Parature European Users' Group - February 16-17, 2010

Parature traveled to London to host two events this week; a prospect event, Parature Customer Experience Seminar, on Wednesday, February 17th, and a customer event, Parature European Users’ Group, February 16th – 17th.

We will be hosting a Welcome Reception & Dinner on Tuesday night for prospects, customers, and partners. Check out the agendas by clicking on the event links.

The Parature Customer Experience Seminar will entail a keynote by Sahar Hashemi, Co-founder of Coffee Republic, a demonstration of Parature Customer Service^TM software, a presentation from one of our new partners, Get Satisfaction, and will be emceed by Parature Account Executive, Rick Niles.

The Parature European Users’ Group will include (3) hours of Parature hands-on training by Parature Training Manager, Lisa Flynn, keynote by Sahar Hashemi, Executive Address by Tim Davenport, Product Roadmap session by Cindy Cruzado, Get Satisfaction presentation, three customer presentations from Seatwave, Huddle, and Serco, and will be emceed by Parature Director of Account Management, Bob Rosenau.

We are very excited about the great interest and registrations for this event!

Sahar Hashemi, Co-Founder of Coffee Republic - Keynote Speaker for European Users' Group

Sahar Hashemi, co-founder of Coffee Republic, founder of Skinny Candy and lecturer on innovation & entrepreneurship will be the keynote speaker at Parature’s European Users’ Group to be held February 16 - 17, 2010 at The Cumberland in London. This customer centric event will allow Parature users in Europe to gain invaluable knowledge from industry experts and thought leaders, while networking with colleagues and peers.

Sahar Hashemi, together with her brother Bobby, founded Coffee Republic and built it into one of the United Kingdom’s most recognized high street brands. Giving up her professional job as a lawyer in London, she and her brother staked everything on a dream and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with ‘triple decaf half-caf lattes’ by focusing solely on the customer experience. Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 to write ‘Anyone Can Do It – Building Coffee Republic from our Kitchen Table,’ which reached number one on the Amazon business chart. Sahar has received numerous recognitions including, 100 Most Influential Women in Britain by the Daily Mail and is a frequent keynote speaker at various high profile events.

The topic for this event “In the Customers’ Shoes: How Coffee Republic Built its Brand through Great Customer Experiences” will focus on the importance of the customer experience when building and maintaining a corporate brand.

“We are excited to have such a respected entrepreneur as Ms. Hashemi to be the keynote speaker at Parature’s European Users’ Group,” said Parature Vice President of Marketing, Gary McNeil. “Her entrepreneurial spirit and total commitment to the customer experience will be an inspiration to the customers, partners and other industry experts who will attend this insightful event.”

The Parature European Users’ Group is a complimentary customer event that will feature an opening night welcome reception, complimentary Parature Customer Service™ software training led by Parature Professional Services, a diverse mix of customer service and support best practices presentations, and the opportunity to meet with several key members of the Parature team.

Please visit the Parature European Users’ Group website for complimentary conference registration and additional information.

Parature Receives 2009 Product of the Year Award Presented by Customer Interaction Solutions® Magazine

Parature Customer Service software received a 2009 Product of the Year Award from Technology Marketing Corporation’s (TMC®) Customer Interaction Solutions magazine, the leading publication covering CRM, call centers and teleservices since 1982.

“Parature is honored to be a recipient of this prestigious Product of the Year Award, stated Parature CEO, Tim Davenport. “Parature is committed to setting the standard for support teams worldwide by continuing to bring innovative products to market and by providing the smartest, most efficient way for organizations to support their customers.”

“I am pleased to honor Parature for its hard work and success. Parature has demonstrated excellence in contact center technologies as well as providing ROI for the companies that use them,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “For 12 years, Customer Interaction Solutions magazine has been honoring innovative companies for their contributions in advancing technologies and application refinements,” he added.

The 12th Annual Product of the Year Award winners will be featured in the January 2010 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine.

For more information about the Customer Interaction Solutions’ 2009 Product of the Year Awards or any of the TMC media properties, please visit www.tmcnet.com.

"Best Practices in Customer Service" Webinar Series

Delivered by the industry’s leading minds, this thought leadership series is designed to serve as a valuable resource to provide insight into customer service best practices and industry trends. The webinars in this series are ‘must attend’ events for any organization committed to improving the customer experience. We invite you to register for one or register for all depending on the topics that interest you.

Customer service industry experts, Robert Spector – bestselling author, Rich Gallagher of Point of Contact Group, Paige Newcombe of Coremetrics, John Ragsdale of Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA), Dr. Natalie Petouhoff of Forrester Research, Jay Topper of Rosetta Stone, Sahar Hashemi of Coffee Republic, Lorraine Grubbs-West of Lessons in Loyalty and Southwest Airlines, and Lisa Ford – customer service expert will focus on current industry technologies, best practices and trends that are key for organizations to improve their support processes to improve the customer experience.

