Sage News and Discussion

I'll suggest right now that when you propose upgrades you have three prices: 1. Upgrade -- this is your like for like price 2. Install & configure SageCRM 3. Install & configure SMI Sage is prominently featuring these free licenses and customers are going to expect that we install them for free as part of the upgrade. When they are installed - they should be priced as a separate option (or added in as an additional amount). These are not fully integrated push one button and they install and configure themselves. Don't be trapped into pricing them like that.... .02

You're assuming none of us are billing by the hour... ;) I haven't seem much activity on Ed Kless's Yammer site. Where are the others trying to make the switch??

Sleeping, apparently.

I think even if you're billing hourly there's a certain perception by the customer (or there will be) that: a. CRM is free b. SMI is free c. It's part of an upgrade d. Therefore it doesn't take any time to setup, configure, use Hourly billing also doesn't normally equal an open PO where you just keep working on an unlimited amount of hours. There's usually an implied cost - whether it's ""it will be between 10 and 20 hours and you only pay the actual"" or an outright quote. Much better to provide the cost up front versus having a surprise at the end.

dead on for the treatment of ERP, CRM & BI as individual projects as part of an implementation. Working on one right now. enagement 1 (complete) upgrading client to 4.5 so the 7.1 version of CRM can be used. engagment 2 installing and implementing CRM. SMI... maybe later

It's interesting... on the Accpac side, even after eight (??) years of free CRM server and free named user, a lot of partners still don't mention the Sage CRM component even though it's free. Some install it quietly and don't discuss it with the client (don't ask me why this policy would ever make sense - I think the idea is that they will get back to it when they have downtime so they can make an 'easy' sale). Some actually sit down and discuss it with the client. But ... they talk about it with their primary contacts - the accounting department - and it doesn't go very far. A few have invested the time and money to really understand CRM and they do it ""right"". And ... a few partner up with Azamba.

I would say the partners who don't implement the CRM piece don't want to fully learn it and don't want to look ill-prepared. I know I never really pushed Business Alerts - even though I sat through training for it - because I just didn't like it and couldn't get it to do what I thought it should. Of course, I didn't have an Azamba to partner with... :)

@PeterWolf Could you work out a fixed price to install, configure and provide one introductory remote session for a MAS90 or MAS200 single user? I would love to include this as part of my upgrades and to have you folks manage it remotely. Plan B might be regularly scheduled webinars open to everyone in our group to invite clients who are curious. Personally I envision the SageCRM setup as being a $2,500 option with a 50/50 split between us and Azamba.

good point Therese. there is a learning curve to CRM and BI. we have found SMI especially steep. but those two products offer the most consulting opportunity in the next two years since all clients will have them. now if we can only convince them to turn them on (and pray they work as advertised!)

@PeterWolf With respect to ""even though it's free"" I would submit that it's not free. - There's a cost for the VAR to install But that's not the intangible that Sage is missing Even VARS don't fully recognize this intangible cost - though it's always present in every task that VARS/Consultants undertake. I call it the law of ""he/she who touched the computer/software last owns the problem"" Have you ever been on site with a customer -- they stop you at a computer to fix a ""quick problem"" and four hours later you're still sitting there.... Then if you weren't able to fix the problem -- or there's some other problem that crops up -- forever you are hearing ""ever since Wayne tried to fix"" .... And this is all from trying to be a good helpful consultant... Fast forward to the ""free install"".... - What if CRM doesn't automatically load? The VAR is compelled to either leave with their head between their legs or they must place a support call to Sage to debug this free software. This could potentially become time consuming especially if there are multiple remote sessions required. - What if CRM doesn't perform a function as promised -- or how the customer expects? We get followup calls from the customer -- who expects us to diligently follow this through with support, suggestions to Sage, workarounds, research, etc. Now before you rightfully tell me to ""suck it up"" because ""that's why we call it work"" ... let me get to my point. This is NOT free -- there is what I guess I call contingent liability. By touching the software/hardware we are creating a contingent liability that if there's a problem with use or installation that the VAR is the ""neck to strangle"". Assuming that we have not quoted a fee to install this free software - we are not warranteeing (all for free) the install and use. I believe the client has a reasonable expectation that we will do so --- BUT only if we've quoted them a fee to do the install/configure/train. This is not free and should not be handled as free. What's free is pointing the customer to the self service -- if they determine they don't want to pay to set this up. Same as we would do for an upgrade. If Sage decided that suddenly their ERP Suite included word processing, spreadsheets, and databases -- would be be installing and training on those for no additional amount? Of course not -- and nobody should be installing these extras for ""free"" either. .02

I agree that it's not really ""free"". I was more responding to your suggestion that you need to include an option on every upgrade proposal because of the included licenses. Regarding the general approach on installing this, my personal opinion is ... if you aren't prepared to have the conversation about CRM benefits / customer need for CRM, I wouldn't install it because then it becomes your responsibility. As @ThereseLogeais states, that's why a lot of folks don't install it. They aren't ready for it and they don't choose to partner. I ""grew up"" in the Accpac channel since 1992. Most folks know me there, they know what Azamba does, but for some reason, most Accpac partners choose to either a) not do anything with CRM or b) try to do it themselves (with mixed results). The Accpac culture was certainly different than the MAS world. On the Accpac side, the CEO beat into everyone's heads that CRM was their entitlement so (my personal opinion here) I think a lot of folks see it as their $$$$ for whenver they want to grab it. So they let it linger and shrink, shrink, shrink. Not all are like this but a good chunk of them approach it this way.