Study Establishes Customer Relationship Management Applications Deliver Proven ROI

SAN MATEO, Calif.--Feb. 4, 2004--

Siebel CRM Deployments Generate Valuable Cost Savings and Productivity Enhancements

According to IDC's recently completed ROI study, The Financial Impact of CRM(1), successful customer relationship management (CRM) application implementations have yielded impressive returns on investment. Siebel Systems, Inc. customers EMI Industries, Martindale Hubbell, and BCAA participated in the study and confirm CRM deployments exceed expectations and deliver proven ROI. Results from these case studies underscore Siebel Systems' ability to empower employees to improve productivity and service capabilities, increasing the value of customer relationships.

The ROI study, authored by IDC, a leading IT market research and advisory firm, examines the financial impact of CRM applications on core business processes that contribute to an organization's success. This approach enables IDC to examine true bottom-line results rather than theoretical costs or savings. The study, according to IDC, is not about theoretical savings; rather, it focuses on how customers can obtain real "money in the bank." IDC conducted more than 30 in-person interviews with organizations in North America and Europe that have implemented CRM applications to determine success factors, identify motivations and drivers for CRM, and calculate the financial impact of the implementation on the organization.

Key findings include:

-- Successful CRM application implementations have yielded returns ranging from 16 percent to more than 1,000 percent(1)

-- IDC found that technology-related savings account for only 7 percent of the average return, while benefits accrued from increased productivity and business process enhancements account for 51 percent and 42 percent of the return, respectively.(1)

-- Fifty-eight percent of participants experienced payback in one year or less, 35 percent experienced payback between one to three years, and 8 percent experienced payback in three years or more.(1)

"At a time when major IT investments are subject to unprecedented levels of scrutiny, the ROI attained by organizations through CRM implementations is notable," said Mary Wardley, Vice President for IDC's customer relationship management applications research. "Companies evaluating a CRM solution's ROI capability need to look beyond purely technological measures and will achieve the best results when they focus on resolving a pressing business problem."

Siebel Systems' integrated family of applications have empowered employees of small and large companies to better know their customers and personalize product and service offerings, allowing them to establish profitable relationships and generate positive ROI with their CRM deployments. Siebel CRM has been deployed to over 2.2 million users in production.

Siebel Customers Recognize Positive ROI

BCAA, a 24-hour roadside service, supports 715,000 members and 2 million customers through 23 sales centers, two call centers, and a full-service travel agency and insurance agency. It is the first North American automobile association to implement a CRM strategy. "Prior to the Siebel implementation, we delivered inconsistent service and did not have visibility to a common customer across all lines of business," said Jane Whittman, Director of CRM, BCAA. "By deploying Siebel Insurance, BCAA has increased revenue by developing approximately 7,500 opportunities per month with a closing ratio of 38 percent, enabling agents to efficiently cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. In addition, empowering sales and service with information has improved employee satisfaction -- employee comfort level increased from 53 percent to approximately 80 percent."

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell (MH) provides the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Network, an extensive database of information on the worldwide legal profession, to more than 1 million lawyers and law firms in 160 countries. With rapid growth and introduction of new products and services over the last decade, MH set out to create a single source of customer information, allowing employees to collaborate between front- and back-office applications across all customer segments. "Our CRM deployment has allowed MH to gain valuable insight into both customer behavior and operational effectiveness," said John Roney, CIO, Martindale Hubbell. "Siebel Systems has helped us recognize revenue increases of approximately $1 million and the opportunity to continue rapid growth in succeeding years."

Tampa-based EMI Industries is a manufacturer and distributor of point-of-sale food service equipment to the food retailing industry. To gain competitive advantage, EMI streamlined customer communication using Siebel Sales, Siebel Call Center, and Siebel Partner Relationship Management. EMI uses Siebel applications to manage and synchronize internal communications and customer interactions across all channels. "Through a combination of revenue increases and cost reductions, we received hundreds of thousands of dollars through productivity improvements as a result of our deployment," said EMI Vice President David Hahmann. "If the performance of the solution continues at current levels, the annual benefit to EMI is calculated to be approximately $2.2 million."

Siebel Systems' business applications software is designed to meet the complex needs of companies in all industries by enabling multichannel sales, marketing, and customer service systems to be deployed over the Web, in call centers, in the field, through reseller channels, and across retail and dealer networks.

For more information on this study, The Financial Impact of CRM, please contact Erin Traudt at 1-508-988-6920 or etraudt@idc.com.

About Siebel Systems

Siebel Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of business applications software, enabling corporations to sell to, market to, and serve customers across multiple channels and lines of business. With more than 3,500 customer deployments worldwide, Siebel Systems provides organizations with a proven set of industry-specific best practices, CRM applications, market-leading analytics products, and business processes, empowering them to consistently deliver superior customer experiences and establish more profitable customer relationships. Siebel Systems' sales and service facilities are located in more than 30 countries.

(1) The Financial Impact of CRM, An IDC ROI Study, Mary Wardley, Robert Blumstein, Scott Tiazkun, and Karen Moser, February 2004.