The Best Practices in Customer Service webinar series:

The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence
Date: January 20, 2010 - 2:00pm EST
Presenter: Robert Spector - Bestselling Author of The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence
View Presentation

Getting Your Worst Customers to Love You: True Tales from the Front Lines of Customer Support
Date: February 24, 2010 - 2:00pm EST
Presenter: Rich Gallagher - Bestselling Author and Communications Skills Expert
Register Now

Metrics that Wow! How Coremetrics Became the Customer Service Model of Success
Date: March 30, 2010 - 2:00pm EDT
Presenters: John Ragsdale - Vice President of Technology Research, TSIA and Paige Newcombe - Senior Director, Global Client Services, Coremetrics
Register Now

Why the Customer Experience Matters Most – Rosetta Stone’s Customer Success Strategy
Date: April 21, 2010 - 2:00pm EDT
Presenters: Dr. Natalie Petouhoff - Senior Analyst, Forrester Research and Jay Topper - Vice President of Customer Success, Rosetta Stone
Register Now

In the Customers’ Shoes: How Coffee Republic Built its Brand through Great Customer Experiences (UK Audience)
Date: April 28, 2010 - 9:00am EDT/2:00pm BST
Presenter: Sahar Hashemi - Co-founder, Coffee Republic
Register Now

How to Build a Culture of Customer Loyalty – How Southwest Airlines Does It
Date: May 19, 2010 - 2:00pm EDT
Presenter: Lorraine Grubbs-West - President of Lessons in Loyalty and former Director of Employment at Southwest Airlines
Register Now

Why Customer Service is NOT Enough
Date: June 22, 2010 - 2:00pm EDT
Presenter: Lisa Ford - Creator of How to Give Exceptional Customer Service and author of Exceptional Customer Service - Going Beyond Good Service to Exceed the Customer’s Expectations
Register Now

Parature’s “Best Practices in Customer Service” webinar series is designed to serve as an educational and informational resource for organizations throughout numerous industry sectors to gain insight into customer service best practices and to improve the customer experience.

Watch the webinar "The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence"

“The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence” webinar offers organizations insight into the inner workings of the Nordstrom customer service culture.

Outstanding customer service – the key to successful organizations, a competitive differentiator and a facilitator of customer loyalty – is synonymous with one of the nation’s leading fashion specialty retailers. Nordstrom, known for providing the ultimate customer service experience, has become the national standard for customer service. How did they earn this reputation? What is their philosophy? The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence will feature Robert Spector, bestselling author of The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence. Mr. Spector will break down the elements of the Nordstrom philosophy and explain how they can be adapted for virtually every kind of organization by detailing the nine management principles that have made them the gold standard for customer service.

Parature’s “Best Practices in Customer Service” webinar series is designed to serve as an educational and informational resource for organizations throughout numerous industry sectors to gain insight into customer service best practices and to improve the customer experience. To register for any webinar in the series or to view previous webinars visit www.parature.com/webinars.

If you missed the webinar, the recorded version is available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to post the Q&A yet due to another event and Mr. Spector taking a well-deserved vacation, but we still hope to get those up at some point.

Parature European Users' Group - February 16-17, 2010

We announced today our European Users’ Group to be held February 16 – 17, 2010 at The Cumberland in London. This customer centric event will allow Parature users in Europe to gain invaluable knowledge from industry experts and thought leaders, while networking with colleagues and peers.

The Parature European Users’ Group is a complimentary customer event that will feature an opening night welcome reception, Parature Customer Service™ software training led by Parature Professional Services, a diverse mix of customer service and support best practices presentations, and the opportunity to meet with several key members of the Parature team.

“We are delighted to bring our customers, partners and other industry experts together in London for the Parature European Users’ Group,” said Parature Vice President of Marketing, Gary McNeil. “This event provides our European customers the opportunity to share some of the most compelling stories around customer service and the customer experience while facilitating insightful discussions. This gathering is just another example of how Parature continues to deliver the technology and thought leadership that the industry and our customers have come to expect from us.”

Please visit the Parature European Users’ Group website for complimentary conference registration and additional information.

Download the Coremetrics success story

Every day, more than 2,000 online business sites globally – with transactions representing over $20 billion per year – rely on Coremetrics to optimize their online marketing.

Most significantly, the company’s clients are happy. Yet not that long ago, Coremetrics recognized it was time to take support to the next level to drive client satisfaction.

“We recognized the need to provide our clients the 24×7 help needed, but in a scalable way,” said Paige Newcombe, senior director, Global Client Services. “The metrics spoke to the need to offer new support solutions to our clients.”

Download this customer success story and discover how leading marketing optimization software provider Coremetrics increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenue with Web self-service.

