Stronghold Launches Call Management Services to Expand Its Lead in Customer Information Capture and Sales Follow-up
BASKING RIDGE, N.J.--Jan. 1, 20043, 2004--| DealerAdvance(TM) Offers Integration with Callbright Toll-Free Numbers for 100% Capture of Incoming Phone Prospects |
Stronghold Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SGHT), the developer of DealerAdvance(TM), an enterprise software and solutions provider to improve business performance for the automotive retail industry, today announced the introduction of its Call Management Services to assist automotive dealers with harnessing the potential of phone-in prospects. This service complements Stronghold's industry leading customer relationship management solution, which is marketed as DealerAdvance(TM). The Company's Call Management Services will be offered as a new set of features to automotive dealer customers of DealerAdvance(TM), thus expanding Stronghold's platform for automatically accommodating multiple lead sources.
Stronghold also announced today a strategic relationship with Callbright Corporation for integration with DealerAdvance's(TM) Call Management Services. Dealerships that subscribe to toll-free numbers provided by Callbright will be able to receive and automatically track 100% of their incoming prospect calls in DealerAdvance(TM). Incoming call records received by DealerAdvance(TM) will be assigned to the sales person who previously worked with the customer or sent to a manager for further follow-up. This feature will be available in DealerAdvance(TM) Version 3.4, scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2004.
"We are excited by the advantages gained by automotive retailers that subscribe to our new Call Management Services," said Christopher Carey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stronghold. "Information gathered by Callbright, one of the leading in-bound call management vendors, will automatically be fed into DealerAdvance(TM). We will announce shortly a partnership with another leading phone-prospecting software vendor. Phone-in prospects, which typically represent about 20% of all dealer leads, will receive the same high level of attention as walk-in traffic and other prospect sources already captured by DealerAdvance(TM). This combination enables Stronghold customers to manage customer relationships and conduct follow-up activities with nearly 95% of all dealer traffic using the proven processes that have contributed to improved and record performance by every DealerAdvance(TM) user.
"While we now believe that our new Call Management Services elevates our product suite to become the industry's most powerful approach to capitalizing on new and used vehicle prospects, we intend to further increase our technology lead in this $1.1 billion market. DealerAdvance V3.4, which also features the ability to capture and manage Internet prospects, will allow dealers to capture virtually 100% of all guest traffic. Our expanding suite of services fulfills our mission to provide a comprehensive solution for dealers to increase sales and improve business performance."
Enhancements to productivity and ease of use are key factors in every technological development from Stronghold. To this end, users of DealerAdvance(TM) may conveniently review all third-party incoming calls without having to log onto the call-in technology vendor's web site. Through DealerAdvance(TM), dealer staff may quickly assign the customer to a salesperson for follow-up, including task generation and correspondence via phone, letter or e-mail.
Callbright's call management tools automatically analyze and measure the effectiveness of dealer advertising campaigns. Reports are produced and are available through DealerAdvance(TM) that detail who called the dealer (caller identification and demographics), how they found the dealer (which ads bring in prospects), and how the sales staff interacted with the caller (call monitoring). Complementing DealerAdvance's(TM) capabilities, the vendor interface retrieves phone-in data and makes it complete by moving beyond point of origin details to the more critical conversion analysis. The conversion rate of prospects calling in can be calculated and tracked by DealerAdvance(TM), including total sales and sales from specific ad campaigns. When this data is combined with conversion results from other sources, such as walk-in traffic, dealers will have a more accurate analysis of their spend on advertising and a complete review of their sales force activities.
Dealers may further benefit by subscribing to Stronghold's Do Not Call (DNC) consultation and services, which were introduced last month in response to the Federal Trade Commission's new consumer privacy and contact laws pertaining to telemarketers. DealerAdvance(TM) provides the means to document and record consumer "Do Not Call" requests and aids in enforcement of DNC rules by a dealership's sales organization. In less than a week, Stronghold can implement and train dealers on the Call Management and DNC functions.
About Callbright Corporation
Callbright Corporation is the fastest growing advertising response and call measurement company in the marketplace, with the most advanced web based platform utilizing the latest state of the art technology. Callbright's "Live Call Manager" captures all inbound traffic in real time and provides instant demographics of the caller at the inception of each call. Callbright offers a complete suite of reports providing total visibility of whom, when and where the calls came from. Callbright's "Outbound Call Manager" tracks internal responses to inbound calls. With "Click Call" technology", every inquiry can initiate a traceable return call from an employee. Automated messaging can also be used to leave pre-recorded messages for various services and sales needs. Callbright's "Broadcast Message Manager" has the flexibility to provide pin-point voice marketing or can be used to contact thousands of pre selected clients. Callbright Corporation services several thousand clients throughout the US and Canada. For more information about Callbright go to www.Callbright.com
About Stronghold Technologies, Inc.
Stronghold Technologies, Inc. (www.strongholdtech.com) is an innovator in applying wireless technology and process improvement methods to increase business efficiency and sales. The Company has developed an integrated wireless technology called DealerAdvance(TM) which, among many features, allows automobile dealers to capture a customer's purchasing requirements, search inventory at multiple locations, locate an appropriate vehicle in stock and print out the necessary forms. Through an integrated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) application, the systems sends detailed tasks for prospect and customer follow-up and produces management reports to measure compliance. DealerAdvance(TM) allows sales professionals to increase sales, improve customer follow-up, and reduce administrative costs.
An independent research report on the Company is available for investors and the general public at http://www.stocksontheweb.com/sght.htm.
For Stronghold Technologies, Inc.: The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("the Securities Act"), as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," or "anticipates" or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy that involve risks and uncertainties. In particular, the our statements regarding the anticipated growth in the markets for the our technologies, the continued development of our products, the approval of the our Patent Applications, the successful implementation of the our sales and marketing strategies, the anticipated longer term growth of our business, and the timing of the projects and trends in future operating performance are examples of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the timing of revenues due to the uncertainty of market acceptance and the timing and completion of pilot project analysis, and other factors, including general economic conditions, not within our control. The factors discussed herein and expressed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this filing and we undertake no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.