WO2000065761A2

WO2000065761A2 - A method and system for requesters to select a provider

Info

Publication number: WO2000065761A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/011029
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bradley J. Inman; Kristina S. Inman
Original assignee: Homegain.Com
Priority date: 1999-04-23
Filing date: 2000-04-24
Publication date: 2000-11-02
Also published as: WO2000065761A3; AU4487200A

Abstract

A method for soliciting proposals from service providers includes creating a personal profile for a service requester (110), which is stored in a database. An anonymous request for service from the personal profile is created and sent to one or more service providers (140). Submitted proposals are then reviewed by the requester.

Description

A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR REQUESTERS TO SELECT A PROVIDER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a method and system for facilitating communication between people, and in particular, to providing a method and system for service requesters to select a service provider.

2. Background of the Invention

People who want to find a qualified service provider from among many known and unknown candidates are generally unable to make decisions based on objective measurements. They must instead rely on vague and indirect factors such as the appearance of an advertisement at the right time and place, the size or placement of an ad in the yellow page directory, recommendations from friends and relatives or chance encounters.

Prior solutions have been confined to using traditional advertising methods to rank one's own qualifications in relation to specified competitors, while leaving it to the viewer to determine the validity of stated claims and abilities. Some consumer reporting organizations provide third party comparisons and analyses. With the advent of the internet, consumers can obtain pricing information for products and goods online. For example, ebay.com allows individuals to list objects for sale on a web site. Buyers submit bids, and the highest bidder is awarded the purchase. Mortgage.com allows a direct lending mortgage banker to shop the market for the lowest cost mortgage in response to an individual loan application. With priceline.com, consumers post the price that they are willing to pay for goods such as airline tickets or hotels, and suppliers who can meet that price respond to the consumer's offer. Compare.net allows consumers to find the lowest price source for name brand products by searching for desired features as well as price. Improvenet.com allows consumers to search for pre-screened contractors, designers, and products for specific home improvement projects.

However, these prior methods are mostly for products, rarely for nationally standardized services and never for services that vary greatly among numerous local service providers such as real estate agents for example. These prior solutions offer no third party enabled objective criteria upon which to base a selection of the best service provider in a local area where local knowledge and customs are important. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method for soliciting proposals from service providers is described herein. In one embodiment, the method includes creating a personal profile for a service requester, including the type of service that is requested, storing the personal profile in a database, creating an anonymous request for service from the personal profile, and sending the anonymous request for service to one or more service providers.

A method of selecting a service provider is also described. In one embodiment, this method includes sending an anonymous request for service to one or more service providers; receiving proposals from the one or more service providers; organizing the information in the proposals according to a personal profile of a service requester, to create organized proposals; displaying the organized proposals to the service requester; and sending a message of acceptance from the service requester to one of the service providers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.

FIGURE 1 shows an embodiment of a client server network in which the present invention may be implemented.

FIGURE 2 shows an embodiment of the system used to request and receive proposals.

FIGURE 3 shows one embodiment of the method for requesting proposals.

FIGURE 4 shows an example of a welcome message.

FIGURE 5 shows one embodiment of a proposal inbox.

FIGURE 6 shows an example of a service library.

FIGURE 7 shows an example of a service tool.

FIGURE 8 shows an example of information that a requester may ask a provider.

FIGURE 9 shows an alternative embodiment of the method for requesting proposals.

FIGURE 10 shows one embodiment for service providers to send proposals. FIGURE 11 shows an alternative embodiment of the system used to request and receive proposals.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and system for selecting a service provider are described. In the following description, numerous details are set forth, such as specific screen shots, etc. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self- consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present invention, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

The emerging use of electronic networking is enabling this type of selection to be made electronically and anonymously from a remotely located computer (e.g., a home computer). For example, a person who needs the services of a service provider can fill out an electronic request for service by using a personal computer 110, as shown in FIGURE 1. Then, the requester can send this information over the internet 120, where it is received by a server 130. A service provider on the computer 140 connected to the server can then review the request and respond immediately with a proposal for service.

FIGURE 2 shows one embodiment for the service provider and service requester matching system. Client system 210 contains a user interface 215, a browser 221 stored in a computer readable medium 220, and a central processing unit 222. The client 210 connects to the server 240 through remote connection 230, which may be an internet or other network connection, for example. The client 210 may be either a service requester to

client or a service provider client. The server 240 contains a computer readable medium that includes software programs that can be executed by the central processing unit (CPU) 241. Although only one CPU is shown, the client system 210 may have multiple CPUs or other processing devices. These programs interact with the client, and include software modules that allow a service requester to enroll, via enrollment module 243, and store a personal profile in the database 250. The server 240 can create an anonymous request for service, via anonymous request module 244, to service providers in the database 250. The software modules also allow service providers to receive the anonymous request, via service provides distribution module 245, and respond with a proposal that is then organized by the server, via organized proposed module 246, and displayed to the requester in a proposal inbox, via proposal inbox module 247.

