ITech startup of the month.

• Author: PETERSON, ERIC
• Position: Brief Article

COMPANY: DEUXO DENVER

www.deuxo.com

FOUNDED: JANUARY 1999

OPERATIONS LAUNCHED: MARCH 2001

INITIAL LIGHTBULB: The genesis of deuxo (pronounced duo") can be traced to 1995, when Colorado Springs-based Saligent Inc. developed internal support software for marketing automation. Soon thereafter, many of Saligent's Fortune 500 clients were inquiring about purchasing the software for their own use. In early 1999--after a spin-off, a merger, and an aborted merger -- deuxo was incorporated as an independent entity with full ownership of the prized software. Randy Kenworthy, formerly of Boulder's Service Metrics (now Exodus), came on board as president and CEO in May 2000 and shifted the company's focus from the saturated marketing-automation space to an emerging niche that has since been christened 'opportunity optimization."

IN A NUTSHELL: "We are absolutely the second generation of CRM (customer relationship management)," said Kenworthy. While traditional CRM captures information about customers to drive efficiencies and aggregate data, "Second-generation CRM is all about transactions," Kenworthy said. "It's all about taking information, using that information to understand where a customer's at in their purchasing process, and then interacting with them in a manner that assists them."

Deuxo's proprietary software automates the interaction with sales prospects until they fit the bill of a qualified lead, at which point closing duties are handed over to a sales rep. The system categorizes each contact and sends newsletters, e-mails, and other marketing materials, ultimately qualifying or disqualifying every sales lead.

"The average business-to-business sales rep spends only 23 to 29 percent of his time selling," Kenworthy said. "The rest is trying to figure out who to sell to and how to approach them. We want to take that 23 to 29 percent number and move it north."

With a client list that includes Agilent Technologies and Arch Communications, the 52-employee deuxo is targeting large B2B companies involved in complex sales processes. The costs start 2 at about $40,000 a year.

THE MARKET: Opportunity optimization is "brand new right 2 now," said Denis...