CRM in Small and Mid-Size Enterprises

The Unique Position of Small and Medium Enterprises in Obtaining and Retaining Customers and Market Share


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - April 2, 2008) - Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), research reveals that Best-in-Class small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are pressured by fragmented customer data and have implemented processes and adopted technologies to provide the sales force with complete and accurate customer and prospect information. This news comes from the recent Aberdeen benchmark report titled "CRM in SME: Sized to Fit" (March 2008) in which over 120 organizations were surveyed to identify the strategies, capabilities and enablers that Best-in-Class firms are using to improve the performance of their sales force.

For this benchmark report, increase in average deal size, increase in average annual customer revenue, reduction in sales cycle time, reduction in time to quota and reduction in sales administrative time are the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to distinguish Best-in-Class organizations from Industry Average and Laggard companies. According to Aberdeen data, the success of the Best-in-Class is evidenced in many of the KPIs. For example, the Best-in-Class have seen a 27% year-over-year increase in average deal size and a 16% reduction in sales cycle time. In contrast, the Industry Average and Laggards have realized only an 8% increase in year-over-year average deal size. Furthermore, the Industry Average have seen no reduction in sales cycle time while Laggards have seen a 10% increase in sales cycle time.

The report also talks about the required actions firms must take in order to be competitive in the market place. Even Best-in-Class organizations have a need for improvement. Peter Ostrow, VP/Group Director in the Customer Management Group at Aberdeen, says, "Best-in-Class companies must conduct win-loss analysis on a regular basis. They need to know why proposals are or are not accepted in order to identify areas for improvement in pricing strategy, marketing messaging, and sales processes."

This research provides the results Best-in-Class organizations have seen across several key metrics and compares these results to those of Industry Average and Laggard companies.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Maximizer Software, FrontRange Solutions and Soffront Software. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4720.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2008 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
260 Franklin Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-3112
Telephone: (617) 723-7890
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

Contact Information: Media Contact: Peter Ostrow Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5373 peter.ostrow@aberdeen.com