FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to sales management systems. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to the management of sales opportunities by a sales management system, and the use of a sales management system to facilitate the efficient handoff of a closed sales opportunity to other parts of an organization.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sales management systems can be used to manage sales leads, qualify the sales leads to select sales opportunities from the sales leads, and facilitate the management of the sales process to drive the closing of the sales opportunities to finalize sales.

Service ticketing systems can be used to catalog, track, and manage the completion of tasks needed to support a sale. A service ticketing system can facilitate the management of the tasks by service managers, and can facilitate the completion of the tasks by service technicians.

Sales order systems can be used to generate sales orders for purchasing products needed to support a sale. A sales order system can facilitate the management of vendor delivery of the products, and can facilitate the tracking and delivery of the products as needed.

Project planning systems can schedule and manage projects needed to support a sale. A project planning system can facilitate the entry, management, and tracking of the tasks and sub-tasks needed for completion of the projects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Sales management systems can greatly facilitate the sales process. Sales management systems can help to keep track of a large number of leads, organize the process of qualifying the leads, and standardize the qualification and selection of leads for pursuit as sales opportunities. Sales management systems can also standardize the process of moving a sales opportunity through the sales process and driving the sales opportunity toward completion as either a lost opportunity or a closed sale. During the entire process from lead to closed sale, the sales management system can facilitate the collection and storage of all information and requirements associated with the sale, and ensure that no customer communications or documents are lost. The sales management system can also assist with the preparation, delivery, and update of customer quotations for services and products. A sales management system can also greatly improve the communication between the many members of a sales team and give the sales team members access to shared information that is essential for doing their job.

Once a sale is closed, the sales management system can facilitate the handoff of the sale to other entities within the organization to deliver the products and services to the customer. For example, the sales management system can facilitate the conversion of sales data to the purchasing department, which may be responsible for procuring and delivering hardware and software products to the customer. Continuing the example, the sales management system can also facilitate the conversion of sales data to the service department, which may be responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining those products at the customer site. Continuing the example further, the sales management system can also facilitate the conversion of sales data to the engineering department, which may be responsible for designing and implementing custom configurations required by the customer.

The sales management system may need to convert the sales data to different tools used by each of these departments for managing and implementing their workload. For example, for the purchasing department, the sales management system may need to convert sales data into a sales order system to track product procurement and interface with external vendors. Continuing the example, for the service department, the sales management system may need to convert sales data into a service ticketing system to track, prioritize, assign, and complete the many tasks the service department needs to manage. Continuing the example further, for the engineering department, the sales management system may need to convert sales data into a project management system to plan, schedule, and implement the complex projects the engineering department must complete for customers.

Much of the information needed by these individual systems (the sales order system, service ticketing system, and project management system) may already be present in the sales management system and may have been collected, updated and verified by the sales team during the sales process. The handoff of the sale from the sales department to other departments can involve the conversion of information from the sales management system to the other tools used for managing and implementing the delivery of the sale to the customer. The present disclosure describes the automation of the handoff in a way that may help to minimize the introduction of human error in the handoff, which may result in greatly improved efficiency of the business processes and greatly improved customer satisfaction.

Systems and methods of the present disclosure facilitate managing a sale via a sales management system. For example, the present disclosure provides a sales opportunity module and a service ticket translation module. The sales opportunity module can receive sales leads and identify a sales lead as a sales opportunity based on at least one qualifying criterion. The service ticket translation module can select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a service ticket, translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into the service ticket, and provide the service ticket to a service board.

At least one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for converting a sales opportunity to at least one sales order. For example, the present disclosure provides a sales order translation module, which can select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a sales order, translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into the sales order, and provide the sales order to a sales order management module.

At least one aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for converting a sales opportunity to at least one project. For example, the present disclosure provides a project translation module, which can select data of the sales opportunity for inclusion in a project, translate the selected data of the sales opportunity into the project, and provide the project to a project management module.

