Service Management for MAS 90 and MAS 200 – Brutally Honest VAR Survey Results
April 30, 2009
In November 2006 I had a prospective client (actually it was an existing end user who knew me from a prior job and had called for my advice) seeking options for Service Management for MAS 90. They were already using one package and though it appeared to work they’d been through quite a bit of back and forth with a local Sage Business Partner who sold the Service Management and then had no clue how to make it work.
So they came to us asking if we could “fix it”.
Since we hadn’t worked with this particular software package before (and our rule is that we don’t bill clients for our learning time) – I advised her that I’d take a poll of other resellers of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 to see what they were using for Service Management.
Boy did I get an earful.
The question just came up again. Someone asked for some feedback on different service management packages. Since the analysis was written almost three years ago – I have to caution that some responses to it may have changed. Packages could have improved (or gotten worse). Take this information as a general overview of candid responses from experienced Sage consultants who have worked with these products and are providing the feedback to me.
I know each of these consultants personally – however to protect their companies and insure totally candid replies I’ve stripped out the firm name and identifying information.
These experiences are often the result of only one or two implementations. You may find that other consultants who have done dozens of impelementations of Service Management software have a totally different reply. The trouble is that I never can find these consultants. Service Management seems to be an area where consultants sell and run.
Here are my informal survey results. I do not claim they are scientific, authoritative or have any other special insight that you couldn’t get from asking around yourself. Simply take this information as one component of your own due dilligence as you reseach Service Management for MAS 90.
Full Disclaimer:
These results are from 2006 – the products mentioned may have been improved since I took this informal poll
While I know every person who submitted information – I cannot know what their level of competence with the product was. It’s very possible that some of the people who replied and whose opinions are included here were never properly trained and that taints their feedback. For this reason I strongly recommend using this information only as one portion of your own due dilligence when researching Service Management Software.
Service Management Options for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 – Survey Results
From: Wayne Schulz
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 4:34 PM
To: [prospect name]
Subject: RE: MAS90
Hi [prospect name],
As discussed today – I have put together some of the comments and feedback about the various Service Management packages for MAS90.
As I thought, none appear to standout. I’m continuing to look for a reseller with more than one or two clients using any one of these.
I think this is a fairly complete list of the Service Management available for MAS 90. I compiled the feedback from various emails that I have received over the last 6 months. These emails are internal communications between resellers as we are looking to find software or solve problems for our users.
The only solution that I have not seen anyone using but have repeatedly heard recommended is Job Ops. This is a more expensive solution from a company called Synergistic. The address is http://www.jobops.com
I hope this information is helpful. It appears to me from the comments below that you’re probably on the most widely used Service Management solution. I will follow-up with some additional information as I continue to query the resellers who work with these products to see if anyone has done more than three (so far what I’m seeing is resellers who’ve done one or two of these types of implementations).
-Wayne
IIG – Service Maestro
http://www.iigservicemaestro.com/ -
mixed feeback from resellers.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Service Maestro from IIG is not that bad, but it isn’t that great either. The product is solid. Support is very slow. It is difficult in an implementation to teach. There is a lot of functionality, and sometimes it gets confusing because there is so much functionality. It is not made for a particular industry, so lots of terminology is very generic and vague.
I like Wayne’s idea. Tell them that you will charge them for time and disclaim at the onset.
I have also heard great things about JobOps, but cannot get a client to take the large dollar investment. Probably worth it in the long run.
FEEBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
IIG doesn’t return phone call’s or e-mails inquiries for Service Maestro. I now believe that if you can’t basic sales questions answered, then watch out once they get the client’s money.
Ascent – Automated Service
http://www.ascent-sys.com/ – wmixed feedback (see below)
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have several clients in the service management industry. Three are on Automated Service from Ascent, and three are on Service Maestro from IIG.
First the really bad: I spent 3 days last summer in Houston with their top (only) trainer. It was a painful three days to say the least. Obviously training, plane tickets, hotel, partner fee, and lost billable time were very expensive. By the end of the second day, I was on the web getting my airline reservations changed to that night. It was only the second day, and it was clear that this was an absolutely terrible program. Based on
what I heard, they really have it installed at one big company that is satisfied. I know that none of my clients are satisfied. There is absolutely no dispatching functionality. They have three “dispatch” functions, but they are all just terrible. Also, no job cost functionality.
We also choose this path because we also do Peachtree and BusinessVision. I was very excited about the prospect of learning only one service management solution for the three products that we carry. These were also jokes. The software just doesn’t work. One of the students in our class had the BV version for 6 months and still no go live. He spent the entire three days with the head programmer working on bugs.
FEEDBACK FROM AN END USER:
Yes, my current maintenance/support for MAS90 is through Ascent, since I also have Automated Servic (Ascent) support, this way all our issues are handled through one company. They have a very slow response time, although once they get involved, they are proficient at resolving issues.
They are located in Texas, so there isn’t any local support, they handle everything through PC Connect or VNC. If you would like, you can call me with any questions.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Ascent Business Systems has a very robust and well-integrated Field Service MAS 90 Add-on. Tell Shelley Roth I sent you. She’s been great to work with and is extremely helpful. Here’s her contact information if you want to talk with her, the package is called Automated Service.
Shelley Roth
Director of Channel Development
Ascent Business Systems, Inc.
