Blaser Swisslube Practices Global CRM with FrontRange™ GoldMine®; Swiss Industrial Coolant Maker Deploys GoldMine Corporate Edition in North America, Europe and Asia; U.S. Office Improves Sales Team Productivity by 20 Percent

Business Wire, Feb 24, 2006

DUBLIN, Calif. -- Blaser Swisslube, an international maker of high-quality industrial coolants and cutting oils, has extended the success of its FrontRange(TM) GoldMine(R) Corporate Edition pilot program in North America by deploying the award-winning Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in Europe and India. In addition to existing installations in Switzerland, Germany, India and the United States, Blaser Swisslube plans to deploy GoldMine in France, Japan, China and the Czech Republic.

"We needed a CRM solution that meets our global needs -- one that will empower us to practice a customer-focused approach to business," said Marc Blaser of Blaser Swisslube.

Executives of the 70-year-old family-owned Swiss company based their decision to use GoldMine worldwide on the success of a pilot program led by FrontRange partner First Direct Corp. (1stdirect.com) at their U.S. office in Goshen, New York. The Blaser U.S. sales team improved its productivity by 20 percent using GoldMine to eliminate redundant reporting activities. The time reclaimed now allows Blaser representatives to follow up on every sales opportunity by using GoldMine's history logging and reminders, as the software's single interface for all contact data enables them to locate customer and prospect information in seconds.

John Wiley, vice president of Blaser Swisslube USA, explained that as Blaser grew globally, the need to share customer information and sales opportunities among its offices and staff members also increased. Until 2003, the company kept customer and prospect information in several different databases. With distributed information, providing staff members with a complete picture of a customer's or a prospect's current situation was time-intensive. In addition, sales management found reporting activities and forecasting its global pipeline nearly impossible.

According to Wiley, with GoldMine, Blaser's sales representatives are able to ensure that more than half of their site visits are with existing customers, a critical component of the company's revenue base. "If we can't manage issues with existing customers or our sales opportunities, we might not be maintaining those relationships or generating opportunities as effectively," he said.

Wiley continues: "We find that GoldMine, from a cost/benefit perspective, provides more capabilities than some of the other similarly priced products, and as many capabilities as some of the more expensive ones." With the help of First Direct Corp., Blaser Swisslube plans to continue to build on its success with GoldMine.

About First Direct Corp.

Since its founding in 1992, First Direct Corp. has been a FrontRange Solutions partner supporting all FrontRange products including GoldMine. 1stdirect.com handles a full range of services, including analysis/process design, installation and configuration, customization, automated processes, data conversion, reporting, as well as on-site and help desk support. For more information, call USA 845-221-3800 or visit www.1stdirect.com.

FrontRange Solutions

FrontRange Solutions develops award-winning software and solutions used by more than 130,000 companies and over 1.2 million users worldwide to manage a wide variety of business relationships and provide exceptional service. FrontRange product families, designed specifically for small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) and distributed enterprise organizations include: GoldMine(R) for Customer Relationship Management (CRM); IT Service Management with HEAT(R) and ITIL(R) standards-based modules for complete service management; Communication Management including IP Office, GoldMine IP Voice Suite and IP Contact Center for reduced telephony costs and increased agent productivity, streamlined customer service and communications; and Infrastructure Management, which provides the ability to optimize the full lifecycle of a company's assets. Customers representing 44 percent of the Fortune 100 and 76 percent of the FTSE 100 include Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, Prudential Securities, Electricite de France, Mack Trucks, Campbell Soup, Avaya, Bechtel Corp, Bank of America, and Turner News Network. For more information, call 800-776-7889 or visit www.frontrange.com.

GoldMine, HEAT and other FrontRange Solutions products, brands and trademarks are property of FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other products, brands and trademarks are property of their respective owners/companies.