First Research and Baker Hill Partner to Help Banks Enhance Sales and Client Management Processes

First Research Also Sponsors 2005 Baker Hill Solution Summit

Raleigh, NC – April 19, 2005 – First Research Inc., the leading industry intelligence company, announced today a partnership with Baker Hill, an expert in banking process solutions. The alliance will assist clients in obtaining information to support sales, credit and relationship management activities within the lending process by providing a central location for industry information.

“Banking sales professionals today are faced with stiff price competition,” said Bobby Martin, First Research president and co-founder. “Access to the right information is crucial to gaining new customers and maintaining current relationships while ensuring profitability. Our collaboration with Baker Hill will help banking professionals gain greater control of sales processes.”

First Research arms sales teams with the industry intelligence needed to successfully engage sales prospects. Industry Profiles, First Research’s core product, provide the information sales professionals need to quickly learn about a target industry. Each Profile is updated quarterly and highlights critical industry trends, challenges and opportunities. Also included are dozens of powerful call preparation questions enabling users to engage clients and prospects in a dynamic conversation about the operations, finance, marketing, technology and business strategy aspects of the industry.

“Our strategic alliance with First Research will provide clients with cutting edge business solutions and practical insight to current banking processes,” said Mark Hill, president of Baker Hill. “First Research’s industry insight solutions are a natural complement to our relationship management solutions, and together will give joint clients a strong competitive edge.”

Baker Hill's relationship management solution, Client Advisor, addresses key processes centered on sales relationship management, working as the single source for client relationship information and integrating sales automation and tracking across the bank. Integration between Client Advisor and Baker Hill's Origination solutions delivers a comprehensive workflow that positively impacts the client relationship by giving banks the ability to leverage opportunities within its portfolio. A quick link to the First Research website can be easily configured from the Baker Hill Origination or Advisor solutions.

First Research also announced that it is one of nine partner sponsors at Baker Hill’s Solution Summit, scheduled for April 24-25 at the Amelia Island Plantation in Florida. This is expected to be the largest conference in the event's 13-year history. More than 200 attendees have already registered and several industry notables have agreed to share their expertise at the event.

About Baker Hill
For more than two decades, Baker Hill has been focused on the banking industry, delivering solutions that address business process needs and working as a trusted advisor to its banking clients. Baker Hill understands banking processes, knows how to implement technology to enable those processes, and has a long history of client success from which to mine best practices. More than 1,100 financial institutions in all segments have drawn on the company’s business expertise to improve critical processes, and have chosen Baker Hill’s relationship management, credit origination, and portfolio risk management solutions as their enabling technologies. For more information, visit www.bakerhill.com.

About First Research
First Research is the leading industry intelligence company that helps sales teams perform faster and smarter, open doors, and close more deals. First Research performs the “heavy lifting” by synthesizing hundreds of sources into an easy to digest format that a sales person can consume very quickly to better understand a prospect’s or client’s business issues. First Research updates each Industry Profile quarterly and pushes out Email Alerts to ensure that content is both timely and top of mind. Customers include leading companies in banking, technology, telecommunications, business process outsourcing, and professional services. Used by over 40,000 sales professionals, First Research can benefit any organization that has prospects in multiple industries. First Research is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information about First Research, visit www.firstresearch.com.

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Media Contact:
Shawn Ramsey
Crossroads Public Relations (on behalf of First Research)
(919) 359-0947 (office)
(919) 621-0737 (mobile)
sramsey@crossroadspr.com

Kristin W. Bear
Crossroads Public Relations (on behalf of First Research)
(919) 784-0445 (office)
(919) 349-1856 (mobile)
kbear@crossroadspr.com

Susan Eckel
Baker Hill
(317) 814-1221 (office)
seckel@bakerhill.com