Is your CRM solution helping you meet your customers’ needs? You might be surprised to find out that it is not. Despite the significant financial investment that companies make to understand and get a single view of their customers, the insight from CRM applications has not carried over to the Web, where customers and partners are increasingly conducting business. All major enterprises that have distribution and channel partners or that sell bundled products and services, sourced both internally and externally, must optimize Web self-service solutionsto satisfy the individual needs and expectations of customers and partners.

In the past, companies focused on products and services to create market differentiation. However, as products become more commoditized, their differentiation becomes less important to the customer than the overall experience. Here’s where the challenge comes in. Customers and partners bring to the selection and purchase process a unique set of preferences, and they want one-stop shopping (or buying) of bundled solution, which typically requires products and services from multiple enterprises. Adding to the complexity, they also have expectations about each touch point. An unsatisfactory encounter at any touch point, such as a CSR who can’t check on a late delivery, can color the customer’s entire experience.

Providing customers with a unique and satisfying experience was the priority for NEC Corporation of America (NEC) in moving its sales operation to the Web. As a premier provider of integrated solutions for the Connected Enterprise in North America, NEC wanted to provide an automated sales vehicle for partners. The company deployed an online partner store that enables NEC channel partners to purchase over 100 products, including projectors, plasma displays and accessories, and check order status. A unique ‘hot spotting’ feature of a parts modeler simplifies the ordering process for over 6,000 individual parts, enabling NEC’s Authorized Service Providers to directly order a part by clicking on its image in an exploded product diagram.

While internal personnel have access to cost of products and selling, only key customer contacts that are involved in a purchasing or selling capacity can access the site. However, the site still ensures customers of a personal experience sincedistributors and other channel partners can only view the offerings and pricing that are specific to them or list pricing from among NEC’s 50 different levels of pricing. With its new online store, NEC now provides channel partners with an automated ordering process and also has achieved savings over the previous manual processes.

NEC’s success underscores the importance of Web self service that is both personal and unique to the needs and preferences of each customer in today’s highly competitive market. Web self service must enable potential buyers to quickly and easily find, configure and purchase the right products at the right prices. It should be easily searchable and intuitive. And to achieve bottom line results, it needs to be transactional — capturing, distributing and fulfilling orders promptly and accurately and providing status and details on demand as needed during the fulfillment process. Despite the increasing emphasis on bundled products and services, Web self service must satisfy customer and partner needs to purchase a ‘single’ solution from a ‘single’ provider simply and easily.

Companies alsomust support Web offerings with guided selling and configuration so that customers can easily and correctly configure complex products and services. And the solution must handle all order management and, in some cases, broker ordersto multiple parties, and manage fulfillment and distribution of the products and services.

The customer experience also should transcend multiple touch points — customer service, kiosk, web, and inside and outside sales. This enables customers to continue interactions and dialog seamlessly between touch points without disruption or loss of information.

Companies also need to decide what parts of the business they want to make available to their customers through their online presence. Traditionally, sales, marketing, and customer service were the three outward-facing areas for customer interaction. But the Web has changed that. Customers and partners want direct access to conduct business with a company. Doing business electronically with a company empowers customers and partners to manage their own interaction with the company.

Companies like NEC that can accommodate these needs and link the sales process with inventories, manufacturing, sourcing and logistics are ahead of the competition. They’ve figured out how to put the C back in CRM.

Jean Kovacs is the president and CEO of Comergent Technologies, the leading provider of eBusiness solutions for the extended enterprise. Ms.Kovacs has over 25 years experience directing technology companies and a track record of using her strategic business skills and background to deliver exceptional results with growing enterprises such as Qualix Group, where she was a co founder and executive vice president, and at Frame Technology, Sun Microsystems, and Compugraphic Corporation. Jean Kovacs, jkovacs@comergent.com Comergent Technologies