Recent Work in E-commerce Strategy

Strategy development for leveraging an Intranet platform for product and sales training: For a global full-line telecommunications provider that must hire and train over 1000 salespeople per year, Hamilton determined how best to improve the productivity of the salesforce through better training and education. Part of the solution, which Hamilton helped to implement, was to shift the delivery of internal communications from a paper-based process to an Intranet-based process.

Global Internet strategy development for a leading IT strategy consultant: For the consulting arm of a major computer equipment and services corporation, Hamilton Consultants developed a strategic vision for how networked computing and the Internet could transform several industries and what opportunities for selling consulting services and software the new vision would create. Each industry study, relying on secondary data and interviews with key corporate executives and experts, was three-months in duration.

Our investigation of the media industry focused on newspapers, sports and recorded music. The team focused on application for information transfer and use of the Internet for internal operations, as well as whether and where the Internet would be used as an entertainment vehicle itself.

Our investigation of the oil and gas industry focused on exploration and production and fuel retailing. The team focused on knowledge management and global data mining applications upstream and real-time data integration opportunities for competitive pricing downstream.

Our investigation of the telecommunications industry focused on use of the internet internally in telecommunications companies to reduce the costs of customer acquisition, billing and servicing, and the addition of internet services to a telecommunications carrier's product line to enhance the total bundled offering.

Our research of the retail and wholesale distribution industries focussed on use of the internet to reduce supply chain costs, and also to add to the marketing capability of retailers though better data base mining, and use of customer data by retail store personnel.

Documenting sales best practices for a dot.com client in the energy industry: We met with and interviewed the field salespeople of a dot.com client in order to document sales best practices prior to an internal growth initiative. Our interviews included ride-alongs on actual sales calls with potential customers to see sales in action. Following these ride-alongs and extensive internal interviewing, Hamilton was able to map the sales process flow which helped the client visualize the multitude of steps involved in the sales process. As a deliverable, Hamilton literally "wrote the book" for the client's sales process. Hamilton wrote sales handbooks which formalized and optimized the client's best sales practices. These handbooks are used to train new sales staff and as a resource for the current Sales Team.

Assessing user opinion of a web-based interface: Following our work on sales best practices, Hamilton conducted one on one interviews with the customers of our dot.com client in the energy industry. Our purpose was to solicit feedback on the functionality of our client's web-based energy procurement tool. The client's short-term goal was to add the functionality desired by current users, in a prioritized way, to an upcoming release of the software. Their long-term goal was to develop formal User Group meetings to generate actionable customer feedback on a regular basis. Hamilton reported on customer's current needs and orchestrated the creation of these ongoing User Groups to keep the feedback coming.

Internet business design and site planning: For a pre-eminent medical information provider, Hamilton helped develop a comprehensive e-business strategy to create a focused physicians' Web portal as the cornerstone of shifting from a print-based to a Internet-based business model. Hamilton helped define and flesh out the strategic vision and successfully convince the Board of Directors to back the effort. Then we worked closely with senior management to define the overall structure of the new site and its offerings, explore and narrow technology options to support e-commerce and targeted ad delivery, and develop a detailed interactive financial model and pro-forma for the business.

Internet-based content and marketing strategy development for a leading newspaper publisher: Hamilton assessed the revenue potential of a web-based directory opportunity for the electronic site of a major national newspaper company. The team identified critical current and future success factors in the industry and recommended an entry strategy for the directory and for sales of local advertising. In addition, Hamilton recommended technology and business partners based on a rigorous evaluation of technological, strategic, and financial implications of partner offerings.

Internet strategy development for a vertical-market employment recruiting site: Hamilton developed an ambitious Internet strategy to best leverage a traditional publisher's dominant market position in recruitment classified advertising within a nationwide professional vertical market. Our work encompassed market sizing and segmentation, competitive analysis, site functionality and content strategy, pricing strategy, and recommendations for strategic partnerships.

Pricing strategy development for a family of IP-based data communications solutions: Hamilton developed a pricing strategy to enable a provider of data communications solutions to the financial industry to migrate its proprietary global networks to an Internet Protocol platform and meet the challenge of a rapidly shifting competitive environment. The pricing strategy has both short-term and long-term aspects and is designed to encompass several levels including the overall network, specific product offerings, and the range of business solutions that these offerings are intended to address.

Development of an Internet-driven customer retention strategy: For a focused provider of services to small businesses, Hamilton helped reinvent their business model from providing a single service that most businesses only need once, to being a relationship-driven business that targets a sequence of offerings from a portfolio of services as its customers evolve and grow. The cornerstone of the strategy to build and maintain long-term relationships is a private web site for customers which serves as the hub for service delivery and interactive communication with customers.

Sales and marketing strategy development for Internet auction business: For a venture-backed start-up offering business-to-business energy procurement via Internet auction, Hamilton designed, implemented, and piloted a multi-stage sales and marketing program. Hamilton's pilot program proved that the firm had a viable business model to drive profitable growth and was instrumental in securing the firm's second-round venture financing.

Internet as a platform for interactive customer service for a software and communications services company: For a global provider of data communications services who wanted to upgrade their customer service and lower their costs, Hamilton researched and recommended technology options for delivering customer service over the Internet in both self-service and real-time interactive modes.

Internet business strategy design and site planning for a professional services firm: A leading professional services firm faced an aggressive challenge from more technology-driven competitors. Hamilton helped the client determine how best to augment their primary service delivery channel (one-on-one consultation) with a Web-based self-service model. In addition, we determined how this new service offering could be best leveraged by creating a new product/pricing model of tiered service offerings which allowed the client to extend their reach into new market segments that they were previously unable to serve profitably.

Business launch planning and content strategy for a major telecom firm's entry into the electronic distribution of academic periodicals: Hamilton evaluated the competitive environment, industry and technical trends, and business economics and prepared a business plan for entry into academic and technical library markets. The team also interviewed and negotiated with publishers to develop content strategy designed to confer competitive advantage.