Free Business English para Dummies by Varios autores Page B

procedures, each inquiry receives a purchasing probability score.
    The problem is that “a large number of inquires score very low in buying probability,” says Mark Lendrich, Senior Project Manager for Vocatus, and illustrates this fact by using the example of an automobile manufacturer examined by Vocatus. In this case, 23 % of the customers produce 81 % of sales. Lead scoring provides an extremely precise prediction model. A process called data mining identifies influential factors that show a high connection with purchasing probability. Factors, such as customer type, socio-demographic data (such as age or gender ) and all other available data about the customer are taken into account . During the examination, the market researchers try to analyse the customers on the basis of data collected from order forms that the prospects completed online on the car maker’s website.
    Aside from the fact that some customers do not fully complete the form, aspects such as the age of their current car or the amount of extras are incorporated in the evaluation. “In some companies we experienced that prospects going to great trouble over filling in the form, score higher in purchasing probability,” explains Lendrich. But even less obvious connections to buying probability can be discovered this way: A prospect who completes the website form and also uses two or more different modules on the website and configures many typical extras into the vehicle scores, statistically, a buying probability of 97 %. Another prospect, being only 20 years of age but otherwise showing the same data only scores a buying probability of 5 %.
    But “a prospect is not more inclined to buy a car because of his repeated contacts with the manufacturer,” underlines Lendrich, “ rather it can be determined statistically that those customers who had repeated contact, have a higher buying probability.” In this way, certain customer inquiries will take priority. This makes lead scoring an important tool, for example, in the sales support for dealers. “At the same time, customer inquiries can be dealt with more efficiently, which in turn increases the company’s profitability and sales,” says market researcher Lendrich.
    Palabras para recordar
    assessment: appraisal, evaluation, rating, estimation, judgement, review
    to be in vain: to be unsuccessful, ineffective, useless, futile, or unproductive
    corrective measure: remedial or counteractive course of action
    to prevent something: to stop or avoid something
    substantiated: backed up, validated
    probability: likelihood, possibility, odds
    comprehensively: completely, thoroughly, exhaustively, in detail, carefully
    to bear cost-effectiveness in mind: to think economically, to remember to save expenses
    to pay the same degree of attention to each prospect: to concentrate one’s efforts equally on each potential client
    prediction: forecast, calculation
    connection with: link to, association with, relationship with, correlation to
    gender: sex, masculinity or femininity
    available: obtainable, accessible, existing
    to be taken into account: to be considered, to be taken into consideration
    collected: gathered, brought together, pulled together, accumulated
    aside from: besides, apart from, except for, with the exception of
    extras: optional or special equipment
    to be incorporated: to be included or integrated
    to go to great trouble over something: to go to great pains over or make a big effort in doing something
    less obvious: not so noticeable, apparent, or evident
    to be not more inclined to do something: to be not more prone, of a mind, apt, or disposed to do something
    repeated: recurring, repetitive, frequent
    to underline: to underscore, to emphasise, to highlight
    rather: more exactly, more accurately
    it can be determined: it can be verified, ascertained, or established

    Successfully dealing with buying conflicts
    Most customers go through some inner conflicts before they finally make the