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