Customer Value Countrywide: Delivering Customer

Customer Value

Countrywide: Delivering Customer Value

Early in a company's evolution much should be decided as a foundation for doing business. The nature of the company's business practices and product it represents defines the company's core values and basic spirit. It is important to establish this basis early on in order to build and nourish the business in a successful direction. Only then can a company enter into the market place with any real hope of remaining competitive. The beginnings of a corporation like Countrywide Financial Corporation better known as Countrywide Home Loans, early on were based on simple values and goals. What later would become corporate culture, defined the nature of doing business the Countrywide way. Effectively, it is the product of the home loan or mortgage that has created Countrywide's core value of customer service satisfaction. A home loan or a mortgage, although at one time paper, remains a non-physical product. It is the act of servicing the loan that becomes the product Countrywide represents, markets and sells to the public. It is this act of servicing the loan and the person who owns the loan that becomes the company's main business activity. Essentially Countrywide is not selling loans but they are selling the dream of homeownership. They are providing a service on a very intimate level. Really Countrywide has made people their business and they have chosen to adopt an expert approach to maintaining superior customer value in their service. It is because Countrywide realizes the value behind their customers that their service excels above the rest. It is the attention to detail, the personal effort of going the extra mile that has made Countrywide the success it is today. No question, they deliver value by putting the customer first.

This paper is about Countrywide's ability to deliver customer value in the form of excellent customer service. Without the customer, the company would fold. This paper will look at the division of Loan Administration Servicing, the arm of the company to handle customer service and more specifically the department of Communications Compliance. It is this department's responsibility and mission to preserve Countrywide's brand identity and reputation by being the first to perform customer service. This paper will explore many facets of how Countrywide delivers customer value not only is its services but also in its policies, procedures and actions. These items are what make service possible. The paragraphs below will examine the organization's mission, goals and objectives. In doing this, the paper will look at market place and strategy, operating practices, marketing approach, brand identity, informational infrastructure and technology, quality assurance procedures, customer relationship management, Countrywide's Global presence and customer care programs. Throughout the paper, strategy will be discussed as it pertains to loan servicing and Countrywide's joint ventures. By analyzing the mirror images of Countrywide's influence, one can see the importance of the customer to the process. Countrywide's credo has always been to not only think outside the box to fix problems but to also continue rethinking them by breaking them over and over. This is reflective in every aspect the company touches. It has been this philosophy that allows for creativity and diversification of making dreams come true.

Countrywide's History

Founded in 1969 as Countrywide Credit Industries, the company "provides consumer and business to business financial services in domestic and international markets" (Simon, 2001 par. 1). The company is headquartered in Calabasas, California and has more than 40,000 employees in over 500 offices many in California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia and New York. Countrywide Financial as it is now called, boasts a wide diverse portfolio of products that acts as an umbrella for the Countrywide Family. This includes Global Home Loans; Ltd. United Kingdom, Balboa Life and Causality and Countrywide Bank. The company has seen the need to keep every aspect of mortgage banking under one roof to better serve its customer base. Countrywide is also the largest direct online lender, offering applications and rich content detailing every step needed to make homeownership a dream come true (Simon, 2001 par. 6). This provides the customer with an enjoyable experience that is simple, easy and convenient. Countrywide has been able to achieve this goal by constantly raising the bar and accepting new technologies into its mindset. Much of the company's growth during the 1970s and 1980s can be attributed to thinking outside the conventional process of mortgage banking. The company recognizes a need to be innovative and therefore has been the first to provide cutting-edge ideas to remain competitive. Not only have technology played a significant factor but also diversification of product. As a result, today Countrywide offers loans to a public that was underserved before. These loan products push the parameters of conventional lending practices and allow people from different backgrounds to be served. Countrywide has applied this "home-centric approach" (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005) to meeting the customers' needs and therefore, created a level of trust and integrity for its name.

Countrywide was founded on the premise that homeownership should be available to all Americans from every walk of life. The co-founders, Angelo Mozilo and David Loeb recognized the lack of mortgage products in the banking field at the end of the 1960s. Because they believed mortgage banking should not discriminate, they called the start-up Countrywide to encompass the concept of the American Dream. Like many mortgage companies of the time, Countrywide offered FHA and VA loans but soon they figured out they would need to break the rules to succeed (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005). They implemented the idea of a brick and mortar presence within the public's frame of reference of the mall setting. They saw establishing this enterprise in California as a must and the first Countrywide retail store opened for business in 1974.

