Sigma Wireless

At this point customers would not have direct access to the databank. Initially the sales people would use the databank to provide the required information and to ensure that sales targets are met.

In the early stages it was recognised that the sales people must maintain close and personal contact with the customer. Pointing a potential client at a website or even a shared workspace would not achieve sales. However, when these relationships were bedded down consideration should be given to improving service to clients through a shared workspace. This would only occur, however, given sufficient customer demand and volume of sales to justify the additional investment.

Stage 4 objectives were:

• Customers to be given direct, secure access to the databank in order to view product and/or solution related information themselves.
• Through use of workflow technologies, a collaborative working environment can be created with key customers, to reduce administration time and to provide a quicker more responsive service.
• Technical issues, such as allowing secure access to the databank, to be addressed at this point.
• Partners may be allowed access to the shared workspace where the level of trust and business demands it.
  
  

Business Requirements

The business plan put together by the project team identifies the key needs of the business that were considered when the technical solution was selected:

• The core of the selling process in Sigma Wireless is building strong relationships with a relatively limited number of companies.
• Sigma Wireless maintains multiple relationships within each customer company. This means that there is a many-to-many relationship with them.
• Decisions are made by these customers on the basis of many factors – not just availability and price – but reassurance in relation to quality of product, engineering expertise, responsiveness, willingness and ability to offer customised solutions to customer problems.
• Supporting this kind of relationship takes considerable time, and if the business is to grow, it must find ways of supporting more of these relationships, without an exponential rise in costs and resources requirements.
• Analysis showed that the personal interaction and relationships between Sigma Wireless and its customers were a vital element of its success in winning business. In fact this was a basis of differentiation in relation to its largest competitors.
• The transaction element of the relationship is characterised as ‘High-value, Low-Volume.’ These are relatively infrequent and are not seen as a priority area for automation in the foreseeable future.
• It is important to maintain a high degree of flexibility when dealing with Sigma Wireless customers. The nature of the relationship is best described as collaborative as opposed to transactional. This is the key factor to take into consideration in the assessment of the best solution.
• In conclusion, the key focus for the Sigma Wireless technology platform is that it should effectively and efficiently support the collaborative relationship between Sigma Wireless and its customers. It should not focus on the transactional element of the relationship. It is highly likely that Sigma Wireless customers will never process orders online with them.
• The initial focus must be on ensuring structured access for all customer-facing and customer-impacting Sigma Wireless staff to the information they need to support the customer at all points of the relationship. In a later phase, direct access by customers can be given to elements of this information that is of use to them.