for an automated system for rapidly and easily generating interactive rich media packages that can be used easily by a person without extensive computer skills. There is a need for a system for integrating the creation and delivery of interactive rich media messages, the eliciting and analysis of client needs and customer relationship management into a larger system geared towards supporting a best-practices sales methodology.

This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a rich media personal selling solution. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for interactively collecting information from an end user, said method comprising the steps of: constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom web-site; wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded thereon for execution by a computer the method of interactively collecting information from an end user, said method comprising the steps of: constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom web-site; wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for interactively collecting information from an end user, said apparatus comprising: means for constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; means for generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; means for constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; means for generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; means for populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; means for monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and means for monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom web-site, wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for the interactive collection of information from an end user through the end user's interaction with a custom content website accessed over a public communication network, said system comprising: a database for storing a plurality of custom content, said custom content having rich media and content relating to a sales campaign; a computing device having a net agent installed thereon, said computing device capable of accessing the public communication network and the database, said net agent generating the custom website, said custom website including a structured conversational interface and custom content imported from the database, said structured conversational interface having a system logic for interactively guiding presentation of the custom content to the end user, said net agent monitoring, collecting and storing end user data, said end user data including end user responses to the custom content presented by the structure conversation interface and said end user data further including end user events representative of the end user's interaction with the custom content web-site. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Figure 1 is a schematic of the system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a flow diagram for the sequence of events in an end user interaction according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram for the sequence of events in the creation of a net agent according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a screenshot of the user interface of an Economic Impact Calculator (EIC) according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a flow diagram for the sequence of .events in the creation of a net agent according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic of the system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic of the system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 is a screenshot of the user interface of a builder application according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a screenshot of the user interface of a builder application according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 10 is a screenshot of the user interface of a builder application according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 11 is a screenshot of the user interface of a net agent according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 12 is a screenshot of a CRM user interface according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 13 is a schematic of the system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 14 is a screenshot of the user interface of a net agent according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 15 is a schematic of the system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 16 is a screen shot of the user interface of a net agent according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Definitions

The term "rich media" is used to define any of various combinations of one or more media types, such as for example audio, video, text or other media types such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art, wherein said rich media is typically displayed by a browser or a plug-in to that browser or by a media player application.

The term "customer relationship management (CRM) system" is used to define a system which assists in the automation of interactions between customers and a sales organization. A CRM system further stores and collects information relating to these interactions. This type of system may integrate large amounts of data around the task of selling, servicing or supporting potential and existing customers.

The term "lead generation system" is used to define systems which collect contact information about potential customers.

The term "streaming system" is used to define a system which enables the transmission of information over a network to a destination site. As would be known to a worker skilled in the art, streaming may be performed by breaking information into packets enabling the commencement of the "viewing" of the information prior to the completion of the transmission of the information to the destination.

The term "email system" is used to define a system which enables the transmission of emails over a communication network, for example the Internet.

The term "Web conferencing system" is used to define a system which enables two or more users to interact, while sharing information viewed in a browser. With respect to this invention the Web conferencing system typically enables a sales professional to interact with a potential customer (end user) .

The term "sales professional" is used to define a person involved either in a sales campaign or sales call, for example a sales representative, a sales manager or other manager, a marketing professional, a consultant or other appropriate person such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

The term "end user" is used to define the potential customer, to which a personalized rich media experience according to the present invention, is directed. "End user", "customer", "potential customer", "prospective customer" and "prospect" may be used interchangeably.

The term "net agent" and "net rep" are used interchangeably to define the system providing an end user with a rich media sales interaction,

The term "content author" is used to define a person creating customized or personalized content for use in a net agent. The content author can include, for example, a sales representative, a marketing professional, a manager, consultant or other person such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

The term "sales methodology" is used to define sales practices such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

The term "best-practices sales methodology" is used to define sales practices that have been identified as being successful, effective or otherwise desirable, such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. The term "content management library" (CML) is used to define a networked or local storage system for web pages and/or rich media data such as for example a database or filesystem such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art,

The term "net agent skin" is used to define common graphical and aesthetic elements applied to a net agent in order to give its appearance a branded look and feel displaying the appropriate trademarks and identifying it as belonging to a given organization.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

The present invention provides an end-to-end rich media selling solution for creating and designing a Web site with a structured conversational interface using custom content based upon a best-practices sales methodology, analyzing data obtained by the rich media net agent and generating action-orientated reports to assist a sales professional in interpreting the data. In this manner, a sales professional is provided with information necessary to pre-screen potential customers with a greater probability for a sale before making a first call. The present invention provides a means for a sales professional to create a rich media net agent to conduct a sales communication interaction with the end user, presenting information to and collecting information from the end user in accordance with a best-practice sales methodology. The structure and/or logic of the end user's interaction with the rich media net agent is designed according to a chosen best-practices sales methodology, and is embodied in a Structured Conversational Interface (SCI) using programming languages or software such as for example Flash MX, Java, interactive MPEG-4 and/or any other languages or software such as would be known by a worker skilled in the art. The rich media net agent further comprises textual, audio and video content provided by the content author according to the specifications of the SCI. The information gathered from the end user's responses to an interaction with the rich media net agent is collected and analyzed by an analytics engine to provide a sales professional with a summary report to determine whether to follow-up with the end user. In one embodiment of the invention, the functionality of the system is provided by a single computing device, wherein the functionality of each component of the system is provided thereby, wherein the components of the system are embodied as computer programs executed by the computing device. In an alternate embodiment, the system may comprise a number of computing devices, wherein the functionality of the system is divided among a collection of computing devices. In this embodiment the appropriate computing program or programs which embody the one or more components of the system, are installed and executed on the appropriate computing device. A computing device which may be used in association with this invention may be for example a personal computer, a server computer, a mainframe computer, or a combination thereof, or any other type of computing device as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. A computing device associated with the present invention is capable of direct or indirect interconnection with one or more of the communication networks associated with the present invention.