Countrywide's Mission, Goals and Objective

Countrywide's mission from the beginning has been to make the dream of homeownership a reality for Americans. It has done this by positioning themselves in the traditional brick and mortar setting of the retail store and bank but it has also done this by taking advantage of new technologies like the World Wide Web and the Internet. It has been a goal of the company to use every tool available to better serve its customers. This innovative approach has allowed Countrywide to set new goals for itself and create new objectives for its culture and the future of the company. One main goal for the company has been to establish a global presence and spread the dream of homeownership to other nations. Also a main objective for Countrywide is to remain true to the customer in its services provided. By valuing the Customer, Countrywide has gained accolades amongst the mortgage banking community and this in turn, has fueled the fire for expansion. Mozilo has also made it a priority for Countrywide not lose sight of the underserved demographics. "Countrywide has worked to lower the barriers to homeownership, especially among lower-income and minority individuals and families" (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005).

By doing this, the company's mission continues. This keeps the momentum of the corporation strong during times of economic troubles, which over the years Countrywide has weathered well. Currently with interest rates still low, the company is able to focus on further achieving its goals. One important goal for Mozilo has been to eat up the marketplace as 68% of it remains untouched (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005). Currently, Countrywide is rated third among mortgage banking organizations based on the size of its portfolio. Mozilo has made it a goal for Countrywide to move into first place by 2008 (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005). It is important to set goals because it keeps the atmosphere competitive internally and publicly.

Mozilo has used different tactics to achieve this goal. One technique has been to not only acquire other institutions bad loans but to also strengthen Countrywide's sub-servicing portfolio. He estimates "five to 10-year forecasts calling for 75% or more to be concentrated among this group" (Mozilo, 2001 par. 1). This allows the company to reach more customers with growth potential but also strengthens the competitive nature for smaller companies. Sub-servicing also has its benefits and efficiency by "controlling costs, enhancing customer service and increasing profitability" (Mozilo, 2001 par. 6). This put the customer in the driver's seat. Countrywide understands the customer's need for a business relationship that is personal and Countrywide values retaining customers by developing these relationships.

Countrywide is a visionary company in many ways. Its success domestically has depended upon the constant acquisition of other institutions' loan servicing portfolio and new storefronts in malls. This strategy along with a consistent pace of originating loans throughout the country has made the company true to its namesake. To keep such a pace, new goals must be set and strive toward innovative products and service must continue. Still there came a time when just having a presence in the United States was not enough and management looked abroad to discover new opportunities.

Management discovered after careful study that Great Britain was an untapped market of potential homeowners. In many ways, it was all about timing what would become the existing combination of American and British ties. The real estate concept is very different in Great Britain. It consists of a system of bidding and auction. Still this obstacle did not stop Countrywide's management from seeing a wave of change. Many other companies had already seen Great Britain as an entry point into the rest of Europe. These success stories are Safeway, Wal-Mart and Pizza Hut to name a few. The means to acquiring a ready-made company within Great Britain was the next step. At this point, it was understood that independently opening a Countrywide branch there would be too risky. The strategy was to acquire or create a joint venture with a company that already existed where Countrywide could slowly take over meanwhile slowly introducing that workforce to American mortgage knowledge and skills (Globalhomeloans.com, 2005). The irony in this situation is that Countrywide may have been cocky. After all, the situation is very favorable and almost safe. The country where they were doing business speaks the same language and has similar core values to America, right? Countrywide chose to partner with Barclay's to create a new company called Global Home Loans.

Market Place and Strategy

Still it is important that a company do its homework about a particular demographic before moving forward. It is human nature to learn from mistakes but still is advantageous to avoid costly errors if not all possible. An organization needs to understand that how they present themselves via the web site can impact people on social and economical levels. Their product can become a device for change especially in developing nations like China or India. Even with careful research of cultural differences, an organization must be mindful of how far reaching their involvement is with their host country and the people of that country. Even without knowing it, an organization brings its values and standards of operations with it when gaining presence in a country. This can act as motivation for the employees from that country. It can allow them to prosper and benefit from better working conditions. How does the host country feel about such progress? An American company changing lives? This can be a double-edged sword. This is the one reason why it is very important the organization remain respectful of the host country's culture differences especially if the web site caters to this idea. The organization will profit in the long run.

