Timberline Customer Service Wins Prestigious "Most Improved" Award from Industry Group

The annual STAR Awards, presented yesterday at the Horizons 2001 Conference in Orlando, Fla., honor outstanding accomplishments and superior performance in customer support. Criteria for the award included demonstrating a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction along with overall gains in support productivity.

Winning the award culminated a two-year re-engineering effort by Timberline to redirect its focus on exceptional customer service, said Carol Vega, senior vice president of client services. The award is one of the most prestigious honors available in the technical support industry because the contest is judged by senior support executives from some of the world's leading software companies.

"We set out to create a world-class support department, and this award is evidence that we succeeded," Vega said. "I think everyone in the organization is stronger, better and more customer-focused."

Efficiency improvements made during the re-engineering effort resulted in savings of $1.4 million a year. Customer satisfaction also improved drastically, as measured in a 1999 survey in which, on a scale of 1 to 5, Timberline customer ratings averaged 4.5 for exceptional service.

“We’re extremely pleased with the level of software support we receive from Timberline. We’ve always been able to reach someone who is knowledgeable and friendly within a few rings of the telephone, and, based on our experiences with other companies, that’s something we’ve learned not to take for granted,” said Robert Lee, Jr. of Lee Masonry, Inc., a Timberline customer based in Nashville, Tenn.

According to Bill Rose, SSPA founder/executive director, the company's success was obvious when SSPA judges examined Timberline's award entry.

"Timberline made amazing strides in a short amount of time, improving its support service and achieving outstanding results," Rose said. "Timberline is truly worthy of winning the 2000 STAR Award for Most Improved software support organization."

About SSPA Founded in 1989, SSPA represents over 10,000 service executives in over 500 member companies worldwide. SSPA gives software service professionals opportunities to share ideas, discuss developing trends and network with their peers. SSPA offers its members conferences, seminars, specialized training, executive forums and a variety of publications. For more information regarding the SSPA and other related divisions, log on to www.supportgate.com building Internet service communities, or send an email to info@supportgate.com.

About Timberline Software Corp. Timberline Software Corp. is an international supplier of accounting, estimating and service management software for the construction and property management industries. Founded in 1971, Timberline has been recognized for the past five years by Forbes magazine as one of the "200 Best Small Companies in America" and by Business Week as one of the 100 "Hot Growth Companies" during 1996 and 1998. Timberline has 25,000 customers worldwide. Timberline's Web site is at www.timberline.com.