In another embodiment of this invention where multiple computing devices provide the system with its functionality, these devices can be interconnected by an additional communication network wherein this . communication network may be a local area network, a wide area network, a hardwired or wireless network or a combination thereof or any other type of communication network as would be know to a worker skilled in the art. In one embodiment, the network interconnecting the multiple computing devices forming the system may be the Internet or any other type of global communication network as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. The use of a global network as this communication network may enable a number of sales professionals to access a central CRM system, for example, wherein this access may be required from a remote location.

Video Services Platform Server

In one embodiment of the present invention and with reference to Figure 1, the visual services platform (VSP) 20 is formed from a collection of modules comprising a VSP application program interface (API) module 100, a content management module 110, a user management module 120 and an auditor module 130. The system server API 100 provides interfaces between the applications of the system server, for example the content management system and the operating system of the computing device upon which the computer program is being executed. The content management system 110 enables the system to manage the distribution, identity and location of the generated personalized web pages and the rich media used by the system, for example, multimedia sales messages. In one embodiment of the present invention, the content management module comprises a CML wherein are stored personalized web pages, for example, and rich media content such as for example text, audio, and video¹.

The user management system 120 provides a means for establishing the authentication, permission and associations of an allowable user (sales professional). For example, the user management system may incorporate a login sequence for enabling the verification of a user and may also establish the authorization of user access to all or only portions of the information which is contained on the system server 20. This may be accomplished through the use of passwords, for example. It also manages the persistence and statefulness that allow multiple sessions to be bound to the same identity. That is, the network used by this invention is stateless. The system server tracks events across multiple sessions, and associates them with a user. It can display this information when called upon, for example in the personalized web-site it creates, wherein aspects of a previous web-conference or viewing experience may by displayed on the personalized web-site. The VSP 20 further comprises an auditor 130 which compiles information relating to event statistics (end user interaction with the system), billing and input/output and reports. In an embodiment of the present invention, the auditor also includes an analytics engine 134 for interpreting the end user interaction with a personalized web page. The results of the analytics engine are presented to a sales representative in order to provide information useful for conducting a sales campaign in accordance with best- practices sales methodology.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the VSP server comprises a web server, a file server or any other appropriate server such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

Using (he Net Agent in a Sales Campaign

In one embodiment of the present invention, the net agent comprises a personalized rich media website accessible to the end user through a web browser. To provide interactivity, the net agent may make use of scripting languages and/or browser plug- ins, for example Flash MX, Javascript, Java, ActiveX, interactive MPEG-4 and/or any other appropriate language or software known to a worker skilled in the art. The net agent may make use of server-side as well as client-side programming, using Java, ASP, PHP and/or any other language known to a worker skilled in the art.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a net agent is created according to the needs of a sales campaign by a content author. Based on the sales methodology adopted by the sales organization, the SCI of the net agent will have been programmed so as to carry on an interaction with the end user in accordance with that sales methodology. To give the net agent its appearance, a net agent graphical skin is selected which defines general aesthetic elements of the net agent, providing a branded look and feel embodying the appropriate trademarks for example. The content of the net agent is created and uploaded, or else selected from a CML, This content will depend on the goals of a particular sales campaign, for instance the particular products and/or services for which the organization wishes to determine end user interest. The net agent's content is based on the sales organization's best-sales methodology and the net agent's SCI. In one embodiment of the present invention, the net agent is then built, for example using a builder application.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the content author uses a net agent builder application to combine the net agent shell, graphical skin and content. Using an agent builder, the content author does not need to have programming skills.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the content author combines the net agent shell, graphical skin and content without using a builder application, by using, for example, Flash MX, interactive MPEG-4, Java or any other appropriate software, language or format known to a worker skilled in the art. In one embodiment of the present invention, the content author may use, for example, a net agent library or net agent development kit to speed up the process of creating the rich media net agent. The content author may use a net agent shell or template. The content author may use a net agent library. In another embodiment of the present invention, the net agent is built from scratch.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a pre-built net agent stored on the CML is selected for the sales campaign. In one embodiment of the present invention, where the net agent is a personalized website, the net agent is built and then published to the web.

Having been either built or else selected from pre-built net agents, the net agent is communicated to one or more end users targeted according to the organization's sales campaign. Various means exist for delivering the rich media net agent. For example, part or all of the message may be included in an email message as an attachment. Part or all of the message can be downloadable by the viewer over an electronic network, for example from a website over the Internet. Given that in most cases, the amount of content is large, in one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the end user is sent an email message containing only a hyperlink or small attachment, and the main part of the rich media net agent is streamed to the end user throughout the course of the interaction. As the end user interacts with the net agent, the interactions and responses of the end user are collected and delivered to an analytics engine. The analytics engine analyzes the interaction and produces a report which is viewable by the sales professional and is designed to assist the sales professional in conducting further sales activities such as for example a follow-up call relating to a service in which the user appears to be interested.

Structured Conversational Interface

The interaction between the net agent and the end user is conducted according to a structured conversational interface (SCI). The SCI defines a general pattern of dialogue according to which the agent communicates with the end user.