Countrywide is a larger corporation with many aspects of the home loan process and mortgage product under a large umbrella. Each part of the umbrella works independent of each other to come together in the end as a successful, nationally known service. Currently Countrywide is ranked number three in the marketplace when it comes to share of that market place and portfolio size. Because Countrywide is such a large corporation with different areas focusing on different parts of the loan process, Countrywide has many different strategies being used simultaneously. Globally speaking Countrywide is far from developing global opportunities for the organization. Much of the company's strategy has remained centered on the loan servicing of the American portfolio and continued focus on the refinancing production while the rates have been so low the last few years. Much of Countrywide's deliberate choice to remain out of the global market has been drawn from detailed market research of other cultures and those cultures' perception of housing. As a result Countrywide did remain careful in its choice to create a joint venture in Great Britain. Global Home Loans was born out of this strategy and careful thought process. Because Countrywide has recently acquired Treasury Bank in Virginia, their relationships with other banks is growing quickly especially in Europe. Now it is obvious that Countrywide could financially benefit from these relationships and relocate some operating functions overseas. It has been Countrywide's practice to remain conservative in its decisions but recently in the last months it has become apparent that its playing field is changing. In order to continue its growth at home, the company needs to focus on opportunities abroad and utilizing possible resources in other countries. These opportunities will allow loan servicing to remain efficient and competitive as the market changes.

Overall it has been Countrywide's practice to remain conservative when it comes to strategy. Every move made by the company is well researched and calculated. As a result, any opportunity to focus on markets outside the United States has remained as a joint venture only. Countrywide has chosen this format of entry because it minimizes the risk involved for the company. Also as a joint venture Countrywide also limits its involvement with the joint venture's operations. For an example, Global Home Loans before interaction with them was a completely owned and operated British company located outside of London (Globalhomeloans.com, 2005). As a joint venture, Countrywide has money and interests invested in the global success but Countrywide does not own the company. Much of its operations remain intact from the beginning and many of its employees have stayed on. Another feature of the joint venture is that Countrywide benefits because it gets to be involved on the global scale but does not have to deal with the politics, law and tax issues other ways of entry may have. Countrywide still has a great say in the operations of this venture and in fact have managing directors on site to assist in everyday issues but should the venture turn sour, the loss will not cripple the company. This venture has been success in introducing Countrywide to the world market of housing.

Many discoveries have been made as a result. In other countries, homeownership is seen differently. In fact many people are afraid of it and believe only the upper class are able to own land or other property. In Great Britain there were two obstacles. First of all the perception that the middle class could not own property, their only choice was to rent and that for many generations this had been the choice for many people. A lot of times, property is handed down from generation to generation; there is never any question of ownership. Secondly the way that real estate bought and sold is different from the United States. The land is offered at auction and is bought and paid for upfront. The idea of a home loan was farfetched ten years ago. Countrywide later found out the same perceptions exist in other countries like France and Italy (Globalhomeloans.com, 2005). Much of Europe had subsisted on this way of doing things and it seemed this was going to be a hard mold to break. But times are changing with the European concept of debt because of the Euro has opened many borders for those countries. Also technology has placed a great role in expanding this idea of debt and wanting to have credit cards. Cell phone and computers have changed the European and British perception of the world. No longer is buying Levi's a matter of going to the store but surfing the web. The idea that a person can work in Belgium and live in Paris is not so farfetched. Cell phones and computers, efficient train schedules make these opportunities possible today where ten years ago a company would look to local employees.

It is the younger generation that is thinking outside the old world and starting to realize there is consumer power with credit. There are opportunities that did not exist before because of technology. This too has had a backlash, but the concept of credit is new to many cultures. Still money is a great tool and the ability to obtain financing can be powerful. Countrywide's venture in England has opened relationships with banks in France, Germany, Italy as well as financial institutions in Asia, mainly Taiwan and South Korea (Globalhomeloans.com, 2005). These relationships with banks only open the door to understanding their need for housing and how Countrywide's role can make that need a reality. Of course, in understanding that need comes further market research and constructing processes to make a presence possible in those markets. It is important to see the differences and work from them. What will this mean for Countrywide's operations? Will this mean another joint venture or an opportunity where entry requires the company's full involvement? Will the infrastructure be available?

