System and method for profiling customers for targeted marketing

Abstract

A targeted marketing system and method are provided that provide a customer with customer questions, receive responses to the customer questions from the customer, and store data associated with the responses. The customer is provided with a feedback page that graphically illustrates data associated with the customer's standing in a selected peer group. The customer is provided with options operable to adjust the customer's actual demographic to a hypothetical demographic, and data associated with hypothetical demographic changes from the customer is received and processed. Hypothetical feedback information is then displayed that graphically illustrates the hypothetical standing of the customer within the selected peer group such that the customer can see the effect of the hypothetical demographic changes.

1 . A method for profiling customers for targeted marketing, comprising:
 receiving survey questions from a business data processing system;   receiving demographic data from a customer data processing system;   identifying at least a portion of the survey questions based on the demographic data;   providing the identified survey questions to the customer data processing system;   receiving responses to the identified survey questions from the customer data processing system;   dynamically generating at least one targeted marketing report based on the responses received from the customer data processing system; and   providing the targeted marketing report to the business data processing system.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , the targeted marketing reports dynamically generated based on a set of decision rules. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , the set of decision rules dynamically generated based on the responses received from the customer data processing system. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , the set of decision rules received from the business data processing system. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , the targeted marketing reports comprising a probability associated with at least one customer regarding the likelihood that the customer will purchase a specific product or service. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating targeted advertisements based on the responses received from the customer data processing system; and   providing the targeted advertisements to the customer data processing system.   
     
     
         7 . A method for profiling customers for targeted marketing, comprising:
 receiving survey questions from a business data processing system;   receiving demographic data from a customer data processing system;   identifying at least a portion of the survey questions based on the demographic data;   providing the identified survey questions to the customer data processing system;   receiving responses to the identified survey questions from the customer data processing system;   identifying a specified product or service based on the responses received from the customer data processing; and   providing information associated with the specified product or service to the customer data processing system.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving an apply selection from the customer data processing system; and   providing a blank application for the specified product or service to the customer data processing system, the blank application requesting customer information.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising receiving a completed application for the specified product or service from the customer data processing system, the completed application comprising the customer information requested by the blank application. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising providing a message regarding the completed application to the business data processing system when the completed application is received. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving an apply selection from the customer data processing system; and   providing an application for the specified product or service to the customer data processing system, the application at least partially pre-populated with customer information.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising receiving information associated with the specified product or service from the business data processing system. 
     
     
         13 . A method for generating a data set in a customer survey system, comprising:
 receiving an identification number from a customer data processing system;   identifying a customer based on the identification number;   identifying a business based on the identification number;   retrieving data associated with the customer and the business, the data stored in the customer survey system; and   generating a data set based on the retrieved data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , the data stored in the customer survey system comprising preferences associated with the business. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising colors for the data set. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising at least one banner for the data set. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising at least one logo for the data set. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising at least one advertisement for the data set. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , the preferences comprising an order for presenting the survey questions. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 14 , the preferences comprising products and services. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , the preferences comprising at least one application for one of the products or services. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 13 , the data stored in the customer survey system comprising customer information associated with the customer. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , the customer information comprising demographic data received from the customer. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , the customer information comprising psychographic data received from the customer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 13 , the data stored in the customer survey system comprising preferences associated with the business and customer information associated with the customer, the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question, and the customer information comprising information identifying survey questions to which the customer previously provided a response. 
     
     
         27 . A customer survey system comprising:
 a page generator operable to receive an identification number from a customer data processing system, to identify a customer based on the identification number, to identify a business based on the identification number, to retrieve data associated with the customer and the business, the data stored in the customer survey system, and to generate a data set based on the retrieved data; and   a graphical report generator operable to generate in real-time graphical reports based on data received from the customer data processing system.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , the data stored in the customer survey system comprising preferences associated with the business and customer information associated with the customer. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising colors, at least one banner, and at least one logo for the data set. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising at least one advertisement for the data set. 
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising survey questions, possible answers to each survey question, and an order for presenting the survey questions. 
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising products, services, and at least one application for one of the products or services. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question, and the customer information comprising demographic data received from the customer and information identifying survey questions to which the customer previously provided a response. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 28 , the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question, and the customer information comprising psychographic data received from the customer and information identifying survey questions to which the customer previously provided a response. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 27 , the graphical report generator further operable to generate comparison data based on demographic data received from the customer in relation to demographic data associated with a selected peer group and to generate a graphical summary of the comparison data. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 27 , the graphical report generator further operable to generate hypothetical comparison data based on hypothetical demographic data received from the customer in relation to demographic data associated with a selected peer group and to generate a graphical summary of the comparison data. 
     
