Business Issue(s) Addressed:

The key business issues to be addressed were:

• Building an effective marketing strategy
• Developing profitable relationships with partners
• Building their agent network
• Winning more large project work
  

The Solution:

Cox & Plant Ltd. handled the project jointly with the Dudley Gateway Project and was split into two significant areas:

1. To develop a web presence, which acts as an integrated part of the sales and marketing strategy, by providing:
   a. Well branded and genuinely useful source of information for prospects
   b. Definitive source of information regarding Cox & Plant and their capability as well as an easy to use communications medium for partners
   c. Well branded 'sales kit' which can be used for presentations by agents
   d. Ability to order spares on-line
2. Provision of Internet training to staff

The site was built over the period May-Aug 2000. Since it went live there have been valuable updates every month, as well as a satellite web site for a particular sector of their business.

Impact:

• Heightened company profile in the food processing equipment industry
• Reducing costs by referral to the web site, especially from abroad
• Larger number of enquiries leading to increase in turnover from �1.85m for 1999 to �2.5m in 2000. That's 35% growth.
• Helped Cox & Plant define their product range
• Increased ICT skills of office staff
• Increased the value of the company (not yet tested)
• The site ranks in the top 5 in the world with the search engines and directories for "food conveyors".
• The site was highly commended in the regional E-commerce awards.

Learning Points:

• A small company can have a big presence
• A web site is not just built and left
• Don't under estimate the amount of time that needs investing to develop and maintain a good web site
• When you have developed a good web site, make every effort to promote it in your day to day contact with clients, agents, partners to get the payback. That's viral marketing.

Screen shot from www.cox-plant.com

Business Issue(s) Addressed: External Communications and Market Diversification

CY Electrical & Cranes was looking for new methods of customer communication, especially technical information, as well as a new tool for generating leads. The company approached The Dudley Gateway Project in 1999 after a "Wake up to e-commerce" event, and further discussion followed on how to identify more profitable areas of the business through the application of new technology.

The Solution:

During the summer of 2000, a company web site was launched at www.cyequip.co.uk. The site contains product and company information and allows customers to generate a product enquiry, which utilises a mass of technical detail that resides in an on-line database. In addition the site includes an entirely new business venture for CY Electrical which was identified during the business technology audit carried out by The Dudley Gateway Project - second hand equipment sales.

Impact:

The company has reported a limited response from customers to date, but that this is not unexpected as the Internet is not yet been accepted as a common research tool amongst their customer base.

Some overseas sales have been achieved, including an order from Iceland as a result of the web site.

The company also reports some significant spin-offs from their e-business strategy including the adoption of both Internet banking and staff IT training.

Screen shot from www.cyequip.co.uk

Business Issue(s) Addressed: External Communication & Channel Development

Before the adoption of a company web site Swimrite used traditional channels for distributing its goods, channels such as:

• Mail order sales
• Poolside sales - approx. 125 events per year
• Wholesale supplies - to approx. 300 trade customers
• Supply of team kit

The company had reached a point of growth through these channels and was looking to develop new channels to market in order to continue the growth of the Swimrite through both sales and better customer communication.

The Solution:

Swimrite approached The Dudley Gateway Project in 1999 to discuss the development of a marketing web site. The development was completed in July of that year and launched at www.swimrite.com, and on-going maintenance of the site ever since has seen the site become regarded as an integral part of Swimrites communication strategy.

In 2000, the second element of Swimrite's web strategy was put in place, through the development of an on-line shop at www.swimstation.com designed and developed by Dudley Gateway's technical partner IST Ltd.

Impact:

The key impacts of this two-part development were:

• Value of sales as a result of web developments was �49,276 for 12 months to June 2001
• High ranking search engine results
• An automatically generated e-mail database of over 1,500 customers
• Investment in staff training
• Reduction in customer service costs
• The 2000 winners of Dudley Business Link's E-commerce award.

Screen shot from www.swimstation.com
Designed and developed by IST Ltd.