Countrywide's Operating Practices

Countrywide is in a pickle. For thirty years, the company has been a California company through and through. It was founded on American principles that anything is possible if you dream it. Still due to political and economical reasons, the company is finding that it will need to relocate a lot if its operations inside its home state. The cost of doing business in California is too costly in comparison to other western states such as Arizona and Nevada. It is also focusing on expanding its operations out of its existing offices in Plano, Texas. This will mean great growth for those regions but what about Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Calabasas offices? How can the company continue operations at these locations where over 20,000 employees rely on the company for a living (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005)? It is no joke. More and more companies are leaving California, faster than companies are being born.

Countrywide has changed its strategy starting last year to help cut its operating costs in California and at other locations as well. There are comparative advantages with outsourcing much of Countrywide's IT and data programming to India. This over all decision, maybe have cost 100 employees their positions in California locations but it has saved the company over one million dollars operating costs each month for the last ten. This is money that can be invested in other areas of the company such as market research for new global joint ventures. The outsourcing to India seems like an expensive idea but the truth is that data processing and other IT functions can be done by Indian workers a lot faster and cheaper so that California functions can continue as a cheaper rate. The overhead involved paying California workers and covering them for insurance and Workman's Compensation was a lot more costly. Where that overhead for a California worker may be $10,000; it is half that with an Indian worker because the operating costs are cheaper. These Indian workers do come to America for training but they remain contractors, mainly working from their homes in India. Also by outsourcing the data integration to India, the work is done faster and better, making loan servicing back in California a seamless and less complicated function for Customer Service representatives (Lardy, 2005). The outsourcing makes the data on their screen possible in real time. The quality is impeccable and as a result the servicing of each loan cost remains the same from last year: $34.56 per month (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005).

Marketing Approach

For this paper, it was very difficult to find information on marketing from an outside point-of-view. I interviewed a former marketing manager regarding the incorporation of e-marketing strategies within the overall marketing plan at Countrywide. Susan Lardy worked at the corporate level in Calabasas and now works in Communications Compliance. She has also been with the company over 12 years and has seen the introduction and emergence of electronics and Internet that is so prevalently used in the company today. Boy, does she have stories of the way it used to be. The department of Communications Compliance works very closely with Corporate Headquarters' marketing team, her insight and knowledge on the subject was warranted. As well as discussing how segmentation and positioning strategies are affecting marketing and the media mix, she also recommended studying the Corporate Marketing department's intranet web site to get a clearer picture of the overall status of strategies being used currently.

What was discovered? In a very large corporation like Countrywide that has many different divisions, it seems that each separate area has its own approach to marketing its own unique product. From the standpoint of creating leads for home buying purposes that lead to origination, it seems that the marketing is focused in separate areas. This leads to many complexities within the organization. Each area uses marketing strategies differently in conjugation with traditional methods as a result. Is this strategy working? Is it cost effective and efficient? Also it appears that if an area has any big marketing issues, legal or otherwise, these issues are taken to the corporate marketing team level and the legal department for remedy.

Another factor that departments must consider at all times regarding marketing strategies is the legal parameters in which Countrywide must do business. Many federal and state statues govern the home loan business and if a marketing strategy is presented to the public incorrectly, there are very costly with public ramifications such as lawsuits and loss of brand name integrity. Even after speaking with Susan, my understanding of how all these departments interact to have a final product is simple in nature. Still I have seen the significance of having everyone involved in the marketing decision because when a 400 Billion-Dollar servicing portfolio is at stake, every detail matters (Countrywide.com, 2005). This section will explore how marketing segmentation and strategy of e-marketing enriches the way Countrywide does business and how marketing influences customers and the services they expect.

Marketing Segmentation and Strategy

In Susan's experience as a marketing manager at the corporate level of Countrywide, she has seen many things change. When she started working here, the company did not have computers at their desks. Everything was hand typed. Obviously during that time in the mid-1980s, there was not e-commerce. Even ten years ago, it was still not widely used. It was not until 1996 that Countrywide introduced the concept of e-business into its strategic plan. That was the year Countrywide went on the web and everything changed for the company as a whole but especially the marketing department.