1880 S. Dairy Ashford Suite 535
Houston, TX 77077
281-497-8882 x209
800-256-6853
sroth@ascent-sys.com
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We have a couple of clients on Automated Service. The product is good for Field Service and not so good for Depot or In-House service. Ascent is just about the only player that is still standing. Their service is ????, their customer centric focus is ???? and their willingness to listen to resellers is ?????
IIG I would not touch, Cognitive is not even a player sooooooo your choices are limited.
Watch out when applying updates and third party stuff. Acent will try to burn you. One of our clients they wanted 3-4K to integrate Paperless Office. The client told them to buzz off and they finally did it for $00.00.
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
Either of you ever deal with Ascent Systems (Automated Service)? The are the least service oriented group I have ever dealt with and I swear if they go home and have a nightmare about us, they come in the next morning and hit my charge card, nickle/dime!
FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT:
We just sold one 2 months ago – they make you pre-pay and then they never tell you how much you used. Also they won’t go direct to the client for services – very annoying – so I prepay but if the client doesn’t use the hours I am stuck.
FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
We have done a few Automated Service installs at a couple of larger customers and found out the hard way that the Automated Service files are not standard MAS 90 structure and you can’t use VI to import to them all the time (some you can, some you can’t). We had to pay Ascent to do some custom data conversion and custom import utilities for ongoing integration. Every time we speak to Ascent it is more money, to the point that I should just send them my charge card and let them use it when appropriate. Service is a bit spotty
(slow or non-responsive). Product is as good as any 3rd party apps tend to be.
FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
I have one client and authorized by Ascent. The upgrade to 4.05 is not too difficult and Ascent has the patches/bugs worked out. The hardest is getting the GL to convert to 4.x. Support is available from Ascent – The client will need the current patches for Automated Service. This cannot be stressed enough. When I did an early conversion, AS wasn’t that mature with 4.05 and hard to work with Ascent to address issues. It has been very stable the last nine months. 4.10 will be released soon, but we’re not encouraging that yet.
Procedure is:
Prepare 3.71 data just like any conversion.
Install 4.05 MAS 90
Install 4.05 MAS 90 patches
Install AS 4.05
Install AS 4.05 patches
Convert company data.
BCS – Service & Warranty Management
http://www.bcs-tx.com/product/swm/index.html – I
am not positive these guys are the originators of this software. I also have no feedback at all on this.
Conative Systems
http://www.conativesystems.com/
A few have looked at this and found support lacking
FEEDBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
I looked at Conative in late 2002 also. [xxx]the owner did the presentation. It looked to be solid. However, during the on line demo, [xxx]kept going down side alleys showing us how some things could/would be handled which became distracting. The other presentation was done by Automated Services. The presenter that day was a novice and didn’t know much about the software. I decided to pursue Conative, but soon realized that it was a one man shop and getting simple timely quote was impossible. I gave up after two months.
FEEBACK FROM CONSULTANT:
Unfortunately I haven’t any recent experience with service software, but attempted to work with http://www.conativesystems.com/ a couple years ago. Owner is a talented, but I think it was too much for him to sell MAS 90/200, service his clients AND market an enhancement. I recall that most of the SM2000 implementations were customer specific, making it difficult to support and learn (since there was little consistency). While very robust, the product also didn’t “feel” like MAS 90 (screen design was different, function key assignments were different, etc). Having also reviewed Automated Service a couple years ago, I was less than impressed with their sales pitch (pick us because the other guys suck).
ACSG
http://www.aboutpm2000.com/Product/SWO.htm
Service Work Order – does not appear to be widely used – no feedback found
Conclusion
My recommendation to you is to do your own research in this area and insist on talking to users who have been using Service Management software for over 1 year in exactly the same way that you anticipate using it.
Avoid using a consultant who only has one or two implementations of the software. My own personal belief is that you cannot make any money as a consultant doing “onesies and twosies” of a product. If there is a source to many troubled engagements that I’ve seen it si that the consultant who sold the specialized product did not have the necessary skills to actually implement it. Usually you’ll get a hint of this if the consultant promises to hold implement the specialized package in “phase two”.
Also keep in mind that the above comments are unfiltered feedback from consultants and end users who I know and trust. This is not research that I’ve done myself – rather I’m compiling various emails that people had sent to me in the year 2006. Because this feedback is almost three years old the various packages may have improved. So use this information to compliment your own good research – and not as a replacement.
Update 5-5-2009 from Traci Clay Marketing Manager – Ascent Business Systems:
Ascent Systems has this to say in a certified letter sent to me dated May 1, 2009 (read the entire letter here) which they say points out what they claim is inaccuracy in several of the responses to the informal survey we took :
We do understand that every company has some less than favorable press out there and we can handle that, but we would like for the information that is blatantly incorrect to be removed from your post. We specifically request that posting number one, Feedback from a Consultant, be removed in its’ entirety. This post contains serious inaccuracies such as Ascent having installed AutomatedService in only one big company that is satisfied, no job cost functionality and the information regarding Peachtree and BusinessVision. We also request that the inaccuracies in posting number four: Feedback from a Consultant be removed. The quote that states “They wanted 3-4k to integrate Paperless Office” appears to be blatantly incorrect. We have no record of every quoting any customer that amount to integrate Paperless Office. If you believe that statement is important enough to leave in your post, we would appreciate the name/company of the Consultant so that we may verify the accuracy. We would be comfortable with only removing the inaccduracy in posting number four, but due to the many inaccuracies in posting number one, we feel the only recorse is to remove the post in its entirely.
