VUE Plays Key Role in Growth of Novell Authorized Training.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 1996--Virtual University Enterprises, Inc. (VUE) announced today that Novell Education has renewed its relationship with the company. Since 1994, VUE has been transparently handling customer requests worldwide for information about Novell Education and directing those callers to Novell Authorized Education Center (NAEC) channel partners.

In addition to counseling callers, VUE has also collected and compiled detailed customer demographics and buying behaviors, enabling Novell Education to more effectively market its programs. Under the terms of the new contract, VUE will continue to provide these services as well as course registration and scheduling for special promotions and seminars.

"Using VUE's services worldwide has allowed Novell Education to focus its efforts on strategic sales and marketing initiatives," said Martin Bean, Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Novell Education. "For example, when we roll out a Novell Education promotion, VUE can very efficiently handle the logistics and operational aspects with their global infrastructure. By partnering with VUE in this way, we have more resources to work on sales and marketing programs."

In the last two years, Novell Education has seen an increase of more than 50 percent in the number of people who choose authorized instructor-led training. In 1994, 56 percent of candidates pursuing instructor-led training chose authorized. Today that number has grown to 86 percent.

"We have seen these numbers increase as a result of aggressive marketing strategies," said Jerry Christensen, Vice President of Marketing for Novell Education. "One strategy was to partner with VUE to provide increased service levels to our customers and NAECs. This strategy has been one of the key reasons for the increased number of people taking authorized training."

One of the ways VUE has successfully helped increase the number of students taking authorized training is by identifying the `most-likely-to-buy' callers and focusing additional customer support resources on them.

They do this by calling these Qualified Leads back at one and eight weeks after the initial phone call. The purpose is to provide a high level of customer service on behalf of Novell and to make sure that these callers make contact with Novell's training channel. Additionally, VUE collects information from these students about where they are in the purchasing process and where and what they buy. VUE's model is to provide several points of contact with the customer from their first call until they are registered for training at an NAEC.

VUE's marketing manager, Scott Allison, says the Novell Training Leads from VUE provide a very high rate of conversion from lead to sale. "We find consistently, that among Qualified Leads worldwide, after eight weeks over 50% already bought or are planning to buy -- that's incredible! These statistics clearly show that VUE is effectively helping those who need training and those who provide training find each other."

Germa Medina, of Network Education Centers in Miami, says his close rate is even higher than the national average. "I close about 60% of the Novell Training Leads from VUE," he said. "A few months ago, one lead from VUE turned into a large corporate account and I closed over $50,000 worth of business." In California, Justin Taylor of New Horizons in Sacramento reports a close rate of 85%.

This `closed-loop lead management system' is a powerful addition to Novell's referral system. In the referral system, customers receive the names and phone numbers of NAECs in their area. Now, with the `closed-loop lead management system,' NAECs can receive the names and demographics of students VUE has qualified as leads. Because callers are told about NAECs and the NAEC is told about those callers, more people get the training they need -- the loop is closed.

Since its inception in 1994, VUE has grown to become one of the largest companies providing training and certification program support to the IT industry. Two years ago, VUE serviced one client, Novell, from their Minneapolis-based office. Today, VUE supports ten clients from three offices around the world. The company's client list includes IBM, NCR, Novell PowerSell, Technology Education Network, (TEN), CEdMA, Micro House International, Self-Test Software, and Sylvan Prometric.

"Our business is connecting people with training," VUE's CEO, Clarke Porter said. "Our partnerships with Novell and other industry leaders were developed to increase the number of students who buy authorized training. We're committed to helping training organizations grow their businesses by reaching more students."

"As the industry leader and pioneer, Novell Education is always looking for ways to provide the best service to its customers," said Carolyn G. Rose, Senior Vice President of Novell Education. "Our innovative partnership with VUE has helped us with that at many levels. We look forward to our continued partnership with VUE as a powerful strategy that will benefit and grow the entire IT industry."

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet, intranet and small-business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

VUE provides a global infrastructure to connect people with the training they need through partnerships with over 1500 authorized training centers in 91 countries. In addition to its US-based call center that supports North and South America, VUE operates two subsidiaries with call centers in the Netherlands and Australia. VUE provides customer service, student registration, course evaluation, certification program management and lead management services to industry-leading technology corporations worldwide. They can be found on the Web at http://www.vue.com.

CONTACT: Jodi Peddycoart

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