For one, because of the Internet each department began to create its own identity within the company. Each department implemented its own strategy of selling itself to upper management. It was only logical that each department has its own Intranet site. This would help communications among its employees as well as promote the department to other areas of the company. Before this happened, corporate marketing pretty much did all the marketing work for the company. Of course, this seemed practical when there were less than 5,000 employees. Today Countrywide is the largest employer in Ventura County and has over 40,000 employees nationwide (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005). Lardy insists that this type of growth could not have been accomplished without e-business and electronic communications. When asked, how has e-marketing come into play and impacted the company as far as its strategies? She replied that unfortunately there seems to be a trend. Indeed, e-marketing the products online via the web site, email campaigns and spot advertising on Google has increased the customer outreach and base but it is the use of traditional marketing techniques that have sold people to apply for home loans. It is the newspaper ads, radio ads and television segments on the news that have perked people's interests. From there, people are likely to educate themselves via the web site and ask for more information to be sent to them. She said that on average only ten percent of loans originated come from solely e-marketing methods. In fact, 70% of Countrywide's originating loans marketing source is from the Countrywide store in the mall (Lardy, 2005). This method has more consumer strength than all other methods used combined.

Still she points out that times are changing, people are indeed coming more reliant on the Internet for communication and convenience. It will be Countrywide's use of technology and implementation of innovative practices that brings e-marketing more into the forefront. The company is taking strides to enforce this strategy by making the web site very user friendly and simple. It also customizes a lot of details that another site might not. The company is constantly testing new technology to bring the home loan process completely to the customer because that is Countrywide's main focus. Because segmentation exists within the company structure, it has been very important for upper management to direct each department in the correct direction for marketing strategy.

When it comes to Communication Compliance department, the main concern is that the customer be sent the correct information, at the correct time and in the correct format, wording style. Our concerns are that Countrywide present itself in the most positive of lights as well as protect itself from future problems. This requires a partnership with corporate marketing to insure all bases of sensitivity are covered. As a result, there must be an understanding of the customer and their needs. It is easy to say that customer service comes first but without the customer, where would the product be? On the shelves, stuck in a warehouse. In Countrywide's case, Countrywide would not have a customer to serve. Still, the customer is not always right. Employees just have to stay one step ahead of the game. Lardy could not stress, "enough how seamless and effortless the way we do business must remain" (Lardy, 2005). Countrywide does not want to appear any other way. It is marketing's job to think up new strategies to not only remain on top but also implement all technologies possible so that Countrywide does not misrepresent their name in a market.

So as much as e-marketing is important, how it is done remains in the hands of its user. In what my co-worker and I do on a daily basis there are dozen of eyes involved. Because Countrywide's major marketing strategy is to target the retail stores and use a more traditional method or brick and mortar, it is important that its e-marketing remain fresh, cutting edge and completely correct in form. I believe as more time goes by, that e-marketing will be used more prevalently especially as the Internet becomes faster and new technologies are introduced to the culture. Still this emergence should not undermine the strengths that traditional methods bring to the audience. As these methods such as film, radio, print and word of mouth move to the central location of the Internet, e-marketing will be a mainstream concept every company will embrace.

Countrywide's Brand Identity

Countrywide's intellectual property begins with its name. Because the business of doing creating home loans is mostly service oriented, it is of utmost importance that Countrywide's name must have integrity. The company has a reputation to uphold where market share remains wide-open and competitive advantage strong. Recently Countrywide's name and intellectual property in the forms of trademarks and brand has been at the forefront, in constant view thanks to e-business. The Internet has opened a whole new area of protection issues for companies and individuals especially when electronic crime seems on the rise. By having this arena of trade open, makes it possible for even the worst thief to take advantage of the situation. Using E-business can be a win situation for a company if they know how to protect these properties online similar to the way a company might set-up a security team to patrol its office buildings.

For a company like Countrywide whose success is linked to its name, protecting these intellectual properties is extremely important for its internal and outside influences. Still a company of Countrywide's size implements its own procedures and laws in a sense. The industry of home loan origination is regulated by government organizations on both state and federal levels. Especially when it comes to communicating debt to a homeowner. It seems that because of its umbrella-style of structure of the organization, much like its e-marketing practices, legal and ethical issues of protection fall into the jurisdiction of each individual department. Even so, these departments work very closely with Countrywide's team of attorneys on every detail.