To further enlighten you as to the success that both partners and end-users have with AutomatedService, I have included the Success Story that Sage presented during a quarterly Sage Channel Partner webinar regarding the joint BIG win we had. Ascent was able to sell Sage Softwasre along with Automated Service to Ranger America beating out the incumbent, Great Plains. I have also included a success story to give you a broader picture.
Update 5-20-2009 – FEEDBACK FROM A CONSULTANT – ASCENT BUSINESS SYSTEMS:
DSD Business Systems has two recent implementations of the Ascent Automated Service software. Overall, both of our end-users are happy with the product. The most challenging of our end-users is a mechanical pump distributor who also performs maintenance work on their products. They were previously using Conative’s SM200 product, which is a complete disaster. Since switching over to AutomatedService (AS), they have been happy. This end-user says that support response times are sometimes spotty and if the question is very complex it can take Ascent a while to get back to them. But, they always do get back, which has not been our experience with other Service Management products on the market. Overall, they say that Ascent’s AS product works for them and they are very satisfied with it.
As far as reseller support is concerned, DSD’s VP of Sales, Pete Morone, has been extremely happy with Ascent. He says that Chris Fix, their VP of Sales, has been accessible and willing to work with us. Jim Woodhead, our VP of Professional Services – MAS says, “Chris is very knowledgeable about the Ascent package and can be counted on to deliver on his promises and to resolve problems. I have no hesitation to recommend Ascent to a customer that needs a strong service management product.”
I read some of the older Consultant Feedback for AutomatedService, and I know from firsthand experience that some of the criticism levelled by other resellers is no longer true in 2009. While that criticism may have been valid 2-3 years ago, much of Ascent’s business model, staff, and software features have evolved greatly since then. At one point, 8-10 years ago, DSD had decided not to continue using Automated Service as a supplier because of their predatory policies regarding their relationship with our end-users. That is no longer a concern for us, because the Ascent staffers who executed those policies are long gone. DSD has nothing but the highest regard for Ascent’s current products and delivery model.
Doug Deane
President, DSD Business Systems
Fixed! – Default printer may now be assigned to standard reports and standard form codes after applying MAS 90 service update 23
April 30, 2009
Users of Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 may now correctly assign their default Windows printer to standard forms and reports.
This was always an option in the accounting software – however unfortunately it didn’t work (see Sage RES 490593).
As reported in the knowledgebase article (remember this applies only to version 4.2 as the issue was fixed with an upgrade to 4.3 or application of service update 23+ for v4.2
):
Reports should print to the Windows default printer when the standard report setting or form code is selected if the Use workstation default printer for standard report setting and Use Workstation Default Printer for Standard Form Code check boxes are selected.
Link: Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Service Update 23 for version 4.2
Direct Deposit reversal issue fixed with MAS90 service update 11
April 30, 2009
Sage just issued Service Update 11 for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 which fixes an issue that some have reported when attempting to reverse a direct deposit entry in payroll.
As reported by several resellers, the problem with Direct Deposit appeared to manifest itself when you tried to void a payroll check with direct deposit. Those amounts would be doubled during the payroll calculation resulting in totals that were incorrect.
There are also several other important corrections for those using the following modules:
Accounts Payable
During the check register update, the discount is no longer removed from the invoice when paying a credit memo and invoice together and the total amount being “paid” is negative (so no check prints).
Accounts Receivable
The Customer Listing with Balances Report no longer prints the primary ship to code of the previous customer if the current customer does not have a primary ship to code.
The Global Customer Field Change Utility now updates all customers selected when changing the Payment Type to something other than a credit card type.
General Ledger
The Trial Balance Report now prints the correct period ending date when printing Ending Balance Only is selected as the Report Type to Print.
Payroll
In 941 Printing, the calculation for the SS Tips is now correct.
Sales Order
In Sales Order Entry and Invoice Data Entry, lines are retained correctly when inserting and exploding mulitple kits (exceeding 27 lines).
Recommendations
If you are experiencing issues with any of the above (or see this Sage “what’s fixed” list for a more complete breakout of the fixes included in MAS90 service update 11) – then consult your Sage Business Partner about installing the latest service update.
If you’re not experiencing any issues, we generally would not recommend installing the service update unless (a) You are installing or upgrading MAS 90 or MAS 200 for the first time or (b) you are about to place a support call to Sage for a new issue.
Always remember that if you have enhancements or Extended Solutions that you need to check to be sure that installing a service update does not break any of your existing functionality prior to loading the update.
Imagenet from Mitek offered by NCR to enable remote deposits by smartphone
April 28, 2009
Imagine being able to use an ordinary cell phone to photographs a check. Then without doing anything more complex than sending the photo via software loaded to your phone (Most phones with at least a 2 megapixel cameral including iPhone and BlackBerry Bold will be supported ) that check is deposited right to your bank account.
There’s no waiting in line. No more embarrasment of producing that driver’s license photo that makes you look like a crazed maniac.
NCR is the company behind this technology. They’ve partnered with Mitek system to create this mobile solution that’s perfect for anyone needing to directly deposit small numbers of checks.
