WO2019209174A1

WO2019209174A1 - Method and system for managing records

Info

Publication number: WO2019209174A1
Application number: PCT/SG2019/050209
Authority: WO
Inventors: Timothy Julien SMITH
Original assignee: Trident Corporate Services (Singapore) Pte Limited As Trustee For The Oneplace Unit Trust
Priority date: 2018-04-23
Filing date: 2019-04-15
Publication date: 2019-10-31
Also published as: SG10201803396XA

Abstract

A method and system of managing a record for a client record management system, the method and system including accessing a pipeline opportunity record in a database, determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred, linking the pipeline opportunity record to a competitor record, producing a report on the lost deal, showing details of the lost deal, generating a key metric indicator using the report on the lost deal and a competitor grading from the competitor record, and sending a notification based on the key metric indicator.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING RECORDS

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The present invention relates to a method and system for the linking of database records. More specifically, the present invention relates to matching and showing the recent activities of a competitor and highlighting this accordingly.

BACKGROUND

[002] Within a record management system for understanding and communicating with clients, both prospective and past, contacts and the like, client records are populated with information that can be used by the users for various purposes. This allows the system to capture the myriad of information about clients, contacts, functions, publications, pipeline opportunities, matters, referrals, experience, professionals CVs, proposals, etc. Some of the contacts can be competitor firms that compete partially or fully in the same space, and it is key to gathering intelligence and information on what these contacts are doing and to profile them accordingly.

[003] Given the volume of information that can be collected, displaying the relevant information in a manner that is easy to review can be daunting. Further, the information presented may not be relevant at that point in time to the user, who may decide to view the clients and segment the information by revenue, industry, practice group, technology sector, etc, and allow the user or the system to group this information accordingly, for example by companies, set goals, feedback levels, contacts to follow up with, as well as competitive intelligence, contact relationship development plan, etc.

[004] There are various types of records with various fields and information relevant to the user, that are created in a client management database, where new company entries are fed into a system of client records, and an example of a record is a pipeline opportunity record, which are entered or created by users of the system to record the details of a potential client after meeting the client or after being referred the work from another company.

[005] Hence, there is a need for a record management system and method that is able to manage, process and highlight relevant records quickly and efficiently, but accurately and have this information presented in a meaningful way.

SUMMARY

[006] The above and other problems are solved and an improvement in the art is made by a method and system in accordance with this invention. A first advantage of the method and system in accordance with this invention is that it allows the user to better understand the clients and to create plans that incorporate goals, feedback, contact relationship development plans, and competitive intelligence action plans. It ensures that potentially lost deals can be salvaged through planning ahead the various tangible steps needed. A second advantage of the method and system in accordance with this invention is that preemptive action can be taken to head off competitors. By working out a plan and setting goals and measures to achieve metrics, the user has a clear direction on how to proceed. A third advance of the method and system in accordance with this invention is that an overview of the relationship with the client can be viewed by the user. This provides accountability and transparency for the user as well as management and subordinates so that everyone is on the same page and geared towards the same goal.

[007] The present invention provides a system and method for managing a record for a client record management system. In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, there is a method for managing a record for a client record management system, the method comprising accessing a pipeline opportunity record in a database, determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred, linking the pipeline opportunity record to a competitor record, producing a report on the lost deal, showing details of the lost deal, generating a key metric indicator using the report on the lost deal and a competitor grading from the competitor record, and sending a notification based on the key metric indicator. In alternative embodiments, the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal has occurred comprises checking a field on the pipeline opportunity record. In further alternative embodiments, the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal is based on external information that is fed into the system via an input. In further embodiments, the input comprises manually entering external information into the system. In yet further embodiments, the input is fed into the system via an external source. In other embodiments, a medium of the external source is also stored in the system. In further embodiments of the invention, the step of determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred comprises checking the status of a field, a flag, a trigger, or an alert associated with the pipeline opportunity record. In alternative embodiments of the invention, the competitor grading is a percentage and the competitor grading is highlighted when the competitor grading achieves a predetermined list of thresholds. In further alternative embodiments, the competitor grading is highlighted using different colours, fonts, text styles or typeface. In other further embodiments, the notification can take the form of an email format; an on-screen alert; a system message; or any combination of these.

