The document summarizes a sales benchmarking initiative offered by The Alexander Group to compare a client's sales metrics and practices to industry peers. The initiative provides a gap analysis across areas like sales coverage, costs, productivity, and compensation. It delivers an in-person readout session to present findings and recommendations to improve sales execution and results based on industry best practices. Participation also includes a complimentary pass to The Alexander Group's Chief Sales Executive Forum event.

1. High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative
High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative
High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative
Understanding and Optimizing Sales ROI
Understanding and Optimizing Sales ROI
Understanding and Optimizing Sales ROI
Marc Metzner, Vice President Linda Mahoney, Vice President
mmetzner@alexandergroupinc.com Account Manager for CA Technologies
203.905.5584 lmahoney@alexandergroupinc.com
203.905.5582
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.® 2777 Summer Street Suite 505 Stamford, CT 06905 203.975.9344 0
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

2. High-Tech Sales Benchmarking
Thank you for your interest in our Software Sales Benchmarking Initiative. We are confident you will find great value
in understanding the approaches your peers are taking to enhance sales coverage, productivity, compensation, and
selling/support roles. While each company’s data is kept confidential, you will receive a detailed Gap Analysis of your
data against an aggregate view of participants, including trends, benchmarks and best practices.
This analysis will cover a range of specific sales metrics, including 20 different sales cost components, 7 support-to-
seller ratios, 15 sales time/activity categories, key sales productivity dimensions, and compensation designs,. For
each metric, we will compare your personnel to peer companies and determine your best opportunities to improve
productivity and execution.
It is our experience that your Findings Report, along with your in-person Readout Session, will contribute significantly
to such key sales objectives as:
1. Increasing sales productivity and growth
2. Building activity/time allocation “success profiles” for your key selling roles
3. Driving growth from new customers and new products
4. Maximizing cooperation across: Field Reps, Specialists, SEs, Renewal Reps, Inside Sales, and Partner
Managers
5. Identifying and sharing winning coaching practices internally
6. Understanding which sales coverage approaches are most successful in the market
We look forward to working closely with your team on this important initiative!
Best Regards,
Marc Metzner
Vice President
The Alexander Group, Inc.®
203-905-5584
mmetzner@alexandergroupinc.com
1
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

3. Who Is The Alexander Group?
We specialize in go-to-market consulting and sales
go-to-
benchmarking…. Helping leaders improve sales strategy,
structure, and execution.
We bring experience, insights, frameworks, and best practice
data… to collaboratively help executives make objective
decisions and deploy programs that work.
The majority of our consultants have sales or marketing
experience…and must also achieve on-going certification
on-
across key go-to-market disciplines.
go-to-
Founded in 1985, AGI has worked with over 50% of the
Fortune 1000….and conducted more sales transformation
engagements than any other consultancy.
2
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

4. What Services Does The Alexander Group Offer?
Our Primary Business
Over 1000 clients in 25 years
>70% of the Fortune 500
Client work globally
Focused on high margin businesses
Consulting
Defining Best in Class The Leadership Exchange
Sales Cost BenchmarkingTM The Chief Sales Executive
Sales Time BenchmarkingTM Forum
Sales Pipeline Regional Forums &
Summits
Sales Alignment
Executive Roundtables
Sales Productivity & Sales Operations Clinics
Enablement
Research Events
Peer-to-Peer Connections
The Alexander Group, Inc.
3
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

5. What Is High-Tech Sales Benchmarking?
Today, many Hi-Tech sales forces are overwhelmed by information:
Metrics exist for just about everything
But many raise more questions than they answer
Without a best practice context, most metrics aren’t actionable
AGI’s Sales Benchmarking provides these key actionable insights and benchmarks:
Detailed Gap Analysis, comparison of your sales data (eg: on productivity, cost, time, and comp)
against thousands of job-matched rep and manager profiles at 35+ leading companies
Findings Report, identification of your best opportunities to close gaps vs. best practice and vs.
your strategy, as well as internal analysis of your data by region, top performers, and rep tenure
High-Value Readout, in-person Readout to share data, insight, and your best opportunities with
your team, including high-impact materials to drop into your management presentations
Business-Case Ready Data, your Findings Report provides the powerful productivity and ROI
building blocks for you to build compelling sales coverage business cases
Unless your sales productivity analytics are “comparative” - put into context against
Industry ‘best practice’ – they aren’t actionable
4
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