“NCR selected the Mobile Deposit product to extend the number of deposit choices our
customers can use with our self service suite of remote capture solutions,” said Michael O’Laughlin, vice president and general manager, NCR Financial Services Solutions. “Mitek
Systems application will provide the first mobile phone deposit option for our customers, which is a strategic benefit to banks who are looking to attract young consumers and small
business owners who conduct much of their business on the road.”
Mitek Systems ImageNet Mobile Deposit is the first and only application that allows banks to
accept check deposits from merchants and mobile professionals via camera-equipped cell phones. Mobile Deposit is easily downloaded to most mobile phones equipped with a two-
megapixel camera including the Apple iPhoneTM and BlackBerry BoldTM. Mobile Deposit is available to financial institutions or mobile banking software vendors looking to add remote
deposit capture to their mobile banking platform.
via: Mitek Systems via Gizmodo
Wayne Schulz Bores IT Alliance To Tears
April 28, 2009
Update: This was a test post created during the To Blog or Not To Blog – An In Depth Look At the Why’s And The Wow’s of Blogging.
In a session today on Blogging, Wayne Schulz of Schulz consulting left a room of 20 people completely cured of insomnia!
Topics discussed were how to Blog, How to select stories and the top mistakes not to make.
Here’s the slide deck:
My very condensed notes from IT Alliance:
1. Background of Wayne Schulz – Schulz Consulting, LLC
- How started – geardiary.com blogger for about 1.5 year
- Why use blogging (search, credibility, developer yourself as an authority, save time in the sales process, develop qualified leads)
2. Comparison to other methods
- Email (overloaded and less effective than ever – people delete fast)
- Cold calls (plummeting response rates)
- Referrals (the best way to connect to prospects)
- Direct Mail (see cold calls above)
3. What is blogging software
- WordPress – http://www.wordpress.org (free download)
- Blogger – http://www.blogger.com
4. Why blog
- So customers, prospects, potential employees can find you
- Create searchable content
- Provide customer value – creates a reason for them to return to your site
- Re-use the content in your email newsletters (I use and recommend Constant Contact)!!
- Demonstrate uniqueness to prospects – differentiates you from the competition
- Get inbound links from others
5. Tips
- Rather than send an lengthy email or make a lengthy forum post – blog it
- Avoid the three killers: Politics, Religion, Sex (open a personal blog if you feel the urge)
- Be consistent and write at least daily
- If you find it interesting chances are someone else will
- If you think “should I write about this” – you probably should
- The best articles are those you aren’t sure about initially
- Use a pre-built theme
- Measure site traffic (I use Statcounter.com)
- Chose your story titles wisely – keyword rich, tag them, categorize them
- Find links in – Technorati
- Google Reader
6. Finding topics to write about
- RSS (set up Google Reader)
- Email exchanges with colleagues (groups.google.com is a great way to get your friends together)
- Articles online (re-blog)
- Articles on other sites (re-blog with a link back)
- Conferences
- Seminars
- Press releases
- Experiences you’ve had at a client working with products (good and bad)
- Google news alerts
IMPORTANT: Be cautious with what you write and remember that your goal is to have your content show in search results. Expect companies to find stories that you’ve written (both positive and negative). Think before you push the “publish” button because you can’t easily take back something that’s been indexed in Google or other search engines.
7. Tips about wordpress
- Write offline (I use Marsedit on MAC - Ed Kless swears by Windows Live Writer)
- Use plug ins (wordpress.org)
– Connect your blog to an RSS feed (use Twitterfeed) to Twitter and FB
- Use images – people like pictures (Flickr is a great free tool that will let you email in photos)
- Use a custom theme (check Studiopress for a wide assortment of modifiable themes about $60 ea)
- Be consistent in your layout
- Spell check
- Keep the focus on the client (think benefit)
8. Demonstration of WordPress
- Create an article
Questions? Use the comment area below and I’ll be happy to answer to update the article as needed.
9. Integrating your web site
- Twitterfeed
- Facebook
- Friendfeed
Follow Wayne Schulz on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn
IT Alliance Spring 2009 Conference Begins In Atlanta
April 27, 2009
The Spring 2009 conference hosted by the IT Alliance is happening through Tuesday April 28, 2009 in Atlanta.
The IT Alliance is a group of member firms, consultants and vendors who collaborate to share ideas, best practices and network. A number of technical sessions are hosted throughout the two days and cover topics ranging from Disney World Imagineering to project management and consulting pricing.
I’m on the ground and scheduled to completely bore everyone to tears host a session on Tuesday at 8:15 am on the exciting topic of blogging (Ballroom CDE ).
Last Live Conference Feed (via Qik and this may not be broadcasting constantly)
For more IT Alliance Session Summaries – read on Read more
IT Alliance invites Wayne Schulz to speak at April 2009 conference
April 26, 2009
The IT Alliance (ITA) has invited Wayne Schulz to speak and lead a workshop session April 28 at their 2009 conference being held in Atlanta Georgia.
The IT Alliance is a group of Value-Added Resellers (VARs), CPAs, Specialty Technology Consultants, Chief Information/Technology Officers, and Developers/Providers of Technology Products and Services (Vendors)
ITA is the only national organization where these constituencies come together as equals. Their members believe success comes through the sharing of the knowledge and experiences our different disciplines bring to the profession. They do this by active networking, this website www.italliance.com, surveys, newsletters, and biannual retreats. ITA is a place where independent thinking and alternative points of view are openly promoted and respected.