Parature and ThePort™ Network Announce Strategic Partnership

Parature announced today a referral partnership agreement with ThePort™ Network, social media solutions provider for associations and nonprofit organizations. Parature and ThePort Network, both software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, have a significant focus on the association and nonprofit markets.

“As a leader in on-demand customer service software, we are delighted to enter into a partnership with a proven social media solutions provider,” said Parature Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Duke Chung. “Parature is one of the fastest growing customer service and support software companies in the United States and this partnership is a logical next step to expand our footprint in the association and nonprofit communities.”

“As the leader in providing social networking communities for associations and nonprofit organizations, we are very excited to partner with such an outstanding organization as Parature,” said Bob Cramer, CEO and Chairman of ThePort Network. “This partnership opens new opportunities to help organizations utilize our Social Media Solutions to better engage their members and provide members new ways to connect.”

ThePort™ Network, Inc. delivers Social Media Solutions that help nonprofit organizations and associations engage their members. With our integrated suite of proven social media solutions, organizations build online communities that promote new activity among constituents, generate more participation, and ultimately create more support for the organization. ThePort customers include such world-renowned organizations as Sierra Club, Arthritis Foundation and American College of Healthcare Executives.

Rosetta Stone Focuses on Customer Success with Parature Customer Service™ Software

Parature announced today that Rosetta Stone Inc. (NYSE) , a leading provider of technology-based language learning solutions, selected Parature Customer Service™ software to efficiently manage their customer service and strategically support their customer-centric focus.

“Rosetta Stone is committed to changing the way the world learns languages. With the introduction of our innovative, online language-learning solution, Rosetta Stone® TOTALe™, we are completely focused on our customers’ success and making the learning experience truly enjoyable,” said Jay Topper, vice president of customer success, Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone TOTALe builds on and enhances the effectiveness of the award-winning Rosetta Course™ by seamlessly integrating it with coach-led practice sessions, fun and engaging language games, access to native speakers and encouragement from customer success agents – all live and online. Rosetta Stone TOTALe learners will have their own Customer Success Team providing live guidance and encouragement every step of the way. Whether it’s explaining the method, answering questions or just helping to schedule a Studio session, Success Agents are committed to helping learners achieve their language goals. Parature Customer Service software supports Rosetta Stone and the company’s customer-centric environment via its multi-channel support offerings, including an integrated customer portal, chat, knowledgebase, ticket system, as well as other Parature modules, so that customers can choose their preferred method of support.

“We selected Parature because they deliver on the promise of multi-channel customer service and they understand our strategy and the importance of our customers’ success,” added Mr. Topper. “From the beginning, Parature’s ability to see us as a visionary organization, along with their willingness to accept feedback and to work diligently to help us facilitate our initiatives has been invaluable. Rosetta Stone and Parature share a common philosophy; to listen to our customers and make our products better. This synergy creates a great partnership.”

“Rosetta Stone is known for its customer service and we are delighted that they chose Parature Customer Service software to help manage the customer experience,” said Parature Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Duke Chung. “Parature is committed to setting the standard for support teams worldwide with our customer service software suite which integrates a customer portal, knowledgebase, ticketing, chat and a host of other modules in one dynamic, tightly unified system that can manage all the support needs of any organization. We will continue championing the way by bringing the most advanced software to market, providing the smartest, most efficient way for organizations to support their customers, increase retention and reduce costs.”

Parature Ranked Number 235 Fastest Growing Company in North America on Deloitte’s 2009 Technology Fast 500

Parature announced today that it ranked number 235 on Technology Fast 500™, Deloitte LLP’s ranking of 500 of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on percentage of fiscal year revenue growth during the five year period from 2004-2008. Parature grew 565 percent during this period.

Parature Founder, Duke Chung credits the vast market Parature serves, the advanced technology it delivers and their visionary customers with the company’s 565 percent revenue growth over the past five years. “Parature is honored to be included in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ for North America,” stated Chung. “To be ranked 235 out of 500 fast growth companies in the country is an outstanding accomplishment. Parature will continue to set the standard for support teams worldwide by providing the smartest, most efficient way for organizations to serve their customers.”

Technology Fast 500™ Selection and Qualifying Criteria Technology Fast 500™ provides a ranking of the fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. This ranking is compiled from nominations submitted directly to the Technology Fast 500™ website, and public company database research conducted by Deloitte LLP. Technology Fast 500™ award winners for 2009 are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth during the five year period from 2004 to 2008.

In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500™ recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues. Using other companies’ technology or intellectual property in a unique way does not satisfy this requirement. Consulting companies, professional service firms, etc. are not eligible unless they have proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of their operating revenues.

Technology Fast 500™ award eligibility requirements include a base-year operating revenues of at least $50,000 USD or CD, and current-year operating revenues of at least $5 million USD or CD. Additionally, these revenues must have more than doubled between 2004 and 2008. Also, companies must be in business for a minimum of five years, and be headquartered within North America.