6. Participants: Leading Companies Across Key Segments
Illustrative
Participants
5
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

7. AGI Sales Benchmarking Will Enable You To…
1) Identify Your Best Opportunities To… 2) Apply Industry Best Practices To…
• Increase revenue without headcount • Drive more SaaS and Cloud revenue
• Reduce sales costs • Execute Vertical Strategies
• Increase selling time • Leverage SW/HW Convergence
• Improve focus on growth products • Manage C-Suite Buying
• Reduce customer service time-traps • Optimize Generalist vs. Specialists
• Improve sales manager coaching • Re-align your Sales Channel Mix
• Improve collaboration across roles • Increase your Solution Selling
6
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

8. AGI High-Tech Sales Benchmarking
The Alexander Group, Inc.® is pleased to invite you to participate in the following initiatives:
AGI High-Tech Sales Benchmarking Initiative IBM Sponsored Market Study Module
Understanding and Optimizing Sales ROI Key Financial Drivers for Sales Incentive Planning
DETAILED BENCHMARKING of where you stand against key MARKET STUDY of SW compensation and quota data:
SW sales productivity and effectiveness benchmarks: ■ Trends in Actual and Planned Comp Expense Over Rev
■ Sales Coverage Approaches ■ Sales Incentive Budgeting processes
■ Sales Cost levels for 20 areas, adding to E/R ■ Quota Setting approaches
■ Sales Productivity levels by role and channel ■ Actual quotas for 6 platform roles
■ Sales Time Analysis by role, geo, and performance levels ■ Productivity Initiatives – what’s working?
■ Sales Compensation Design trends ■ Sales force turnover
WHY PARTICIPATE? WHY PARTICIPATE?
■ Side by side Gap Analysis Report, with Customized ■ No cost for participation (IBM sponsored) but needs prompt
Findings and Recommendations commitment due to timeline
■ In-house Workshop to present and discuss findings with ■ Exclusive, invitation-only study
your Executive Team
■ Quick turnaround summary report for planning
■ Complimentary pass to the Chief Sales Executive Forum,
November 8-10
7
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

9. IBM Sponsored Software Industry Study
Why Participate?
No cost to participate, invitation-only survey
Receive difficult to obtain actionable information related to sales force productivity including:
Aggregate planned versus actual compensation costs (Base, incentives and SPIFFS)
2009 data will be collected and compared with revenue generated
Actual quotas for 8 platform roles with a geographic breakdown (Americas, EMEA and AP)
Basis for quota i.e., new business, renewal and total
Distribution of performance relative to quota for the front line seller
Layers of management; manager to seller ratios
Actual and targeted turnover (voluntary and involuntary)
Secure industry practices for the following:
Sales incentive budget funding and process
Sales quota allocation processes
Relative to company goal – degree of over assignment
Year over year increase / timeframe – 6 or 12 months
Sales productivity initiatives – what worked / didn’t work
Investment in new account acquisition
Training expenditures
8
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

10. Topics: Comparisons To Peers In Four Key Areas
Key sales strategy trends
1. Sales Specialized roles (e.g., Specialists, Hunters,
Coverage and KAMs)
Structure Headcount ratios across key roles
Role of channel partners Coverage Review
Cost structure across 20 line items
2. Sales Cost of key sales support roles
Investment / Sales investment gaps vs. industry
Cost Rep turnover & career pathing costs
Cost Analysis
Sales productivity compared to peers
Sales time compared to peers (2 roles)
3. Sales Internal and external best practices
Productivity
Quota levels, % of reps achieving quota
Your high impact improvement opportunities Productivity Analysis
Comp Plan approaches & measures
600%
Commission vs goals/quotas 500%
P ercen t of T arg et In cen ti ve
400%
Excellence
4. Sales Comp Mechanics – threshold, caps, etc.
300%
200%
Target
Cap
2:1 Upside
Design 100%
Threshold
Quota allocation processes
0%
0% 25% 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175%
Attainment of Goal
Overlay/specialist crediting Compensation
Practices
9
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

