The platforms for supporting your company’s various commercial channels have traditionally created silos or gaps in your customer’s experience… and you might be tempted to accept it. What if your customers experience something better with your competitors? How long will they be YOUR customer?
Unifying the Customer Experience
Evan Goldberg, CTO of NetSuite, gave a great presentation on how NetSuite is the platform for disruption. His presentation on omni-channel commerce provided a great picture of how companies can unify the customer experience regardless of the method the customer chooses to engage at the present time. His example was more B2C focused, but let’s take a B2B product distribution company that has:
- field-based sales reps,
- inside sales/customer service,
- a website, and
- a storefront/showroom
The adage, “people buy from people” is still true. Whether the purchaser is an end consumer or a purchasing agent for a corporate customer, in the end, it’s just simply people buying from your company. Is there really a difference between B2B and B2C in purchasing? Does the consumer want less information about your product? Does the corporate customer want less functionality in your website? NetSuite allows you to unify those channels and present direct to consumer or B2B contract pricing on the same website.
A Shifting Market
Old platforms created separation between your field sales and the storefront which is in turn separated from your website. In the early days of NetSuite, it was impressive that your field sales reps could take an order in NetSuite while onsite with a customer and be able to tell them what was in stock. If the order was extremely urgent, it could be on a delivery truck in a few minutes and on its way to the customer.
In today’s market, that just isn’t impressive enough. The market has shifted. Customers want more. If that customer were to walk into the storefront to compare items, you need to know what other items they’ve purchased.
With ecommerce, we can reach further to more customers and different markets. For example, an interested prospect that had a sales rep recently stop by their office now visits your showroom after gathering information from your website. Your showroom staff needs to know what items they were comparing.
The point made was that your customers need to have a consistent experience and be able to switch between these channels without experiencing gaps.
A Better, Attainable Solution
So, you’ve been doing B2B this way for years, and it still works, so why change? The answer —it’s because no one has provided a better way. Customers are changing how they buy. Some industries are slower than others, but they are changing too. All it takes is one company to disrupt the market and transform the products and methods for buying and you are left behind.
You might assume that platforms that support this take millions of dollars, if not billions, to develop and you can’t afford it—well, the first part of the assumption is correct, but the second is not. Yes, technology can be expensive. NetSuite has invested millions in developing a package that unifies your commercial channels.
Take the Next Step
The days of running your business with ACT!, QuickBooks, and terrible 90’s ecommerce sites are ancient history. It will take an investment to get more reach and consistency, but not billions. NetSuite offers the solution that can unify your commercial channels that is affordable for mid-market customers.
GoPro bought NetSuite when they had two employees. They wanted to start on a platform that could scale. Now they are a billion dollar enterprise that still runs NetSuite. Interested? Call Keystone. We’ve been implementing NetSuite for many years and can help your company change to meet the new market requirements.
Feel free to contact us directly thoughtleader@keystonebusinessservices.net.
