2007 Steppin' Out Awards CRM 2.0 Vendor Finalists Announced

Manassas, VA, February 20, 2007: Paul Greenberg, author of the best selling book, “CRM at the Speed of Light” and Chief Customer Officer of BPT Partners, announced the finalists for the 2007 Steppin’ Out Awards this morning. From a field of nearly 40 culled candidates for the award, Microsoft, salesforce.com, NetSuite, Neighborhood America, Rearden Commerce and Zoho, a division of AdventNet, made the final cut for the potentially disruptive impact that they could have in 2007 and beyond.

The Steppin’ Out Awards, sponsored by BPT Partners, LLC, began with the 3rd edition of CRM at the Speed of Light“ in 2004. They are unique in the CRM industry because they not only bridge the gap between the traditional CRM vendors and the newer Web 2.0 based customer-focused vendors, but also look at more than just features and functions of a company, “This award takes into account the business models, what in fact, the companies are actually doing strategically, what kind of culture the company has to execute their strategy and what kind of offerings and pricing models are being presented,” said Greenberg. “It particularly focuses on their willingness to be innovative and the impact that their innovations have had and are likely to have on the customer community and business as a whole.”

For example, Neighborhood America, a Naples, FL-based enterprise social networking company, does not fit the traditional mold of a CRM company, but at the same time, has a technology and strategy that can potentially change the customer landscape in the near future.

““We are honored to be selected as a finalist for the Stepping Out Awards,” said Neighborhood America CEO Kim Patrick Kobza. “Neighborhood America has great respect for the other finalists. Web 2.0 has created a societal expectation that customers can meaningfully interact with companies that provide the products and services that affect our lives. This expectation is highly disruptive to traditional notions of business/customer relationships.”

The finalists will be required to fill out a questionnaire that will be the major factor in choosing the ultimate winner of the 2007 Steppin’ Out Award vendor category. The winner will be announced by the end of March 2007. Prior to the announcement of the winner, each of the finalists will have an extensive individual profile on Greenberg’s award winning blog, Pgreenblog (http://the56group.typepad.com).
The other Steppin’ Out categories are service providers and practitioners. The practitioners will be broken down into several categories. The service provider finalists and winner are expected to be announced in the second quarter of 2007 with the practitioner finalists and winners to follow soon after.

About BPT Partners, LLC:

BPT Partners is the world’s leading CRM training and research authority. Founded on a business model that uses industry thought leaders to develop the content and do the training, BPT has become the standard for CRM certification and is endorsed by numerous associations throughout the globe.

For more information, contact: Paul Greenberg, 703-551-2337 or
paul-greenberg3@comcast.net or pgreenberg@bptpartners.com