LexisNexis

Interface Software to be Included in Blue Ribbon Panel at Kennedy Information's Consulting Summit

Unified view of Relationship Intelligence seen as critical to firm's success

OAK BROOK (IL), 10 December, 2002: Interface Software announced today that Chicago-based investment bank, Lincoln Partners, has selected InterAction 5, the leading professional services CRM solution, to serve as the centerpiece of the firm's strategic business development initiatives.

Lincoln Partners is one of the leading investment banks specializing in middle market mergers and acquisitions. Started in 1996, it has grown its investment banking staff every year resulting in a compound annual rate of over 30% per year. Despite the downturn in the investment banking business in 2001 and 2002, Lincoln Partners experienced record revenues in both those years. The firm seeks to deliver the highest quality service and results by applying its philosophy of "Using Ingenuity to Outperform". Lincoln Partners believes the selection of and firm wide commitment to intensively use InterAction will allow it to continue to outpace the competition in delivering superior results to clients.

Previously Lincoln Partners' client information was fragmented into a variety of applications that included Microsoft Outlook®, Maximizer™ and Act!®. These systems proved insufficient to manage the firm's long-term CRM goals, and scattered islands of information made it virtually impossible to obtain a complete, 360-degree view of clients and prospects. Moreover, with so many data repositories, duplicate and inconsistent information abounded. The problem became untenable when the firm decided to move its client newsletter and industry analysis alerts from a paper format to email. "Our clients have no tolerance for receiving misdirected and multiple emails," said Lincoln Partner's Managing Director, Jim Lawson. "And we had no practical way to consolidate the data and clean it up."

Lincoln Partners initially considered building a custom CRM application in Outlook. They soon realized that the lack of a large internal IT staff to debug a custom system, and the lack of regular enhancements would make such an option impractical. Moreover, had they chosen to customize, Lincoln Partners would then be dependent on the consulting organization that built it. "What happens if they go out of business," Lawson asked. "We'd be stuck with a system we couldn't modify."

The firm retained a consultant to research potential CRM vendors and evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses. They arrived at Goldmine, InterAction 5 and PeopleSoft®. Lawson said that Goldmine lacked the power and scalability they'd need as the organization grows. "Its peer-to-peer architecture couldn't offer the robustness that a system running SQL Server could provide." PeopleSoft's CRM product, while robust, proved too complex and focused on sales force automation. "We're a professional services organization—not a manufacturer. We had no need for call center modules and a host of other components that weren't relevant to our business."

Lincoln Partners plans on using InterAction 5 to manage both its strategic and tactical business development initiatives and the processing of transactions. With high levels of accuracy and confidence, the firm will now be able to execute targeted business development and marketing initiatives aimed at clients and prospects in selected markets. Using the system to answer such questions as who worked on which deals, and what contacts were involved in specific deals, the firm will also be able to track deals and more effectively manage their internal experience and expertise. "In terms of CRM, InterAction 5 puts us either ahead of or at parity with any other investment bank—large or small," said Lawson.

InterAction 5's unique functionality geared towards services organizations was a significant factor in Lincoln Partners' selection decision. The solution can be implemented quickly, integrates seamlessly with the firm's Outlook contact manager and is easy for professionals to learn and use. Moreover, it can track deals and opportunities, and integrate with most applications and external market data and content providers such as OneSource. "InterAction 5 addresses our current needs. It's also robust enough to meet our evolving requirements as we grow," said Lawson.

Data quality was another factor in Lincoln Partners' decision-making process. The firm had been all too familiar with the problems associated with stale and outdated contact and relationship information. Accordingly, having built-in tools to streamline the process of maintaining data quality on an ongoing basis was critical. InterAction 5 met these needs as well, with unique data change management functionality that provides process, workflow and other features designed specifically to ensure high-quality Relationship Intelligence. "Having tools to efficiently manage and oversee changes to the database over time will be crucial to the long term success of our CRM initiative," remarked Lawson.

"InterAction 5's value is derived not only from its services-specific focus, but also its ability to integrate with other critical applications used by investment banks, such as Outlook," said Rick Klau, Interface Software's vice president of vertical markets. "By harnessing Relationship Intelligence and making it easily accessible to the high-level professionals who make deals happen, InterAction 5 will serve as an important ally to Lincoln Partners in this challenging economy."

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. Interface Software has received numerous accolades, including the Inc 500, the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50 for Greater Chicagoland, the Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500 and the Upside Hot 100. For more information please visit Interface Software's website at www.interaction.com.

About Lincoln Partners
Lincoln Partners LLC, based in Chicago Illinois, is an investment bank specializing in merger and acquisition services, capital raising and financial advisory services to leading public companies, private equity groups and private companies. For more information please visit Lincoln Partners' website at www.lincolnpartners.com.

 
Take Action:

Request Information
Call +1.888.572.1400 for more info
E-mail this page
Add me to the Newsflash news distribution service
 

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