System and Method for Developing Sales Content

Abstract

A system and method of developing sales information for use in a buyer-seller environment is directed to providing one or more qualifiers which relate to a sales offering; determining value criteria, for each qualifier, to identify potential value of the sales offering; determining ideal buying criteria based on a competitive analysis; and developing the sales information from the value and buying criteria. The sales information, which can be a letter of understanding (LOU) or a buyer needs assessment, can be stored on a server and updated and accessed by one or more sellers. The updating can be an iterative process that is responsive to feedback about the sales information.

1 . A data processing system for developing sales guide instructions for use in a buyer-seller environment, the data processing system comprising:
 a data storage system having stored therein one or more qualifiers which relate to a sales offering; and   a processing system, coupled to the data storage system, configured to generate sales guide instructions directed to one or more sales offerings, the processing system being configured to:
 determine value criteria, for one or more qualifiers, to identify potential value of the sales offering using an open-ended query statement, where the open-ended query statement enables the seller to determine a potential problem for the buyer; 
 determine buying criteria based on a competitive analysis; and 
 generate the sales guide instructions based on at least a portion of: the qualifier, the value criteria and the competitive analysis data. 
   
     
     
         2 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein each qualifier further includes a characteristic which relates to the buyer or the seller, the characteristic being at least one of: an attribute of the seller, attribute of the buyer, potential need of the buyer, or potential problem for the buyer. 
     
     
         3 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the open-ended query statement is used by the seller in an information gathering procedure. 
     
     
         4 . A data processing system according to  claim 3  wherein the open-ended query statement enables the seller to determine one or more of: a potential problem for the buyer, or information relevant to solving the potential problem for the buyer. 
     
     
         5 . A data processing system according to  claim 3  wherein the information gathering procedure is configured to determine a potential impact which results from the problem being solved and a beneficiary that benefits from the problem being solved. 
     
     
         6 . A data processing system according to  claim 9  further including the information gathering procedure being configured to determine whether the beneficiary is a primary or secondary target;
 wherein determining that the beneficiary is a primary target further includes: 
 determining that the beneficiary has a vested interest in accepting the sales offering; and 
 determining that the beneficiary potentially has the ability to accept the sales offering. 
 
     
     
         7 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein determining value criteria for each qualifier further includes determining information about a present situation of the buyer with respect to the qualifier. 
     
     
         8 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the processing system being configured to determine buying criteria based on a competitive analysis further includes the processing system being configured to determine a potential value of the sales offering by using the value criteria in a quantitative analysis. 
     
     
         9 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the competitive analysis is based on a strengths and weaknesses analysis of the sales offering. 
     
     
         10 . A data processing system according to  claim 9  wherein the strengths and weaknesses analysis is further configured to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the sales offering against at least one competitive offering. 
     
     
         11 . A data processing system according to  claim 10  wherein the competitive analysis is further configured to rank the strengths of the offering against the competitive offering. 
     
     
         12 . A data processing system according to  claim 11  wherein the competitive analysis further includes determining the ideal buying criteria from strengths which rank higher than the competitive offering. 
     
     
         13 . A data processing system according to  claim 11  wherein the competitive analysis is further configured to generate a value proposition from strengths which rank higher than the competitive offering. 
     
     
         14 . A data processing system according to  claim 11  wherein the competitive analysis is further configured to generate an opening sales repertoire from strengths which rank higher than the competitive offering. 
     
     
         15 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the buying criteria is based on at least one of the following: decision process criteria, timeframe criteria, or budget criteria. 
     
     
         16 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the sales information is a letter of understanding for use in the buyer-seller environment. 
     
     
         17 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the sales information is configured to provide a buyer needs assessment that includes at least one of the following sections: present situation, desired result, impact, decision criteria, decision process, timeframe, budget, or next steps. 
     
     
         18 . A data processing system according to  claim 1  wherein the data processing system is further configured to:
 store the sales guide instructions on one or more servers; and 
 update, by one or more sellers, the sales guide instructions based on an iterative process that is responsive to feedback about the sales guide instructions. 
 
     
     
         19 . A data processing system according to  claim 18  wherein the updating is an iterative process that is responsive to feedback about the sales information. 
     
     
         20 . A data processing system for developing sales information for use in a buyer-seller environment, the data processing system comprising:
 a data storage system having stored therein one or more qualifiers which relate to a sales offering; and   a processing system, coupled to the data storage system, configured to generate sales guide instructions directed to one or more sales offerings, the processing system being configured to:
 determine value criteria, for one or more qualifiers, to identify potential value of the sales offering using an open-ended query statement, where the open-ended query statement enables the seller to determine a potential problem for the buyer; 
 determine buying criteria based on a competitive analysis; 
 generate the sales guide instructions based on at least a portion of: the qualifier, the value criteria and the competitive analysis data; 
 store the sales guide instructions on the storage system; and 
 update the sales guide instructions based on an iterative process that is responsive to feedback, from one or more sellers, about the sales guide instructions.