In one embodiment of the present invention, and with reference to Figure 2, the SCI 209 comprises a dialog pattern designed according to a best-practice sales methodology such as for example CustomerCentric Selling®. For example, the SCI 209 may be designed to present the end user with a menu of business challenges which might plausibly affect the end user. From this menu, the end user can choose whichever seems most relevant or interesting. The plausible business challenges have been pre-defined by, for example, sales professionals, sales managers, developers, consultants or others such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. For each business challenge, the sales professional also defines a business solution, which may involve a service or product being offered by the sales organization. After presenting the solution, the end user may be presented with an Economic Impact Calculator (EIC) to show the end user the financial impact of the business challenge and/or the financial impact of adopting the suggested solution. The EIC may be designed to calculate, for example, Return on Investment (ROI) and/or other measures of economic impact known to a worker skilled in the art. The EIC may calculate measures based on various assumptions and metrics, and including or excluding various factors such as, for example, initial cost, fixed and variable costs, amortization, and other variables as would be known to a worker skilled in the art, The above-described SCI is only one such possible SCI based on a particular best-practices sales methodology, namely CustomerCentric Selling®. It will be evident to a worker skilled in the art that other SCIs may be designed according to any sales methodology as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. For example sales methodologies which may be used with a net agent include existing methodologies that have been developed as CustomerCentric Selling®, Miller-Heiman®, Solution Selling®, Holden International®, Sandier Institute of Sales Training®, Engage Selling®, as well as any other sales methodologies as would be readily known.

In addition to being based on a successful sales methodology, the SCI is designed to take into account human factors in order to make the interaction as comfortable and pleasing to the end user as possible. Often, existing Internet based advertising and sales communications are ineffective because they do not take into account human factors for sales interactions. In some cases, the communication is one way, from the advertiser to the end user. Since the end user is constantly overloaded with advertising, he or she learns to ignore such communications. In other cases, the end user is presented with long questionnaires. Since the questionnaires are long and time-consuming to fill out, the user may not be inclined to make the effort to fill out the information fully and accurately. Also, the end user may be uncertain about the purpose for collecting the information. In one embodiment of the present invention, the SCI is designed so that the end user is presented with a choice and, after making the choice, is presented with useful and interesting information based on that choice. As such, the end user receives an instant useful response for providing a piece of information. The information can be elicited in a natural process of give and take, according to the same process and rhythm as in a natural conversation with a person. Since the flow of the SCI is designed to feel natural, the end user understands why each question is being asked and immediately sees how each piece of information is being used. The psychological process of reciprocity encourages the end user to carry on a conversation with the net agent. In an embodiment of the present invention, a hierarchical tree is created which defines sequential steps filtered and triggered by the end user's choices, each step being associated with questions and ways to collect responses. The SCI is customizable to incorporate different sales methodologies based on the sales campaign.

Figure 2 for example, illustrates the end user interaction with the rich media net agent incorporating a particular SCI 209 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention where the SCI is based on CustomerCentric Selling®.

Figure 11 for example, illustrates a net agent user interface in one embodiment of the present invention.

End User Interaction with Net Agent In one embodiment of the present invention and with reference to Figure 2, the end user receives an invitation to view a rich media sales rep via an e-mail or other electronic message 202 that is sent out by the sales professional. In one embodiment of the present invention, the end user clicks on a hyperlink or uniform resource locator (URL) 204 embedded in the message which opens a Web browser or other media viewing application that connects to a VSP. The VSP server stores the rich media net agent created by the sales professional for the end user. The Web browser or other media viewing application connects to the VSP server to access the net agent for display to the end user.

A rich media introduction of the sales professional can be shown to the user welcoming the user and introducing the rich media net agent 206. In one embodiment of the present invention, the rich media introduction of the sales professional is a video clip of the sales professional speaking to the user.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the rich media net agent includes a User Interface Agent Character (UI agent character) comprising a graphical and/or animated character that interacts with the user throughout the user's session. In one embodiment of the present invention, the UI agent is for example a video or animation, for example, a person or cartoon character. For example, the UI agent character may comprise for example an animated video of a sales professional, where the animated sales professional may be made from an actual video recording of a human actor or professional, or may be computer generated, hand-drawn or animated according to any other means known to a worker skilled in the art. In another embodiment of the present invention, the UI agent character is a plurality of still images. As the user interacts with the rich media net agent, the UI agent character will respond with speech and motion, for example, and will point to specific items as they are presented. The UI agent character will interact with the user using a SCI to present questions and responses.

In one embodiment, the rich media net agent uses rich media to simulate three basic types of social behavior: active, passive, and facilitative. The active element of the rich media net agent explains and directs users through their interaction with the rich media net agent, for example the UI agent or video clips. The passive element of the rich media net agent has subtle background activity indicating attcntiveness to user interactions, for example background wallpaper changing to reflect a user's selection. The facilitative element of the rich media net agent interacts with the user, responding to user inputs, for examples, audio clips corresponding to the user's mouse movements or selections.

In one embodiment, the end user is presented with text and graphics that describe a series of problems that may fit the end user's situation 210. In one embodiment of the present invention, the text and graphics are synchronized with rich media. The rich media may include for example, video and/or audio related to the series of problems.

