SAN JOSE, Calif. - December 8, 1999 - Cisco Systems, Inc., which last year did more than $8 billion in business-to-business e-commerce transactions, today shared five ways for all companies to deliver better customer service over the Internet. These include Internet-based phone service for Web shoppers, faster order confirmation within minutes by email, easy-to-use online profiles and other tools for more personalized business transactions and collaboration software allowing customers to shop together from different locations.
The business-to-business e-commerce market is more than six times bigger than the business-to-consumer e-commerce market today. It is projected to grow from $43.1 billion in 1998 to more than $1.3 trillion by the year 2003, according to Forrester Research.
"With the rate that business-to-business e-commerce is expected to grow in the coming years, Web customer service should be at the top of the 'must do' list for e-business sites that want to achieve leadership positions in their markets," said Dan Keshian, vice president and general manager for the Customer Contact Business Unit in Cisco Systems, Inc.'s Applications Technology Group. "It's critical that business-to-business e-commerce sites extend the range of personalized services they deliver to customers online to ensure that their needs are quickly and effectively met."
"Over the past few years, major manufacturers and retailers have focused on establishing an e-commerce presence. The next hurdle for e-businesses will be attracting and retaining buying customers," said Scott Latham, senior analyst, Electronic Commerce Strategies, AMR Research. "Customer interaction applications help solve the problem and provide obvious benefits in business-to-business scenarios such as ordering replacement parts, warranty registration, product configuration and other processes that may require live human interaction."
According to Robert Mirani, research director, Customer Relationship Management Strategies, The Yankee Group, "Clearly, Web-based customer interaction will be a core component of a successful Web commerce system. E-businesses that have a comprehensive customer service infrastructure in place to quickly and effectively respond to customer needs will be the ones that achieve and maintain profitability."
Five Ways Business-to-Business E-commerce Sites Can Increase Sales, Reduce Costs, Increase Revenue Generation and Achieve Greater Customer Satisfaction through Web Customer Service:
With the availability of numerous communications channels, customers want to be able to contact you through the channel of their choice - whether it be via phone, email, text-chat, fax, interactive Web sessions, or Voice-over-IP. No matter which channel they choose, it's critical to provide a unified face to your customer. The solution? Implement a platform for integrating multiple media types and media independent services with your customer contact center.
Responding to a customer's needs in a fast and effective manner is a key component to success in the business-to-business e-commerce marketplace. E-businesses need to implement a plan to handle customer requests within minutes of their receipt, or risk losing that customer to a competitor. In research released earlier this fall, Jupiter estimated that high-trafficked commerce sites could experience an average of 58,000 transactions per day, and that many commerce sites had not prepared the proper fulfillment system for handling that volume, putting a strain on their customer service systems. This makes an advanced email management system that can handle high volumes of customer requests a must-have for business-to-business e-commerce sites. Key components to look for in an email management solution include the ability to receive high volumes of inbound messages, perform message analysis, send automated replies, route messages to responders, provide response tools and track and archive messages.
Similar to brick and mortar business-to-business transactions, personalized communications can make a deal. Personalize customer interactions by implementing e-commerce tools that allows customers to visually and verbally interact with company representatives over the Web in real-time.
In today's marketplace, the people making purchasing decisions are often located in more than one location. Save your customers time and money by offering collaboration technologies that allow them to connect on your e-commerce site in real-time to compare product offerings, without having to be in the same office or on the same computer.
Customers want the ability to track orders and get updates on when they will be delivered. Integrate your Web-based customer service and order fulfillment operations so customers can access the status of orders in real-time through your e-commerce Web site.
The Cisco Customer Interaction Suite
The Cisco Customer Interaction Suite includes a complete family of products that enable companies to integrate their Internet commerce, service and telephony infrastructures to combine the personal value of human interaction with the information value of the Web. These products include Cisco eMail Manager, Cisco Collaboration Server, Cisco Media Blender and Cisco Media Manager.
More than 100 companies are making human interaction a critical part of their Web presence with Cisco software. Some of these companies include Bose Corporation, eToys, Hewlett Packard Company, Lands' End, Precision Response Corporation, SmarterKids.com, TeleSales, Inc., Trimark Investment Management Inc. and MCI WorldCom.
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