Automotive data mining system for automatic lead generation and contact management

Abstract

A data mining system can generate leads for, and facilitate outreach by, automotive dealerships. Such a system can include a view server, and access controls. A contact management subsystem can track automotive marketing interactions with a task list view. Contact stage controls can allow a user to specify a current stage for a particular contact in a multi-stage contact management process. A notification generating subsystem can be integrated with the contact management subsystem, providing individualized offers for selected prospects. It can use an assessment server configured to automatically identify contacts as prospects using historical transaction data and current automobile identifiers to perform a payment comparison. A deal sheet view can facilitate outreach to prospects by consolidating payment comparison information and contact information, as well as indicating a current stage for the prospect in the multi-stage contact management process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A data mining system to generate leads for, and facilitate outreach by, automotive dealerships, the system comprising:
 a view server accessible by a dealer via a secure connection over the internet, the view server providing a hypertext interface comprising hyperlinks for navigating between views;   access controls that allow a user to access the system and allow the system to customize a view to an appropriate level of detail for the user, the access controls comprising a log in screen;   a contact management subsystem that tracks automotive marketing interactions such as telephone calls, visits, appointments, or emails, the contact management subsystem comprising:
 contact management entries stored in a computer database; 
 contact information associated with the contact management entries, the contact information comprising names, addresses, and telephone numbers for contacts of the dealer; 
 a task list view comprising:
 a list of tasks; 
 contact names associated with the tasks; 
 list controls that allow the user to filter, sort, or rank the tasks; and 
 notification indicators indicating which contacts the data mining system has automatically identified as prospects; 
 
 contact stage controls that allow the user to specify a current stage for 
   a particular contact in a multi-stage contact management process;   a notification generating subsystem integrated with the contact management subsystem, providing individualized offers for selected prospects, the notification generating system having:
 access to a computer database storing historical transaction data for contacts of the dealer; 
 access to external data comprising automobile trade-in values; and 
 an assessment server configured to automatically identify contacts as prospects by executing stored program instructions that determine and evaluate potential terms available to a contact for automotive financing as follows:
 retrieve, from the computer database storing historical transaction data, terms of a current financial agreement for the contact's current automobile; 
 retrieve an automobile identifier for the contact's current automobile; 
 automatically identify a particular type of replacement automobile for the contact based on the contact's current automobile; 
 determine a payment under a potential replacement agreement for the contact based on a trade-in value for the current automobile, the terms of the current financial agreement, and the particular type of replacement automobile; 
 perform a payment comparison between a current payment under the current financial agreement and the payment under the potential replacement agreement; and 
 identify a contact as a prospect based on the payment comparison; and 
 
   a deal sheet view configured to facilitate outreach to prospects by providing a single-page display that consolidates a result of a payment comparison for a prospect with contact information for that prospect, and to facilitate follow-through, by indicating a current stage for the prospect in the multi-stage contact management process.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the task list view further comprises priority indicators comprising icons, colors, or text that indicate priority levels for tasks in the list. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the deal sheet view is further configured to display a side-by-side comparison of payments under different financing terms for the potential replacement agreement, including a column for at least a 48-month financing term and a column for a 60-month financing term.