The user will click on the problem that best fits the end user's situation, or the one in which he or she is most interested 212, The end user is then presented with a more detailed version of the problem with a description of some points of interest relating to the problem 216. In one embodiment of the present invention, the text and graphics are synchronized with rich media. The rich media may include for example, video and/or audio related to the solution. After the brief presentation on the problem, the end user may indicate whether the problem is relevant or applicable to his or her own situation 218. If the end user indicates that the presented problem is not relevant, then the end user is redirected to the original set of problems 210.

If the end user indicates that the presented problem is in fact relevant, then that information is sent to the VSP server or web server 219. The end user is given a presentation that describes a solution to the problem 220. The presentation may include text, graphics, audio and video.

In one embodiment, the end user is then presented with the option 222 of using an EIC, such as for example an ROI calculator, or of investigating other problems from the business challenge menu 210 that may pertain to the end user. The EIC 224 allows the end user to input data into the rich media net agent and, based on the entered data, displays the economic impact on the end user of the business challenge and the suggested solution. If the end user chooses to investigate more problems, the end user will be redirected and presented with the original set of problems 210. If the user chooses the EIC, the user will be presented with an EIC form with input fields for entering data.

In one embodiment, once the user has completed the EIC form, the user is presented with the option 230 either of exploring further problems, in which case the user will be redirected to the original menu of problems 210, or of viewing a summary 232 of all the interactions that occurred during the session. The summary displays all of the problems that were selected, the economic impact of the selected problems and asks the user to assign a rank to each of the selected problems. In one embodiment, for example, the user is asked to select one of the following ranks for a selected problem: "nice to have", "important", or "critical".

The final step is to present to the user the option 238 to request contact with the sales professional for more information, In one embodiment of the present invention, the user is presented with the option 240 to select a preferred method of contact and an input field for comments or questions for the sales professional. The preferred method of contact for example, can be e-mail or telephone. In one embodiment of the present invention, in the course of the interactive net agent session, the user may have been introduced to an audiovisual representation of his or her sales contact, so as to establish an initial rapport prior to the actual sales call itself.

As the user makes each decision in the interaction with the rich media Net Agent and fills in the economic impact and/or ROI form, the information is sent to the Web server for storage and further processing. In an embodiment of the present invention, the net agent allows the end user to navigate from anywhere within the net agent to anywhere else within the net agent, allows the end user to view their navigation path when they are done, and allows the end user to start or stop at any time. In an embodiment of the present invention, the interaction of the end user with the net agent is stored such that, when the end user returns to the net agent in a subsequent interaction, the end user is able to access the full history of previous sessions and resume communication with the net agent from wherever the previous session ended.

It will be appreciated by a worker skilled in the art that the net agent interaction as described above constitutes only one example, and that an embodiment of the present invention may comprise a different SCI based on any sales methodology. In an embodiment of the present invention, the SCI can be designed according to any sales methodology by setting out a map or flow chart of the SCI in accordance with the sales methodology as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

Net Agent Builder

In one embodiment of the present invention, a net agent builder application facilitates the development of a net agent by the content author. Using the net agent builder application, a sales representative or other content author who has with little or no experience in software development can build a Net Agent. The builder includes a graphical user interface (GUI) and/or graphical "wizard" running on a computer system. The builder is created by a developer, for example, a software developer, engineer, programmer or others as would be known by a worker skilled in the art.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the process for creating a rich media net agent using the net agent builder is illustrated in Figure 3.

The sale representative begins the process by loading a rich media net agent shell into the builder 310. The shell is created by a multi-media artist, for example, a software developer, graphic artist, marketing representative, multi-media developer or others as would be known by a person skilled in the art. The shell is designed to be able to display a variety of rich media and as such can be designed using for example Flash®, ShockWave®, Java®, interactive MPEG-4 or other appropriate software or languages such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. Once created, the shell is stored in a CML, for example on the VSP server. The shell provides the generic framework in which rich media can be added by the sales professional to define the aesthetic look and feel of the net agent, for example, the shell can be customized to have the look and feel of the sales professional's organization including appropriate trademarks.

In one embodiment of the present invention, and with reference to Figure 3, the builder application is also configured to accept an introduction video of a Sales Representative recorded and uploaded by the content author 320. The builder also allows the content author to input a series of business challenges. For each business challenge, the content author may enter a brief heading for the challenge, a written description of the challenge, and written description of the solution 330. In addition, the content author may upload or else select from a CML an image to accompany the challenge's heading. As well, the content author may upload (or select from a CML) video and audio media files to accompany the description of the challenge and the description of the solution. The builder application also allows the user to link a challenge to an EIC. In one embodiment of the present invention, the builder may provide tools for creating an EIC. Once the content author has customized the net agent, the builder can publish the net agent to a website 340.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the builder presents the content author with a user interface having buttons or menus allowing the user to perform steps 310, 320 and 330 in any order, and allowing the user to return to a previously chosen step in order to make changes. This user interface may be a graphical user interface with menus or buttons for accessing the various functions such as selecting video clips, sound clips, text or EIC descriptions. Under each function, further menus or buttons may be provided allowing the user to upload rich media or select it from the . In the case of text, a text box can be provided to allow the user to enter text or edit the text if it has already been entered. In one embodiment of the present invention, the interface for performing steps 310, 320 and 330 includes an editor interface as well as a wizard interface such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the builder's user interface for steps 310, 320 and 330 are provided through a web browser. In another embodiment of the present invention, the user interface is provided using a Java application or applet, or using Flash, or any other appropriate multimedia scripting language or authoring system as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. In another embodiment of the present invention, the builder is a regular application running on the content author's operating system, such as would be known by a worker skilled in the art.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the builder in steps 310, 320 and 330 will, in addition to accepting uploads from the user, also allow the user the option of selecting a pre-existing Shell, video, or test from a rich media database or .

