Sage News and Discussion

Email to Tom Miller from Peter Wolf: Tom I just don't know what is going on at Sage these days. An extremely happy Accpac client has been getting emails from Fund Accounting group and has now decided that Accpac isn't cutting it. They are pulling Accpac and going to find a fund accounting solution hopefully they will stay with Sage and Sage will get a nice bump in new software sales. http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=106271&type=member&item=100964743&qid=193148ef-e82a-43a4-8584-f4252e1213cd&goback=%2Egde_106271_member_100964743%2Egmp_106271 With all due respect, I think Pascal should slow down enough on his relentless drive a bit so he can read the road signs. It's going to be extremely difficult to keep selling Sage software without channel partners. While I agree that you don't need to have the best products to win the day, it doesn't help to have a salesforce that abandons you or stops caring. Yes, Sage can probably start to hire internal sales to replace the entire channel but it isn't going to happen overnight and it won't have the same reach as the channel. I'm not sure he understands nor cares about that. I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a damn. I received an email from him talking about how he has to paint a better picture and tell a better story to the partners. The partners don't need a better story they need to be made part of the process. I'm crafting a reply to him but I keep going back to ""what's the point?"". The damage is done and I'm sure he's not done with his moves yet. If I was a Sage shareholder, I would be very concerned at these moves. I'm sorry if this is inappropriate. I'm just so damn frustrated with all of this.

Sacre bleu, Monsieur Wolf is on to me!

Peter, while a great letter, You are missing the boat. Just because a hooker (or gigolo) advertises their wares, doesn't mean you have to buy them. Your client perceived that MIP was a better ""fit"" for their requirements. Sage didn't ""make"" them hook up, they just showed up when your client was weak! As I posted on the linkedin article, MIPS did the same thing to me with one of my long standing clients. I knew something was up four years ago when their CFO called and said they were going to look at MIP because financials were taking over 8 hours to generate (rekeying into Excel). When I asked why they weren't using FRx, they said ""What is Frx""? So I went on site a couple days later, helped them locate their FRx cd, installed it and all patches. Within an hour, they were producing financial reports in 10 minutes that had previously taken 8 hours to crank out. We reviewed other areas where they could improve their efficiencies that afternooon (there were several). Who was at fault? Was I because I didn't insist on demonstrating FRx. Was he because he was too cheap to pay for training ( I was already discounting my time because they were part of a buying group that had purchased five site licenses of MAS) or some combination? 12 to 18 months later, the CFO was dismissed and other person in the accounting department left. The controller was quickly rehired and I thought I had a good repoire with her. But I never met (or even talked to) the new CFO. She happened to have an MIP background! My BAD! Before you could say ""why MIP"", MAS was out and MIP was in. I never even received a call asking me to rebut the assertions of MIP. And as I noted on LinkedIn, they are still on MAS maintenance (just renewed on 3/1) because MIP didn't have a PR module (or workable one) so they are still using MAS PR. Unless you absolutely have to have the fund rasing module (IMHO, a glorified AR/CRM module), you can pretty much get the same functionality out of MAS for a lot less money. You just have to think outside the box and be proactive with the client. Just last May, I beat back MIPS for a new deal. My installed (fixed price) quote was $25K. Theirs was $50K (estimate). The general manager had used MIP at his previous job. His sole reason for MIP was ""after all, it IS a fund accounting package"". The fiscal director had used MAS at her previous job (client). For a while, MIP held sway, but in the final analysis, they signed with MAS. My delemma now is how to explain and install SMI (Eric, still struggling). The old United commercial comes to mind. You know, the one where the boss starts distributing plane tickets so his sales force can go out and reconnect with their clients. You took your Accpac relationship for granted and weren't there when he was weak. Yeah, shame on him for not giving you a heads up when he was weak. But shame on you for not being there when he really needed you. Yes, Sage is a whore without scrupals, but they were just doing what was expected of them.

At what point does it make sense to solicit your own client base to churn? Would it have been acceptable if *I* had approached them with a competing solution like Blackbaud? No chance on this one @JeffSchwenk. It's a bullshit move by Sage. This was one of their customers that routinely paid M&S for over a decade. In case it wasn't clear - they aren't necessarily going to MIP - they are evaluating other solutions in fund accounting space now.

Sage has been pulling this for a long time. They started soliciting large Sage ERP MAS 200 customers to move to MAS 500 way back in Taylor Macdonald's era. My issue really was that the process was started by a salesperson at Sage who didn't give a full picture of the switching process. I don't think I had many (any) customers switch but quite a few asked. Best defense? A good offense. In my case an email newsletter that gives advance news and analysis of Sage's changes that are coming. And I call a spade a spade. From here on out in discussion and writing we are independent consultants backed by the experiences of 100 others who've worked with the product since 1986. Sage is a remote phone sales team. Them and us. Draw a distinction. After all who wants to deal with a remote phone sales team? I'm not naive enough to think this cures the issue. Also, Sage did not talk about this however your situation is exactly what I thought their increased engagement meant. Sage phone sales will relentlessly call out to customers and if you're not able to help them switch horses Sage will find someone who will. And this is a relatively minor example of how aggressive I believe Sage may become. Imagine your largest customer being swayed to purchase an add-on to something like Sage Timesheet and you aren't authorized but your competition is. Civil war.

@PeterWolf - Thanks for clarifying as I was under the impression they had moved on. Then all is not lost. Plenty of time to show some of the famous PW TLC and find out why they are looking. Maybe their (perceived) needs have changed. Maybe they are tired of messing with fund reporting that is different than their fiscal year or maybe they are looking for a different way to handle the funds in a transaction manner. Let me know if you need me to demonstrate the utility of MAS.......................... It doesn't hurt to evening window shop in Amsterdam as it is an excellent way to see what's new and exciting in the trade! It is when you cross the thresh hold into the parlor when problems start. Regarding your issue with Sage, it is the new reality! Churn and burn for new license deals. Don't expect Uncle Tommy to keep your 3rd cousin, once removed by marriage from eying your girl when Grandpa Pascal's favorite movie is Deliverance. Squeal like a piggy! Just makes Grandpa all the more excited........................

@JeffSchwenk Way to many disturbing images just conjured up in my mind on that one LOL..

Couldn't figure out how to turn on the red light and play banjo music in the background. Maybe next time........

We can't call @Peter Wolf a bootlicker any more. Nicely put.

Oh, please! @PeterWolf ate lunch with Tom Miller at least twice last week. He's not a boot licker. He's a brown noser.

Exactly!

Fanboy.

I suspect Peter may not be having more free lunches with his new bad attitude.

Not after the whole marriage analogy.

@JeffSchwenk - I thought I was doing the smart thing by learning and standing by the Sage endorsed (and now Sage owned) product. But the Sage brand seems to be losing value every day. I'm happy to help you some more with SMI - but is it too late to consider BizNet on this new deal? @PeterWolf - nicely done. That's a little closer to the discussions we had in San Diego, with a few less expletives.

@EricAnderson - How much lip stick can you put on the pig? Currently client is doing ok without SMI but they did spend extra for it. I'll call you next week to discuss. This week I am busy getting my ME quotes into Sage so I can have an answer back from Sales by 3/31.