[008] In accordance with an embodiment, there is a system of managing a record for a client record management system, the system comprising a client record management system including a processor and memory, a database module including a processor and memory configured to process and store a plurality of records, a data processing system including a processor and memory, the data processing system configured to access a pipeline opportunity record in the database module, determine from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred, link the pipeline opportunity record to a competitor record in the database module, produce a report on the lost deal, generate a key metric indicator using the report on the lost deal and a competitor grading from the competitor record, and send a notification based on the key metric indicator. In other embodiments, the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal has occurred comprises checking a field on the pipeline opportunity record. In yet other embodiments, the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal is based on external information that is fed into the system via an input. In further embodiments, the input comprises manually entering external information into the system. In yet further embodiments, the input is fed into the system via an external source. In alternative embodiments, a medium of the external source is also stored in the system. In yet other embodiments of the invention, the step of determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred comprises checking the status of a field, a flag, a trigger, or an alert associated with the pipeline opportunity record. In further embodiments of the invention, the competitor grading is highlighted when the competitor grading achieves a predetermined list of thresholds. In yet further embodiments, the competitor grading is highlighted using different colours, fonts, text styles or typeface. In other embodiments, the notification can take the form of an email format; an on-screen alert; a system message; or any combination of these.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[009] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the disclosure and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the embodiments disclosed herein. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. [0010] Figure 1 illustrates a representation of a network of data processing systems in which aspects of the disclosed embodiments may be implemented;

[0011] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic view of a software system for carrying out an embodiment;

[0012] Figure 3 illustrates a method of managing a record in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The various configurations discussed in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are used to illustrate at least one embodiment and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.

[0014] Figure 1 shows a record system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated. The system 1 10 includes a server 1 12. In other embodiments, the server 1 12 can be any processing device including a processor and sufficient resources to perform the process of providing a rebate to a customer. The server 1 12 can be any processing device including a processor and sufficient resources to perform the process of providing a rebate to a customer. The server 1 12 is connected to an HTTP server 1 14. HTTP server 1 14 uses HTTP or any other appropriate stateless protocols to communicate via a network 1 16 such as the Internet, with any other device connected to the network 1 16.

[0015] In the illustrated embodiment, user devices include personal computers 1 18, CE players, and mobile phones 120. In other embodiments, user devices can include consumer electronic devices such as televisions, set top boxes, video game consoles, tablets, and other devices that are capable of connecting to a server via HTTP and playing back encoded media. A storage unit 130, which can be in the form of memory, databases etc, is in communication with the network 1 16. Although a specific architecture is shown in Figure 1 , any of a variety of architectures including system that perform conventional processes can be utilized that enable playback devices to request portions of the top level index file and the container files in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

[0016] Some process for providing methods and systems in accordance with embodiments of this invention are executed by a user device or user mobile device. The relevant components in a playback device that can perform processes including adaptive streaming processes in accordance with embodiments of the invention are shown in Figure 2. One skilled in the art will recognize that user device 200 may include other components that are omitted for brevity without departing from the embodiments of the invention as described. The user device 200 includes a processor 205, a non-volatile memory 210, and a volatile memory 215. The processor 205 is a processor, microprocessor, controller, or a combination of processors, microprocessor, and/or controllers that performs instructions stored in the volatile 215 or non-volatile memory 210 to manipulate data stored in the memory. The non-volatile memory 210 can store processor instructions utilized to configure the user device 200 to perform processes including processes in accordance with embodiments of the invention and/or data for the processes being utilized. In other embodiments, the user device software and/or firmware can be stored in any of a variety of non- transitory computer readable media appropriate to a specific application.

[0017] The communications network refers to any contact between the parties described and is accomplished through any suitable communication means, including, but not limited to, a telephone network, public switch telephone network, intranet, Internet, extranet, WAN, LAN, point of interaction device, point of sale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk terminal, automated teller machine (ATM), etc.), online communications, off-line communications, wireless communications, satellite communications, and/or the like. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons, any databases, systems, or components of the present invention may consist of any combination of databases or components at a single location or at multiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any of various suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption, de-encryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

[0018] Figure 3 illustrates a high-level flow chart of operations illustrating logical operational steps of a method 300 for managing a record for a client record management system, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. It can be appreciated that each of the steps or logical operations of the method 300 depicted in Figure 3 can be implemented by executing a program instruction or a group of instructions in the record management system. [0019] A method of incorporating information relating to competitor companies or firms of a client or of the user is to create records within the system for the competitor companies or firms.

[0020] By expanding tabs such as Goals and Feedback tabs, metrics such as target and progress can be captured in the form of measures and displayed across all components, fields or factors within the system for a single or multiple clients. These measures can include activity count, pipeline opportunity count, pipeline opportunity conversion rate, matter feedback level, key contract relationship strength improvement, cross-selling referral count, etc. These measures can also be configured for each client (record) as these measures vary.

[0021] Another tab called the Clients and Market tab has a component called Competitive Intelligence. This component is based on groups of clients and/or individual clients through pipeline opportunity records, that has been flagged, marked as lost to a firm's competitors, or captured based on directory submissions where the client was marked as one of the competitor's clients, for a particular practice group, sector, service line, etc. This allows an action plan to be created to determine how to counter or anticipate the competitor or group of competitors providing advice to this client.

