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ASSA ABLOY wins CRM Best Practice Award with Saratoga CRM™

Campbell ( Calif. ), 9 November 2006 – With its innovative “customax” CRM strategy, ASSA ABLOY, a worldwide leading manufacturer of locking solutions for major public and private construction projects, has shot up from nil to the top in Europe 's most renowned “CRM Best Practices” award competition. During this year's CRM Expo fair in Nuremberg , Germany , ASSA ABLOY was awarded as second-best in the category “business to business”.

Both, the company's comprehensive CRM strategy as well as the technical realization based on Saratoga CRM™ stood up to 30 other award candidates and finally convinced the independent jury consisting of 10 CRM, sales, marketing and management consulting experts.

Although a leader in its respective markets, ASSA ABLOY was facing an increasing global competition and price pressure along with decreasing customer loyalty in the past. In 2005, the acquisition of “IKON” and “effeff”, both renowned and well-established brands on the market, additionally urged the company's need for a common strategic re-alignment.

Based on a deliberate conception of customer-centric operations and business processes, ASSA ABLOY finally decided for Saratoga CRM's integrated solution approach instead of SAP, which had been – and still is – a standard throughout the entire organization.

“With Saratoga CRM ™ and its business development tool Visual Advisor™, we managed to map the complex structures and relations in our markets as well as to align our multilevel sales projects focussed on the specific needs of our customers”, constituted Christian Vogt, CRM Manager and head of the “customax” enterprise initiative at ASSA ABLOY, Germany . – “Furthermore, the flexibility and integration capabilities of Saratoga 's framework considerably supported the consolidation of business processes and information related to the merger with IKON and effeff”, Mr. Vogt continued.

With its strong CRM contribution, ASSA ABLOY, again, stands at the forefront of its market. “From a management perspective, we never understood CRM as a project with a fixed finishing line. For us, it has become a “winning” philosophy that we have to prove in everyday's business to satisfy our customers and maintain our market leadership”, said Christian Vogt.

About ASSA ABLOY
The ASSA ABLOY Group is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of locking solutions, dedicated to satisfying public and end-user needs for security, safety and convenience. The ASSA ABLOY Group originated in the Nordic region in 1994, with the spin off of Assa AB from the Swedish security company Securitas and the acquisition shortly thereafter of the Finnish lock company Abloy. Since then the Group has expanded by a combination of organic growth and further acquisitions. Today, ASSA ABLOY's organization reflects the three main regions, EMEA, Americas and Asia Pacific. With more than 29,000 employees in 100 companies operating in 40 countries, ASSA ABLOY has a strong global presence and holds more than 10 percent of the world market.

ASSA ABLOY was introduced on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on 8 November 1994 . In October 1995 the share was transferred to the A-list.

For more information, please visit www.assabloy.com

About Saratoga CRM
Saratoga CRM helped pioneer the CRM movement. Today, we are a world leader in CRM solutions that enable large, global enterprises to effectively manage interactions with their customers at every stage, from marketing and initial contact through the complex sales, service and support relationships that develop between successful companies and their happy customers. Saratoga CRM provides advanced solutions that enable our customers to maximize employee productivity, increase operational efficiency, create new revenue opportunities, build and maintain satisfied customers, and build a strong, sustainable competitive advantage. Saratoga CRM currently has 120,000 users worldwide and more than 800 corporate customers including BASF, Blue Cross of California, ING, Kodak, MetLife, Office Depot, T. Rowe Price, Tyco Healthcare, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and WellPoint.

Saratoga CRM has its headquarters in Campbell , California , the heart of Silicon Valley , and regional offices in the United Kingdom , Sweden , Germany , and France , as well as distributors throughout the world.

For more information, see Saratoga CRM at www.saratogasystems.com

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