Adding Value to B2B Commerce

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  • Commerce Capability Maturity Model^SM
  • Adding Value to B2B Commerce
  • Commerce Improvement Cycle^SM

Strategic Concepts

• Commerce Capability Maturity Model^SM
• Adding Value to B2B Commerce
  • Overview
  • Enabling Differentiation
  • Lean Principles
  • Commerce Opportunity Profile^SM
• Commerce Improvement Cycle^SM

Commerce Opportunity Profile^SM

Find the Solution

Guided Search — the methods used to locate standard, stock, or commodity items. This includes keyword, parametric (characteristic), and drill-down searches, or any combination of these. It also includes a combination of searching methods and engines that provide a flexible search process covering a wide span of heterogeneous data sources. These methods can also involve the use of business rules that apply interpretations to user queries and to the results, thus providing information within some business context.

Needs Analysis — a technique designed to guide the customer toward a solution by posing a series of interrelated open ended questions along with questions requiring specific answers. Generally, tools of this type will help the customer to describe their current situation as well as collect information on future plans. More sophisticated versions combine the answers from several stakeholders to arrive at recommendations than can be ranked in numerous dimensions such as initial cost, total cost of ownership, durability, or alignment to IT strategy.

Product Sizing — the determination of how a product, or several products, performs under a spectrum of operating conditions or application requirements. Usually this involves collecting customer data which is then subjected to a series of calculations that yield the performance data for each product. The results are then displayed in graphical or tabular format for further evaluation and final selection.

Lead Management — the capture, organization, analysis and integration of early stage customer activity for the purpose of converting viable leads into opportunities and subsequent sales. This information is often integrated with one or more of the other "FIND" activities, and also linked with the "PROPOSE" activities.

Propose the Solution

Product Configuration — the selection of compatible product features, options, accessories, and services that usually yields a "valid" product — one that meet all Sales, Marketing, Engineering and Manufacturing rules and requirements. This can involve configuration of a single standalone product or a series of interrelated products that constitute an entire system. Product Configuration engines are generally driven by rules that control which options go together and automatically narrow or default choices based on user selection of other product characteristics. These tools are typically intended to handle products that cannot be feasibly pre-defined due to the volume of theoretically valid combinations. Configuration engines also offer an opportunity to automate cross-sell and up-sell initiatives which are often overlooked by the sales team.

Commerce Configuration — the methods used for defining all the non-product, or commercial elements of a sales transaction. This would include such things as sold-to and ship-to information, freight terms, payment terms, base price, discounting, promotions, sales commissions, up-charges, document status, workflow and collaboration activities, leasing options, lead times, inspection and test requirements, documentation requirements, import/export requirements, and packing instructions, to name a few. Similar to product configuration, commerce requirements can be driven by rules that control the user's configuration options.

Marketing Campaigns — Workflow based activities used to enhance promotion of targeted marketing campaigns. This could include rebates, special discounts, buy-back promotions, personalized customer promotions and cross-sell/up-sell initiatives. It also includes monitoring and reporting mechanisms to measure campaign effectiveness.

Proposal Management — the methods used for version management, automated generation of proposal documents, contracts and other sales documents, approvals and overrides, and opportunity management.

Deliver the Solution

Order Capture — the methods and tools used to fully describe products, services, and commercial information as represented by a purchase signal from the customer. In B2B, this signal is typically a Purchase Order which may reference other commerce documents such as proposals, blanket orders, delivery schedules, or contracts. Companies receive these signals via various media, such as phone, fax, EDI, and web orders. Obviously, any ability to leverage an existing proposal or contract will dramatically reduce labor and cycle time. Order capture also involves the creation of a sales order and other related documents in the company ERP or OMS application.

Order Reconciliation — the process used to confirm internally and externally that the purchase order request as stated by the customer is correct. Since time may have elapsed between submission of the quote and receipt of the order, and since a different functional group is responsible for handling orders versus quotes, it is necessary to confirm that all order information is valid. This includes validating pricing, commercial data, product configuration (features, options, accessories, and services) and engineering requirements.

Back-office Fulfillment — those functions in fulfillment directly impacted by the definition and complexity of the product, and the downstream workflow activities influenced by commercial data on the order: largely concerned with the creation of accurate and timely work orders, bills of materials, routings, engineering drawings, inspection and test activities, and the integration of order status information with the front-office applications.

Order Tracking — the process for providing order status information directly to the customer and other parties involved in the order. This may be available via e-mail messages with links to shipping company sites, and could include web-based queries made available through a company portal.