Entellium Forms New Customer Experience Design Unit, Adds VP to Address Unique Needs of Small Businesses

SEATTLE, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Entellium, a global developer of on-demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, announces the formation of its new Customer Experience Design team to further concentrate on engaging and learning from its small business customers to understand and support their unique needs in the changing small and midsize business (SMB) landscape.

There are approximately 20 million SMBs in the US today and according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce (2007) small businesses pay more than 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll and have generated 60 to 80 percent of new jobs annually over the last decade. They also have a smaller success rate, as only half make it to their 5th anniversary. Entellium created the Customer Experience group to more deeply understand small business' business processes and design products that are fun to use and create more opportunities for success.

Applying its proprietary Gamer Influenced Design (GID)(TM) concepts, Entellium' Customer Experience group will utilize a variety of techniques, from quantitative analysis to observing their customers in their environment to uncover how to create an experience that small businesses never want to give up. Gamer Influenced Design incorporates many of the visually compelling design techniques found in today's best-selling video games and applies these to today's traditional boring business applications and makes them more usable, and more fun.

Leading the customer experience effort is Paul Graves, who recently joined Entellium as the vice president of customer experience design. With his vast business experience in applying strategic direction and imagination to manage brands across organizations and varied audiences, Graves has helped many organizations gain long-term effectiveness both in their respective industries and with each customer. In his new position, Graves will focus on creating a compelling and memorable experience for the customer from every touch point in the organization.

"I am proud to lead Entellium's new approach. This focus reflects the commitment that the company has always had to its customers and to design innovation," said Graves. "We recognize that today's small and midsize businesses have very different and unique perspectives. We want to provide the interactions that acknowledge this difference, so that we can help SMBs continue learning how to streamline their business processes and increase their bottom line. Our goal is to show them how to work smart and be successful with products that truly understand the world of small business."

Graves has worked in public, private and non-profit sectors for more than 20 years. Previous clients include Toyota/Lexus, Volkswagen, Premera Blue Cross, Lexmark, Bosch, Virgin Atlantic and Stena Sealink Line. His non-profit work encompasses such organizations as Gideons International, Spring Harvest and World Vision. He has worked to create and manage comprehensive brand programs, which have accelerated organization-wide change, competitive advantage and brand equity. He brings Entellium additional strategic business direction and imagination.

"Entellium's focus has always been on supporting and enabling our customers to thrive, not just survive," said Paul Johnston, president and CEO of Entellium. "Paul is a valuable addition to our team. His experience and direction will help us to continue to understand our customers, the small to midsize business industry, and in turn to provide consistency and expertise to each person. Small businesses today require champions that understand their special requirements and Paul's new position will help us interpret the unique requirements they need for success, and deliver on it to earn their loyalty. "

About Entellium

Founded in 2000, Entellium is a global software company that develops on-demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for small and midsize businesses. Entellium software helps sales teams balance the everyday needs of sales professionals with the reporting and forecasting needs of management. Entellium's numerous awards and honors include: a bronze 2007 IDEA honor from BusinessWeek magazine -- a top tribute in the field of interaction design; a "Leader" ranking from Forester Research in the categories of both Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Service Management; and CRM Magazine's 2004, 2005 and 2006 Market Leader Award for SFA. Entellium is the developer of Gamer Influenced Design (GID)(TM), a concept that incorporates some of video-games' most compelling features into business software design. The result is software that is interactive, intuitive and boldly designed. Entellium has been rated one of the best companies to work for by Seattle Business Monthly Magazine, Washington CEO magazine and the Puget Sound Business Journal. Headquartered in Seattle, Entellium maintains a global research and development office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more information, visit http://www.entellium.com.