TPRG

TPRG leverages IVR to improve its marketing and analytical services.

Thomas Penway Research Group, Inc. (TPRG) is a small company based in Lexington, Kentucky. They provide a variety of marketing research and analytical services to diverse array of local and national clients.

TPRG became associated with TeleSynergy in January 1999 when it purchased a turnkey package which included the Tele-PCX, APG software, Voice/IVR boards, and a Fax board.

“The marketing research industry has slowly been adopting IVR technology to conduct consumer opinion surveys among selected audiences. We decided in 1988 to invest in the technology and become experts in this area of research,” says Bart Borkosky, company owner and president.

TPRG uses the Tele-PCX to handle the office and administrative side of the business, while using the IVR and Fax capabilities for its primary business activities.

“We spent about six months evaluating our options. Most of the IVR systems we looked at required an extremely large capital investment as well as a high level of technical programming skill. Some of the programs required 2 or more week training schools to learn specialized programming language as well. We were looking for a system that was easy to use and yet sophisticated enough to meet our needs. When we looked at the TeleSynergy product, we knew it was the one for us. The fact that we could also purchase and integrate an advanced office phone system was also a plus.”

After purchasing the TeleSynergy product, TPRG was able to quickly build custom applications for its clients, including:

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Employee Opinion Studies Recruiting respondents for specialized survey projects Product Evaluations Mystery Shopping Data Input Marketing Data Collection System (i.e., weekly sales, pricing, etc.)

“The combination of being able to rapidly learn the application generator and the low entry cost has enabled us to offer sophisticated research products at extremely competitive prices”, says Borkosky. “The TeleSynergy system compares favorably with competitive systems on nearly every attribute we evaluated. When I compare what we can provide our clients to what competitors have to offer, I am very pleased, especially when I know we can charge less and still be profitable.”

“One of the things I like about working with TeleSynergy is their customer service. They have been absolutely responsive and supportive in getting us off the ground. Despite some rather complex and confusing situations we got ourselves into, TeleSynergy was always able to help us work it out and do what we wanted with the system.”

TPRG has developed a number of additional internal applications designed to enhance productivity, improve service, and help in marketing. They use a Fax on Demand system to provide company information to prospective clients. Their own customer satisfaction survey resides on the system. They have a system that sub-contractors use to call in daily production results which in turn alerts the project manager there is a problem which needs to be addressed. “I feel we are just beginning to scratch the surface; we can do a lot more with this system. I would definitely recommend to others that they check out TeleSynergy before making a purchase decision.”

To contact Bart Borkosky at Thomas Penway Research Group, Inc., call 606.271.8241 ext. 202 or e-mail at .