Isuzu Motors Inc. Chooses FirePond as Interactive Selling Platform
4 April 2000
American Isuzu Motors Inc. Chooses FirePond as Interactive Selling Platform for Business-to-Business Commerce
WALTHAM, Mass.--April 3, 2000--in its North American Sales Strategy
FirePond , the leader in integrated e-business sales and marketing solutions, today announced that American Isuzu Motors Inc., the largest importer of commercial trucks in the U.S., has signed an agreement to use FirePond Sales(TM) and FirePond Sales Manager(TM), the Web-based guided selling and customer information management modules of the FirePond Application Suite. Isuzu will deploy FirePond Sales and FirePond Sales Manager throughout its entire network of over 200 commercial vehicle dealerships in North America, as the cornerstone of the company's business-to-business commerce strategy.
FirePond's interactive selling system will support Isuzu's offering of a wide range of medium-duty commercial trucks through its dealerships, where sales people will use the system to tailor highly complex product solutions and sales cycles to the needs of individual Isuzu customers. Isuzu chose the FirePond technology as the platform upon which they will base their initiative to create a next generation sales system, targeted to increase sales effectiveness and enable real time exchange of customer information in a multi-channel environment.
"With quicker access to information, greater support for our dealerships, increased speed to market and highly personalized selling capabilities, we foresee dramatic impact on sales as a result of our investment in the FirePond Application Suite," said Todd Bloom, vice president, commercial vehicle, business development and marketing for American Isuzu Motors Inc. "FirePond is the foundation of our long-term business-to-business commerce strategy to provide our customers with an unparalleled buying experience - from their initial interest in our products to the time we deliver a vehicle."
FirePond Sales is an analyst-acclaimed interactive selling system, focused on enhancing the quality of human-assisted selling interactions. The FirePond Business Rule Engine, which is embedded in the FirePond Sales application, delivers the comprehensive intelligence needed to personalize a sale as complex as a built-to-order truck, incorporating various pricing options, required features and information on customer's previous purchases.
With the addition of FirePond Sales Manager to the interactive selling system, Isuzu dealerships will gain a customer information management system for collecting and tracking sales leads as well as capturing customer profiles in real-time from interactive selling transactions that occur in the field. FirePond Sales Manager will improve the overall effectiveness of targeted marketing efforts and customer support for dealerships by providing greater access to critical customer information.
Isuzu has identified FirePond technology as a strategic and crucial platform from which the distributor can further its momentum in the marketplace and capitalize on growth opportunities. American Isuzu Motors Inc. plans to roll out the system in phases with the first phase targeted for later this year.
"Companies with complex products like Isuzu not only need to ensure that their products are being accurately and effectively sold to their individual customers, but that all information about a customer inquiry or purchase is distributed immediately throughout its channels," added Klaus Besier, CEO of FirePond. "By adopting FirePond's tightly integrated selling platform rather than disparate point solutions, Isuzu can accomplish these goals to quickly gain competitive advantage."
About American Isuzu Motors Inc.
American Isuzu Motors Inc. was founded in 1980 and currently has responsibility for the sales and marketing of Isuzu Motors Limited products in the U.S. Isuzu Motors Limited, founded in 1937 is one of the world's premier manufacturers of Class3-7 commercial vehicles, sport utility vehicles and Isuzu diesel engine and components.
Isuzu Motors Limited's experience as one of the world's largest manufacturers of medium and heavy-duty trucks is reflected in every truck sold in the U.S. Isuzu has sold over 26 million trucks in 64 countries since building its first truck in 1918. Isuzu introduced the first air-cooled diesel engine in 1936, the first two-ton low cab forward truck in 1959, the first direct-injection diesel engine in the 1960's, the first gas engine NPR in 1992 and the first American-made F-Series Isuzu truck rolled off the Janesville, Wisconsin assembly line in 1996. These achievements have helped make Isuzu the number-one-selling low cab forward truck in America.
About FirePond
Based in Waltham, Mass., FirePond (www.firepond.com) is a leading provider of integrated e-business sales and marketing solutions that enable companies to optimize their customer relationships and maximize the effectiveness of their Internet-based and traditional sales channels.
The FirePond Application Suite allows companies to merge their e-commerce selling, customer relationship management, and channel management strategies on a single, Internet-based platform. FirePond's solutions provide the foundation for next generation e-business sales and marketing initiatives at some of the world's largest companies, including GM, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, IBM and Hitachi Construction Machinery.
FirePond and FirePond products are trademarks of FirePond, Inc. All other product or company names are the properties of their respective owners.
Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: difficulties implementing the software, quarterly fluctuations in operating results attributable to the timing and amount of orders for our products and services, market acceptance of our FirePond Application Suite and its components, our ability to keep pace with changing product requirements and factors affecting the demand for e-business sales and marketing solutions, and those factors contained in the section titled Risk Factors beginning on page 4 of our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-90911) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.