Business model analysis of the combination of call center and Business-to-consumer e-commerce

An enterprise to develop e-commerce, to involve internal management of ERP, chain up and down the manufacturer's supply chains, but no matter how the enterprise development, are inseparable from customer contact, how to establish an effective customer contact channel is the first consideration. Then in the e-business type Enterprise to face is through the network and the telephone establishment such link, also namely the website Electronic Mall and the call center to support the electronic Commerce application, we first based on this angle analyzes the enterprise business model, to see how call center and the electronic Mall unifies to promote the electronic Commerce application.

How to build a call center? You can refer to the following methods:

1. To find telecommunications, railcom, netcom agents, the cost of their own to talk about, if you only 10 or less, the formation of their own will be cost-effective, the rate will be high, the risk of a large, CS wages by you to bear and pay a certain amount of communication costs.

2.20 seats, the proposed use of Board + industrial computer, if more than, you need to upgrade.

3. Trusteeship. Apply for 400 calls yourself, conservative estimate the longest one phone for 1.5-3 minutes, 8 hours a day, the peak will be concentrated in 12 points-16 points, if someone at night a better value, their own to calculate, estimated the enterprise's orders and answer the phone's length and frequency to control the increase or decrease in CS.

4. You need to know whether you are a net trader or a marketing method for DM and other telephone access to determine the intensity of your work center.

5. If only do the net city, that needs the CS to the product and order processing process to be familiar with, because the access telephone will be mostly consultation and exception handling. And the processing time is based on the single order problem strength.

6. If it is DM, TV shopping joint promotion, it is obvious that your 5-10 CS must not be enough, very few customers in the phone will always adhere to.

The product of the call center prices are now done very low, 20 seat hardware and software together is basically 5,6w. And now the board technology is also more mature, board and industrial control machine itself, the stability of the basic 120 seats are no problem, most of the instability is due to software problems such as Windows vulnerabilities virus and so on. With the switch, the board and Industrial control machine is basically useless, but in many cases the user will consider the board and industrial computer to do IVR or as a common server (database or background business system).

As a customer contact channel, from the application of E-commerce, contact customers through the site and call center contacts between the two channels are there, there will be differences, but also can complement each other, in the specific implementation of such a number of forms:

1. Customers can order by call center, website, and orders generated by telephone and network can be unified management, unified tracking.

2. Customer orders through the site, at the same time through the call center to complete the consultation and after-sale services, including complaints, recommendations, after-sales service, repair and claims, etc. by the call center to bear.

3. Enterprises through the television, plane, SMS and other advertising models for marketing, customers through the call center call into place orders to achieve the sales process.

4. Through the phone call out, SMS for market research, publicity and sales. Market research is an important element in the whole field of marketing. It links consumers, customers, and marketers through information, through telephone and other means (SMS) with customers to establish a trust relationship, and in the process of building relationships to understand and explore the needs of customers and meet their needs, can target specific customers, targeted telemarketing.

Through these ways, call center and Electronic mall can be a good combination, on the one hand, call center is the most direct access to customers, easier to contact customers, enterprises can be through the telephone, chat, email and other means of human services for customers. On the other hand, electronic mall can improve customer experience, and the combination of call center can improve service level, so that customers get complete service.

In the completion of the channel function, in fact, the call center can also penetrate all aspects of e-commerce business processes, call center consulting business, ordering process processing, and even after-sales service and warranty claims processing can be fully integrated into E-commerce pre-sale, sale and after-sale process. Let's take a look at the call center in order Processing process, call center order management can include two parts, one is the order process management, one is the management of order business. The main process of order involves: order confirmation, order tracking: Keep abreast of the processing status of orders, such as whether confirmation, distribution status, delivery status, etc. order goods refund, exchange processing, order settlement, order Processing, order distribution, delivery, order statistics, order payment processing (first payment, installment, C.O.D.). From the processing of these processes we can see that the call center and E-commerce process has been closely combined, can fully use the call center to promote E-commerce enterprises marketing and sales business development.

Finally talk about the construction plan, how to select a call center system to carry out E-commerce services for enterprises. E-commerce is inseparable from the Internet, and now the SaaS model of the call center is also based on the Internet, for small and medium-sized call center can be adopted to recommend this model, it can quickly carry out business, while at the beginning to reduce the threshold of enterprise informatization, risk, For medium and large call center system, it is more suitable to choose the Self building mode.

