Customer management system for automobile sales industry

1. A computer-implemented method of collecting client contact data, comprising:

opening a client ticket session to create a client ticket;

supplying the client ticket with information; and

closing the client ticket session before a sale is executed, and once the client ticket session is closed, limiting further alteration of the client ticket.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein supplying the client ticket with information comprises:

providing client identification information to associate the client ticket with a client; and

associating an item with the client ticket.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein supplying the client ticket with information further comprises:

associating a trade-in item with the client ticket.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein associating an item with the client ticket comprises:

searching available inventory for an item desired by the client;

identifying the item; and

transferring information to the client ticket that pertains to the item.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein before the client ticket session is closed, the method further comprises:

creating a deal based on the information recorded in the client ticket.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein after the client ticket session is closed, the method further comprises:

prohibiting any creation of a deal based on the client ticket.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein supplying the client ticket with information comprises:

utilizing a computer input device to manually provide information as prompted by a computer generated display.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein supplying the client ticket with information comprises:

utilizing a computing device to review a client communication and automatically parse a relevant set of information to be transferred to the client ticket; and

transferring the relevant set of information to the client ticket.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising an initial step of:

obtaining a qualified client contact which is characterized by an instance of interaction with a client that can reasonably be construed as a sale opportunity.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein supplying the client ticket with information further comprises:

supplying the client ticket with information pertaining to the qualified client contact.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , further comprising:

repeating said receiving, opening, supplying and closing steps for a plurality of additional qualified client contacts.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , further comprising:

storing within a database, for each client ticket session, an informational overview that generally archives a collection of events and input information that corresponds to an associated client ticket session.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:

storing with each informational overview an indication of when the associated client ticket session was opened.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing within a database an informational overview of the client ticket session.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 , wherein storing the informational overview of the client ticket session further comprises:

storing the informational overview of the client ticket session with an indication of when the client ticket session was opened.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 , further comprising:

repeating the steps such that a plurality of informational overviews are stored in the database with an indication of when an associated client ticket session was opened.

17. A computer readable data storage device storing computer implementable steps, which, when executed cause a computer to:

open a first client ticket session, thereby triggering creation of a first client ticket;

close the client ticket session;

open a second client ticket session, thereby triggering creation of a second client ticket; and

analyze data contained in the first client ticket relative to data contained in the second client ticket.

18. A computer-implemented method of recording and tracking interactions between an automobile sales organization and one of its customers, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a qualified client contact which is characterized by an interaction between the automobile sales organization and the customer that can reasonably be construed as a sale opportunity;

opening a client ticket session to create a client ticket;

supplying the client ticket with information pertaining to the qualified client contact; and

closing the client ticket session if a sale is not completed within a predetermined amount of time, and once the client ticket session is closed, limiting further alteration of the client ticket.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , further comprising:

repeating said obtaining, opening, supplying and closing steps for a plurality of additional interactions between the automobile sales organization and the client.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19 , further comprising:

storing within a database, for each client ticket session, an informational overview that generally archives a collection of events and input information that corresponds to an associated client ticket session; and

storing with each informational overview an indication of when the associated client ticket session was opened.

21. A computer-implemented method for collecting client contact data, comprising:

generating, for a given client, a multiple client ticket history that represents a plurality of interactions between a sales organization and the given client.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein generating a multiple client ticket history comprises generating at least one client ticket that is associated with a client ticket session that is closed before a sale is executed.