Sage News and Discussion

More ""interesting"" news... I've been hearing from more than a few clients that they have been getting warm and fuzzy calls from the Sage CAMs. Introducing themselves, letting them know that the CAM is there to take care of them, etc. Yeah ... Sage has been listening to the bitching and concerns in the LinkedIn group. Instead of changing their ill-advised plan to kill off the Bronze support, they have decided to spend more time and money to be lovey-dovey as they shove the price increase down the customers' throats. Good luck with that. I predict 15+% of clients dropping off support. One of my clients that pays $54,000 in annual support asked me point blank why they would pay $60K when they didn't want to pay $54K. Combine this with they have a massive amount of customizations and just spent north of $20K to upgrade to the latest versions. Combine that with they say the ""back on plan"" promotion. Clients aren't dumb. All of that adds up to: Take me off your call list. I'll go back on plan in four years when / if I want to upgrade and I bet I'll get a sweetheart deal. If I don't, I'll switch to Microsoft or whatever else is out there.

It's almost like we have been watching a train wreck over the last year. It would be kind of cool if it wasn't happening right in our backyards.

Funny, but I remember a few months ago I said something along the lines of, ""@PeterWolf, you are always so positive - how do you do it?"" Even more disturbing than any news from Sage is your turnaround. Have you truly gone from""Let's look at the bright side"" to ""It's like we've been watching a train wreck""? I understand everyone's frustrations - I'm frustrated as well - but I will NOT give up the fight! Of course, first I need to figure out what I'm fighting for - my margins? my leads? my s/w that has been neglected? or simply my customers themselves? And thanks for the ""We are all old as dirt"" comment. This has been addressed in a previous post but really? you, old as dirt???

I'm torn between ""Occupy Summit"" and ""Boycott Summit""...and will they still try to sell CRM direct to the people that drop the MAS or Accpac maintenance?

+1 for ""old as dirt

There is a fork of SugarCRM called vTiger that is still completely open source. They are now offering a hosted option on Amazon for $12/month per user, which includes support. That's cheaper than just the maintenance on SageCRM licenses

@PhilMcIntosh I've been thinking the same thing - to Summit or not to Summit?

@ThereseLogeais - yes, I admit it. I'm having a bad few weeks here as I've had a few bad breaks and took my eyes off my gameplan. The thing with killing bronze support has really made me understand that Pascal's objectives are short-sighted and primarily to make numbers look good so he can keep his job. I'm not blaming him - that's capitalism - he's motivated to do this as a CEO of a branch of a public company. The difference between Sage execs and the channel partners is that we are owners and they are employees. We have long-term needs and they just want to keep their jobs. It's not a Sage-specific problem and I definitely don't think the grass is any greener. Some close friends of mine own Microsoft shops and they have their own horror stories. I need to get back to building my business and stop bitching about Sage. They aren't going to change - they are not incented to. And, in fact, we as a channel are partially responsible because for decades we have not focused on our own brands. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

Regarding Summit - yes ... go. Anyone in 90 Minds and OASIS should be going to Summit. If for no other reason than to hang out with the rest of the 90 Minds and OASIS members. :)

That's the only reason I really want to go to Summit is to see everyone!!

I can't believe the depth of knowledge of the members here. And I am eternally grateful to @WayneSchulz for opening it up to us non-90minds members. It can only strengthen the channel in my humble opinion.

I think we should have a parallel conference at Summit. See who gets more attendees.

I think we should create our own flags for our name badges. When someone talks to us we give them a flair piece that they can put on their name badge. The intent is to have at the end of the conference a majority of resellers and customers with our flair to show our influence with their customer base.

Good one!

Looks like I am going to have a scheduling conflict with Summit. Kills me but I am trying to attend the latter part of it... Peter - you are such an angry person. Out of your two slides - I think we are seeing slide #2... With support and potentially a sponsor - you can get back to slide #1. I know that you can.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, @ScottHickman. I actually just got back from the roadshow and you know what? I'm back on slide #1. The folks at Sage are going to start selling Sage CRM direct - standalone and integrated. And I am perfectly fine - and even downright ecstatic about it now that I have digested the information. (Which is why I usually keep to a vow to keep my mouth shut until I have had at least 24 - 48 hours to think about ""change"" news.) I will blog about it on Summit Diary in the next few days. It's actually a good move for Sage and the channel.

Summit attendees beware - Sage may be resorting to drugging those who complain about their policies...

Can't wait to see the results of Sage's direct sales efforts.

Did they replace @PeterWolf with a Stepford Peter Wolf?

He is pretty vague about what he is ecstatic about....

Maybe he was referring to the Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog that he received in the mail.....................

Peter - care to elaborate?

We were told today by our regional rep that he needs to come on all our new prospect visits - and that his comp plan is tied to him doing so.

Wow, big brother looking over your shoulder in the same room........... Did you tell him you comp plan was based on NOT having him in the same room????

We aren't being told its mandatory but my sense is they are encouraging it. Next step will probably be a mandatory tagalong.

How can they enforce that?????

I'm not sure they can - it's a bit like requesting that you register all your leads with Sage. I'm not sure in this environment how many more people are eagerly passing leads back to Sage for ""registration"".

P

Atlas will render lead registration so cumbersome no one will ever do it. The tag along comes on the heels of VARs taking on non Sage products. I already have one, and generally do not discuss specific products until much discovery has been done anyway.

I have a lead that I'm working right now and until I know they're qualified for money and the product is a fit I won't mention it to Sage. Usually only when I know the deal is closing will I add it to a lead sheet. Otherwise all you get for your troubles are constant requests to upgrade the status of this lead or that lead. You try to be a good VAR and submit this info but it creates annoying never ending streams of followup calls from Sage.

They seem less interested in tagging along on obvious MAS 90 leads, but rather more interested in leads that could tend toward MAS 500 / X3.

I haven't registered leads in ages. Protection ended years ago, so no value in it.

You haven't been to the Summit until you have hung out with Peter, Wayne and Jim

Yeah. It's sorta like The Hangover.

Does that mean people go straight form the bar to the morning walk?

You've seen the pictures I'm sure. You make the call.

I will state unequivocally that @LouisAraiza had the best time of any attendee last year at Summit. Everywhere we went we'd see Louis hanging out. It was awesome!

@PeterWolf Your original comment was prescient. Now that we know what we know, this explains the CAM attacks into the client base. It's the beginning of the transformation from Our client to Sage's client

@MarkChinsky - I love it -- The Sage Transformation Journey: Transforming Your Customer Into Our Customer. Captures the idea in one concise sentence