LexisNexis

Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain Invests in Interface Software's InterAction®

Leading accounting firm selected CRM solution for its professional services focus and integration capabilities

OAK BROOK (IL), 1 April, 2002: Interface Software announced today that Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain (LBMC), one of Tennessee's largest accounting and business consulting firms with nearly 200 professionals, has invested in InterAction, the leading client relationship management (CRM) solution for professional services.

LBMC provides traditional accounting and assurance, tax and business consulting services along with a host of additional services including technology, human resources staffing, investment and healthcare consulting. To sustain the growth of its diverse service lines and protect market share in this difficult economy, the firm needed a centralized repository of "Relationship Intelligence" – the knowledge asset that will enable it to enhance cross-selling, business development and client service activities.

Prior to InterAction, professionals had no convenient way to share Relationship Intelligence across the firm's diverse practice groups, making it difficult to leverage knowledge about people, companies, relationships, experience and expertise for competitive advantage. "One group didn't know what the other group was doing," recalled Michael Cain, LBMC's managing partner. "We needed to leverage our collective knowledge and bring it under one database."

LBMC was struggling with numerous scattered systems including Goldmine, Siebel, Excel spreadsheets and the firm's intranet. None offered the functionality LBMC needed, and juggling all of those packages required too much effort on the part of the firm's professionals. "Getting useful data into those systems required total, active participation by the professionals. That wasn't going to happen," said Cain.

Crucial to LBMC's decision to invest in InterAction was the system's ability to collect data passively by integrating with existing applications and incorporating information from those systems into its centralized knowledge base. InterAction's Outlook synchronization module, for instance, enables LBMC's professionals to continue using their familiar contact manager while automatically contributing updated information to InterAction's centralized database. "Everybody uses Outlook. InterAction's seamless, invisible integration with it was very attractive," explained Cain.

Moreover, the firm needed a solution that would allow it to integrate financial data from its Visual Practice Management (VPM) time and billing package. InterAction's Application Collaboration functionality fit the bill, enabling LBMC to automatically harvest data from VPM or any other third party package and integrate it into the Relationship Intelligence database. Once incorporated into InterAction, this harvested data provides professionals and the marketing team with a unified view of client and prospect relationships, which LBMC can mine for business development purposes. "InterAction lets us manage all aspects of our marketing campaigns," commented Leisa Gill, LBMC's Director of Marketing. "It provides a centralized history of the client, from firm mailings to one-on-one interactions."

Finally, InterAction's unique focus on professional services organizations was also an important differentiator leading to LBMC's decision. The other products they considered were geared towards direct sales organizations where the primary users of the CRM system are salespeople. "At services firms, the professionals who provide the services are also responsible for business development," said Cain, "So we needed a CRM package that offered a way of gathering and disseminating Relationship Intelligence that's more suited to the dual role of professionals."

"Effectively leveraging relationships is critical to sustain market share and growth in a sluggish economy," said Rick Klau, Interface Software's Vice President of Vertical Markets. "LBMC's decision to invest in InterAction will provide them with a significant competitive advantage over firms that do not have a centralized Relationship Intelligence strategy."

About Interface Software
Interface Software is the leading provider of CRM solutions enabling professional services firms to create the Relationship Intelligence they need to generate new business and enhance client service. Its flagship product, InterAction, is a flexible and uniquely designed platform that delivers this Relationship Intelligence throughout the organization, quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Relationship Intelligence is a firm-wide asset that reveals the unique and complex connections between people, companies, relationships, experience and expertise, empowering professionals to leverage who and what they know to uncover new revenue opportunities, differentiate themselves from the competition and enhance client service. InterAction is internet- enabled, allowing professionals to view information however they choose—through knowledge management platforms, corporate portals, intranets, extranets and wireless devices. For more information contact Interface Software, Inc. at 1420 Kensington Road, Suite 320, Oak Brook, IL 60523, Telephone: +1.630.572.1400, Website: www.interaction.com. In the UK, contact Dan Von Weihe, National Sales Manager, at 38 New Oxford Street, Suite 204 London, WC1A 1EP, United Kingdom, Telephone: +44.(0)78.7057.1234, Email: Dan.VonWeihe@lexisnexis.com.

About LBMC
Lattimore, Black, Morgan & Cain, P.C. has been one of the fastest growing accounting firms in Tennessee over the past several years with offices in Nashville and Knoxville. This growth is a reflection of the commitment to client service, to the application of creative and practical approaches to meeting client needs, and to the retention and utilization of experienced and capable professionals. Lattimore, Black, Morgan & Cain, P. C., was recently recognized as the 54th largest of the "Top 100 Accounting Firms in America" in the annual survey by Public Accounting Report, an industry publication. The Firm is the 6th largest firm in the Southeast U.S. according to an industry ranking in Accounting Today. Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain, PC is the largest regional firm in Tennessee. www.lbmc.com

InterAction is a registered trademark of Interface Software, Inc. All other product names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.