Inside Sales Enablement: "Let Them Drink Coffee!"

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 5, 2010) - Top performing sales organizations are meeting the challenges of increasing the quality and flow of leads presented to their "closers," as well improving their overall revenue and sales effectiveness, by deploying well-supported and carefully structured inside sales teams to handle the top layers of the corporate sales funnel, according to a new research study published by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS).

The latest research report entitled, "Inside Sales Enablement: 'Let Them Drink Coffee!'" which examined 488 organizations deploying inside sales, found that the 87% of inside sales reps in Best-in-Class companies currently achieve annual quota.

"Whether the prime focus of any given inside selling team is on net-new customer acquisition, or an emphasis on cross- and up-selling from current clientele, the need to achieve increased sales effectiveness through a properly deployed inside sales organization becomes, for many, an essential focus of corporate strategy and budget," says Peter Ostrow, Research Director, Sales Effectiveness, Aberdeen Group, the report's author. "Companies seeking to succeed in the post-millennial economy will need to empower their first-contact sales staff with the tools necessary to sustain revenue and profitability through both recessionary and boom cycles, as they seek to source and win more deals from competitors and efficiently add to the revenue stream of current customers."

The report reveals what leading companies have been able to achieve through deployment of inside sales, such as:

--  17% average growth in annual corporate revenue
--  Increase in lead conversion rate (pass-through to closers) of 7% on
    average
--  6% average improvement in win-loss ratio
    

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: FrontRange Solutions, Customer Solutions Group with the InsideSalesLab, Jesubi, LivePerson, Salesgenie and VanillaSoft. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6228

Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Customer Management Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is 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 or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

© 2010 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

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