Boston, March 15, 2004 – OutStart, the leading provider of the only proven, content-centric software product family for learning, announced today a strategic relationship with Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, the nation’s premier specialty consumer electronics retailer.
Tweeter has selected OutStart Evolution, the leading application for creating, managing and delivering learning and training content and Evolution Learner Manager (ELM), a complete learning management system (LMS) that handles all administration surrounding the learning and training processes for their learning and training initiatives.
By providing its sales and installation associates with an extensive program of product and sales training, Tweeter has been able to distinguish itself within the industry. However, with the fast paced nature of consumer electronics technologies and new product trends, Tweeter needed a way to augment its classroom training and bring new information to associates located all across the country. Tweeter chose OutStart Evolution and Evolution Learner Manager (ELM) to address this need, which will allow the company’s associates to train and search for information on a variety of topics when and where they need to, from any computer.
“After researching many different offerings, we chose OutStart because the technology provided us with the ability to keep our employees up-to-date on our ever evolving product selection, without having to take them off the sales floor or installation job for an entire day of classroom training,” says Jon Herron, National Director of e-Learning at Tweeter Home Entertainment Group. “Our business is based on providing cutting edge consumer electronics solutions to our customers. With OutStart’s offerings, training modules are easily created, managed, and delivered to our employees, providing crucial product knowledge and resulting in superior customer service.”
Evolution is a learning software platform that enables organizations to dramatically reduce the time and costs needed to create, assemble, deliver and reuse formal and informal learning content in a scalable and centrally managed environment. Organizations like Tweeter can easily and effectively deliver personalized learning content to employees, customers or partners — anywhere, anytime. The ease of content development, the number and variety of delivery mediums (Web, print, presentation, CD, PDA, etc.), and the ability to provide a dynamic, personalized learner experience, sets Evolution apart from the myriad of learning technologies available today.
“Specialty retailers such as Tweeter are constantly introducing new, highly-technical products which creates a unique training challenge for these companies,” said OutStart CEO Massood Zarrabian. “OutStart Evolution and Evolution Learner Manager make it easy for Tweeter to manage and dynamically deliver up-to-date content across the organization. As a result, the company is able to benefit from a more knowledgeable sales force which ultimately leads to increased sales and greater customer satisfaction”
About Tweeter
Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTR) was founded in 1972 by current Chairman Sandy Bloomberg. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, the company is a national specialty consumer electronics retailer providing audio and video solutions for the home and car. Tweeter has the expertise to explain it all, deliver it all, and install it all so that its customers can just sit back and enjoy. The company’s fiscal 2003 revenues were $787 million. Tweeter Home Entertainment Group, Inc. now operates 174 stores under the Tweeter, HiFi Buys, Sound Advice, Bang & Olufsen, Electronic Interiors, Showcase Home Entertainment and Hillcrest High Fidelity names in the New England, Texas, Southern California, Mid-Atlantic, Chicago, Southeast, Florida and Phoenix markets. Further information on Tweeter Home Entertainment Group can be found on the company’s web site, www.tweeter.com.
About OutStart
OutStart provides learning and knowledge-sharing software applications to mid-market, government, and Global 2000 organizations. OutStart customers build competitive advantage by making customers, employees, and partners more knowledgeable and better trained through superior content development, management, and delivery. The company’s approach is learner-focused and content-centric.
OutStart’s award-winning, product family enables people to know exactly what they need to be better at their jobs and to learn when, where, and how they want. Customers like AT&T Wireless, Kaiser Permanente, Steelcase, the US Navy, and Westland Helicopters rely on OutStart to increase individual and organizational performance, improve knowledge transfer, and lower operating costs. Headquartered in Boston, MA, OutStart has offices throughout the US and Europe and can be found on the Web at www.outstart.com
