Chemical Companies Must Find Better Formula for Providing High Quality Online Customer Experiences, According to The Customer Respect Group's Spring 2003 Sector Study.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2003

FMC Corporation Shows Highest Overall Customer Respect;

But Only Half of Firms Respond to Web Site Inquiries;

Most That Promise to Respond Don't Do So

The Customer Respect Group, an international research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their customers online, today released the results of its 135-page Spring 2003 Online Customer Respect Study of the country's largest chemical companies.

Among the findings, according to the report, is that half of chemical companies don't respond to inquiries sent via their Web sites. And a majority of those few that use Autoresponder technology to pledge a response don't keep their promise. Overall, FMC Corporation scored highest in Customer Respect, while International Flavors and Fragrances scored lowest.

The study is the only to bring objective measure to the analysis of corporate performance from an online customer's perspective. It assigns a Customer Respect Index (CRI(TM)) to each company. The Customer Respect Index is a qualitative and quantitative in-depth analysis and independent measure of a customer's online experience when interacting with companies via the Internet.

By looking at more than 1000 Web sites across a spectrum of industries in detail, The Customer Respect Group has determined 25 different attributes that combine to create the entire online customer experience. These attributes have been grouped together and measured as indicators of Privacy (respects customer privacy), Principles (values and respects customer data), Attitude (customer-focus of site), Transparency (open and honest policies), Simplicity (ease of navigation), and Responsiveness (quick and thorough responses to inquiries). Combined they measure a company's overall Customer Respect.

"Chemical firms simply can't afford to ignore those who choose to communicate with them via their Web sites," said Donal Daly, The Customer Respect Group CEO. "The half of them that aren't responding must make some changes if they hope to do business with potential customers, suppliers, partners, etc. An additional area of concern is that only 14 percent use simple autoresponder technology to let inquirers know that someone will get back to them - and then 60 percent of them break their promise of providing a full response. That's simply not a successful formula for continued success."

The highest ranked organization within the sector was FMC Corporation at 9.4 (out of 10), while the lowest was International Flavors & Fragrances at 2.7. The sector's average was 5.9. Beyond these scores, the report conveys in great detail improvement opportunities for each company. The sector's Spring 2003 ranking is as follows:

Company Name                                    Overall

FMC Corporation                                    9.4
Rohm and Haas Company                              8.8
The Scotts Company                                 8.3
E.I. du Pont de Nemours                            7.8
Sigma-Aldrich Corporation                          7.6
The Sherwin-Williams Company                       7.4
Cytec Industries                                   7.4
Solutia  Inc.                                      7.2
Cabot Corporation                                  7.2
The Valspar Corporation                            7.0
Georgia Gulf Corporation                           7.0
Ashland Inc.                                       6.9
RPM International, Inc.                            6.7
The Lubrizol Corporation                           6.6
Millennium Chemicals Inc.                          6.5
Engelhard Corporation                              6.4
Ecolab Inc.                                        6.3
Crompton Corporation                               6.0
The Dow Chemical Company                           6.0
Hercules Incorporated                              5.9
Air Products & Chemicals, Inc                      5.9
3M Company                                         5.9
Eastman Chemical Company                           5.8
PolyOne                                            5.7
Lyondell Chemical Company                          5.6
H.B. Fuller Company                                4.9
PPG Industries, Inc.                               4.8
Avery Dennison Corporation                         4.7
Borden Chemical, Inc.                              4.6
Praxair, Inc.                                      4.4
W.R. Grace & Co.                                   4.2
Foamex International Inc.                          3.6
Ferro  Corporation                                 3.4
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation                   3.3
OM Group, Inc.                                     3.0
IMC Global, Inc.                                   3.0
International Flavors & Fragrances  Inc.           2.7

Industry Average                                   5.9

Other findings for chemical firms include the following:

-- Sector firms receive the best overall rating (CRI: 7.1) for

Simplicity and the worst (CRI 4.1) for Responsiveness.

-- Only 50 percent respond to online inquiries. Of those that do

respond, 67 percent do so within 48 hours and 17 percent

respond within 72 hours. Some 16 percent respond in four days

or more.

-- Only 14 percent of these sector firms use Autoresponder

technology, in which emails are automatically sent back to

users to confirm the receipt of their inquiry and let them

know when they should expect a response. Of these, 60 percent

did not follow-up with a full response.

-- Some 70 percent of companies provide email forms for online

inquiries.

-- 27 percent provide email addresses.

-- 3 percent only provide offline contact information

-- Fully 97 percent provide a keyword search function on their

site.

-- But only 68 percent of sector firms have privacy policies on

their sites explaining how customers' personal data is being

used.

How to Order

The Online Customer Respect Annual Subscription offers actionable data for each company covered and ranks them relative to their competitors. It includes twice-annual Industry Sector Customer Respect Reports for all companies in the sector, twice-annual company confidential reports, best practices updates, and the 2003 Online Customer Respect Study of the largest 100 U.S. companies. The reports include key research findings for a sector, a score card on each company in the study, a comprehensive description of the scientific research methodology, data analysis, individual scores, index reports on the industry and a variety of color charts and graphs to illustrate individual and industry performance. The Online Customer Respect Annual Subscription is available for $12,000/year. Individual sector reports are available for $4,750. Interested parties may visit the Web site (www.CustomerRespect.com), call 425-454-4151 or email [e-mail] for more information.

About The Customer Respect Group

The Customer Respect Group is an international research and consulting firm that uses its Customer Respect Index methodology to help companies improve how they treat their customers online. The Customer Respect Index (CRI(TM)) and iWitness(TM) methodology provide companies with actionable and measurable data to enhance their customers' online experiences. The Customer Respect Group is headquartered in Bellevue, WA. For additional information, visit www.customerrespect.com.

All companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Note to Editors: Graphics files for key findings are available from [e-mail] or at www.CustomerRespect.com. A comprehensive report summary is available from [e-mail].