Customers.com: How to Create a Profitable Business Strategy for the Internet and Beyond

Aiming her debut at both executives and the technologists who carry out their dictums, consultant Seybold consolidates a wealth of information on how to link businesses to the Internet and other electronic tools. Her ""five steps to success"" in electronic commerce--""Make it easy for customers to do business with you"" and ""Redesign your customer-facing business processes from the end customer's point of view,"" to name two--are confirmed by a compilation of 16 case studies illustrating ""eight critical success factors,"" including knowing the target market, giving customers room to browse and making service more personalized. Tales from the Webbing of American Airlines, National Semiconductor, Hertz, Amazon.com and Bell Atlantic, among others, make the book's basic messages seem inescapable, though at a cost of much built-in redundancy, as they crop up in a myriad of contexts. Going beyond screen-based issues, Seybold shows how billing for electronic commerce or the integration of third-party business can tip the scales toward on-line profitability. The final ""handbook"" outlines general prescriptions for planning and implementation. While much of the detail about particular Web sites will be outdated before long, of more lasting value are the lessons regarding insightful marketing, innovations and just good business sense--regardless of medium. Illustrations not seen by PW. Author tour. (Nov.)