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SAN DIEGO, Calif. April 2, 2003 -– Customers. We don't ask for much. Just a little service. Just a little respect. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, countless companies that depend on our business still treat us like a necessary evil, an inconvenience to be tolerated at best and ignored at worst. Fortunately, an increasing number of companies are realizing that their only hope of surviving – much less, thriving - is to listen to what their customers have to say, and to respond quickly enough to ensure that those same customers don't take their business elsewhere.

Offering customers a chance to have their concerns heard, addressed and remedied almost immediately is a company called Qualistics (www.qualistics.com) in San Diego. Thanks to the company's "Customer Loyalty Platform," now being utilized in Donatos Pizzeria restaurants across the U.S., companies can capture, analyze and implement timely customer satisfaction data to continually refine their operations and level of customer satisfaction nationwide.

Unlike conventional market research technologies such as telemarketing and mystery shopper services, Qualistics' core customer "touch point" is an inbound Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. With Qualistics' Customer Loyalty Management System, customer responses are automatically captured, analyzed, scrubbed for accuracy, and distributed back to Donatos via email, Internet, or fax.

In addition, complaints and other critical data are reported immediately to individual stores, empowering local managers to address concerns and pursue customer satisfaction on a one-to-one basis. Business intelligence (improvement tips, industry statistics, training modules, etc.) is built into survey reports to provide actionable information along with coaching on how to best use the information.

"As an organization that prides itself on service, we have always had internal mechanisms in place to ensure and encourage operational excellence," says Dave Muenz, EVP of Concepts and Restaurant systems for Donatos. "Qualistics gave us the ability to monitor our operations from the most import perspective - our customers' – which has resulted in increased profits and customer retention."

Other Solutions Don't Solve the Problem

Many research companies and IVR service providers are offering IVR customer feedback survey services but none can:

• Integrate any customer satisfaction data including mystery shopper, telemarketing survey, complaint hotline, market research and marketing data into one powerful database than can produce actionable customer satisfaction and employee performance reports
• Communicate highly-focused best practices, improvement strategies and training tips to under performing employees, stores, or any segment of an organization that falls below company standards
• Analyze data in real time so that store managers can deal with problems quickly, which is essential in maintaining customer loyalty
• Easily modify or create phone-based IVR survey questionnaires, reports and improvement strategies on line, in minutes and at no extra cost

About Qualistics
Qualistics' Customer Loyalty Management System continuously collects, analyzes and shares customer satisfaction information so that companies can effect changes to improve their operations based on customer input. Qualistics clients include Bell South, Dominos Pizza, Shoneys, Donatos and other multi-location businesses across the country. For more information, please contact the company at 888-755-4307 or www.qualistics.com

About Donatos
Donatos Pizzeria, founded in 1963 by Jim Grote, has become of one of the fastest growing pizza chains in the country, while maintaining the same small-town pizzeria principles that attributed to its success. Recently named Pizza Enterprise Industry of the Year by Pizza Marketing Quarterly, Donatos has over 175 stores and 5,000 employees in the U.S. and in Munich, Germany. Donatos' menu includes a selection of award-winning pizzas, oven baked subs, salads and appetizers. For more information, log on to www.donatos.com.