Small-Business Expert Enlists RatePoint to Promote Satisfied Customers, Grow Business

Small-Business Expert Enlists RatePoint to Promote Satisfied Customers, Grow
Business

SBDC Hampton Roads Director says reputation is vital in current economy

NEEDHAM, Mass.,May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- James T. Carroll, III, vice president of
small business at the Hampton Roads (Va.) Chamber of Commerce and director of
the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of Hampton Roads, Inc., has
significantly grown his customer base using RatePoint, Inc., a leading
provider of customer feedback and online reputation management services.

"When dollars get tight, competition increases," said Carroll, who is
responsible for assisting more than 500 small-business clients in a variety of
industries from 18 cities and counties. "When competition increases, the small
differences between companies and their approaches to the market start to
become more noticeable. Small businesses need to differentiate themselves
through customer service and reputation."

Carroll's first-hand experience growing a business with reputation has
increased the Hampton Roads SBDC's visibility with prospective clients. Using
RatePoint's tools, the Hampton Roads SBDC is able to proactively ask for
feedback and collect testimonials to strengthen its reputation with clients.
The testimonials are featured in marketing materials for fundraising and used
as a sales tool for prospective customers.

"As the nation celebrates Small Business Week, it's important to note
reputation is essential for any business but is critical for small
businesses," said Neal Creighton, co-founder and CEO of RatePoint. "Small
businesses form the backbone of our economy, and RatePoint helps to propel
them above the competition."

In addition to customer testimonials, Carroll uses the full suite of services
available through RatePoint, including email newsletters and survey tools.

RatePoint's email signup widget allows the Hampton Roads SBDC to build its
list of prospects and send a quarterly newsletter to connect with these
prospects as well as clients. The organization collected 250 new contacts in
four months, simply by adding the signup widget to its site with no additional
effort.

Through RatePoint's survey tool, the SBDC collects data more accurately and
efficiently. The survey data gives Carroll the ability to understand what
clients find useful and what could be changed to improve customer
satisfaction.

"I want unvarnished data about how we are doing," Carroll said. "The kind of
customer honesty you get from RatePoint can open your eyes quickly to problems
and new ideas. It has helped us immensely."

About RatePoint:
RatePoint, Inc., the leading provider of customer feedback and online
reputation management services, helps businesses protect and build their
online reputation, allowing businesses to harness the power of credible
customer feedback and leverage it into a sales, marketing and customer service
asset.

RatePoint's easy-to-use, Web-based communication services include customer
feedback tools to collect business and product reviews, email marketing,
survey and dispute resolution capabilities to provide small- and medium-sized
businesses with the ability to collect, manage and promote customer feedback
directly from their Web site. For more information, contact us at:
888-777-1636 or visit: www.ratepoint.com.

SOURCE RatePoint, Inc.

Yvonne Gaudette, RatePoint, Inc., +1-781-465-2052, ygaudette@ratepoint.com;
Tim Wieland, Airfoil Public Relations, +1-248-304-1414, wieland@airfoilpr.com