OhioOnline., Inc.

Dot-com Your Customer Relationships Technology has changed the very nature of customer relationships. The physical interaction between companies and customers is becoming more removed as customers access the Web for fast-paced delivery of products and services. Therefore, the customer relationship is the first thing a company should address in its dot-com strategy. Companies should focus on two key areas. First, customers should be given direct network access to as many products, services, and as much information as possible. Second, the quality of customer "touchpoints"--every place and every occasion that a company interacts with a customer--should be increased. In the online world, this quality assurance means ensuring that the Web experience is a positive one. The site must be available, easy (and even fun) to use, secure, and fast. These important points generate customer loyalty, the key to profitability in the dot-com age.

Dot-com Your Supplier and Partner Interactions

Today's businesses use the power of network computing and the Web to extend their enterprises and transform the nature of their supplier and channel partner interactions. Companies that used supply chains among their suppliers, channel partners, and manufacturers, today use supply webs instead. A supply web weaves all the involved businesses into a seamless system that supplies critical information on a real-time basis. Supply webs built today incorporate extranets, platform-independent Java technology, and advanced device connectivity software.

Dot-com Your Employees

The dot-com age holds tremendous potential for increasing the productivity and job satisfaction of employees. Companies can offer employees personalization features on the internal web site so that users can automatically receive updates to the information they need without searching the site for it. Making resources universally accessible to any authorized user, including sales reps on the road, business allies, and even customers, extends the benefits of using an internal web site as a clearinghouse. And companies can create specific portals--such as a marketing portal or a sales portal--to speed access to needed information. With access control and privacy technology, all of these features can be implemented without compromising security.

The dot-com strategy also makes it easier to give employees access to top-tier business applications such as sales-force automation (SFA), customer resource management (CRM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Companies can create alternative work setups, such as telecommuting and recruiting outside the vicinity of physical offices. Finally, the dot-com strategy fosters collaboration opportunities between design teams, between engineering and other disciplines, and between cooperating companies.

Dot-com Your Sales Operations

In an era in which product price lists are more complex--with ballooning numbers of products, configurations, pricing options, and support services--dot-comming sales operations provides a means of simplifying the ordering process and makes it easier for customers to find critical information quickly.

In the dot-com age, companies can create a competitive advantage by developing an integrated online portfolio for all products and services. This portfolio creates a single face for an entire organization and makes it simpler for customers to shop for, purchase, and arrange for delivery of products and services. By unifying sales operations, companies not only achieve economy of scale and increased convenience for customers, but they also gain a clearer picture of who is using their site and how. This information enables organizations to create targeted one-to-one marketing, personalized selling, and cross-selling opportunities.

Dot-com Your Data

Data-driven applications such as decision support, data warehousing, data mining, and online analytical processing (OLAP) are proliferating as the volume of data in today's corporations continues to explode. By dot-comming their data, companies can transform these vast volumes of raw data into practical information and business intelligence. Traditionally, data storage systems have been islands of information--passive resources with a limited ability to scale, share data between systems, and lighten the processing load on expensive data center servers and mainframes. A new approach has emerged that eliminates the islands altogether. Rather than view storage, servers, and networks as discrete entities, these resources can be integrated and unified under centralized management. This storage area network approach enables end users to access any data resource on the fly, from anywhere, using virtually any network-ready device.

Dot-com Your Products and Services

In the dot-com economy, a product is no longer simply a physical object. Today a product is also defined by the service or collection of services it provides. For example, a modem is no longer just a card with some wiring and LEDS in an enclosure; it is a portal through which new services, such as testing the line to a modem while online, can be delivered.

In the dot-com age, a product can serve as an invaluable point-of-presence for a company--an opportunity for follow-on sales, value-added services, and creative marketing after the sale. Companies selling a physical product can offer customers turn-on features or resources that ship with the product on an as-needed basis. Similarly, companies selling software products can sell online upgrades, customized support services, or education and training services. The dot-com age enables companies to rethink their product development efforts, create more personalized and customizable products, and find new ways to generate incremental revenue from existing product features.

By embracing these six ways to dot-com a business, companies can bring the power and potential of the Internet model from the edge of the business to the very core of the enterprise, making the company more competitive and positioning it for tremendous growth.