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Internet Marketing & E-business
T. R. Herman & Associates offers
complete back-end support for any online initiative.
Through a network of qualified programmers we can
offer applications custom built to a specific industry
and the unique needs of your company.
What is E-Business and what
can it do for your company?
E-Business has become a diluted word
in today’s Internet language. However, the applications
that are built using Internet technology can span
across any organization. Generally speaking, it can
increase sales, while providing substantial savings
through transactions or operational efficiencies.
- By 2003, e-commerce business-to-business
transactions will account for $1.3 trillion—while
business-to-consumer sales will account for another
$108 billion. (Source: Forrester Research)
- By 2002, 93% of firms expect to
transact business via the Internet. (Source: Ernst
& Young)
Although these statistics are impressive,
it only scratches the surface of the impact E-Business
will have over the next decade. Today’s consumers
have begun to set very high standards for service
from companies. Their expectations rise every time
they realize they can pay a bill without sending a
check in the mail, or they can purchase a computer
fully customized without having to step into a store.
Organizations subscribing to E-Business
can use it to improve and streamline business-to-business
transactions and sales, business-to-consumer relationships
and sales, and even to the internal business processes
of a company.
B2B uses include:
- Promoting products through online
literature (brochures, drawings, and product selection
tools)
- Answering troubleshooting issues
through online user guides and live chat with customer
service representatives
- Tracking orders, inventory, shipping,
billing transactions, etc. in real time
B2C uses include:
- Providing online ordering capabilities
- Tracking orders, inventory, shipping,
billing transactions, etc. in real time
- Answering troubleshooting issues
through online user guides and live chat with customer
service representatives
Internal uses include:
- Human Resource functions like benefits,
retirement planning, and job posting
- Sales force automation and management
- Knowledge management for managers
and executives
The benefits to incorporating
E-Business applications in a company’s business
model include:
- Lower sales and marketing expenditures
- Increase in corporate exposure and
branding
- Expanding the geographic reaches
of the company
- Development of strong customer service
- Improvement in communication with
partners and investors
- Capturing of customer data
- Improvements in the information
flow within and outside the company
Tracy Herman-Dycus, the president of T. R.
Herman & Associates, has experience in building
and maintaining E-Business strategies that produce
the above benefits.
Some successful applications
she has experience in developing and managing include:
Billing and Customer Service
Databases – For the telecommunications
industry, building a database that stored pertinent
customer information to be used for billing purposes
was paramount in the success of a new product launch.
Content Management Systems
– For the construction materials industry, maintaining
the enormous amount of product information and specifications
for builders review and resource was vital to sales
management.
Help Desk Applications
– For the systems and network group of a high
tech company, dealing with internal personnel’s
computer issues distracted the programmers from their
primary objective of developing software solutions.
Rate and Policy Processing Applications
– For the insurance industry, battling a slow
turnaround time of more than six weeks to process
a policy was stifling in providing adequate customer
service to the brokerage community.
Each situation used an E-Business solution
to rise above the obstacle and turn it around to increase
sales through new product launches, manage information
effectively, better streamline operational functions,
and dramatically change the customer service experience.
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