Experian, Polk And MySoftware Launch First Web-Based Business and Consumer E-Prospecting Service
MyProspects.com Targets $1.1 Billion Market for Small Business Lead Generation
December 7, 1998 12:01 AM
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- In a joint announcement, two of the world's largest and most respected data providers, Experian and The Polk Company, said they have joined with MySoftware Company, Inc. MYSW to help launch the first e-prospecting service to provide small and medium-sized businesses with up to 125 million qualified new customer leads. MyProspects.com targets the estimated $1.1 billion e-prospecting market by offering users affordable, real-time, targeted contact lists. Beginning today, the service is available on the Internet at www.MyProspects.com.
Experian will provide 13 million business listings and Polk will provide 112 million household listings to form the backbone of MyProspects.com. Experian and Polk have also agreed to recommend a private label version of MySoftware's Internet solution to their corporate accounts and to work with MySoftware in future business development partnerships and joint ventures.
"MyProspects.com offers an e-commerce solution that makes great business sense," said Gregory Slayton, president and CEO of MySoftware Company. "With an Internet delivery model and the highest quality data providers in the world, MyProspects.com makes it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to solve their number one problem: finding new customers. Users can easily select the demographic and geographic criteria that match their target customer base, select the quantities they want, and obtain the data immediately. And since the site offers a number of value added services and consulting advice, we expect to build an online relationship with each customer. It's a low cost, low labor, low overhead and highly personalized service."
"Until now, the economics and logistics of servicing small-scale orders have made it difficult for large data providers like Polk to meet the needs of small businesses," said John Healy, Senior Vice President of Direct Marketing for Polk. "MySoftware Company has developed a smart solution to this challenge by enabling users to access and purchase data provided from Polk's extensive database of 112 million household listings."
"The architecture of the site is extremely powerful," said Alan Rudi, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Experian. "MyProspects.com lets users drill through Experian's tremendously rich and complex business data with great ease. A simple selection process takes them from a universe of every business in the country to precisely the geographic, industry and business profile they need."
MySoftware Company will make the service available through www.MyProspects.com as well as other affiliated Web sites hosted by corporate partners. "This is the first Web-based service in what we believe is a huge data-on-demand market," said Mr. Slayton. "Our intent is to be a significant player in that market."
Business data provided by Experian is searchable by geographic region, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, or by keywords. Users can also choose business listings based on sales volume, number of employees, business type, and number of years in business.
Consumer data provided by Polk is searchable by a set of 26 pre-defined niches -- grouped according to age, income, lifestyle interests and purchasing habits -- or by a customized profile including income, age, credit card use and length and type of home-ownership.
Pricing for basic business and consumer addresses starts at 20 cents a name for as few as 100 names, and goes as low as 13 cents a name with volume discounts. More detailed selections can be made at additional cost.
The business and consumer data available on MyProspects.com include the most accurate, up-to-date listings, ensuring customers receive the highest quality information each time they use the service. Experian and Polk update their data records on a quarterly basis, running them through National Change of Address (NCOA) verification, Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) certification, as well as internal consistency checks. Experian conducts almost one million verification calls each month, while Polk compiles data from over 1.8 billion unduplicated source records.
To ensure that customers are successful with MyProspects.com, a telephone consulting service is available through a toll free number, 1-800-683-6208 for a fee of one dollar per minute. The consultants will answer questions and provide advice concerning direct marketing strategies and techniques.
About Experian
Experian -- a global information solutions company headquartered in Orange, Calif., and Nottingham, UK -- is a leading supplier of consumer and business credit information, credit scoring and software solutions, and direct marketing services. Including recent acquisitions Metromail Corp. (April 1998) and Direct Marketing Technology, Inc. (April 1997), Experian employs nearly 11,000 worldwide with 7,500 employees in the United States. Annual sales are about $1.5 billion. Experian is a subsidiary of the Great Universal Stores P.L.C., a UK-based holding company that includes home shopping, retail, property investment, finance and information services businesses.
About Polk
Polk provides multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to companies as a statistician for the motor vehicle industry; as a direct- marketing resource; as a supplier of demographic and lifestyle data and database-marketing services; as a publisher of city directories; and as a data enabler for geographic information systems. Based in Southfield, Mich., Polk is a privately held firm that is expanding globally and is currently operating in: the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, Holland and Costa Rica.
About MySoftware Company
MySoftware Company MYSW is the world's leading provider of productivity software for small business professionals. MySoftware provides powerful software and Internet solutions that can turn any PC into a direct marketing powerhouse. Complementing its retail software products are MySoftware's Internet services, dedicated to helping small offices find new customers (www.MyProspects.com) and grow their businesses (www.GrowMyBusiness.com). MySoftware actively partners with some of the world's best-known companies to provide productivity solutions for their small business, home office customers. More information on MySoftware and its partners and products is available at www.MySoftware.com.
SOURCE MySoftware Company, Inc.
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