In an embodiment of the present invention, the builder allows the content author to load and edit a pre-existing message to produce a new rich media sales message.

In an embodiment of the present invention, and with reference to Figure 4, an EIC can be created using for example Flash MX, interactive MPEG-4, Java and/or any other appropriate common multimedia authoring applications, languages or formats such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art, and linked with a business challenge scenario. In another embodiment of the present invention, a simple scripting language is embedded in the Net Agent, and the builder allows the user to create an EIC by means of that scripting language. In one embodiment, the builder provides the content author with an EIC creation tool that allows the user to a) add an input variable 410, by entering the name of the input variable 415 and the format of the variable, b) the output variable 420 and a name 425 for the output variable, and c) enter a mathematical relationship between the output variable 420 and the input variables 410. In an embodiment of the present invention, the Net Agent embeds a simple interpreter capable of interpreting a simple an EIC definition and displaying the EIC to the viewer such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. In another embodiment of the present invention, the content author may create an EIC using, for example, Flash MX, Java, interactive MPEG-4 and/or any other appropriate software, language or format known to a worker skilled in the art. The content author may then upload and link that EIC with the Net Agent, for example, by embedding an object, by using a hyperlink, by including classes, or by other appropriate means such as would be known to a worker skilled in the art.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the builder makes use of program code defining the elements of the Net Agent determined by the SCI. For example, in one embodiment of the present invention, the program code of the Net Agent includes the functionality for carrying on an SCI designed in accordance with a sales methodology.

In one embodiment of the present invention, if the chosen sales methodology is CustomerCentric Selling® for example then the net agent program code includes the functionality of presenting the prospect with a menu of business challenges that the prospect might face and prompting the prospect to select one of them, displaying a solution to the challenge, and allowing the prospect to use an EIC to calculate the economic impact of adopting the solution. Likewise, if another sales methodology is adopted, a conversational pattern is determined according to that methodology and implemented as an SCI which is then embodied in the program code of a net agent.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the net agent program code has placeholders for the look and feel, as well as for video clips, audio clips and text which would normally describe challenge and solution scenarios, as well as for the EICs. Using the builder, the content author uploads or selects the customized content, including the shell, the video and audio media, and the problem and solution text. Once all the desired customized elements are present, the builder combines these customized elements together along with the program code in such a way as to fill in the placeholders, thereby producing the customized net agent. In another embodiment of the present invention, the customized data is not actually linked with the net agent program code, but instead the customized net agent specifications are stored in the VSP in a database, file system or other storage apparatus as may be known to a worker skilled in the art, and is dynamically loaded by the Net Agent when it is requested by an end user.

As an example of how one would create a net agent, using for example an SCI based on CustomerCentric Selling®, and with reference to Figure 5, the content author would begin by first of all developing a list of problems and solutions that may be experienced by the prospective customers 520. The content author then inputs the list of problems into a database 530, A brief heading is entered here which will appear as an entry in the main menu from which the viewer will select the problems relevant to him or her. For each problem, the content author inputs a graphical image to represent the problem 534. These images will appear in the business challenge selection menu next to the corresponding problem heading. The problem list is stored in the database along with corresponding images 532. For each problem, the content author inputs a more detailed description 540. This description will appear if the viewer chooses the problem as being relevant to him or her. The content author also inputs graphics, video and audio corresponding to the problem description 544. The graphics, video and audio are then stored in the database 542. For each problem, the content author also inputs a description of the solution to the problem 550, possibly involving a product or service offered by the sales organization. The content author inputs graphics, video and audio corresponding to the problem solution 554. The content author stores the solution's description in the database along with the corresponding graphics, video and audio 552.

The content then inputs 560 the Return on Investment by defining the input variables, the output variable and the mathematical relationship between them. The Return on Investment definition formula is stored 562 in the database.

In one embodiment of the present invention, all of the above steps are performed using a net agent builder application, using its graphical user interface.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the steps are performed without using a net agent builder application. In one embodiment of the present invention, the data is uploaded directly into a database or saved onto storage media, and the net agent is programmed such that it will retrieve the necessary data from the database or storage media. In one embodiment of the present invention, the net agent can be created using for example Flash MX, Java, interactive MPEG-4 and/or any other appropriate software, language or standard known to a worker skilled in the art. In this case, the person creating the net agent would need to have some software development skills as would be known to a person skilled in the art. In one embodiment of the present invention, a net agent library or development kit may be used to facilitate the development of the net agent. A net agent shell or template may be used. In another embodiment of the present invention, the net agent may be built from scratch according to specifications of the SCI.

Figure 8, for example, illustrates the user interface of the builder application, in one embodiment of the present invention, for enabling the content author to create an EIC. Figure 9, for example, illustrates the user interface of the builder application, in one embodiment of the present invention, for enabling the content author to input business challenges. In one embodiment of the present invention, the business challenges can take the form of plausible emergencies which the end user might encounter.

Figure 10, for example, illustrates the user interface of the builder application, in one embodiment of the present invention, for enabling the content author to input solutions to a business challenge.

Tracking User Responses and Events within the Rich Media Net Agent - Analytics and Reporting

In one embodiment of the present invention and with reference to Figure 7, the data gathered from the Net Agent 710 is processed using a scripting engine 730, an analytics engine 720 and a template mechanism 740.

