Vehicle-replacement alerts with mileage estimation

Abstract

A method and system is provided which can analyze customer data, including information about current products and agreements of the customer. The customer data can be used to predict various unknown parameters, including product usage data such as vehicle mileage. The customer data and predicted data can be used to generate various alert conditions. For example, an alert can be generated when a product's predicted usage data for a future time indicates that usage terms of a related agreement will be exceeded, and when a replacement product or agreement can be provided to a customer at an attractive price. An interactive deal sheet for an alert can be generated. The interactive deal sheet can allow a user to view various replacement products and agreements, and to perform additional calculations and comparisons based on inputted parameters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving over the Internet, from a computer associated with one or more vehicle dealers, historical mileage data for current vehicles belonging to a plurality of potential customers, the historical mileage data comprising mileage readings taken by the vehicle dealers during vehicle service visits;   executing software on a computer system that is hosted at one or more locations remote from the vehicle dealers, the software configured to determine, for each potential customer in the plurality of potential customers, whether the potential customer qualifies as a prospect by:
 selecting, from the historical mileage data, one or more historical mileage values and corresponding historical dates associated with the current vehicle of the potential customer; 
 calculating, based on the historical mileage values and historical dates, an estimated rate of mileage accumulation for the current vehicle; 
 determining, based on the estimated rate, a first predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a first date subsequent to the historical dates; 
 determining an estimated trade-in value for the current vehicle based on the first predicted mileage value; 
 calculating an estimated payment for a replacement vehicle based on the estimated trade-in value of the current vehicle; 
 identifying the potential customer as a prospect if a difference between the estimated payment for the replacement vehicle and a current payment for the current vehicle is within a predetermined range; 
   transmitting to at least one of the vehicle dealers, over the Internet, a list of alerts relating to the potential customers identified as prospects;   allowing users authorized by the one or more vehicle dealers to access the list of alerts while restricting access by unauthorized users;   associating an alert in the list of alerts with a sales task and assigning the sales task to an assigned user; and   transmitting to the assigned user, over the Internet, a notification identifying the alert and the sales task.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an indication from the assigned user that the sales task is complete and automatically assigning a follow-up task to at least one of the assigned user or a different user.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one alert in the list of alerts is a usage alert for a potential customer in the plurality of potential customers, and the computer system generates the usage alert by:
 retrieving a mileage limit for a warranty or lease associated with the current vehicle of the potential customer;   determining, based on the estimated rate of mileage accumulation for the current vehicle, a second predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a second date subsequent to the historical dates that correspond to the historical mileage values associated with the current vehicle; and   determining, if the potential customer is identified as a prospect and the second predicted mileage value exceeds the mileage limit, that a usage alert is available for the potential customer.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 presenting the list of alerts through a user interface accessible over the Internet, wherein the usage alerts in the list of alerts are presented before other alerts in the list.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the list of alerts includes at least one service alert for a potential customer in the plurality of potential customers, and the computer system generates the service alert by:
 retrieving at least one mileage amount relating to scheduled maintenance for the current vehicle of the potential customer;   determining, based on the estimated rate of mileage accumulation for the current vehicle, a second predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a second date subsequent to the historical dates that correspond to the historical mileage values associated with the current vehicle; and   determining that the second predicted mileage value exceeds the mileage amount.   
     
     
         6 . A system comprising:
 a network-accessible database configured to store historical mileage data for current vehicles belonging to a plurality of potential customers, the historical mileage data comprising mileage readings taken by one or more vehicle dealers during vehicle service visits;   one or more servers programmed to execute, for each potential customer in the plurality of potential customers, instructions that cause the server to:
 select, from the historical mileage data, one or more historical mileage values and corresponding historical dates associated with the current vehicle of the potential customer; 
 calculate, based on the historical mileage values and historical dates, an estimated rate of mileage accumulation for the current vehicle; 
 determine, based on the estimated rate, a first predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a first date subsequent to the historical dates; 
 determine an estimated trade-in value for the current vehicle based on the first predicted mileage value; 
 calculate an estimated payment for a replacement vehicle based on the estimated trade-in value of the current vehicle; 
 retrieve a mileage level relating to scheduled maintenance for the current vehicle; 
 determine, based on the estimated rate of mileage accumulation, a second predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a second date subsequent to the historical dates associated with the current vehicle; and 
 generate a service alert for the potential customer if the second predicted mileage value exceeds the mileage level relating to scheduled maintenance, and if a difference between the estimated payment for the replacement vehicle and a current payment for the current vehicle is within a predetermined acceptable range; and 
   an interactive website configured to allow users who are authorized by the one or more vehicle dealers to access a plurality of alerts relating to the prospects while preventing other users from accessing that plurality of alerts, wherein the plurality of alerts includes at least one service alert.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the interactive website comprises a user interface configured to:
 first, receive an instruction to associate an alert in the plurality of alerts with a sales task and assign the sales task to an assigned user;   second, present to the assigned user a web page identifying the alert and the sales task; and   third, receive an indication from the assigned user that the sales task is complete and automatically assign a follow-up task to at least one of the assigned user or a different user.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the interactive web site comprises an interactive deal sheet, the interactive deal sheet comprising:
 input fields pre-populated with parameters from an alert in the plurality of alerts, the parameters comprising the trade-in value of the current vehicle associated with the alert; and   computer-executable instructions to update, in real time, one or more output values displayed on the interactive deal sheet as the parameters in the input fields are modified, the output values comprising a difference between the current payment for the current vehicle associated with the alert and an estimated payment for the replacement vehicle associated with the alert.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more servers are further programmed to execute, for each potential customer in the plurality of potential customers, instructions that cause the server to:
 retrieve a mileage limit for a warranty or lease associated with the current vehicle of the potential customer;   determine, based on the estimated rate of mileage accumulation for the current vehicle, a third predicted mileage value for the current vehicle on a third date subsequent to the historical dates that correspond to the historical mileage values associated with the current vehicle; and   generate a usage alert for the potential customer if the third predicted mileage value exceeds the mileage limit and a difference between the estimated payment for the replacement vehicle and the current payment for the current vehicle is within the predetermined acceptable range.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first date, the second date, and the third date are all the same. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein allowing users who are authorized by the one or more vehicle dealers to access the plurality of alerts comprises:
 requiring each of the users to provide a password to login to the interactive website; and   encrypting contents of the interactive website using public key encryption before transmitting the content to the users over the Internet.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein allowing users who are authorized by the one or more vehicle dealers to access the plurality of alerts comprises storing, in a computer database, a reference to a specific vehicle dealer for each alert in the plurality of alerts.