Cisco Systems
170 West Tasman Dr.
San Jose, CA 95134
Phone: (408) 526-4000
http://www.cisco.com/
Insights
Cisco has an extensive web site that does everything it possibly can to help prospects convert to customers — except quantify its value proposiition. Case studies are extremely effective at quantifying results. For example, in a success story about The Town of Ave Maria, Florida, specific results were quantified: 1) Saved over US$1 million in building costs by eliminating the redundant wiring and cabling of multiple isolated building systems; 2) Reduced staffing costs by enabling IT to assume tasks of building maintenance staff: estimated US$350,000 annually in human resource savings; and 3) Enabled significant efficiencies in utility usage: estimated US$600,000 in annual savings. However, it does not descibe the costs incurred by the town or the specific ROI.
Cisco goes beyond the corporate monologues in its Blogs. It also embraces user-generated content in its eForums and Live Discussions.
It even reaches out to web site visitors to see if the content is enough to help them convert. For example, Cisco offers polls in their extensive documentation of benefits. Alongside the content, users may weigh-in on how useful the information is and even make suggestions.
Benchmark
| Company name | Rating | i | ii | iii |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Cisco Systems |     |
20 | 10 | 20 |
| Citrix Systems |  |
20 | 10 | 10 |
| Intel | |
10 | 0 | 0 |
| Internet Security Systems | |
20 | 10 | 10 |
| Average |    |
18 | 8 | 10 |
Last updated: Monday, September 24, 2007