The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 30

B-8 THE SUNDAY RECORD BUSINESS AUGUST 5. 2001 HEADACHES: Customer service blues The Motley Fool Name That Company fpOI to Williams is defy a no lies and I'm named after a boutn Amcan antaope. Based Massachusetts, I rake in nearly $3 bilion per year in revenues. Allen tverson helping me urge consumers convention. Venus has had a relationship with Whb.

getting photo reprints, I chose the store for convenience (it was closest to my house) and price (the coupon), but those factors don't count as much as the fact that the person supposedly serving me didn't As a result, 111 take my business elsewhere, even if the competitor is a little farther away. The same is true with Montone and the bank. "Clearly, I'm not going to go there when this is resolved. But my wife will return to Kings, and Bedrosian will tell friends about the excellent service he received. I'm not suggesting that all consumer complaints are legit Despite the popular saying and the book title, the customer is not always right There are consumers who try to cheat and deceive.

Others claim they are getting ripped off when they don't understand the law, or don't know that stores are generally free to charge whatever they wish-But that doesn't excuse being rude, condescending, or indifferent "Whether it competes in a global marketplace or in a single locality, a company must satisfy its customers, individual by individual, if it is to succeed," Alfred DeCrane, retired chairman and CEO of Texaco Inc, said in "The Customer Is Always Righti" "In our intensely competitive industry, we must respond to the needs of each customer the first time and every time, because we may not get a second chance." Consumer problems? Write to: Your Money's Worth, The Record, 150 River St, Hackensack, N.J. 07601. Or send e-mail to demarraisnorthjersey.com From Page 1 unlikely they'll ever return to that company," said Tie man, who is cm the advisory board of the New Jersey Small Business Development Center. It's the same whether the merchant is in a traditional brkks-and-mortar setting, selling by catalog or the Internet, or a hybrid of the two. "Online customers have the same need to make contact with a human as customers using offline channels," Tieman wrote.

A Boston Consulting Group survey shows that 23 percent of customers say they won't buy from a Web site after a bad experience. "Hybrid companies that provide personal contact for the customers answer a human need to connect," Tieman wrote. "No hovering and groveling, thank you. Simply undivided personal attention at the moment we want it." What's interesting with the four examples I cited, as well as other stones I've heard recently, is that size doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to service. "Customers don't care how big you are," said Vernon Loucks, the retired chairman and chief executive of Baxter International an Illinois-based healthcare products company.

"They don't care about organizational charts or how many divisions you have," Loucks said in the book "The Customer Is Always RightT (Armen Kabodian, McGraw-Hill, 1996). They want the person standing in front of them to be able to solve their problems." If they don't, customers can and will shop elsewhere. It's not as if there's only one drugstore or one bank in this region. r-vl me since she was 11. I've recently signed a deal to exclusively supply, market and sell NFL licensed apparel al 32 teams fa 10 years.

I've also ed out a new beverage called Fitness Water and have launched several Sports Clubs around the world. Three of my specialty brands include Rcckport, Ralph Lauren and Greg Norman. Who am BARR: Growing reputation in drug Know the answer? Send it to us Kith Foolish Trivia on the top and you '11 be entered into a drawing for a nifty prize! LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA ANSWER Last Week's Trivia Answer. My 1 999 merger created the world's largest oi company and reunited two firms that long ago were components of the same 19th-century enterprise. Based in New Jerseyjhavestbsidariesaopera-tions in about 200 countries and territories around the world.

In 2000, 1 raked in a whopping $233 bfcn in revenues, generating $1 8 billion in profit. I boast some 40,000 service stations in more tjianl CO nations. Wr am (Answer ExxmMobiO Write to Us! Send questions for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Investments (up to 100 words), and your Trivia entries to Foolfool.com or via regular mail co this newspaper, attn: The Motley Fool. Sorry, we can't provide individual financial advice. MOUNTAIN: From Page B-6 But most tenants are cooperative.