IT Alliance scope includes:
Hardware, Network Services, Security, Project Management, Business Management (CIO and Consulting), Systems Design and Implementation, Skills Education, and Certification.
Wayne’s session “To blog or not to blog” will cover the ways that organizations can use easy and inexpensive tools to publish content on their website that is helpful to site visitors.
IT Alliance Atlanta 2009 Agenda:
Link: ITAlliance
Additional Info: Corporate Blogs: It’s The PageRank, Stupid
For those who doubt the effect Social Media can have on their business
April 25, 2009
While logged into my Facebook page I noticed this feed item from Scott Jordan who is the CEO of SCOTTEVEST.
While Scott’s a very smart marketer and has made some use of Steve Wozniak in ad campaigns this year – he’s probably not doing anything more on the web that’s costing significantly more marketing dollars than what he’s spent in the past.
Yet his sales and traffic to his online store are up 40% according to this status update that he just posted on Facebook.
Are you getting those results?
Here’s a few observations on how Scott Jordan uses social media:
1. He’s everywhere – and he rarely uses his presence to push his product. But because he is so involved in the business it feels natural when he mentions that his product is on the Today Show or that one of his shipments was stolen (and subsequently recovered) from a customs clearing warehouse.
2. Scott has a video blog. Half the time it’s him out walking his two poodles saying hello to his neighbors. Sometimes it’s him skiing wherever he lives (I assume somewhere cold). The interesting point is the blog is never an infomercial to sell anything.
Are Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and other Social Media “fads” a waste of time?
Not if you ask Scott Jordan. How about your company? Are you using these tactics to grow your business 40% in the worst economy many of us may ever see in our lifetime?
Link: Scottevest
PS – How do I even know this information? Because I took the time to setup a Facebook account and learn how it works. You’ve done that too – right?
Kick them when they’re down – aka Why It’s A Great Time To Buy ERP
April 24, 2009
Mark Chinsky of Clients First has a good article up that points out the time to buy any ERP (accounting software) is now.
That is, of course, assuming you actually need some.
Among the points Mark makes:
- Prices are lower than what they were during the good times
- Companies actually value (and pay attention to) your business rather than trying in vain to juggle many different projects and allocating resources only to the biggest jobs
- Projects being completed under budget and on time (what a concept!)
How can you take advantage of this downtrodden economy?
- If you’re an existing Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 user – consider upgrading to Sage Extended Enterprise Edition. Some users (depending upon when you bought) are eligible for massive savings on maintenance. Read more about the Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 EES deals here.
- Purchase consulting time in blocks. Many consultants (us included) are not open to discounting rates on short term projects (typically requiring much more skill). However for long term projects of 40 hours or more – most consultants will sell you a discounted block of prepaid hours (the key word is prepaid). We sell 40 hour blocks at about a 25% savings provided that the hours are prepaid. Check with your local Sage Business Partner to see if they do to.
- Take advantage of MAS 90 and MAS 200 promotions. These come out quarterly. A good Sage Business Partner can separate the perpetual promotions (those running every quarter despite the warning that they expire) from the truly great deals.
via: Clients First
Sage Insights 2009 Tip: You Do Have A Better Web Strategy Than THIS – Right?
April 23, 2009
Is buying expensive Google Adwords your only web strategy?
I probably should keep my mouth shut and let the competition keep wasting their money.
It’s sad to see companies so lost in a lack of any web strategy that their only apparent online plan is to finance a bunch of random Google AdWords hoping that a big lead randomly lands in their lap.
If you’ve ever tried to sell to a raw Web lead then you know they are almost always using you for a discount, third bid or free advice can be some of the least qualified (and most expensive) types of potential customers.
Of course, done right, a web lead doesn’t have to be difficult to close. Many of them can turn into a $50,000 project. The key is to know the right way to market on the web so as to attract the quality leads – and repel the discount seekers, quick question askers and tire kickers.
Let me ask you this first – because maybe I’m making some incorrect assumptions…
You do have a better strategy than buying Google AdWords – or waiting for someone like a software publisher to deliver free leads to you. Right?
There’s nothing wrong with Google Adwords. They’re a great way to supplement an online strategy.
There’s also nothing wrong with free leads from a software publisher (assuming you can get them). These supplement any marketing strategy quite well.
Notice I’ve used the word “supplement”. It means “in addition to”
What’s your strategy online?
Have you developed any of the new tactics that people are talking about?
- Friendfeed
- Social Media Sites
- Blogging
Or are you still talking with those in your office about how you “don’t get” some of these new tools?
How most of these new uncomfortable marketing tactics are huge wastes of time. You haven’t tried any of them for more than a day – but you’re pretty sure that they’re a waste of time.
Here’s another question.
How are TRADITIONAL marketing efforts such as: Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Lead Buying (Findaccountingsoftware, et al) working for you?
If you have not become involved in other methods of marketing (many of them free) and you are located in the Connecticut area – then I advise and hope that you stay home from the Insights 2009 conference. Insights is expensive and there’s no big announcements expected. The economy is crappy. Stay home and plug away at a more productive marketing activity like telemarketing because if you just put more effort (and a lot more money) into these old school tactics you’ll surely turn better results. If that doesn’t work just buy AdWords against my company name on Google.