One exemplary embodiment of a method for requesting the services of a service provider is shown in FIGURES 3A and 3B. Referring to Figures 3A and 3B, a person uses a client, such as a personal computer, to connect with a server through a remote connection such as the internet, for example. The server displays a welcome page, step 310, explaining the process of selecting a service provider to the user. For example, if the user wants to sell a house, the welcome message will explain the process of selecting a real estate agent online, as shown in FIGURE 4. The user, after reading the welcome message, may then decide to use this process to select a broker. The user registers into the system. One way for the user to register is to select a register link that is displayed on the web. site. Any other method of sending an enrollment signal or indication to the server can be used, step 320.

After the user decides to register, the server sends an enrollment form to the client, where it is displayed to the user, step 330. In one embodiment, this enrollment form has multiple information fields that are displayed to a user. The user, or service requester, creates a personal profile by submitting information into the information fields, then sending this information through the server to a control center, step 340. The information contained in the personal profile may include personal information about the service requester and information about the service that is needed. The information sent by the requester may also include questions that the service requester would like the service providers to answer in any response or proposal that they make. Examples of this" type of information are shown in FIGURE 8.

For example, if the service requester is a person who is selling his or her house, then the information fields may include fields for specifying the details of the house, such as a description of the house. The information fields may also include the services that the user wants the agent to provide, such as having an open house. The information fields may also include the qualifications that the service providers, in this case real estate agents, must or should have. For example, the requester may want to know if the agent has experience in this neighborhood or what the agent's fees will be for selling the house.

When the enrollment information reaches the control center, it is stored in the database of the control center, step 350. In one embodiment, an identifier (ID) and password is then created for the service requester by the control center. In an alternative embodiment, the requester selects this information. This ID and password are used to establish an anonymous account for the requester. They are sent to the requester, so that only the requester can return to the control center and access the personal profile that he or she has created.

An anonymous request for service is created from the requester's profile, step

360, so that personal information will be withheld from prospective service providers. This feature of anonymity greatly benefits the service requester. For example, if the service requester is selling a house, the seller may receive a large number of unwanted solicitations from real estate agents if the agents know that the seller needs a broker. By keeping the seller's identity a secret, the seller will be spared from the trouble of handling unwelcome solicitations. Also, because the service requester's anonymity is maintained in this process, all responses from the service provider must come through a control center. Therefore, the responses can be presented in an organized manner that allows the service requester to make an objective evaluation.

The request for service is sent to service providers, step 370. A database contains information for prospective service providers, including their standard profiles that describe the types of service that they provide, and the geographic regions that they serve. For example, the database may contain information for real estate agents. The profile for each agent may include a description of the professional qualifications of the agent. This information may indicate whether the agent's license is in good standing, whether the agent works full time, and the education and experience the agent has. If the request is a request for a real estate agent, then the request for service is sent to the agents in the database. One way of sending the anonymous request for service is by electronic mail. The request may be sent to all service providers in the database. Alternatively, the service providers may be filtered by certain criteria, such as geographic region, or experience, for example, and the request may be sent only to providers that meet the criteria. 13

The service providers receive the request and decide if they want to respond. For example, suppose a request to find an agent to sell a house is received by all agents in the database. The real estate agents that provide service to the geographic location and type of property listed in the request can choose to submit a proposal to the anonymous requester. In an alternative embodiment, the electronic mail only notifies prospective agents that a request has been submitted, and in response to the email, the prospective agent contacts a control center, such as via, a browser, to review a more detailed version of the request (e.g., in its entirety except for the identification information).

Service providers respond to the request by completing a response form. The response from the provider will include basic information about the provider, as well as specific answers to questions asked in the request for service. For example, if a service provider or agent does respond, the service provider may include the price or fee for providing the service, the provider's knowledge of a certain geographic area, the number of sellers the agent represents, and whether the agent or the agent's assistant perform most of the work. The completed response form with the response data is then submitted to a response data processor, step 380.

The response data processor, or control center, receives the response form, and organizes the data into an organized proposal, step 390. In one embodiment, the proposal is organized so that the service requester can view the data in a format that enables the requester to make an objective evaluation of the proposals submitted by the service providers. This organized response data is then stored in the control center database. 14

After the response data is organized, the service requester may access the proposals by connecting to the control center through a user interface such as a personal computer or a client, for example, step 395. The requester sends the previously assigned ID and password to the control center over a remote connection. After verifying the ID and password, the control center grants the requester access to the personal account. The requester can then view any proposals that are stored in the account.