Mountain Development has had success renting to the government state agencies in its Paterson building and federal agencies at Garret Moun knew this would not be an immediate victory. "You had to have resolve, and you had to have discipline over a period of years, not weeks," he said. Barr filed with the FDA to market generic Prozac in December 1995, and Lilly countered a few months later with a patent infringement suit Lilly's expected lawsuit triggered an automatic delay while the two sides prepared cases. It wasn't until 1999 that the case was heard by a district court judge in Lilly's hometown of Indianapolis. Barr lost, but appealed what it felt were its two strongest claims to the District Court of Appeals in Washington.

The winning decision from Washington came down last August The appeals court ruled a Lilly patent on the molecule was invalid because it was a "double-patenting" of Prozac. Lilly had a prior patent on the molecule which ran out in 1994. Downey was driving on the Palisades Parkway toward a board meeting in West Point, N.Y., when the call came in to his car phone. "You know 'the thrill of victory and agony of Downey said. "I had the thrill of victory." Wall Street was stunned.

The decision cut short Lilly's patent protection on Prozac by more than two years a potential loss of billions of dollars to the company. Lilly's stock plummeted about 30 percent on the ruling, a tremendous one-day fall for a top-tier drug-maker. For the past year, Lilly has exhausted legal means to try to defend its patent and overturn the appeals court decision. Company officials still say the firm will petition the Supreme Court, but they acknowledge their chances are slim. It was a different story for Barr.

The company's share price climbed 68 percent immediately after the nil- ceived bribes in exchange for speedy approvals of generic drugs. Several FDA employees were convicted after the hearings. At the time, New Jersey legislators also questioned whether the FDA was out for revenge for Barr's whistle-blowing. During the legal hubbub, Downey initially represented Barr as a partner with the Chicago-based law firm Winston Strawn. After delving into the company, he was hired as president in 1993 and promoted to CEO in 1994 when Cohen, Barr's founder, stepped down.

Though Downey had never worked for a drug company before, his legal acumen was highly valued. "Just by definition, an attorney is better at dealing with the FDA than a chemist or a salesman," Cohen, a pharmacist by trade, said at the time. By the end of 1994, Barr had resolved court disputes with the FDA over manufacturing problems and was swiftly increasing revenues. In 1991, annual sales were $101 million; they would more than quadruple by 2000. In addition to smoothing the relationship with the FDA, Downey's legal skills came in handy on another front.

Patent challenges are one of Barr's major business strategies, and before Prozac, the company had fared well against far larger pharmaceutical companies. Challenges against Britain's Zeneca over the breast cancer drug Nolvadex, or tamoxifen, and against Germany's Bayer over the anti-infective treatment Cipro resulted in profitable settlements for Barr. Today, Barr has a patent case pending against Johnson Johnson over a birth-control pill and against Aventis over the big-selling allergy treatment Allegra. Barr lost a bid for Glaxo Wellcome's well-known AIDS drug AZT. So when Prozac came up, Downey industry ing to an all-time high at that point As more legal victories have come in about Prozac, Barr's stock continued to hit new levels, hovering near $90 a share last week.

Now, Barr's challenge is to keep the Prozac momentum going. There are varying estimates as to how much Barr will make off fluoxetine, which the company has said it will sell at 25 percent to 40 percent wholesale off the brand price. Barr will sell the most popular version of Prozac, the 20-milligram capsule. Wall Street will be watching to see what the company does with its cash infusion. With the Prozac money, Barr could add to a newly acquired sales force, license products, or buy another company to continue building its new branded division.

"I think the question comes down to how do they employ the Prozac bonanza they're going to reap and build and enhance their long-term growth profile," said Elliot Wilbur, an analyst with CIBC World Markets. Analysts generally remain bullish on Barr. But Megan Murphy, an analyst with the firm Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, says the Prozac attention has overhyped the stock and clouded the fundamentals of the company. "People aren't paying $90 for a generic drug company.

