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Phelon Group Releases Customer Reference Program Benchmarking Study 2005

Increased Demand for Customer References and Strategic Customer Leverage Initiatives Dominate in 2005

If 2005 is the year of the customer, that corporate creed has yet to translate into real support for customer reference programs, according to an annual benchmarking study of customer reference programs released today by The Phelon Group. Each year The Phelon Group surveys customer reference programs in leading hardware, software and service industries to capture a concise moment in time the tactics, strategies and activities of this pivotal customer-facing organization that is increasingly charged with managing the customer relationship.

This year's Study clearly shows that CRP management is struggling to meet increasing demands for tactical deliverables like case studies and success stories, while also answering calls from marketing leadership to produce strategic results with these pivotal customers and leverage them throughout the company.

"It is no secret that there is enormous unrealized potential in reference programs. While we work with very innovative companies to evolve their programs, this Study reveals a clear disconnect at the leadership level between expectations and resources," said Promise Phelon, the Study's author and founding partner of The Phelon Group.

Customer Reference Program Benchmarking Study 2005 Key Findings:

--  A majority of programs still allocate a large portion of budgets to
    tactical, fulfillment-type activities.

--  Although demand for references will be significantly higher in 2005,
    program resources have either decreased or remain unchanged.

--  Most programs have not garnered visibility or support from sales
    management and senior executives.

--  Most reference organizations have not prioritized program charter
    expansion.

--  Reference programs are being shuffled around various organizations and
    divisions as leadership decides who owns the customer relationship.
    

Select study participants include Amdocs, Citrix Systems, Cognos, EDS, Epiphany, EMC, Fujitsu, HP, i2, Informatica, Intel, Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Macromedia, palmOne, Reynolds&Reynolds, SAS, Siebel, SPSS, Symantec and Tarantella.

The Customer Reference Program Benchmarking Study - 2005 Edition is available at www.phelongroup.com.

Study Sponsors

Mainstay Partners www.mainstaypartners.net.

References-Online www.references-online.com

About The Phelon Group

The Phelon Group is a privately-held consultancy that has established itself as a major force in defining and implementing Customer Leverage as a distinct methodology to help enterprise technology companies build and sustain powerful reference programs. Led by customer experts Promise Phelon and Steven Nicks, The Phelon Group defined Customer Leverage to increase the value of referencable customers and offer actionable and sustainable strategies based on key benchmark research and client work. Areas of expertise include critical path intelligence, strategy and execution, research and analysis, and training and education. Since its founding in 2002, The Phelon Group has conducted successful Customer Leverage initiatives for leading enterprise solution providers such as Intel, Adobe, HP, Oracle and EMC Corporation.

Distributed by Market Wire