Winners of MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Awards for Action, Impact and Innovation Announced

SAN FRANCISCO, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- MarketTools, Inc. today announced the winners of the MarketTools CustomerSat Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) Awards for Action, Impact, and Innovation. American General Life was named the winner of the MarketTools ACE Innovation award, CareFusion was named the winner of the MarketTools ACE Impact Award, and SimplexGrinnell was named the winner of the MarketTools ACE Action award. All three companies are winners of 2009 MarketTools CustomerSat Achievement in Customer Excellence (ACE) awards. The ACE Action, ACE Impact and ACE Innovation awards were added to this year's MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Awards program, now in its fifth year, to recognize the highest levels of achievement in these areas.

"Today's most customer-centric organizations understand that high customer satisfaction leads to increased revenue and profitability," said Justin Schuster, vice president of EFM Solutions at MarketTools, Inc. "We are recognizing American General Life, CareFusion and SimplexGrinnell for setting the bar high in using enterprise feedback management solutions in innovative ways to directly impact customer satisfaction and, ultimately, drive positive business results."

American General Life Companies has been chosen as the MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Innovation Award recipient for its innovative use of enterprise feedback management (EFM).  Specifically, American General uses MarketTools CustomerSat to target non-traditional customer segments, including "lost" customers and "potential" customers, or customers who initiated but did not complete the online application process. By expanding their customer satisfaction programs to include these non-traditional customer segments, American General gained valuable insight that led to improvements in overall customer satisfaction, as well as the uncovering of insights to improve their process for customer acquisition.

"We were having great success with the MarketTools CustomerSat solution for email-based transactional programs, so we began looking for new ways to leverage the tools that MarketTools CustomerSat provides," said Candy Michael, Vice President of Customer Feedback at American General Life Companies. "By reaching out to non-traditional customer segments, in addition to our current customers, we are able to garner valuable insights leading to new business processes that positively impact customer retention and acquisition."

SimplexGrinnell has been awarded the MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Action Award, which recognizes excellence in producing positive business results by actively responding to customer feedback in a timely and effective way. SimplexGrinnell uses the Action Management capabilities of the MarketTools CustomerSat solution to establish several tiers of escalation to help engage the right parties in resolving customer issues. SimplexGrinnell has increased its primary satisfaction indicator by 210% since the program's inception.

"The MarketTools CustomerSat EFM solution has become the primary vehicle to manage complaints and track service recovery across our entire organization," said Karl Sharicz, Manager of Customer Intelligence at SimplexGrinnell. "The action management model that we've established with MarketTools CustomerSat has proven to be very successful."

CareFusion was awarded the MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Impact Award, recognizing its use of EFM to make a significant impact on business results. The Technical Support Center at CareFusion measures Voice of the Customer with twelve attributes.  With the help of MarketTools CustomerSat, CareFusion was able to focus on the four attributes considered to have the greatest impact on overall customer satisfaction and loyalty, and increased overall customer satisfaction to over 85%.  Through the program, CareFusion was able to significantly increase overall satisfaction scores, leading to an increase in customer retention.  

"MarketTools CustomerSat has given us the insights we need to positively impact our business results," said Denise Cunningham, Director Technical Support Centers, CareFusion.  "Through the program we established with the MarketTools CustomerSat EFM solution, we discovered the attributes that most impact our customers' satisfaction, and were able to take action to improve customer satisfaction across these attributes and, ultimately, impact our business in positive ways."

The submissions for the ACE Action, ACE Impact, and ACE Innovation awards were so strong that MarketTools also announced two finalists in each award category:

• ACE Action Award: Massachusetts Mutual and 21st Century Insurance were named finalists for their successful use of MarketTools CustomerSat to produce positive business results by actively responding to customer feedback in a timely and effective manner.
• ACE Impact Award: Cessna Aircraft Company and United Stationers were named finalists for driving improved bottom line business results through their use of the MarketTools CustomerSat EFM solution.
• ACE Innovation Award: CareFusion, winner of the ACE Impact Award, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel were named finalists for using EFM in unique and innovative ways.  

