Systems and Methods for Identifying Groups Relevant to Stored Objectives and Recommending Actions

Abstract

Relationship management systems in accordance with embodiments of the invention are configured to provide systematic ways for a user to measure, and manage relationships in the user's social network. One embodiment of the invention includes a relationship management server system, and a database. In addition, the relationship management server system is configured to store a user account associated with a user in the database, store information concerning contacts associated with the user in the database, store event information associated with the user and at least one of the stored contacts in the database, store at least one objective in the database, score at least one relationship between the user and a contact based upon stored event information associated with the user and the contact to create a scored relationship graph, and generate a recommendation concerning an action based upon the stored objective and the scored relationship graph.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A relationship management system, comprising:
 a relationship management server system; and   a database;
 wherein the relationship management server system is configured to: 
 store a user account associated with a user in the database; 
 store information concerning contacts associated with the user in the database; 
 store event information associated with the user and at least one of the stored contacts in the database; 
 store at least one objective in the database; 
 score at least one relationship between the user and a contact based upon stored event information associated with the user and the contact to create a scored relationship graph; and 
 generate a recommendation concerning an action based upon at least one stored objective and the scored relationship graph. 
   
     
     
         2 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is configured to obtain contact information from at least one source of contact information. 
     
     
         3 . The relationship management system of  claim 2 , wherein at least one source of contact information is selected from the group consisting of a web mail service, an enterprise mail system, and an online social network. 
     
     
         4 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is configured to obtain event information from at least one source of event information. 
     
     
         5 . The relationship management system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one source of event information is selected from the group consisting of a web mail service, an enterprise mail system, a web calendaring service, an enterprise calendaring system, call data records, and an online social network. 
     
     
         6 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the objective relates to a specific project. 
     
     
         7 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the objective relates to an objective with respect to the user's relationship graph. 
     
     
         8 . The relationship management system of  claim 7 , wherein the objective relates to a specific relationship. 
     
     
         9 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to store information characterizing at least one relationship between the user and a contact. 
     
     
         10 . The relationship management system of  claim 9 , wherein the information characterizing a relationship between the user and a contact is expressed in terms of a first value indicative of the importance of the relationship to the user, and a second value indicative of the strength of the relationship. 
     
     
         11 . The relationship management system of  claim 10 , wherein the objective is expressed as a target value for the strength of a relationship. 
     
     
         12 . The relationship management system of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the relationship management server system is further configured to prompt the user for information characterizing at least one relationship; and   the at least one relationship is selected based upon the importance of the relationship to the generation of a recommendation concerning an action based upon the stored objective and the scored relationship graph.   
     
     
         13 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to store information identifying a group of contacts associated with the objective. 
     
     
         14 . The relationship management system of  claim 13 , wherein the relationship  0 management server system is further configured to recommend at least one contact for inclusion in the group of contacts associated with the objective. 
     
     
         15 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to decrease the score assigned to a relationship between a user and a contact due to the passage of time. 
     
     
         16 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to increase the score assigned to a relationship between a user and a contact in response to the occurrence of an event involving at least the user and the contact. 
     
     
         17 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to increase the score assigned to a relationship between a user and a contact in response to the occurrence of a telephone conversation between the user and the contact. 
     
     
         18 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to increase the score assigned to a relationship between a user and a contact in response to the occurrence of a meeting between the user and the contact. 
     
     
         19 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to modify the score assigned to a relationship between a user and a contact in response to the user requesting a predetermined action from the contact. 
     
     
         20 . The relationship management system of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship management server system is further configured to score event information associated with the user and at least one of the contacts.