HARTE-HANKS CUSTOMERS EXPAND CRM EFFORTS TO MULTIPLE CHANNELS, INCREASE ROI THROUGH MIGRATION TO HARTE-HANKS M/CIS
-Migration to new product showing promising results for customers across a
broad range of industries-
BILLERICA, MA - July 15, 2002 - Users of Harte-Hanks M/CIS (Multi-Channel
Information System) in a variety of industries, report that their recent
migration to this new database solution already are showing benefits as a
result of the product`s multichannel customer relationship management (CRM)
capabilities. Users who are migrating soon say they expect the results
will be dramatic. Offered by Harte-Hanks Inc. (NYSE: HHS), a worldwide
provider of CRM and related direct and interactive marketing services,
Harte-Hanks M/CIS is a proprietary marketing software and services solution
that provides the ability to plan, execute and track multi-segment
promotions using automated customer data analysis.
Using Harte-Hanks M/CIS, organizations track and analyze customer
interactions, behaviors and preferences to drive a variety of subsequent
customer communications in mail, telephone, e-mail and other media.
Introduced in early 2002, Harte-Hanks M/CIS is one migration path for
current and recent users of Harte-Hanks P/CIS, a hosted or installed
solution that has met the changing needs of marketers for more than a
decade. Harte-Hanks M/CIS is designed specifically for companies and
organizations that have the need to conduct multichannel marketing
campaigns and to perform comprehensive analysis -- all backed by
Harte-Hanks customer data management, database updating and support
services, and a full-time vertical market application specialist.
At Marshall & Ilsley Bank, for instance, "We have been employing
multiple channels in our marketing efforts for five years already --
including the Web, direct mail, and a call center, and this multichannel
approach has made a difference in how we work with customers and their
overall satisfaction with our bank," said Clarence Masshardt, vice
president and director of database marketing and statistical analysis,
Marshall & Ilsley Bank. "We`re excited about using M/CIS because we can
clearly see the value it will bring to our operations in terms of more
effectively managing and evaluating our marketing efforts to our customers
across all segments of our business."
The solution is equally valuable in retail, where Harte-Hanks P/CIS
has been a stronghold for years. "We have been extremely pleased with the
results we get from P/CIS -- it`s extremely powerful, but doesn`t come with
the high price tag of other CRM database solutions," said Dean Sheaffer,
director of credit, Boscov`s Department Store, the country`s largest
family-owned department store with more than 35 stores reaching across five
states in the Mid-Atlantic region. "We`re excited to take advantage of the
multichannel capabilities of M/CIS, a product which will continue to meet
our growing need to integrate our varied marketing efforts and report on
the results of those multi-channel efforts without gouging our budget. We
expect the migration will pay for itself in just a few months based on our
early test results."
Harte-Hanks M/CIS is designed to generate a comprehensive view of
each customer relationship, revealing important cross-sell and prospecting
opportunities that can be planned and readily implemented using the
software`s campaign management capabilities. Additional features in M/CIS
include support for multiple methods for formatting customer data, multiple
versions of data, improved reporting and tracking of various customer-based
metrics, and the ability to incorporate customer contact preferences, among
other functions.
"We have been very loyal P/CIS users for just over a year," said Mark
van Saun, marketing manager at sporting goods retailer Eastern Mountain
Sports. "We gave serious consideration to all of the CRM database solutions
available to us to handle multichannel marketing communications, but in the
end it was easy for us to stick with Harte-Hanks. Migrating to M/CIS means
we have a very quick and relatively easy implementation, resulting in
optimum data quality and cost-effective database management. Harte-Hanks
makes it easy for us by offering knowledgeable vertical market experts and
customer support professionals, as well as in-depth employee training and
ongoing hosting support," he said. "We`re excited about the ability, with
M/CIS, to offer and honor consumer choices, with opt-in/opt-out preferences
`on the fly,` to define consumer channel preferences, and to avoid
communicating via incorrect media choices."
About Harte-Hanks M/CIS
Harte-Hanks M/CIS is built on the company`s proven P/CIS and Desktop
Direct software technology, which has been production-proven by some of the
largest retail and financial institutions throughout the 1990s.
Some of the key benefits of M/CIS include the ability to incorporate
delivery information automatically, allowing users to combine multiple-file
formats from multiple sources, to determine the most recent value for each
field, and to overlay the customer database with the newest correct
information. Also, users can update promotion history by combining files
from multiple sources, automatically eliminating undeliverable mailing and
marketing records from the analyses, and, upon demand, automatically
reflect changes in the contact universe made after the selection was
processed, thus ensuring accurate response measures. Users also can
conduct and compare results of various types of testing, analyze responses
by segment and across channels, and determine return on investment (ROI)
based on response and pro-rated channel and version costs.
"We brought Harte-Hanks M/CIS to the market less than six months ago,
and our customers have been excited about its ability to test offers and
messages, define specific versions of messages for various channels, and
perform financial tracking by version type, as well as its many other
functions. Our early migrators are beginning to see results already and we
fully expect companies will see big savings on their marketing expenses
through the ability to get the right message to the right audience through
the most appropriate vehicle," said Spencer Joyner, group president, CRM
software and professional services, Harte-Hanks.
Harte-Hanks M/CIS is offered installed or hosted, which offers users the
flexibility to purchase and maintain the solution on their own, or to have
Harte-Hanks handle and maintain the data at its site as an effective means
to implement powerful CRM tools without up-front costs.
About Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE:HHS), San Antonio, TX, is a worldwide, direct
and interactive services company that provides end-to-end customer
relationship management (CRM) and related marketing service solutions for a
host of consumer and business-to-business marketers. Harte-Hanks and its
CRM integrated solutions use technology as the enabler to capture, to
analyze and to disseminate customer and prospect data at all points of
contact. Its customer-centric models allow the company to be the overall
solutions provider for driving traffic to a Web site, call/contact center,
or brick-and-mortar location. With premier specialized offerings ? direct
agency capabilities to print on demand, Web page design to e-care, desktop
database capabilities to systems integration, personalized direct mail to
e-mail, proprietary software products to application service provider (ASP)
solutions ? Harte-Hanks provides practical implementation of technology and
understands the needs of clients and their customers to deliver
best-of-breed solutions. Visit the Harte-Hanks CRM solutions Web site at
http://www.hartehankscrm.com or the corporate Web site at
http://www.harte-hanks.com or call (800) 456-9748.
Note to Editor: Harte-Hanks and the Harte-Hanks logo are registered
trademarks of Harte-Hanks, Inc.
P/CIS and Desktop Direct are trademarks of Harte-Hanks. Harte-Hanks M/CIS
is a registered trademark of Harte-Hanks.
###
Chet Dalzell
Director, Public Relations
Harte-Hanks
55 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10003-4301
(212) 520-3232
chet_dalzell@harte-hanks.com
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