Framing a strategic customer relationship solution

Context and objectives

Our client wanted to validate the importance of e-commerce and e-commerce support for its large customers, and identify the best way to support them.

The project aimed to improve the client's digital interactions with its large customers: understanding their needs for digitised interactions, then designing the target solution and the roadmap to develop it.

Outcome

The client launched an MVP platform less than a year after the start of the first phase.

Large customers across four business units already benefit from access to technical and marketing documentation on the platform, and can place orders or request samples online.

Our approach

The project was divided into four phases.

The first two phases assessed maturity and needs for digitised interactions, and analysed options to boost digital practices for the target segments. Key steps:

1. collection of internal needs and objectives, through 23 internal interviews;
2. voice of distributors and voice of the customer, with more than 250 survey answers and 50 interviews (distributors, end customers and competitors);
3. external benchmark of distributor interfaces (B2B2C e-commerce models);
4. identification of key features across several support areas, based on their perceived importance for the target customer segments;
5. cost-benefit analysis and prioritisation of features.

The third phase framed the prioritised solution, a B2B e-commerce platform, and helped the company make the best choices to build it. Key steps:

• Framing of the platform through around 30 interviews with key stakeholders and potential users
• Seven workshops on functional features, to develop the target processes, user stories and wireframes of each feature
• Maturity assessment: data analysis to gauge how ready each entity was to develop the different features, and identify the actions needed to reach the target:
  • collection and categorisation of available data by pilot, feature and dataset;
  • usability assessment (quality, completeness, ease of access and connectability);
  • gap analysis (feature feasibility and recommendations).
• Development and deployment plan
• Full support in the RFP process to select the vendor that would develop the platform:
  • identification of potential bidders;
  • proposed evaluation grid;
  • single point of contact throughout the RFP process;
  • drafting of RFP documents and supporting materials;
  • evaluation of bidders and recommendation of the selected vendor;
  • identification of gaps to prioritise for internal development.