Informational Infrastructure and Technology

As e-business has become more prevalent in work, it has become easy to get caught up in the excitement. So many technologies have made jobs easier but at what price? Employees are only humans running the inventions and errors do occur. Overtime a team structure of multiple eyes has replaced the assembly line. Employees have learned to adapt to their environment so well they forget about the other threats that are out there. These threats cannot only destroy their customers but also stop their productivity. One example is a common computer virus. It is not a terrorist attack but it is potentially paralyzing for a company that relies on a network to exchange information at the speed of light. The last Worm virus caused Countrywide to lose at least a day of productivity (Lardy, 2005). The only answer is to protect the company but building better firewalls and implementing better procedures for employees. Since then, employees are not allowed to receive emails with attachments from email addresses not registered with the IT group. This in a sense will save Countrywide from future problems but people, who are hurtful in this way, are always one step ahead. It is the IT group's function to also stay ahead of the hackers. This takes many resources such as labor but also research for better products and training for new programs. It is well worth it if Countrywide does not lose any more time and if their homeowners are not affected.

Many companies understand the benefits of investing in a web site and even consider it a "must have" in the business plan despite the expenses involved. A web site if done correctly cannot only expose the company to new demographics of customers but also can become the method of doing all its business. By implementing such technologies, a company can reduce inefficiencies and automate many processes. This brings down the cost of doing business globally and makes both managers and employees happy. It makes it possible for a company to remain in their home country while doing business internationally on a constant basis.

Quality Assurance Procedures

For a department such as Communications Compliance, they are constantly watching the law books for potential change. Actually they need to be one step ahead to ensure the homeowners are communicated the correct information. Employees do not at all costs want a miscommunication to the homeowner. This can lead to a class action lawsuit. Still they also focus on other details that bring this sensitive job together. When a letter is sent to the homeowner, presentation is everything. Communication Compliance employees work very closely with outside vendor to fold and stuff these letters into envelopes. There have been situations where the paper is folded incorrectly or the formatting of the word document has been off by an eighth of an inch. This resulted in a group of homeowners' personal information being shown through the window of the envelope. It is their job to act ethically in such a situation. It is Countrywide's duty to confess to the mistake to the homeowners affected and negotiate immediately (Lardy, 2005). The company strives itself to be the best by taking ownership and responsibility even in times of mistakes. In this example, they were lucky and fortunate to contact the homeowners before the mail was delivered. They must take into account how they would feel when out in their shoes. In this respect, a proactive customer relation is key to damage control. Still the bottom line in many cases is that Countrywide in order to remain competitive must not only cater to the customer but also to the governing laws of the land.

Countrywide wants to continue to thrive in this questionable economy and therefore employees must play by the rules. Sometimes a company does not always believe themselves exempt from such practice. There are companies out there that believe in order to remain on top of the profit margin, they must lie, cheat and steal. Eventually this behavior will be discovered and then who will be on top? Someone else, of course. It is my opinion that in order for a company to strive toward greatness, honesty and integrity must be valued at the core but also be a part of the strategy. Countrywide was founded on the principle that no one else is going to work harder to help people realize the dream of homeownership. In that principle, a connection is born, a value conceptualized. Countrywide realizes their relationship with the customer is of utmost importance and they do not want to jeopardize the bread and butter.

Customer Relationship Management

Countrywide's Communication Compliance department has an exclusive partnership with a small family owned company called All Direct Mail Services. Countrywide have been working with this company for about three years. When Countrywide first started using them, they took about 10% of the company's overall letter business (Alldirect.com, 2005). What does this mean? Communications Compliance department sends out on average over 2.2 million letters and statements to homeowners across the country every month (AboutCountrywide.com, 2005). All Direct started with doing only very small folding and envelope stuffing jobs of maybe 500-1000 letters at a time. Their turn around time would vary depending on the complexity of the job. At that time, they were working mainly off line, with older machines and did not have a website. Now as their partnership has become more important and All Direct has bid on over 80% of their print jobs, they have upgraded their systems (Alldirect.com, 2005). They have had no choice really.