Make Customers Part of Your Team

Guidance for Owners/Managers

One way businesses are helping their employees work better together is with internal company websites — better known as “intranet” sites.

An intranet site creates an online place where your employees or maybe a project team can share and collaborate on documents and access project timelines, vacation schedules and other group materials. You navigate an intranet site just the way you do an internet site using Internet Explorer or another web browser.

What if you want to extend this idea to key customers and business partners? Then you need to create an “extranet” site.

You can think of an extranet site as an intranet site opened up to select outsiders. You build and manage the site, but allow your employees and important customers, clients or partners to view and interact with the information there. To ensure security, access to the site requires a valid username and password. You can also restrict which areas and files on your site others can access.

How Businesses Use Extranet Sites
Large companies have been using extranets for years. The automotive industry uses extranet sites extensively to streamline the ordering processes and notify suppliers of parts and design changes. Suppliers in turn use the sites to receive proposals, submit bids, provide documents and even collect payments.

But you don’t have to be in the car-building business to operate an extranet. Small businesses have customers, suppliers and partners too. And it’s not unusual for small businesses to use extranet sites when they team up with other small businesses on projects. Here are some other examples of how you can use extranet sites that go beyond collaboration benefits:

* Share product manuals. If you are a manufacturer, you can provide self-serve access to user documents and technical specifications that can run to thousands of pages in print format.
* Make online catalogues available. Suppliers and wholesalers can provide vendors with up-to-date catalogue inventory to streamline the purchasing process for both buyers and sellers. They can also offer discounts to customers and feature discounted items.
* Conduct project management. An extranet can serve as a project-management system for keeping contractors on track. Such systems allow in-house teams to monitor external vendors who can use the extranet to report their progress.
* Provide customer service tools. With an extranet you can let your customers log in and view customised account information, track orders and communicate with sales and service staff.
* Offer online training. Online training firms can provide courses and course materials to their clients over extranets.
* Manage supply chains. Extranets can help keep inventory data current and accurate.
* Show sales demonstrations. Extranets allow sales representatives to deliver interactive presentations regardless of a customer’s location and without being constrained by trade-show schedules and tight travel budgets.
* Preview web design work. Web designers can use extranets to let customers preview web design projects, adding efficiency to the development process.

Here’s more to help you understand and get started with extranets.

Extranet Basics
Here’s what an extranet site is and does:

* An extranet site is a private company website you create that is dedicated to enabling you and your partners to work together.
* Users connect to an extranet site the same way they do the internet with a browser.
* Extranets can host the same types of content as a regular website, including documents, graphics, audio, video and message boards.
* Extranets can be personalised for each client accessing them.
* You can grant or restrict customer and partner access to certain sections of the extranet.
* You can employ antivirus protection and block certain kinds of files from your extranet to help protect your company network.
* A password-protected extranet is essential to provide security and ensure that only those you want accessing your site can.

Extranet Site Benefits
An extranet site can help you save money, speed development times, improve client relationships and boost client loyalty especially in the business-to-business market. Here’s how:

* Cost savings can accrue through reduced paper documents, the elimination of overnight shipping, fewer long-distance calls, reduced travel costs, less postage and lower copying costs.
* Increased productivity will result from automating processes that were once done manually and by ensuring critical information won’t get lost in the mail or buried in an e-mail inbox.
* Faster delivery and exchange can occur as information of all types can be posted to an extranet site for immediate access, and also be changed, edited or updated quickly.
* With site access available any time of the day, partners, clients and customers have the flexibility to operate when and where it’s most convenient, eliminating the need to schedule meetings and phone calls.
* Customer relations are improved as online interactions will help personalise and extend relationships with your clients.
* Clients will be able to provide feedback and input to your development efforts, making them sense that you appreciate their business needs and viewpoints.

Before You Set Up Your Extranet
Don’t launch an extranet without doing some planning. Consider the following:

* What’s your goal? Establish what you want to achieve with the extranet and what the customer or partner experience should be. Involve your staff. Make sure employees understand that an extranet might change how they work with customers.
* Security is critical. Use authentication and encryption capabilities to ensure no breach of confidential company information occurs using the extranet. Both customers and your employees should feel comfortable using the extranet’s security features.
* What kind? Extranets can be hosted in-house or outsourced, as part of your website or stand-alone. Windows SharePoint Services, a component of Windows Small Business Server 2003, is a tool you can use to create both an intranet and extranet. Windows SharePoint Services has preconfigured intranet sites that can be set up as extranet sites.
* Test your extranet. Check with clients before you move into full production mode to ensure that the extranet is easy to use.