The data read by the scripting engine includes, but is not limited to, selections made by an end user from a plurality of rich media files in files in the rich media net agent; data entered by the end user into interactive graphical calculators to quantify the impact of proposed solutions for their own situation; end user choices and inputs made in radio buttons, tick boxes, or text input boxes corresponding to questions posed by the rich media net agent; end user edits to the session history, a summary of user choices and inputs in a message suitable for sending by email or other common electronic messaging systems; the end user's selection of the option to forward that message to appropriate people or departments based on the user's choices and inputs These data events are stored in database for future retrieval. In one embodiment of the present invention the database is located on the Web server.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the data read by the scripting engine includes Web metric data, for example, the number of logins by the user, user I.D., date and time user enters and/or leaves the site, first click on hyperlink, repeated clicks on same hyperlink, start/stop times for media streaming, priority (emergency, info, etc.), type of event (security, streaming, etc.), user-defined events, logout, actions taken by the user to control viewing of rich media files including, for example, start, pause, repeat, turn on or turn off audio, and close window. In one embodiment of the invention, the data gathered by the scripting engine may be enabled through the use of "cookies". A cookie, as used in network and Internet communication, is a block of data or state object that a Web server stores on a client or user system. When the user accesses a Web site within the limited range of domain names, the user system automatically transmits a copy of the cookie to the Web server that serves the Web site. The cookie may include a unique cookie number corresponding to the user system. Thus, the cookie can be used to identify the user system and to track the user's activity within the user's rich media net agent session.

The scripting engine operates a script to organize and analyze data gathered during a rich media net agent session. The script is initiated based upon an event from either the rich media net agent or a timed event, upon which all the data gathered and stored from the rich media net agent is processed according to a script developed for the rich media net agent. The scripting engine is generated, in part, by the sales professional's selection of the desired data fields to analyze in the rich media net agent builder. After the sales professional has defined the fields to analyze and report, the scripting engine reads the data gathered by the rich media net agent or other means, ranks the results by importance based on user activity and determines what is important and what is not based on criteria defined by the sales representative, for example. The script finishes by populating the template fields of the template provided by the template mechanism.

The template mechanism obtains the fields from the analytics engine and scripting engine to generate the format of the reports.

The analytics engine reads the resulting data from the rich media net agent and, operating according to commands issued by the scripting engine, creates reports for uploading to a CRM, for sending via e-mail, and/or for publishing to a Web page for viewing by sales professionals using any Web browser, with hyperlinks inserted to facilitate navigation between summaries and detailed views. Thus, a summary report is provided to the sales professional, presenting information and analysis on the needs and interest-level of prospective customers, and guidance for assisting the sales professional in conducting sales activities with the prospective customer, such as for example a follow-up sales call. An example of a summary report, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, is provided by Figure 12. The sales professional is listed in the first column 1210 and their potential customers or users are listed in the second column 1220. The user's important choices, responses, and inputs are listed in the data fields on the right, The data fields are highly customizable based upon a selected sales methodology or on a sales professional's preference. To remind the sales professional, the user's interest is colour coded so disinterested users are not bothered, while interested users receive appropriate follow up. When the sales professional wants to make a follow up call, they can bring up a report, for example, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, by clicking on their own name, Each opportunity is described by a detailed text entry to support the sales professional in making their next follow-up phone call. _' The template for the textual description of the opportunity is defined at the time the sales department generates the rich media net agent. This orientation to action provides a sales representative with a highly targeted and efficient method to prescreen customers before contacting them by phone.

In another embodiment of the present invention, if not enough data has been provided by the rich media net agent, then the "raw" unanalyzed data can be passed through to the sales representative.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the analytics engine monitors the effectiveness of the rich media net agent using Web metric data gathered from previous sessions of the rich media net agent. The scripting engine processes the data in accordance with a script designed to analyze Web metric data. The analytics engine populates an efficiency template provided by the template mechanism with the results outputted by the scripting engine. The analytics engine creates an efficiency report for uploading to a CRM, e-mail, and/or Web pages for viewing in any Web browser for the sales professional. The efficiency report provides a sales professional a summary of information relating to the quality of rich media previously viewed based upon Web metric data gathered.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the scripting engine processes all available data, including data gathered and stored by the rich media net agent, cookies and web metric data. The analytics engine reads the data from the scripting engine and creates a summary report of the end user's interaction with the net agent, supported by Web metric data.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the analytics engine sends a notification to the sale professional of the user's progress, for example, sending a notification by SMS messaging, e-mail, or pager.

Inference Engine

In one embodiment of the present invention, data is collected and analyzed by an inference engine 140 for the purpose of predicting what content users will want to view. The inference engine 140 is a function of the VSP Server that aggregates data from a number of net agents, makes inferences about what content will most likely be viewed by certain types of end users, and reports the aggregated results for use in authoring new net agents and predicting overall market response.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the inference engine 140 aggregates data about the user such as business size or type. The inference engine 140 aggregates data from net agents such as end user selections, data events, or content viewed. The inference engine 140 uses the aggregate data to determine how data events, user selections, or content viewed or other user characteristics will impact what content a user will most likely view. From these correlations, it makes inferences about what end users will most likely select during future end user interactions with net agents. In another embodiement of the present invention, the inference engine 140 can also make recommendations on the most likely response to net agent interactions in a new market area based on analysis of data collected from other market areas, thus assisting a marketing organization in comparing the net agents to other sales or marketing methods.