     
         37 . A customer survey system comprising:
 a page generator operable to receive an identification number from a customer data processing system, to identify a customer based on the identification number, to identify a business based on the identification number, to retrieve data associated with the customer and the business, the data stored in the customer survey system, and to generate a data set based on the retrieved data; and   a business report generator operable to generate reports for the business based on data received from the customer data processing system.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37 , the data stored in the customer survey system comprising preferences associated with the business and customer information associated with the customer. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising colors, at least one banner, and at least one logo for the data set. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising at least one advertisement for the data set. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising survey questions, possible answers to each survey question, and an order for presenting the survey questions. 
     
     
         42 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising products, services, and at least one application for one of the products or services. 
     
     
         43 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question, and the customer information comprising demographic data received from the customer and information identifying survey questions to which the customer previously provided a response. 
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 38 , the preferences comprising survey questions and possible answers to each survey question, and the customer information comprising psychographic data received from the customer and information identifying survey questions to which the customer previously provided a response. 
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 37 , the business report generator further operable to receive demographic data from a plurality of customers, to receive responses to survey questions from the customers, to receive from a business data processing system a selection of a particular product or service, and to generate a report associated with the particular product or service, the report comprising a plurality of customer identification numbers, a probability of purchase for each customer identification number, and a link to an associated probability profile for each probability of purchase, and to provide the report to the business data processing system. 
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , the business report generator further operable to receive from the business data processing system a selection of a specified link for a specified probability of purchase and to provide the probability profile associated with the specified link to the business data processing system, the probability profile comprising a profile description for the specified probability of purchase. 
     
     
         47 . A method for providing anonymous access to a survey system, comprising:
 receiving a customer identification number from a customer, the customer identification number operable to identify the customer;   validating the customer based on the customer identification number;   generating an encrypted number based on the customer identification number; and   providing the encrypted number to the survey system to enable the customer to access the survey system, the survey system unable to identify the customer based on the encrypted number.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , the customer identification number comprising an account number. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 47 , the customer identification number comprising a personal identification number. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 47 , further comprising:
 storing a mapping table comprising a plurality of customer identification numbers and a corresponding encrypted number for each customer identification number; and   generating an encrypted number based on the customer identification number comprising retrieving from the mapping table the encrypted number corresponding to the customer identification number.   
     
     
         51 . A method for targeted marketing, comprising:
 receiving demographic data from a plurality of customers;   receiving responses to survey questions from the customers;   receiving from a business data processing system a selection of a particular product or service;   generating a report associated with the particular product or service, the report comprising a plurality of customer identification numbers, a probability of purchase for each customer identification number, and a link to an associated probability profile for each probability of purchase; and   providing the report to the business data processing system.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51 , further comprising:
 receiving from the business data processing system a selection of a specified link for a specified probability of purchase; and   providing the probability profile associated with the specified link to the business data processing system, the probability profile comprising a profile description for the specified probability of purchase.   
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , the profile description comprising demographic data. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 52 , the profile description comprising psychographic data. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 52 , the profile description comprising demographic data and psychographic data. 
     
     
         56 . A method for generating a report for targeted marketing, comprising:
 receiving a selection of a specified product or service;   receiving a selection of at least one data type for use as a basis for the report;   retrieving input data based on the data type;   providing the input data to a statistical processing program;   receiving output data from the statistical processing program, the output data based on the input data and comprising profile attributes and associated profile probabilities;   generating a list of potential customers by matching stored customer identification numbers to the profile attributes; and   generating the report for targeting marketing, the report comprising the list of potential customers and, for each potential customer, the profile probability associated with the profile attributes for the potential customer.   
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 56 , further comprising:
 identifying customer identification numbers corresponding to customers already utilizing the specified product or service; and   removing the customer identification numbers corresponding to the customers already utilizing the specified product or service from the list of potential customers.   
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 56 , the data type comprising demographic data. 
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 56 , the data type comprising demographic and psychographic data.