In one embodiment, the information in a response form is displayed to the user. For example, the responses can be organized and displayed in a proposal inbox. The service requester can modify the inbox so that specific information from each received proposal is automatically displayed by the inbox. In one embodiment, the requester has the inbox display the name of each service provider, the service that is provided, the amount of experience, the fee that the service provider charges, and/or any other information from the response data. In addition, the inbox can display an icon next to each proposal that indicates whether the proposal is new, updated, or has been reviewed, as shown in FIGURE 5.

After viewing the proposals, the requester may decide to personally contact a service provider for further discussion or may decide to accept an offer. The personal contact may be through the use of an email address or link for the service provider that is made available to the requester (e.g., available in the proposal submitted by the service provider). If the requester desires to contact a provider, the requester obtains personal contact information for the provider from the information displayed by the control center 15

in the proposal inbox. In one embodiment, the requester uses the control center to accept an offer by directly contacting the provider through the control center.

An alternative embodiment is shown in FIGURE 9. Referring to Figure 9, the requester, after connecting to the control center, can also edit his or her personal information that is stored in the database, 910. Also, the requester can edit information describing the details of the house, or the type of service that is required, 920.

In addition to submitting requests for service, the requester can also access information related to the service from the control center, as shown in FIGURE 11. Referring to Figure 11, a requester can access a library module that has articles and other resource information, 1140. An example of the library 1140 is shown in FIGURE 6. For example, if the requester wants to sell a house, a homeseller library can be displayed to the requester by the control center. The library can include articles related to selling a home, such as how to list a home, what price to ask for, how to market the house, and how the transaction works.

The requester can also access a tool module that provides tools for helping the provider make a decision, 1130. An example of the tool is shown in FIGURE 7. With respect to selling a house, the tools can include a searchable database of local home values. Thus, the seller can learn the selling prices of other houses in the neighborhood. The tools can also include a service specific calculator. In the case of selling a house, the calculator can calculate the capital gains tax so that the user can determine if he or she will be subject to any capital gains tax on the home sale. 16

The service providers can also access the control center and place personal profiles in the database. An example of a method for creating a service provider personal profile is shown in FIGURES 10A and 10B. Referring to Figures 10A and 10B, a service provider uses a client, such as a personal computer, to connect with a control center through a server with a remote connection such as the internet, for example.

The server displays a welcome page explaining the process of receiving service requests to the provider, step 1010. For example, if the provider is a real estate agent, the welcome message explains how home sellers can request an agent's services online. The provider, after reading the welcome message, may then decide to use this process to receive service requests. The user registers into the system. One way for the user to register is to select a register link that is displayed on the web site. Any other method of sending a register signal or indication to the server can be used, step 1015.

After the user decides to register, the server sends an enrollment form to the client, where it is displayed to the user, step 1020. In one embodiment, this enrollment form has multiple information fields that are displayed to a user. The user, or service provider, creates a personal profile by submitting information into the information fields, then sending this information through the server to a control center, step 1025. The information contained in the personal profile includes personal information about the service provider, and information about the services that can be provided.

For example, if the service provider is a real estate agent, then the information fields may include fields for the agent. The profile for each agent may include a 17

description of the professional qualifications of the agent. This information can include data such as whether the agent's license in good standing; whether the agent work full time; and the amount of education and experience the agent has. The information fields may also include the services that the agent can provide, such as having an open house. These fields can also contain information that includes the agent's experience in certain neighborhoods or the agent's fees for selling the house.

When the enrollment information reaches the control center, it is stored in the database of the control center, step 1030. In one embodiment, an identifier ( D) and password may then be created for the service provider by the control center. This ID and password are used to establish an account for the provider. The ID and password are sent to the provider, so that only the provider can return to the control center and access the personal profile that he or she has created.

In one embodiment, the control center automatically verifies information provided by the service provider. For example, if the providers are real estate brokers, the control center may automatically verify that the agent is in good standing by sending a request for verification to the licensing board. In one embodiment, a networked device of the licensing board may respond automatically with the requested information. Also, the control center may verify the number of homes recently sold by automatically contacting a listing service verify such information. Other information may be automatically verified as well. 18

When the control center receives a request for service, step 1035, the control center sends the anonymous request for service to the service providers, step 1040. If the request is a request for a real estate agent, then the request for service is sent to the agents in the database. One way of sending the anonymous request for service is by electronic mail. The request or an indication that a request for proposal is available for review may be sent to all service providers in the database. Alternatively, the service providers may be filtered by certain criteria, such as geographic region, or experience, for example, and the request may be sent only to providers that meet the criteria.