The inference engine 140 analyzes the aggregate data using the predictive algorithms, models or rules as would be known to a worker skilled in the art. The data analyzed includes, but is not limited to, statistical data, demographic data, historical data, or data relating to a particular industry or business.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the inferences or predictions made by the inference engine 140 can be utilized to update the predictive algorithms, models or rules. In another embodiment of the present invention, the inferences or predictions made by the inference engine 140 can be reported to the sales professional

Microsoft states that conversational interfaces and real-time inference hold great promise in fundamental enhancements to human-computer interaction. The inventors believe a conversational user interface can approximate the function of a real conversation between a customer and sales representative. However, sales representatives lack the tools to author net agents that capture the nuances of conversational rules, and lack tools that predict what rich media content users will most likely want to view. Since the VSP Server generates those statistics as part of its auditing process, the inference engine 140 can make use of them in predicting future user responses; this prediction is not made deterministically, but inferentially.

In one embodiment, a net agent can display choices of plausible user challenges from which a user, can select, those plausible challenges 1600 having been predicted by the inference engine anticipating a user's probable responses, and presented in accordance with set of paths, as determined by the structured conversational interface. The inference engine 140 predicts the conversation interaction with the net agent which might take place as the user views rich media proposing solutions to user challenges.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the inference engine 140, predicts the path to be taken by an end user and alters the structured conversational interface based on inferences of plausible choices.

In one embodiment of the present invention the inference engine 140 predicts what type of rich media certain end users prefer over others, or select tools such as an economic impact calculator (see Figure 4) to calculate the value of a solution proposed to the user during the structured conversation.

Net Agent Themes

Over time, a sales campaign may lose its impact and as such customers may lose interest in the sales campaign. The present invention provides a sales campaign to enhance customer interest by incorporating themes in the net agent to engage a customer such that the customer will be continue to follow the sales campaign. In one embodiment, certain elements within the net agent remain constant and are further developed within each net agent in a given sales campaign, for example, a main character. This is not dissimilar to a television series where each episode may have a discrete storyline, however, with each successive episode the character or a subplot therein are further developed. For many television series, it the character or subplot development that continues to attract viewers' interest in future episodes. A solution is to view net agents not just as stand-alone units that interact and collect information from customers but also as series of episodes that continue to uncover latent customer needs while providing an element of entertainment and suspense at the same time.

In one embodiment of the present invention the net agent includes themes. The themes further comprise scenes integrated into sales methodology of the structured conversational interface, for example, business challenge scenes or business solution scenes. The scenes comprise rich media and custom content populating the background and foreground of the web-site. For example, the scenario can include images, music, voice recording, video recordings of people, or other rich media as would be desired for any given sales campaign. When a scene plays, the image and voice is usually synchronized. The scene may also comprise full motion video with or without audio.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the theme includes one or more characters. Each of the characters in a given scene, within a theme, may or may not know or have relationships with characters who are featured in other scenes from the end user's perspective. In another embodiment of the present invention, the themes include scenes with one or more storylines. Each of the storylines within a given scene may or may not be related

In one embodiment, a theme is integrated into a net agent having a structured conversational interface based on present business challenges and business solutions to an end user. Business challenge scenes and business solution scenes are integrated and synchronized with the presentation of the business challenges and business solution by the structured conversational interface.

For example, the target audience for net agent sales campaign may be owners of manufacturing companies with less than 500 employees. The net agent is designed to have a theme featuring scenes with a main character as an owner of a manufacturing company. A first net agent is e-mailed to the customers in the target audience, for example. In the first net agent, the main character faces a business challenge of slow delivery of inventory to customers in a business challenge scene. The business solution scene may show the main character solving the business challenge by installing a CRM system. Furthermore, an additional story element is provided wherein one or more elements of the main character's life is revealed, for example, the main character receives a call from their spouse, A second net agent is e-mailed to the customers in the same target audience. In the second net agent, the main character is the same character from the first net agent. The main character will face a second business challenge in a business challenge scene in which the main character will solve the business challenge in the business solution scene. Additional elements of the main character's life, different than those provided by the first net agent is provided, for example, the main character must call their spouse to find out that their son has been called to his school's Principal's office. The storylines developed for each scene can be designed as a "cliff- hanger" to engage a customer's interest and thereby provide a form of entertainment. In this manner, a customer, in addition to receiving a sales methodology within a structured conversational interface, will also be provided stimulus to promote the continuous interaction with subsequent net agents within a sales campaign.

It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In particular, it is within the scope of the invention to provide a computer program product or program element, or a program storage or memory device such as a solid or fluid transmission medium, magnetic or optical wire, tape or disc, or the like, for storing signals readable by a machine, for controlling the operation of a computer according to the method of the invention and/or to structure its components in accordance with the system of the invention.

Further, each step of the method may be executed on any general computer, such as a personal computer, server or the like and pursuant to one or more, or a part of one or more, program elements, modules or objects generated from any programming language, such as C++, Java, Pl/1, or the like. In addition, each step, or a file or object or the like implementing each said step, may be executed by special purpose hardware or a circuit module designed for that purpose. Further, the end user may interact with the net agent by means other than a web browser, such as for example an interactive MPEG-4 or other media viewing applications such as would be known by a worker skilled in the art. Alternatively, the end user may interact with the net agent by means of, for example, a custom or proprietary viewer application or other appropriate viewer application such as would be known by a worker skilled in the art.

