December 13, 1999

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E-Business 100
Virtual World, Real Service

By Beth Bacheldor

inding out if a company sells a particular product on the Web isn't difficult, but getting specific information about pricing, payment methods, delivery, or support can be daunting at times. True, many suppliers offer FAQs, but these frequently asked questions don't always provide the answers you seek.

Now, imagine that, upon hitting a site, a window suddenly pops up and asks how you can be helped. A live chat session, with a real service representative at the other end, ensues--and within seconds you know this company can provide you with the product by nightfall.

This is the kind of service companies want--and expect--but pulling it off in the ethereal world of E-business can be tricky. Enter Precision Response Corp., an 18-year veteran of customer service that's making waves in online customer care.

David Epstein, CEO of Precision Response--the 23rd-ranked company on the InformationWeek E-Business 100 list--has always known the importance of customer care. He's one of the founders of the company, which began as a full-service fulfillment center and expanded into database management, teleservices, and customer-care management software.

But the Internet brings new challenges to customer care. "Think about the competitive nature of the Internet," he says. "If you walk into a Nordstrom department store and you feel you aren't getting the right information or help, you can walk next door into Saks and find the same product. But out on the Web, you are one click away from getting from one destination to another. You don't have to get up, you don't have to do anything except one click."

Aware of the unique circumstances of doing business in an electronic world, Precision Response in 1997 launched InfiniteAccess, a set of services that lets companies offer customer service over the phone or by E-mail.

From that evolved PRCnetcare.com, a Precision Response subsidiary that helps companies integrate live customer service into their online businesses. Among the services Precision Response's new dot-com offers is PRC Web Online, which lets companies establish immediate, real-time interaction between customers and representatives over the Web.

The service requires only a button on a customer's Web site that visitors can click when they encounter problems or have questions. From there, the visitor has three communication options: direct Internet telephone using a voice-over-IP connection, a regular telephone connection, and live Internet chat.

Another PRCnetcare.com service lets customer-service representatives take control of a visitor's browser. "We can walk someone through an online process or show them something on the Web site," says Epstein, helping online businesses move away from the self-serve model to a proactive and collaborative model.

PRCnetcare.com also provides regular reports based on real-time and historical data, so companies can better understand how satisfied their customers are and what kinds of new offerings they'd like.

Early next year, PRCnetcare.com plans to launch PRC Netwatch, a service that intervenes when there's a problem. "When they are stuck, rather than waiting for them to ask for help, we can initiate help in a nonintrusive way," Epstein says. And the data collected can be combined with other customer-care data for a more complete picture.

To show its commitment to E-business, Precision Response invested $3 million to create PRCnetcare.com, then it spun off the wholly owned subsidiary, and dedicated personnel and technology to the venture.

So far, PRCnetcare.com isn't profitable. But like other dot-coms, that's expected. In the third quarter, PRCnetcare.com generated $2 million in sales but had $2.6 million in expenses, and analysts estimate this year PRCnetcare.com will finish with $6.5 million to $7 million in revenue. "We'll still have some losses, but those losses won't be more than a couple million," says Precision Response president and chief operating officer Wes O'Brien. In 2000, PRCnetcare.com should produce as much as $35 million in revenue. "Next year will be a nice return for shareholders," O'Brien says.

Perhaps it's Precision Response's vision that the customer does come first that is propelling it into a next-generation customer-care company--one that thrives in an online world. "I'm a believer that human and consumer behavior is very specific in this day and age, and if someone spends a certain amount of money, that person expects a certain amount of care," Epstein says. "That kind of self-service model is ineffective in a mall and it's ineffective on the Internet."

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