But there are also some problems with the call center project, and some of the problems and solutions are listed below:

Problem One: Business value is not clear. Recommendation: In accordance with the fifth generation of Call center SOA specification for the strategic construction of call center, first of all to focus on real business problems. Start by proving to the business department which business issues the call center solves and then proceed with the technical issues.

Question two: Random organization change. Recommendation: Develop an organizational change management (OCM) program, and hire OCM experts from outside to help the call center Project's leadership team respond to change. For example, Professor John Kotter of the Harvard Business School proposed a methodology that included eight steps for successful change.

Question three: No key leadership support. Recommendation: If a call center project involves several key business drivers, the executive sponsor should be a senior business executive who can benefit from the implementation of the project, allowing him to control and implement a series of projects that drive the call center roadmap. In a technology company, it is most likely the CEO, CIO, CTO, or chief architect to act as the executive sponsor. Whoever chooses, the person must be able to lipaizhongyi and have a record of leadership.

Question four: cheap. Recommendation: Develop a fifth generation call Center Deployment roadmap that lists a range of projects and the long-term benefits that call centers can bring to the company. Demonstrate the need to implement the entire call center project from an economic perspective, and let the management team see the return on investment, net present value, internal rate of return, or any other financial indicator that is most important to the company. If there is sufficient justification for the scheme, sufficient funds should be available to protect the project. In addition, several excellent open source products can be used to greatly reduce the total cost of implementing call center projects.

Question five: lack of skills. Recommendation: Develop a comprehensive training and resource plan that will be included as part of the initial funding application process. Try to reduce the number of application funds, and strive for as many upfront funds as possible. Otherwise, managers may feel that call center projects are endlessly consuming money.

Question six: lack of project management. Recommendation: Use the best project management resources to call center projects. or invite one or two celebrities from outside to help lead the project. Regardless of who chooses from the outside, the other side should have a successful record in delivering major transition projects. In addition, this person must have enough solid technical foundation, can understand the call center from the conceptual level.

Question seven: A person with multiple posts. Recommendation: The standard IT team structure is ineffective for call centers, so try to make a difference. Matrix organization (from) and collaborative meeting room environments are worth considering. Remove cubicles and set up open workplaces so that these experts can work closely together. It is also necessary to have business and testers in the same room. Hang the whiteboard everywhere, minimize the progress of the project, and choose a more collaborative approach.

Question eight: underestimate complexity. Suggestion: No matter how conservative the enterprise is, consider all kinds of technical obstacles in the progress of the call center. There are plenty of time to set aside, because there may be a variety of integration issues, some of which are caused by code, and some problems are caused by the tool itself. The manufacturer's products are far from mature, and may appear various unexpected problems. To set realistic expectations, don't try to accomplish too many things at once. Start small, often provide results, and then continue to expand. Catch the "tail" of security from the head.

Question nine: There is no governance mechanism. Recommendation: Treat governance as a capital in place, and call center project to carry out a project to see. A dedicated team (usually affiliated to the Enterprise Architecture Department) should be established with its own roadmap and long-term goals. Don't expect to be able to administer well overnight. This is a long process; It takes several years to reach a stage of high maturity. When the governance mechanism matures, the call center will also mature.

Issue 10: Let the manufacturer drive the architecture. Advice: Figuring out what you need, and negotiating with vendors is not too late. A very comprehensive assessment of the manufacturer. If the scope is narrowed down to several vendors, they should be invited to come and prove the concept and see if they can meet all the requirements. To keep an eye on each other's movements, vendors can no longer hide behind those fancy PowerPoint slides to prevent a major mistake from being made. Do the necessary preparation, read the blogs written by other executives, consult the consulting firm that uses the relevant tools. In addition, to find the implementation of the fifth generation call center of other companies or manufacturers recommended by the relevant parties to talk about. Don't expect shortcuts, and be sure to face the prudent decisions you make.

It can be said that the goal of an e-business platform, is to establish multi-channel, one-stop network marketing model and service network, including call center and Internet E-commerce, on this platform, the establishment of contact with customers of different channels, such as telephone, network, SMS, etc., involving the different periods of contact with customers, such as marketing process, Sales process, service process. In this way, through this one-stop, multi-channel network platform, with the end customers to establish mutual trust relationship, to provide customers with professional and multi-channel all-round service, and then make it the most competitive service platform and interactive platform.

The article combines the Chinese research center and the sending Generation network.