For those NOT in Connecticut – the choice is yours.
If you’re interested in some of the new marketing methods (many totally free) that people are using to get business – be sure to attend Beyond The Hype – Social Media Marketing for B2B on Wednesday May 13 from 1:30 to 3:oo pm.
Here’s the Agenda:
The way to reach business decision makers is migrating from traditional marketing efforts to the Web. More and more consumers are researching their next purchases online using search engines and social media sites. This session will explore how you can use social media to grow traffic to your Web site, make real connections, and join the conversations already happening on social networking sites. Find out which social media sites work best for business, how to develop a strategy for success, how to measure your campaign’s effectiveness, and where this rapidly evolving medium may be taking us next.
I’m planning on attending to answer questions that may come up during the session from a Sage Business Partner point of view. Note that I’m not leading this session – but after it’s over I plan to stick around and answer any questions. Unless of course you’re from Connecticut.
Consulting Insights Editor Bob Scott announces his departure from Accounting Technology as SourceMedia consolidates their publications
April 22, 2009
SourceMedia today combined their three accounting publications which unfortunately means the departure of three long time editors, including Bob Scott who oversaw the popular Accounting Technology magazine.
Bob is equally well known for his wildly popular electronic newsletter called “Consulting Insights”. This publication highlights insider news and gossip of importance to mid-market VARS and technology companies. Bob also specializes in his coverage of nearly all the accounting software industry trade shows and user conferences.
While it remains to be seen whether the newsletter retains the same title, it appears virtually certain Bob will continue to pen the newsletter, move it to the web – or possibly both.
In an email sent this afternoon, Bob announced that his last day will be May 22, 2009 and describes the changes as:
The wheels roll on and SourceMedia has decided to combine its three publications into Accounting Today (combine seems a curious word).
That means that there are some departures from SM and the accounting publishing world, including Jeff Stimpson of the former Practical Accountant, Stuart Kahan, of the former (I think CPA Wealth Provider) and me from the soon-to-be former Accounting Technology.Glad I scheduled the 25th anniversary issue for June instead of July when it really is.
My plans are to remain in this market and it’s simply an issue of whether the company is willing to let me have the Consulting Insights name or whether I have to put out a newsletter, probably starting in June, under a different moniker.
I always thought it was likely this would happen, just a matter of when somebody decided three accounting pubs wasn’t a good idea. Probably time to do something with that URL I’ve been paying for for years
Extended Solutions for MAS90 and MAS200
April 22, 2009
Have you ever wished that your existing MAS 90 or MAS 200 software had just a little more functionality? Some good examples of functionality tweaks that our clients have requested would include:
- Multi-company transaction processing
- ACH processing for Accounts Payable (wireless transfers)
- Payroll Direct Deposit
- Custom pricing within Inventory
- Unlimited history
There are literally thousands of inexpensive enhancements that are already written for your MAS90 system. These install as if regular MAS 90 programs and each year when MAS 90 is upgrade – so are your enhancements.
We recommend that you always first browse the Sage Extended Solutions (catalog example below) prior to hiring anyone to customize MAS90. Even though some of the items available as add-ons for MAS 90 or MAS 200 will appear expensive at first – we think you’ll ultimately save money long term.
You can review the entire list of Sage Extended Solutions or browse down for a sample listing.
Mas90 Enhancements and customizations
MAS 90 Custom Programming – DSD Business Systems
April 21, 2009
We often receive inquiries about special custom programming jobs. Long ago it became apparent to us that customizing the software code of Sage MAS 90 or 200 was best left to the professionals.
For this reason Schulz Consulting does not perform any custom programming. We make referrals to experts that know how to modify AND maintain their custom code.
The problem is that many of the professionals that write customized code have long exited the business for any number of reasons. Most found it difficult to make a profit in an environment where they were often expected to constantly enhance their product with minimal or no compensation.
The one company that we’ve consistently recommended to our clients is DSD Associates in San Diego California.
There’s one reason. Actually two.
The first reason is that DSD Associates have been around for 25 years. They’re arguably one of the most talented and experienced custom programming houses that develops for Sage MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500. We’ve often marveled at their detailed programming specifications and the ability to support their solutions.
The main reason that we continue to recommend DSD Associates is they have no problem telling us when we’re nuts!
Often we’ve called Jon Reiter or Doug Deane to talk about a programming project. If our requirements are so off the wall expensive or complex – they talk us right down from going forward with a project that may be doomed for failure. Simply put DSD Associates looks out for their customers first — even ahead of making a quick buck by quoting a software project.
This is rare in today’s environment.
We just received this list of reasons that DSD Business Systems thinks that you should use their services. And it’s actually a pretty good list so we are reprinting it in its entirety here:
Top 10 reasons to use DSD Business Systems
1.DSD wrote the original Extended M/D Utilities, *merge and CodeZilla. These are important MAS 90 /200 programming utilities that many of the most widely known Sage MAS developers use when they write customizations or enhancements.
2.All of our custom programming projects are bid on a fixed price basis. No programming is started until you have reviewed and approved a detailed written specification. There are never any surprises at the end of the project.
3.DSD advises and assists Sage’s development staff in making MAS 90, MAS 200 and MAS 500 a programmer-friendly environment. We are Sage’s expert source.
