ES Research Rates TAS Select™ “Revolutionary”

SAN FRANCISCO--The TAS Group, the world leader in sales effectiveness solutions, today announced here at Oracle OpenWorld 2006 TAS Select™ for Siebel CRM, its enterprise-wide sales effectiveness solution. The new offering, which enables consistent revenue growth and accurate forecasts, has been fully integrated with the Siebel CRM solutions through the Dealmaker software application.

With TAS Select™, sales organizations can deploy their own completely unique sales methodology fully customized for their business. TAS Select™ is the next generation of the Target Account Selling® (TAS) sales methodology, the industry–leading opportunity management sales methodology in use by 400,000 sales professionals around the world, which has been extended, modularized and made fully configurable. The benefits of the sales methodology are amplified and accelerated by Dealmaker – the intelligent sales effectiveness software application, which enables full integration of the sales methodology with the world’s leading CRM systems.

TAS Select is part of the Intelligent Sales Effectiveness Platform (ISEP), a combination of proven sales methodologies, implementation best practices and the intelligent Dealmaker software application.

“The TAS Select architecture is revolutionary in the sales performance arena because it breaks new ground by offering companies methodology-based sales training that separates step-by-step processes from skill-based techniques,” said Albert Case, principal analyst, ES Research Group, Inc. “We believe this approach creates a best-of-breed approach for implementing client-specific requirements without affecting the process, and fuses TAS' Dealmaker prospect relationship management system (PRM) with the latest version of their TAS methodology."

ES Research – the independent sales performance analyst firm – has published a research report update on The TAS Group. It can be found at http://www.ESResearch.com/e/home/insight.php?dA=The_TAS_Group_2.

“We’re changing the rules,” said Donal Daly, CEO of The TAS Group. “With TAS Select™, we’re redefining customization and delivering a unique client-specific methodology for each customer. We’re putting the sales person at the center, delivering the methodology, one customer at a time, with absolute relevance, in context to their business – so they can learn more in less time. We’ve built the infrastructure behind this to deliver locally or globally, in up to 14 languages, and supported by technology for ease of implementation and use. Take these unique deliverables, combine them with our integration to CRM systems, and you can see the potential power unleashed at sales organizations around the world.”

TAS Select™ comprises six implementation components:

1. Leadership Consultation (LC) – structured situational analysis assessment to align sales effectiveness strategy and execution with overall business or business unit goals.

2. Sales Process Reengineering (SPR) – maps sales process(es) to align to a company’s customer’s buying process(es), standardizes sales stages and links sales methodology, objectives, selling activities and sales and marketing tools to each stage.

3. Client Specific Methodology (CSM)– delivers a customized version of the world’s leading sales methodology; extended, modularized and configured uniquely to each company and industry, based on the output of the LC and SPR. The methodology components include: Opportunity Assessment, TAS 1-20, Competitive Strategy, Political Strategy Alignment, PRIME Activities, Opportunity Plan Test & Improve, Progressive Questioning Control Model, Motivation/Solution Matrix, Pipeline Management System and Forecast Creation.

4. Customized Sales Training – for sales people and sales management, sales training material reflects each company’s specific sales methodology, delivered – in context – in the classroom or online. Customization of the delivery can also include Dealmaker Configuration in which the sales effectiveness software application is configured for each business; delivering methodology reinforcement, continuous optimization and fast track learning for new hires.

5. Pipeline Insight and Forecast Foresight – a direct link from the sales process and methodology to a company’s pipeline management and sales forecasting systems, with an objective, calculated close date and probability determination for each deal.

6. CRM System Integration – augments a company’s CRM investment, increases CRM adoption for enterprise-wide sales effectiveness solution and delivers a complete real-time sales information management system.

TAS Select™ is available immediately. For a 10-minute demonstration of TAS Select™, interested parties may go to www.thetasgroup.com/tas/breeze/tasselect

About The TAS Group (www.thetasgroup.com)

The TAS Group was formed when Select Selling purchased OnTarget – the sales methodology division of Oracle. It brings together proven sales methodologies (Portfolio Management, Account Planning, Opportunity Management, Individual Sales Effectiveness and Channel and Partner Management methodologies including the leading Target Account Selling® (TAS) solution) with the most advanced technology platform for sales effectiveness. Since 1989 it has helped 400,000 sales professionals around the world succeed through a network of 100 certified partners. It has now encapsulated its knowledge and experience in the Dealmaker technology platform to increase sales predictably and gain accurate forecasts with the sales effectiveness solution that winning sales professionals choose. The company is headquartered in Seattle, with international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. For more information, please visit: http://www.thetasgroup.com.