Oncontact Software Nets CRM Excellence Award for Fourth Consecutive Year

CEDARBURG, WIS. (PRWEB) June 11, 2003 -- Oncontact Software, a leading provider of customer relationship management (CRM) software for the mid-market, today announced it has captured the exclusive CRM Excellence Award, sponsored by Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine, for the fourth consecutive year.

The CRM Excellence Award honors Oncontact Software as a CRM software leader that truly understands first-rate customer service and what it ultimately means to the bottom line. Oncontact Software was chosen for the CRM Excellence Award for the outstanding quality of its CRM software suite and the success that it has brought to Oncontact Software customers.

Oncontact Software demonstrated that success by showing Customer Inter@ction Solutions editors how it improved business for its client, CARFAX. CARFAX has revolutionized the used car industry with its Vehicle History Reports. The reports reveal background information and unearth "hidden problems" in a car's past that may affect its resale value and safety. Thanks to CARFAX, used car buyers can regard their purchase as a solid investment rather than a crapshoot.

CARFAX uses Oncontact Software's customer relationship management (CRM) application suite to cultivate relationships with the car dealers who are its customers. Having one comprehensive system that allows all users to share customer contact and usage information, comments from interactions, customer demographics and marketing collateral helps CARFAX communicate better internally, build strong bonds with dealers and provide top-notch customer service. The data CARFAX captures really lets the company get to know the customer and thus be able to accurately gauge their wants and needs.
CARFAX has customized Oncontact's CRM application suite to track basic demographics, state auto dealer association affiliations, franchises carried (i.e. Ford, Honda, Subaru), affiliations with large dealer groups (i.e. Carmax, AutoNation, Sonic), call history and number of vehicle history reports run in current, most recent and all previous months. This process helps CARFAX identify at-risk customers and develop strategies to increase their usage of and satisfaction with their CARFAX subscription. Oncontact's CRM application suite also creates a complete history of every account to track each customer interaction, purchase and support incident. CARFAX's users report their findings directly in Oncontact's CRM system, which allows CARFAX's marketing information group to immediately aggregate and analyze the data, then advise the customer service team how to act on it.

Oncontact's CRM application suite helps CARFAX execute proactive customer service. CARFAX has set up its CRM system to remind customer service reps to routinely call contract signers and users to outline new service elements that they might not know about, such as 24-hour phone-in service, reduced access fees for new customers and co-op advertising opportunities.

CARFAX has also configured Oncontact's CRM application suite to let customer service reps know when an at-risk customer runs a CARFAX report revealing a problem with the vehicle the customer is considering, thereby rescuing that customer from buying a vehicle with hidden problems. This alert allows the rep to contact the dealer right away to reiterate the value of the service and the importance of using it on a regular basis. The dealer benefits because it is more likely to use the service in the future and thus "save" itself from investing in faulty vehicles. The call positions CARFAX as a company that cares about its customers and is very much in touch with their business. This could explain why 21% of formerly at-risk customers today are satisfied CARFAX subscribers.

After the first twelve months of use, CARFAX's customer retention was up 3.2 percent. Although 3.2 percent might not sound like much, to CARFAX every six-tenths of a percent difference in customer retention adds up to approximately $1 million in annualized revenue. So 3.2 percent actually translated into more than a $5 million revenue increase for CARFAX in its first year. This figure doesn't even include the additional revenue the company sees from increased use of CARFAX products.

Oncontact's CRM application has boosted productivity among CARFAX's customer service reps. CARFAX¡¦s reps now service 33 percent more customers than they could previously serve. By increasing the ground the customer service reps can cover, Oncontact's CRM system is helping CARFAX convert more and more at-risk customers into happy users. As we mentioned earlier, 21% of formerly at-risk customers are now satisfied CARFAX subscribers.
Oncontact has truly helped revolutionize the way CARFAX¡¦s does business.

"Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine implemented the CRM Excellence Awards as a way of commending the companies that have proven to be true CRM partners to their customers and clients. Oncontact Software has demonstrated to the editors of Customer Inter@ction Solutions that their products and services have substantially improved the processes of their client's businesses by streamlining and facilitating the flow of information needed for companies to retain their most precious asset...their customers," said Nadji Tehrani, Chairman & CEO, TMC.

¡§We are very proud to partner with CARFAX and the success CARFAX has demonstrated with their customers over the years,¡¨ said George Kofman, president of Oncontact Software. ¡§We are again extremely honored that Customer Inter@action Solutions has recognized the achievements that Oncontact Software has made with customers such as CARFAX.¡¨

About Oncontact Software
Oncontact Software develops award-winning CRM software for mid-market companies. Client Management Software (CMS), Oncontact Software's CRM solution that automates the sales, marketing and service areas of an organization, can be run in a Windows and/or Web environment. ClientNet and PartnerNet are Oncontact Software's audience-specific Web portals that enable a company to share information with all business channels.

Oncontact Software is a privately held company whose applications are marketed and implemented throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Middle East. Oncontact Software's products are available through its corporate headquarters in Wisconsin and an international alliance network of value-added resellers, system integrators and distributors. Oncontact Software has over 350 customers worldwide, including Prudential, Sears and CARFAX.

Additional Oncontact Software information is located on the Internet at www.oncontact.com or via phone at 800.886.0866.

About TMC
Since 1972, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) has produced industry-leading trade magazines and events focused on technology and telecommunications. TMC publishes two magazines: Customer Inter@ction Solutions and Internet Telephony , two online publications, Planet PDA„· Magazine and BiometriTech Magazine, and a series of e-mail newsletters. TMC is also the first publisher to test new products in its own on-site laboratories, TMC Labs, and provide factual and unbiased product reviews. TMC also produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, Planet PDA„µ: The Enterprise PDA Event and BiometriTech Conference & Expo. TMCnet.com publishes more than 25 topical online newsletters. For more information about TMC, visit its Web site at www.tmcnet.com.

Contact
Tim Vertz
Oncontact Software Corporation
phone: 262.375.5143
email: timv@oncontact.com