BOSTON, MA–( EMWNews – 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

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