CHARTER Software Solution Supports Staples' Customer Management Strategy

Business Wire, Oct 23, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2000

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS), the pioneer of the office superstore industry, has implemented the CHARTER suite of customer management applications from Swallow Information Systems, a leading global provider of customer management software solutions. In order to sustain its corporate vision to value each and every customer, Staples chose CHARTER to support customer relations and ensure its policy to provide great service every day in every way.

Staples' customer relations support team, located at the company's headquarters in Framingham, Mass., uses CHARTER to track and manage customer feedback from more than 900 office supply superstores and its catalog division. The company has an extremely large and diverse customer base, including small and large businesses, as well as a steady flow of patrons through more than 900 stores nationwide.

The Staples customer service group receives several thousand inquiries each month. Staples encourages feedback from customers, which is compromised of questions about products and services, suggestions, compliments and other inquiries.

Staples chose CHARTER because it needed one software solution to handle several different mediums of customer communication, including telephone, email, letter, and fax.

"Staples' customer relations team receives a huge amount of correspondence from customers everyday. CHARTER provided Staples with one solution that helps us manage our customer feedback and information from any communication vehicle," said Devon Whitney-Deal, customer service development manager at Staples.

Staples' customer service team is able to log all information from a customer in the CHARTER system, including conversation notes and the customer's reason for contacting Staples. This process allows the company to categorize the inquiry and use the feedback as a tool to analyze trends in customer opinion and satisfaction levels. All notes and information are stored in CHARTER for potential future use.

"Staples' endorsement of CHARTER is an excellent example of how our software enables organizations to offer the best service and support to their clients," said Bill Bostridge, vice president of sales at Swallow Information Systems. "Staples receives large volumes of feedback and needs one solution to incorporate every communication medium. CHARTER has allowed them to efficiently manage this feedback and exceed customer expectations."

About Swallow Information Systems

Swallow Information Systems is a leading developer of customer feedback management systems. CHARTER continuum(TM) is a consumer-to-business feedback management system. It provides customer care departments with a case-based solution for logging, tracking and responding to customer complaints, compliments and inquiries. CHARTER is used by some of the world's best-known brands including Staples, Toyota Ltd., Rowenta, Canandaigua Wine Co., Mitsubishi Motors Ltd., McDonald's Restaurants Ltd., Consumers Union, and British Telecom. The product incorporates the powerful, customizable reporting capabilities of BusinessObjects(TM), which allows companies to analyze their customer feedback and identify trends. CHARTER also incorporates a flexible diary management system and a call logging wizard to increase accuracy of records.

Swallow Information Systems also provides Customer Relationship Management application integration services, enabling companies to incorporate their customer feedback system into their corporate customer service strategy. Swallow Information Systems was founded in 1990 and has offices in Beverly, MA and London, UK.

About Staples Inc.

Staples Inc., (NASDAQ:SPLS), is a $9 billion provider of office supplies furniture, technology and services to consumers and businesses of all sizes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal. Headquartered near Boston, Staples invented the office superstore concept and is the largest operator of superstores in the world.

The company has 50,000 employees who help customers slash the cost and hassle of running their businesses through more than 1,200 retail superstores, an e-commerce business, direct mail order operations under the brands of Staples and subsidiary Quill Corporation, and a national accounts contract business. More information about the company is available at http://www.staples.com.

For marketing inquiries, please contact Frances Wetterlow at (978) 867-6113 or via email at fwetterlow@swallow-us.com.

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