About the MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Awards

Established in 2005, the MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Awards recognizes outstanding achievement in customer satisfaction. To be eligible for a MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Award, clients must complete an application form and have conducted one or more customer satisfaction surveys during the calendar year for which the Award is given. Qualifying performance is determined by a combination of customer satisfaction mean scores and top-box rating percentages maintained during at least a 6-month period in the calendar year. The customer feedback on which awards are based must be representative of the entire business, business unit or business segment to which the award applies. MarketTools ensures that the survey processes on which metrics are based are rigorous, defensible and repeatable. Surveys may use either a census of customers or representative sampling with specified minimum confidence levels and maximum margins of error. In 2009, three new awards, ACE Action, ACE Innovation, and ACE Impact, were created to recognize MarketTools CustomerSat ACE Award winners who demonstrated exceptional achievement in using EFM to produce positive business results by actively responding to customer feedback in a timely and effective way (Action); achievement in using EFM to make a significant positive impact on business results (Impact); and achievement in using EFM in innovative ways (Innovation).

About MarketTools CustomerSat Software and Services

MarketTools CustomerSat is a Web-based Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) solution used by the world's leading businesses to capture, analyze, and act on feedback from customers, employees, and partners. MarketTools EFM consultants are available to help CustomerSat customers get the most out of their investment in EFM, from design of satisfaction programs to advanced analysis of survey results. Through the use of comprehensive analytic tools, action management technology, and the expert knowledge of customer satisfaction consultants, MarketTools helps clients optimize satisfaction and loyalty programs that deliver high-value business impact.

About MarketTools, Inc.

MarketTools is the leading provider of software and services for Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) and Market Research.  The company is focused on providing leading organizations the actionable customer insights they need to make better business decisions that lead to high-value business impact.  As the first company to make online surveys widely available on the Web, MarketTools continues its market-leading position by providing the broadest range of powerful, accurate and integrated customer insight technologies that empower companies to become the most customer-centric organizations in their industries. MarketTools' premier portfolio of technology-based insight brands includes CustomerSat™, MarketTools.com™, TrueSample®,  Zoomerang®, ZoomPanel® and ZoomPanel Tech™.

MarketTools is a privately held company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco and European headquarters in London. For more information, please visit: www.markettools.com.

About American General Life Companies

American General Life Companies, www.americangeneral.com, is the marketing name for the insurance companies and affiliates comprising the domestic life operations of American International Group, Inc., including American General Life and United States Life. American General Life Companies insurers offer a broad spectrum of life insurance, fixed annuities, accident and health products and worksite benefits to serve the financial and estate planning needs of its customers throughout the United States.

About CareFusion Corporation

CareFusion (NYSE: CFN) is a global corporation serving the health care industry with products and services that help hospitals measurably improve the safety and quality of care. The company develops market-leading technologies including Alaris® IV pumps, Pyxis® automated dispensing and patient identification systems, AVEA®, AirLife™ and LTV® series ventilation and respiratory products, ChloraPrep® products, MedMined™ services for infection surveillance, NeuroCare neurological monitoring and diagnostic products, V. Mueller® surgical instruments, and an extensive line of products that support interventional medicine. CareFusion employs more than 15,000 people across its global operations. More information may be found at www.carefusion.com and www.carefusion.com/airlifediagnosticcatheter.

About SimplexGrinnell

SimplexGrinnell, a Tyco International company, provides a comprehensive array of fire alarm, fire sprinkler, fire suppression, integrated security, communications and nurse call systems and services. With one million customers, 150 local offices, and over 200 years of history in the fire business, SimplexGrinnell is the leader in fire and life safety. For additional information or to locate the nearest SimplexGrinnell district office, visit www.simplexgrinnell.com.

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SOURCE MarketTools, Inc.