The embodiments of the invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A method for interactively collecting information from an end user, said method comprising the steps of: (a) constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; (b) generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; (c) constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; (d) generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; (e) populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; (f) monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and (g) monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom website; wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the system logic based on a sales methodology is based on the presentation of one or more challenges to the end user and the presentation of one or more solutions to each of said challenges.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the sales methodology includes an economic impact calculator wherein said economic impact calculator can be use to determine the financial impact or the return on investment, or any combination thereof, of a solution selected by the end user.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 3, further comprising the step of generating an audit database, said audit database storing the end user responses and the end user events.

5. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising the steps of: (a) generating an inference engine; (b) integrating said inference engine with the audit database and the net agent; (c) predicting the custom content to be presented to the end user by the net agent; and (d) populating said custom content web-site with the predicted custom content.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of: (a) predicting one or more challenges or one or more solutions to be presented to the end user; and (b) altering the sequence followed by the system logic based on the predicted one or more challenges or one or more solutions

7. The method according to claim 3 or 5 wherein the means for generating the inference engine uses a mathematical algorithm to create said inference engine.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein historical data from a plurality of previous end user interactions with the net agent is used in the mathematical algorithm to create said inference engine.

9. The method according to claim 7 wherein a predictive model and conversational rules are used in the mathematical algorithm to create said inference engine.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of: (a) scoring user responses to the predicted custom content based on the predictive model and conversational rules; and (b) updating the predictive model based on the determination of whether the predicted custom content is viewed by the end user.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of: (a) scoring user responses to the presentation of the one or more predicted challenges or solutions based on the predictive model and conversational rules; and (b) updating the predictive model based on the determination of whether the predicted one ore more challenges or solutions is viewed by the end user.

12. The method according to claims 2, 3,4 or 5, further comprising the steps of: (a) selecting data fields to be analyzed (b) determining the end user's interest in the selected data fields based on the end user responses and end user events; and (c) generating a report of end user events and end user responses ranked by importance based upon the selected data fields and the determination of the end user's interest. wherein the report is provided in a conversational format enabling a sales professional to identify and continue the conversational context in which the end user expressed interest.

13. The metliod according to claim 12, wherein said data field comprises custom content, business solutions or a combination thereof.

14. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of inferring predicted custom content to be presented to the end user and generating a report of said predicted custom content.

15, The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of predicting market impact.

16. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of extrapolating end user responses in a first market area based on historical data of end user responses in a second market area.

17. The method according to claim 1 wherein said net agent includes a theme; said theme having custom content defining a storyline. 18, A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded thereon for execution by a computer the method of interactively collecting information from an end user, said method comprising the steps of: (a) constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; (b) generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; (c) constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; (d) generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; (e) populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; (f) monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and (g) monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom web-site; wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site.

19. An apparatus for interactively collecting information from an end user, said apparatus comprising: (a) means for constructing a structured conversational interface, said structured conversational interface having a system logic based upon a sales methodology to interactively guide a presentation of custom content to the end user; (b) means for generating custom content, said custom content comprising rich media representing a sales campaign; (c) means for constructing a net agent based upon said structured conversational interface and custom content; said net agent enabling end user interaction with the structured conversational interface; (d) means for generating a custom web-site, said custom web-site enabling electronic access by the end user; (e) means for populating said custom web-site with said custom content and said structured conversation interface; (f) means for monitoring, collecting and storing end user responses, said end user responses defining the end user's responses to said custom content as presented by said structured conversational interface; and (g) means for monitoring, collecting and storing end user events, said end user events defining the end user's activity and interaction with said custom website, wherein said collected and stored end user responses and end user events can be used to generate a report of end user interest based on the custom content presented during interaction with the custom web-site.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, further comprising a means for generating an audit database, said audit database storing the end user responses and the end user events.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, further comprising: (a) means for generating an inference engine; (b) means for integrating said inference engine with the audit database and the net agent; (c) means for predicting the custom content to be presented to the end user by the net agent; and (d) means for populating said custom content web-site with the predicted custom content.

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising means predicting one or more challenges or one or more solutions to be presented to the end user.

23. The apparatus according to claim 19, 20, 21, 22 further comprising: (a) means for selecting data fields to be analyzed; (b) means for determining the end user's interest in the selected data fields based on the end user responses and end user events; and . (c) means for generating a report of end user events and end user responses ranked by importance based upon the selected data fields and the determination of the end user's interest. wherein the report is provided in a conversational format enabling a sales professional to identify and continue the conversational context in which the end user expressed interest.

24. A system for the interactive collection of information from an end user through the end user's interaction with a custom content website accessed over a public communication network, said system comprising: (a) a database for storing a plurality of custom content, said custom content having rich media and content relating to a sales campaign; (b) a computing device having a net agent installed thereon, said computing device capable of accessing the public communication network and the database, said net agent generating the custom website, said custom website including structured conversational interface and custom content imported from the database, said structured conversational interface having a system logic for interactively guiding presentation of the custom content to the end user, said net agent monitoring, collecting and storing end user data, said end user data including end user responses to the custom content presented by the structure conversation interface and said end user data further including end user events representative of the end user's interaction with the custom content web-site,

25. The system according to claim 24, further comprising a means for generating a report representative of interests of the end user based on the end user data.

26. The system according to claim 24, further comprising an inference engine installed on the computing device,- said inference engine for predicting suitable custom content for presentation to the end user, said suitable custom content predicted based on the end user data.

7. The system according to claim 24, further comprising an auditing database installed on the computing device, said auditing engine for analyzing said end user data and organizing said end user data based on evaluated importance to the end user.