to workshops or coaching, but others can be “stand alone.”
In all of our work, a detailed evaluation of the objectives and work to be completed must be conducted. If
we feel that it is inappropriate for us to engage in this work or if we feel we cannot add value, we will
decline the engagement.
Additional services include:
Site utility survey. We can evaluate your website and determine improvement opportunities. This
can be jointly conducted (on-site team) or we can provide detailed reviews of your site (research,
evaluate, with conference call and/or written report). Your site layout must be intuitive and provide a
"picture" of your message. But it also must operate properly and be integrated with your back office
systems. Is your site doing all these things?
Voice of Customer activities
Customer surveys. These can be instrumental in driving your eBusiness initiatives to higher levels.
These can be a valuable “first step” in determining issues and identifying problems. Frequently it is
helpful to conduct a customer survey in advance of focus groups and/or one-on-one interviews. Other
times, these can supplement and validate on-line feedback and surveys.
Focus groups. We conduct focus groups with people you designate to assess your eBusiness
activities and strategies. This allows a knowledgeable, independent third party to ask the appropriate
questions and takes you “off the hook” to come up with immediate answers. This can help defuse
difficult issues. Focus groups can help correct and sharpen your eBusiness strategies and insure
success. Focus groups can also be effective ways to increase usage and penetration for your
applications.
One-on-One interviews. We conduct in-depth one-on-one interviews. Typically this is done with
customers, but it can be done with others as well. This will help get beneath surface issues and get
into the real business drivers. Customers like the opportunity to provide feedback to a knowledgeable,
caring third-party who can cut through barriers, if they feel that something will be done with the
information. There is no better way to demonstrate your customer commitment than to have someone
from outside your company hired to help drive the input for change.
Employee surveys. These help your business get at the issues that prevent success. Frequently, we
find that support groups are concerned that eBusiness will “take away their jobs” and, consequently,
don't give their complete effort. We can help you get to the root cause of problems. Frequently,
employee surveys will “convert” thinking about your eBusiness initiatives. We don't seek blame, we
seek cause.
On-site observation. Maybe you need an objective review of your eBusiness processes to see how
they mesh with other business activities, goals, and tasks. They may be creating future undesirable
impacts. We can help assess the business process designs and identify problems with workflows,
levels of data integration, responsibilities, and documentation.
Speeches and speaking engagements. Duane Cook has spoken for in-house management
conferences, industry trade associations, business associations, and at universities. As a recognized
expert in eBusiness he is called on regularly to give practical, results-oriented business perspective and
advice. Recent engagements include
- The Five Things Nobody Every told You About Your Website
- What It Takes to be Successful in B2B, You Learned in Kindergarten
- The Role of EDI and XML
- Do Companies Grieve?
More. We are open to working closely with you to determine any unique requirement you may have or
new services we should consider.
Some web businesses conflict with our moral and religious beliefs (such as pornography,
gaming/gambling, etc.) and this work will not be considered. If we feel that we would not be a good
candidate for the work based upon a conflict of interest (usually when doing work for a direct competitor),
the work will be declined. Finally, if we don’t feel that we can create value for you, for whatever reason,
then we are not the right company for the job and will not commit to you.
