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Maximizer

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About the company:

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Maximizer Software (TSE:MAX) is a new company with deep roots. On June 1, 1998, the company — formerly called Maximizer Technologies Inc. — announced a new company name to reflect the growth of its product line and harmonize all international offices under one corporate umbrella. The company became known as Maximizer Software Inc., a member of the Maximizer group of companies headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Originally introduced (by Pinetree Software) in 1987, Maximizer helped pioneer the concepts of contact management and sales automation. Sales grew steadily and at least one market study declared Maximizer the contact manager market leader in 1991. The technology was subsequently acquired by Richmond Technologies. Another Vancouver, BC company, Modatech Systems (founded in 1984) was also establishing themselves as a force in sales automation. Modatech concentrated on systems for large sales forces in the consumer packaged goods industry and had quietly become a major player in that segment of the market. However, the steadily increasing power of Windows based systems and the growing interest in client-server technology were causing major changes in the high end of the sales automation market.

On the surface, the combination of Richmond Technologies and Modatech looked like a winning team to compete in this rapidly evolving market. The two companies began merger discussions early in 1993. Richmond’s recently introduced Windows version was selling well. Modatech’s expertise in large systems integration skills could blend well as more companies increased the sales force adoption of products like Maximizer. On August 13, 1993, Modatech acquired Richmond Technologies and the two companies began competing as one.

At the time, I personally applauded this union. For too long, sales automation software developers had competed at the "low end" or the "high end." No one offered a suite of products and services that allowed companies to start with a sales team and then scale up to equip an entire sales force. Modatech was one of the first companies to offer a complete vision here. Well, that was the good news. The bad news was things just did not work out; it seems that Modatech had a few skeletons in the closet. I’ll spare you the gory details, but the "high end" business collapsed and Modatech recorded a loss of $13.7 million on total revenues of $7.6 million in fiscal year 1994. Things went downhill from there.

Even as sales of Maximizer for Windows boomed, the company was forced into receivership. Amazingly throughout this entire period, the Maximizer development team remained intact even as employee morale plummeted. I believe Richmond Technologies founder (and eventual Modatech CEO) Tom O’Flaherty did an outstanding job of holding the core team together and maintaining the market momentum of Maximizer in the midst of tremendous turbulence and uncertainty.

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. In November 1995, a new company was born, Maximizer Technologies Inc. Terry Hui, President and CEO of Concord Pacific Developments Corp. and the Maximizer Technologies Group announced at the time that the Maximizer Technologies Group had acquired the Maximizer contact management system, through the sister company, Maximizer Software Inc.

"It is our intent to realize the significant growth potential of Maximizer products," said Hui. "We intend to provide the necessary resources to achieve significant market share for this outstanding product line both in its present format and in the new media environment.

"The addition of the established Maximizer sales, support and technology groups to Maximizer will further enhance our position as an integrated new media organization," said Hui.

On June 5, 1997 Maximizer Software announced that it had acquired the Tracker line of software including the distribution networks and installed user base, creating a global software group with more than one million users worldwide. Then, on May 20, 1998, it announced its acquisition of CogniTech Corporation, the developer of Sharkware, including distribution networks and customer base. As the overcrowded SFA market continues to consolidate and shake out, I expect Maximizer to emerge as one of the true leaders of the middle market. These acquisitions, combined with continued innovative product development, create a powerful force in the market.

Maximizer became a publicly traded company with the issue of 13 million shares at $1.00/share (on the Canadian Dealing Network under the symbol MSWI) on May 10, 1999.

The company first shipped Maximizer in 1987. The product is now in use by more than 50,000 companies, with more that 1,000,000 total users. There are currently more than 800 users at the largest site.

Further details on the financial condition of the company and total installed base are included in our complete In-Depth Review.

Product:  Maximizer

About the product:

Maximizer Begins Shipping Maximizer 7 -- a Powerful New Sales and Contact Management Solution for Individuals and Small Businesses

New version of award-winning contact manager solution offers easy and affordable way to organize time, manage customer relationships and boost sales

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – April 2, 2002 -- Maximizer Software Inc., a leading provider of innovative customer relationship management (CRM) and contact management solutions, today announced it has begun shipping Maximizer ™ 7. This new version of the award-winning Maximizer contact manager is optimized for robust out-of-the-box performance, functionality and speed, and incorporates many advanced features to provide one of the most complete and efficient business solutions for sales and contact management.

Maximizer 7 is strategically designed to help individuals and small businesses increase efficiency and sales by improving day-to-day productivity, sales tracking and processing efficiency, and customer satisfaction. The software delivers exceptional functionality and value by incorporating advanced contact management with sales opportunity management, automated processes, online sales and lead tracking, communication, scheduling, task management, data analysis and reporting, a company library and e-commerce.

"Today's economic climate is especially tough for small businesses who are facing unprecedented competition, longer sales cycles and customer budget constraints. They are looking for cost-effective ways to improve sales performance and can benefit from a solution like Maximizer 7, to increase their efficiency and ensure quality customer relationships," said John Kellett, President of Maximizer Software.

"We are a Montessori teacher training school. We do our training through distance education. Although about 80% of our students are from the US, we have students on 5 of the 6 continents, from Saudi Arabia to Korea to Malaysia to Germany, and all points in between. When we began our business, we investigated a number of software packages, and decided on Maximizer. We made the right decision – Maximizer has been a wonderful tool,” said Dale Gausman, Program Director, South Surrey Montessori School. "We use Maximizer to track our students and their progress, and to keep track of their grades. We keep track of their contact information, including where they are working. We have even used it to help us identify students who have gotten married, changed their names, and then submitted assignments in their new names! We also log literally hundreds of phone calls every day, and Maximizer lets us keep track of who called and when. Maximizer has given us the ability to service our students well and make our administrative time very effective."

New and advanced features of Maximizer 7 include:

Enhanced sales opportunity management - new simplified Opportunity Manager helps track customer opportunities from lead to close; plan and forecast sales revenues more accurately to achieve overall sales goals.

Complete and accurate customer information - automatically screens for duplicate entries and ensures complete records and precise data with mandatory fields. Additional security prevents unrestricted changes with optional read-only views of critical data.

New modern, simplified interface - features new modern look and feel, and at-a-glance entry types for simpler navigation and ease of operation to decrease learning time and increase user efficiency.

Superior integration with Outlook and Palm - lets you access your Outlook address book, read Outlook email and save it to your contact’s record, and automatically synchronize calendars; improved Palm synchronization provides fast and easy access to contacts, appointments, tasks and notes on the road.

Improved reporting - provides easy access to more than 90 report formats; allows you to see results and trends to focus on the most profitable customers.

Complete business picture - enables you to capture and record all leads and orders (including online, email, phone and fax) in a single location for further follow-up and long term opportunities. Use the award-winning ecBuilder web site creation module to create and manage your own Web store to capture leads and generate online sales.

"With Maximizer 7, users have access to the complete business picture and the precise information they need to build and maintain long lasting relationships. They also save more time for focusing on results and growing their business,” commented Tom Bennett, Vice President, R&D, Maximizer Software.

Price:

Maximizer 7 is available at the single user price of $199. Under a special introductory promotion now through April 19, Maximizer is offering a 25% discount for new users ($149 per user) and 50% discount for existing customers ($99 to upgrade).

Complete details on pricing are included in our complete In-Depth Review.

In-Depth Review:

Scalability	Small		Medium		Large
Scope	Classic		Clicks & Mortar		Dot Com
Sales Cycle	Short		Continuous		Long
Functions	Marketing		Field Sales		Support

Note: This review should be available real soon now!

Short List

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