4.We provide the lowest cost and most efficient, non-invasive programming modifications that will exactly meet your end-user’s needs. It is not uncommon for us to tell a reseller that a customization can be achieved with no programming via the Customizer, Visual Integrator or Crystal Reports. If we know of a customization that we’ve done in the past that is exactly, or close to, what you need, we’ll use it. If we know of another developer who has an off-the-shelf enhancement, we’ll let you know that too.
5.When third party software developers need to integrate their products with Sage MAS 90, MAS 200 or MAS 500, do you know who they call? They call us. If the publishers of Avatax and ImageLink use DSD for their MAS programming, then you should too.
6.When we write an enhancement, or make MAS customizations, we write them in ways that are upgrade-friendly, friendly to other developers’ enhancements, and very easy to install. There are many MAS developers who make it impossible to combine their enhancements or customizations with other developers’.
7.When we write an enhancement or modification, we rarely, if ever, change the original MAS files, or the original programs. That way, if you no longer need a modification sometime in the future, removing the customization or enhancement is an easy process, and does not require a time-consuming conversion process.
8.Your project is always looked at by at least three DSD staff members. DSD never allows programming to be final-tested by the programmer. All of our enhancements and customizations are rigorously tested by our QA staff in order to burn the programs in before your end-user installs them.
9.When there’s a bug, we jump on it. It is fixed almost immediately. Fixing bugs when a user finds one takes priority over any other activity in our Programming Department.
10.DSD staff has decades of MAS programming, Internet-programming, database programming and Unix experience. We’ve seen it all and done it all. We can help you with virtually anything you need, including integrations to third party software, integrations to third party hardware devices, integration with a website database, etc.
via: DSD Business Systems
Sage Webcast – MAS 90 and MAS 200 Extended Enterprise – Register Now
April 21, 2009
You may now register for a free demo of the Sage Extended Enterprise Suite (both live and pre-recorded are available) directly from our web site.
Extended Enteprise Suite is the latest offering from Sage. It combines Sage MAS 90 or 200 (version 4.3) with SageCRM and SageFAS. These three components are fully integrated to give accounting plus CRM plus fixed asset processing.
While the functionality of the suite is impressive – what’s even moreso is the lower annual maintenance costs. Sage offers two plans which are signficantly lower in ongoing maintenance than what the modules would cost as a standalone.
Sage Extended Enterprise Suite Components
Library Master
Business Insights
Paperless Office
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Bank Reconciliation
Fixed Assets
FRx Desktop – 1 User
Crystal Reports Designer – 2 user
Inventory Management
Sales Order
Purchase Order
Return Merchandise Authoization
Credit Card Processing by Sage
Bill of Materials
Customer Relationship Management
Custom Office
Visual Integrator
What does Sage EES for MAS 90 or MAS 200 cost?
New product (this is product only – scroll down for maintenance which is additional on the initial sale and is an annually recurring fee):
Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS 90 (max 20 users)
* 1 to 5 users – $ 2,250 each
* 6 to 10 users – $ 2,025 each
* 11 to 15 users – $ 1,823 each
* 16 to 20 users $ 1,640 each
Over 20 users = must use MAS 200
Sage Extended Enterprise for MAS 200
* 1 to 5 users $ 2,500 each
* 6 to 10 users $ 2,250 each
* 11 to 15 users $ 2,025 each
* 16 to 20 users $ 1,823 each
* 21 to 25 users $ 1,640 each
* 26 to 30 users $ 1,476 each
* 31 to 35 users $ 1,329 each
* 36 to 40 users $ 1,196 each
* 41 to 45 users $ 1,076 each
* 46 to 50 users $ 969 each
* 51+ users $ 872 each
Required Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 EES Software Maintenance
EES Maintenance Option #1 – Basic
* 19% of SLP – paid on initial purchase and as recurring fee
* Covers all modules and components (CRM, FAS)
* Includes 3 phone support incidents from Sage
EES Maintenance Option #2 Gold Plus
* Covers all modules and components (CRM,FAS)
* Includes unlimited phone support from Sage
* 25% per year
Maintenance is required in order to obtain any Sage Support, receive future product enhancements, purchase additional users or modules.
Are there upgrade options from regular/standard MAS 90 or MAS 200?
Generally the upgrade options are as follows:
If you have owned Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 since PRIOR to 10/1/2003 then your upgrade fee is:
$ 500 per user (min 5) for MAS 90 to MAS 90 or MAS 200 to MAS 200
$ 1,000 per user for MAS 90 to MAS 200 (min 5)
plus
$ 150 per user maintenance (paid on first year and subsequent years)
If you purchased MAS 90 or MAS 200 AFTER 10/1/03 then the fee is:
$ 500 per user (min 5) for MAS 90 to MAS 90 or MAS 200 to MAS 200
$ 1,000 per user for MAS 90 to MAS 200 (min 5)
plus
Normal maintenance (19% or 25%) as computed on full SLP
Standard Disclaimer Applies Here:
The information on this page is provided as-is. We make every attempt to keep pricing and technical information up-to-date. We however cannot be responsible for changes (either pricing or technical requirements) that are not reflected on this page. The technical informaiton from Sage (product literature, documentation, supported platforms, etc) always take precedence and supersede anything on this page. Consult with your Sage Business Partner prior to making any purchasing decisions. The Sage Extended Enterprise Suite is only capable of the features and functionality described in the manufactufer’s literature and those claims are their own and not those of Schulz Consulting.
