J.D. Power and Associates and CustomerSat.com Team To Combine Standardized Model of Customer Satisfaction Research With Leading-Edge Internet Technology

Business Wire, May 31, 2000

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2000

In a move that reflects J.D. Power and Associates' commitment to online research, the firm has taken a minority equity stake in CustomerSat.com, Inc., a leading provider of online services for customer satisfaction measurement and reporting.

The two firms have teamed to combine a model for accurate and actionable customer satisfaction research with innovative Internet technology to conduct online surveys with speed and relevance. To enhance its online capabilities for customer satisfaction research, J.D. Power and Associates has licensed CustomerSat.com's Web Survey System, which includes Positive Respondent Identification(TM) technologies; unique PopUp-on-Exit(TM) capabilities for intercepting Web site visitors as they exit a site or complete an online purchase; and the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Integration Module, which integrates call centers and other customer support centers with online customer satisfaction measurement and reporting.

J.D. Power and Associates has specialized in measuring customer satisfaction since 1968 and has strong brand recognition among consumers, manufacturers and service providers in numerous industries around the world. Both firms will leverage their best practices and capabilities to provide clients with customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty benchmarks.

"We conducted an extensive search among providers of Web-based research services and singled out CustomerSat.com as a leading firm in this area," said Steve Goodall, president and chief operating officer at J.D. Power and Associates. "CustomerSat.com technology will reduce our surveying cycle time and allow us to connect with online consumers like never before. We will be able to survey consumers and measure customer satisfaction in real time."

J.D. Power and Associates will use CustomerSat.com technology for Web-based surveys and Web-based focus groups. Through this technology, clients of both firms will use custom surveys containing standard performance metrics for call centers, support centers and Web sites, allowing online performance comparisons to other centers and sites.

"J.D. Power and Associates is the indisputable world leader in customer satisfaction and benchmarking, uniquely able to apply CustomerSat.com technology on the largest scale," said John Chisholm, president and CEO of CustomerSat.com. "We are excited about leveraging, at a global level, their validated model of insightful and actionable customer satisfaction research."

Headquartered in Agoura Hills, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on actual customer responses from millions of consumers annually. J.D. Power and Associates can be accessed through the Internet at www.jdpower.com. Media e-mail contact: michael.greywitt@jdpa.com.

CustomerSat.com is a leading provider of Internet-enabled market research and customer satisfaction measurement services. Combining decades of experience in market research with expertise in leading-edge Internet technology to deliver innovative customer and market intelligence solutions to clients, it has developed proprietary methods to enhance the effectiveness of Web and e-mail surveys, WebFocus groups and real-time Web-based graphical reporting. CustomerSat.com can be accessed through the Internet at www.CustomerSat.com. Media e-mail contact: russh@customersat.com.