11. Process: Quick And Non-Disruptive Series Of Steps
Sales Ops completes
Sales Rep completes
benchmarking
questionnaire time survey
Deliverable: Sales Leader
In-house, interactive, conducts short
read-out with interview on key
leadership team issues
10
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

12. Benchmarking Process (cont.)
Evaluating Sales Coverage and Cost Evaluating Sales Time and Productivity
Levels
1. You choose which two sales roles will be
1. During a phone-based survey interview, we evaluated based on your sense of the
collect your initial coverage and cost data in challenges they face
the survey template
2. Together with you, we adjust the survey
2. Once the remaining data is collected in the wording to reflect your terminology as
survey template, we review the final version necessary
together in a one-hour call…so AGI can make
detailed notes to facilitate precise comparisons 3. You send out the survey announcement to
your sales reps (AGI provides a pre-formatted,
3. AGI tabulates and evaluates the findings, data, editable, memo) with a link for reps to take the
and prepares your Gap Analysis and survey
Benchmarking Report.
4. Reps take the 12-minute web survey during
the week that it’s open; we provide nightly
participation updates
AGI collects and evaluates the data, develops the report, and then provides your team with an interactive Findings Read-Out
11
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

13. Deliverables: Interactive Readout And Comprehensive Report
A comprehensive report will be prepared and presented to each
participating company in an interactive Readout. It will include:
Changing trends in sales coverage strategies and
roles
An accurate baseline of your current sales time,
productivity, costs and sales capacity
A detailed Gap Analysis, comparing you to industry
best practices, and to your own sales strategy
where you are ahead or behind on key metrics
your best opportunities to improve sales
execution and results
Industry trends in sales compensation strategies
Talent retention strategies and benchmarks
Proven approaches to increase sales productivity
Only aggregate information will be shared; all company-specific information will be held in the
strictest confidence
12
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

14. Complimentary Seat For The Chief Sales Executive Forum
Benchmarking participants receive a complimentary seat to the 2010 Forum…
… and to a Special Break-Out Session: Best Practices In Implementing Your Benchmarking Insights
13
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

15. Timeline: To Improve Both Planning And Sales Execution
May June July August
Recruit Participants
Data Collection and Analysis
Report Development
Readout Scheduling
Deliver Reports
14
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

16. Benchmarking Initiative: Scope Options
Option 1: Assessment-Focused Option 2: Planning-Focused
(Add-On Features To Option 1)
1. Gather data remotely through conference calls with Sales 1. Enhance benchmarking data with key stakeholder
Ops and on-line Sales Rep time survey (10 min) perspectives… through rep “Ride-Withs”, Focus Groups,
and interviews with important executives/stakeholders
2. Compare client data to peer companies, across the four
2. Develop the “story behind the numbers”….ie: the Rep’s
key Sales data categories (see p. 5)
view of the key productivity constraints & best improvement
ideas
3. Conduct Gap Analysis vs industry benchmarks, vs best
practices, and vs your sales strategies 3. Evaluate your Reps’ understanding of, and Rep
commitment to key sales strategies and necessary sales
behaviors
4. Define and evaluate key industry trends in sales
coverage and tactics that impact your success (see p. 4)
4. Quantify and map out your internal Best Practices so they
can be shared and coached across all your reps
5. Develop detailed Findings Report, covering industry
trends, Gap Analysis, and your best opportunities for 5. Create customized Recommendations to enable you to
improving productivity address your priority Sales execution challenges and
productivity improvement opportunities
6. Deliver In-Person Readout to your Sales Leadership
Team, and drive Interactive discussion of findings and 6. Develop a prioritized Implementation Roadmap,
actions leveraging key survey findings, and change management
best practices for speeding the adoption curve of desired
sales behaviors
15
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®

17. Benchmarking Initiative: Scope Selection
The Sales Benchmarking Initiative - Customizable Parameters:
Roles Segments Regions
1. Sales Reps 1. Enterprise 1. US/North America
2. Key/National Accounts 2. Mid-Markets 2. EMEA
Reps
3. Product Overlay 3. SMB 3. APAC
Specialists
4. Inside Sales 4. Global Accounts
5. Partner Managers 5. Other
6. SEs
7. Sales Managers
8. Renewal Reps
9. Other
16
© 2010 The Alexander Group, Inc.®