They're paying $90 for cash infusion of Prozac," said Murphy, who rates the stock a "sell." Downey has already taken steps to move Barr beyond a generic company to a specialty drug-maker that develops branded medicines that have patent protection. In January, Barr hired Carole Ben-Maimon as president of the company's newly formed proprietary research and development unit. Mai-mon came from Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries which is seen by observers as what traditional generics are striving to become: a company with a broad line of generic products that also has developed a brand treatment. In June, Barr announced it would merge with Duramed. The move would make Barr a stronger player in women's health products, giving Barr a branded hormone replacement therapy, Cenestin, and a sales force to market it Downey also has his sights set on launching Seasonale, an experimental birth-control pill that limits a woman's menstruation period to four times a year.

"In the long run, our proprietary program will be much more important to Barr than this one win," Downey said. Staff Writer Lewis Krauskopf's e-mail address is krauskopfnorthjersey.com fa Rehabbing tain Plaza, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Staff Writer Kathleen Lynn's e-mail address is lynnnorthjersey.com CD rate l'LL'S 1 14 CD rate PLUS 1" From Page B-1 generic version called fluoxetine, Prozac's chemical name. Some analysts say Barr will register fluoxetine sales of more than $400 million in fiscal 2002, double the company's 2000 revenues. Downey recognizes that Prozac serves as the "calling card" for introducing his company.

"It's increased their investor visibility, there's no way around it," said Angela Larson, a securities analyst with Salomon Smith Barney. Downey is quick to point out that generic Prozac and patent battles are only part of the company's strategy, which includes manufacturing hard-to-make generic drugs and building the branded drug division. After the expected completion of a merger this fall with Cincinnati-based Duramed Pharmaceuticals, Barr projects its annual revenues for fiscal 2002 to balloon to $700 million. Some might have found that hard to believe a decade ago, when squabbles with the Food and Drug Administration led Downey to Barr. In the early 1990s, Barr had a tortured relationship with regulators.

The FDA took legal action against the company for alleged manufacturing foul-ups and petitioned to shut down the company temporarily while it fixed its manufacturing processes. Eventually, a judge forced Barr to stop distributing some products and recall others, leading to layoffs many at Barr's plant in Northvale. For its part, Barr accused the agency of retaliating against the company. Then-CEO Edwin Cohen had testified in 1989 at congressional hearings on whether FDA officials re- 6-Speed Blender 0 Bonus For The Money Maker ganDfi mm, The fee-free checking account ith interest that increases automatically as your balance increases: Account Balance Interest Earned High Yield CD Money Market Accounts from MBNA 24-month GoldCertificate CD 36-month GoldCerthlcate CD Over SI 00.000 Over $75,000 up to $100,000 Over $50,000 up to $75,000 Over $10,000 up to $50,000 Up to $10,000 6-nionth 6-month 6-month 6-month Monev uner s- Bring This Ad With You When You Open Your Account CD rate PLUS 12 CD rate Market rate 4i And, offers you the advantages of: Unlimited checkwriting; first 30 checks free No ATM fees Toaster Oven Broiler Call 1-800-260-5263 Plea mwtUon priority cod KA0OP. -Annual ftrantagj Adds (Ami lor tr SiiKCtitClkmktetiiVWtitl5l0iMmmMmim In account wiu maturity Minimum opening balance is $10,000 rwtm eartywtrrttewlrjtCDpnnorjal MB rPlSi Fee free Interchange VISA Card" Fee free Interchange Check Card Free online banking with Interliank Convenient electronic bill paying 217 Loan Access via the Internet or toll-free phone Free telephone banking with Interchange Bank-Line Discounts on consumer loan rates 50 off mortgage application and more V5 Grilling Machine Come On Over During Our Special Bonus Promotion And Li 1 I I fT ill liUtJill mw mm mw aw mi mm Choose From This Great Gift Selection When You Open A New Money Maker Account By August 31.

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