The service providers then receive the request by accessing their account in the control center database with their ID and password. The control center displays new requests for service to the service provider. The provider can also view other active and inactive proposals. In addition, through the control center, the providers can add new information about their service history, or edit their personal profile.

After viewing a request, the providers decide if they want to respond. For example, suppose a request to find an agent to sell a house is received by all agents in the database. The real estate agents that provide service to the geographic location and type of property listed in the request can choose to submit a proposal to the anonymous requester.

Service providers respond to the request by completing a response form, or proposal, step 1045. The response from the provider will include basic information about the provider, as well as specific answers to questions asked in the request for service. For example, if a service provider or agent does respond, the service provider may include the price or fee for providing the service, how well the provider knows a certain geographic area, how many sellers does the agent represent, and will the agent or the agent's assistant do most of the work. The completed response form with the response data is then submitted to a response data processor. A confirmation of receipt is returned to the provider.

The response data processor, or control center, receives the response form, and organizes the data in the proposal, step 1050. The organized proposal allows the service requester to view the data in a format that enables the requester to make an objective evaluation of the proposals submitted by the service providers, step 1055. This organized response data is then stored in the control center database.

Note that the present invention may be used for matching home buyers with home buyers services and/or matching home owners with home owner services as well.

Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description, it is to be understood that any particular embodiment shown and described by way of illustration is in no way intended to be considered limiting.. Therefore, references to details of various embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims which in themselves recite only those features regarded as essential to the invention.

Claims

WE CLAIM

1. A method for soliciting proposals from service providers comprising: creating a personal profile for a service requester, including the type of service that is requested; storing the personal profile in a database; creating an anonymous request for service from the personal profile; and sending the anonymous request for service to one or more service providers.

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein the one or more service providers comprise providers that paid for the right to receive such an anonymous request.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving proposals from one or more of the service providers.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: organizing the information in the profiles according to the personal profile of the service requester to create organized proposals.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: placing the organized proposals in a proposal inbox. 21

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: displaying the organized proposal to the service requester.

7. A method of selecting a service provider comprising: sending an anonymous request for service to one or more service providers; receiving proposals from the one or more service providers; organizing the information in the proposals according to a personal profile of a service requester to create organized proposals; displaying the organized proposals to the service requester; sending a message of acceptance from the service requester to one of the service providers.

8. A method of submitting proposals to a service requester comprising: creating a database of personal profiles for service providers; receiving a request for service; sending an anonymous request for service to one or more service providers in the database; receiving proposals from the one or more service providers; submitting the proposals to a service requester. 22

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: organizing the information in the received proposals to create organized proposals; and submitting the organized proposals to the service requester.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: sending a message of acceptance from the service requester to one of the service providers.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: sending a request for further information from the service requester to one of the service providers.

12. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer usable medium having computer readable means embodied thereon for soliciting proposals from service providers, the computer readable means in said article of manufacture comprising: computer readable means for creating a personal profile for a service requester, including the type of service that is requested; computer readable means for storing the personal profile in a database; computer readable means for creating an anonymous request for service from the personal profile; and 23

computer readable means for sending the anonymous request for service to one or more service providers.

13. The article of claim 12, further comprising: computer readable means for receiving proposals from one or more of the service providers.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: computer readable means for organizing the information in the profiles according to the personal profile of the service requester to create organized proposals.

15. T e method of claim 14, further comprising: computer readable means for placing the organized proposals in a proposal inbox.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: computer readable means for displaying the organized proposal to the service requester.

17. Ah article of manufacture comprising 24

a computer readable medium having computer readable means embodied thereon for selecting a service provider, said computer readable means in said article of manufacture comprising: computer readable means for sending an anonymous request for service to one or more service providers; computer readable means for receiving proposals from the one or more service providers;

^• computer readable means for organizing the information in the proposals according to a personal profile of a service requester, to create organized proposals; computer readable means for displaying the organized proposals to the service requester, computer readable means for sending a message of acceptance from the service requester to one of the service providers.

18. An article of manufacture comprising: a computer readable medium having computer readable means embodied thereon for submitting proposals to a service requester, said computer readable means in said article of manufacture comprising: computer readable means for creating a database of personal profiles for service providers; computer readable means for receiving a request for service; 25

computer readable means for sending an anonymous request for service to one or more service providers in the database; computer readable means for receiving proposals from the one or more service providers; computer readable means for submitting the proposals to a service requester.

19. The article of claim 18, further comprising: computer readable means for organizing the information in the received proposals to create organized proposals; and submitting the organized proposals to the service requester.

20. The article of claim 19, further comprising: computer readable means for sending a message of acceptance from the service requester to one of the service providers.