[0022] The method 300 starts when an alert is triggered or a flag is set when a pipeline opportunity record is set to "closed-lost"; or a workflow is commenced on this basis; or a field in the pipeline opportunity record states "competitor awarded work" 310. This field may be mandatory in order to determine the status of the pipeline opportunity record, and the system monitors the relevant trigger, flag or field for each record accordingly. The system then updates the company record of the competitor with a link to pipeline opportunity record 320. Another source of information may be directory submissions or news reported in the media, and these sources can provide knowledge of significant deals lost to a competitor 330 and the medium of the source is also captured by the system 340 and the system updates the company record of the competitor with a link to pipeline opportunity record 320. A competitive intelligence (intel) report can be generated and sent to the user, which can show details of the lost deal, along with a description of the deal, the company acted for, the practice group, service line, value, etc. Separately, the system analyses and compares competitor records against goals set by the user, for example by service line - banking. The system also shows a statistic such as the percentage of deals won by the competitor highlighted in a colour for easy reference. For example, any percentage above 50% would be red, 30-50% would be amber, and anything less than 30% would be green 360, and stored on the company or competitor's record accordingly. These values can be defined by the user in order to keep closer or further tabs on a competitor. The system would generate the key metric indicator based on the previous steps 350 and 360 and provide an alert while updating the filed as "likely outcome closed- lost" if the competitor record chosen is highlighted as red or more than 50% 370. The key metric indicator can be a number or percentage that may be highlighted in a particular text style, typeface, colour or format. This would trigger a notification or a workflow to email business development department or marketing where pipeline opportunity shows "likely-outcome is closed-lost" 380. This notification can be in an email format, an on-screen alert, a system message, or any other form of messaging.

[0023]This would allow users to truly understand their clients using the information at hand and create follow up action plans that can incorporate the goals, feedback, contact relationship development plans, and competitive intelligence action plans. This would allow the user to build accountability around relationships with key contacts, and set goals and measures to combat feedback or key metrics such as activity count, pipeline opportunity count, pipeline opportunity conversion rate, etc. This would provide the user with a clear direction on how to achieve those metrics.

[0024]When on a competitors’ company record in the system, the pipeline opportunity won figure and competitor score can also be graded through an algorithm, as well as the service lines currently acting for provided. This grading can be displayed or viewed, and then further highlighted in a different colour, text style or font size for easy reference. For example, red, amber, and green depending on the grading. This is stored on the competitor's company record,

[0025] As understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the present invention can be implemented with special purpose computers, devices, and servers that are programmed to implement the embodiments described herein. Further, the system according to the embodiments disclosed herein is able accommodate many more combinations and permutations, or any other future electronic payment methods. For example, the system according to the embodiments disclosed herein can accommodate cloud based or app based record management system as well.

[0026] Thus, the present invention has been fully described with reference to the drawing figures. Although the invention has been described based upon these preferred embodiments, to those of skill in the art, certain modifications, variations, and alternative constructions would be apparent, while remaining within the spirit and scope of the invention. In order to determine the metes and bounds of the invention, therefore, reference should be made to the appended claims.

Claims

1 . A method for managing a record for a client record management system, the method comprising: accessing a pipeline opportunity record in a database; determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred; linking the pipeline opportunity record to a competitor record; producing a report on the lost deal, showing details of the lost deal; generating a key metric indicator using the report on the lost deal and a competitor grading from the competitor record; and sending a notification based on the key metric indicator.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal has occurred comprises checking a field on the pipeline opportunity record.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal is based on external information that is fed into the system via an input.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the input comprises manually entering external information into the system.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the input is fed into the system via an external source.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a medium of the external source is also stored in the system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred comprises checking the status of a field, a flag, a trigger, or an alert associated with the pipeline opportunity record.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the competitor grading is a percentage and the competitor grading is highlighted when the competitor grading achieves a predetermined list of thresholds.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the competitor grading is highlighted using different colours, fonts, text styles or typeface.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification can take the form of an email format; an on-screen alert; a system message; or any combination of these.

1 1 . A system of managing a record for a client record management system, the system comprising: a client record management system including a processor and memory; a database module including a processor and memory configured to process and store a plurality of records; a data processing system including a processor and memory, the data processing system configured to: access a pipeline opportunity record in the database module; determine from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred; link the pipeline opportunity record to a competitor record in the database module; produce a report on the lost deal; generate a key metric indicator using the report on the lost deal and a competitor grading from the competitor record; and send a notification based on the key metric indicator.

12. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal has occurred comprises checking a field on the pipeline opportunity record.

13. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the step of determining from a pipeline opportunity record that is a lost deal is based on external information that is fed into the system via an input.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the input comprises manually entering external information into the system.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the input is fed into the system via an external source.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein a medium of the external source is also stored in the system.

17. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the step of determining from the pipeline opportunity record that a lost deal has occurred comprises checking the status of a field, a flag, a trigger, or an alert associated with the pipeline opportunity record.

18. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the competitor grading is highlighted when the competitor grading achieves a predetermined list of thresholds.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the competitor grading is highlighted using different colours, fonts, text styles or typeface.

20. The system of claim 1 1 , wherein the notification can take the form of an email format; an on-screen alert; a system message; or any combination of these.