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EmailWhat's Needed: B2B Sites That Solve Business Operation Needs And Are Simple To Use
Most transactions within the building industry relate to business operations, such a finding subs, negotiating contracts and handling job details. Technology advances are forcing builders to seek new solutions for these business activities. The most successful web networks, according to Donald Hyde, CEO and President of BuilderSupplynet.com, will build interactive communities that solve real problems.
| Donald Hyde |
Within this industry only about 20% of the transactions that occur relate to buying or selling building materials, with the emphasis on reliability of delivery, product quality, relationship, and price, generally in that order of importance. The other 80% of industry transactions have to do with finding subcontractors and service companies, negotiating contracts, contract administration, dispute resolution and job close-out details.
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80% of web transactions involve managing business processes |
This is where the challenge lies -- determining where the greatest opportunity can be found to create a sustainable B2B community. The goal is to create all inclusive, online communities and provide an environment in which communication, collaboration, contract administration, and e-commerce are simple and instant, saving time and adding to profit margins.
Vertical nets address a builders' business needs
Online vertical communities derive from the view that e-commerce alone is not enough to create sustainable business-to-business solutions. A variety of sites have been created to address the operational and business development needs of the building industry. These sites work from the "inside out," and focus not only on technology solutions, but more importantly on creation of communities that represent the off-line networks currently in use.
The goal of these online networks is to improve workflow and communications within an online working community, and to help general contractors, builders, subcontractors, suppliers, service providers and architects better manage their business processes.
Technology changing building business to one of immediacy
The construction industry has been a linear process since the beginning, moving incrementally, but not always methodically, from planning to execution.
It is estimated that 50 percent of companies in the construction industry, projected at over 1.5 million firms, now have Internet access. The overwhelming majority of those companies are simply using the Web for e-mail and product research, not for overall business improvement. Although the construction industry as a whole has lagged behind other industries in technology adaptation, change is imminent.
Technological advances in recent years have brought a monumental transformation to the industry.
Such rapid change, coupled with the industry's tight margins, have forced construction companies to seek new business solutions, such as BuilderSupplyNet.com.
A flood of specific web-based applications available
Advances in Internet technology and software development have made it relatively easy for Internet entrepreneurs to develop web-based applications that address specific technical needs, i.e. web-based project management and online procurement. Many of these applications, including marketplace exchanges, have been designed by software developers from the outside in.
Additionally, there are suites of stand-alone applications that allow for on-line blueprint mark up, on-line multi-party collaboration, and technical research, to name a few. Despite the complexities of use posed by some of these applications they have the potential to deliver valuable benefits for understanding users who can also justify the cost.
Confusion over "Internet hype"
Not surprisingly, market research conducted by INTERNOS Corp. indicates that current non-adapters are confused by "Internet hype," and by an undisciplined use of fundamental terms in advertising and other marketing mediums.
Terms such as "community," "alliance," and "network," have been freely interchanged to describe one-to-one B2B transactions, hyper-linking, and directory services. Liberal use of the terms "e-commerce" and "B2B commerce" to describe various types of on-line web sites, has further confused this large and relatively unsophisticated industry.
Believing therefore that they must become pseudo-technologists to understand and participate in the "New Economy," only the largest companies, and the intellectually curious have taken a leap to discover how and where they can work on-line.
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Mainstream market waiting for the hype to settle down
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What's needed: relevant and simple to use
The customer value proposition can be summarized as: proactive community building that is combined with simple-to-use features, and a suite of applications and resources that are relevant to all industry segments. The goal is to depart from B2B market makers who adopt an "if you build it they will come" approach to community creation. That approach lacks sustainability because it ignores the needs of four-fifths of an industry - approximately 1.5 million firms.
Subscribers to BuilderSupplyNet.com, for example, can find business partners by numerous search filtering techniques such as area of specialty, CSI division number and minority business status. Vendor catalogs can be located by product type; Request for Quotes and other standard industry documents can be broadcast to selected lists of one, or many recipients; other e-mail formats such as sealed bid proposals are designed around the way the industry works using the language and protocols of the industry.
Some sites, including BuilderSupplyNet.com, allow blueprints to be stored on servers for download by one or many recipients, thereby saving thousands of dollars per project. Delivery of all e-mail can be verified to time and date that they were opened. E-mail can be easily managed and archived through in-house tools that allow for the creation of custom folders organized by the user.
By understanding the existing work processes and traditions of each industry that it serves, online companies are able to build interactive communities that solve real problems. These communities will be well used by all members and will simplify a firm's entire business -- how it communicates, and how it manages projects and finances.
For more information, contact:
Donald Hyde
CEO and President
BuilderSupplynet.com
INTERNOS CORPORATION, INC
Dulles, VA
Phone 703-715-3200
www.kpf.com
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