Link: Register For A Free Sage EES MAS90 and MAS 200 Demo
Sage Insights Attendees – take your mom to the prom – only $149/night (EXPIRED)
April 18, 2009
[UPDATE 4-20-2009: This deal is dead and no longer available] Are you headed to the Sage Insights 2009 conference which is being held at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville May 11-14, 2009?
If so, and you were planning on being at the hotel early on May 10, be sure you ask for the “Take your mom to the prom” rate.
The hotel is advertising a special rate of $149 per night ($37 per night cheaper than the Insights room rate of $186). This promotion appears to be limited to May 10 – so you probably cannot get the rate for the duration of the conference.
For $149 per night (plus resort fee of $15/night) you get:
- One-night room accommodations including a FREE* upgrade to Atrium Garden view ($65 value)
- Admission to the Mom Prom for mother and son(s) from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
- Admission to the My Heart Belongs To Daddy Dance for father and daughter(s) from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
- Admission to the Family Affair Dance for the entire family from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
- Each party includes DJ, dance contests, refreshments and lots of fun!
- One souvenir photo per room
- Continental family breakfast on Mother’s Day with a special gift for Mom
- Corsages and boutonnières will be available for purchase
If you call and are able to get the rate for more than May 10, 2009 – be sure to leave a comment!
Via: The Mom Prom and The Family Affair
Sage North America Awards Schulz Consulting Customer Excellence 2008 Award
April 15, 2009
Sage North America today awarded Schulz Consulting with a Customer Excellence Award for exceeding the measured Net Promoter average ratings of all Sage Business Partners.
This annual award is given to partners who receive exceptional net promoter scores from their customers.
A net promoter score is the result of Sage asking the question “would you recommend the services of Schulz Consulting to a friend or trusted business colleague”. In order to gather data for this survey, Sage North America sent an email inquiry to all of Schulz Consulting’s clients asking them to rate their satisfaction with Schulz.
We are happy to report that our net promoter score was not only good but it scored nearly four times the industry average and higher than the average of all other Sage Business Partners.
For more information you can read the press release issued today – Schulz Consulting Awared Customer Excellence 2008 By Sage North America.
Sage to implement Ideascope for MAS90, MAS200, MAS500 product enhancement requests beginning May 2009
April 9, 2009
Sage North America has announced that Ideascope usage will be expanded to include the MAS product line.
Ideascope is an hosted feedback management solution for software developers. It allows them to gather suggestions from end users and consultants on what new features or changes should be implemented in the product.
Ideascope: Changing the Face of Enhancement Requests
Ideascope is an interactive program which allows customers and partners to submit enhancement requests hassle-free through the Web. Peachtree has had great success utilizing Ideascope with their products. In May 2009, Ideascope will be available to Sage MAS customers and partners! Customers and partners will at first be able to access Ideascope through the Sage MAS Online Community. And later this year, Ideascope will be integrated directly into Sage MAS products, radically improving the ability for customers and partners to submit their requests and generate change!
This unique program is simple to use and completely automated. To submit an idea, a customer or business partner clicks on a link on the Sage Web site (or within the Sage MAS product) bringing up the Ideascope form. They chose the product line and type in a brief description of their enhancement idea. Quickly, the Ideascope server analyzes the submission to determine if something similar has already been suggested. The individual is offered a list of previously-submitted matching requests to choose from, or to submit their own as a new or unique idea. Ideascope will automatically update the request frequency each time. The customer is sent an automated e-mail, informing them of their initial request’s status and each time there is a status change.
On our side, Ideascope categorizes, prioritizes, and catalogues the requests for easy searching and review. A key appraisal team (consisting of product management, product marketing, and other key internal constituents) will periodically assess the top-requested enhancements, and create a priority list for our development team. Anytime an enhancement request is included as a fix or addition to a new product release, those who requested that enhancement will receive an automated e-mail update informing them of this news.
MAS90 grandfathered users save big on Extended Enterprise upgrades
April 9, 2009
UPDATE 5-4-2009: In a highly unusual (and unfair) move Sage today voided all quotes issued for this promotion. There was no advance warning save for a 5 pm email. Worth noting that Sage had AGGRESSIVELY promoted this to their end users both by recommending that their Business Partners offer the deal and also by direct calls out to qualifying MAS 90 and MAS 200 users. Due to the low cost involve – the pricing was met by numerous inquiries from VARS as to “whether it was right”. Therefore any outstanding quotes by Sage have been voided. We find this practice unfair and unusual.
Sage Here’s a promotion from Sage that expires June 30, 2008 that’s left a good number of resellers scratching their heads and muttering “wow, this seems too good to be true”.
Several people in my 90Minds Consulting group have been talking about this upgrade offer that Sage current has on the table. The offer applies specifically to a class of MAS 90 or MAS 200 users who are referred to as “grandfathered”.
These users purchased MAS 90 or MAS 200 prior to October 1, 2003. During this time Sage was not charging annual maintenance on user licenses so the users have not be subject to any per user license fees.
Start Saving Money On Maintenance In Year Two
The offer is as follows.
Grandfathered users can upgrade to the Sage Extended Enterprise Suite (comprised of MAS 90 or MAS 200 + SageCRM + Sage FAS) for a one time license transfer fee of $500 per user. Their maintenance for each user will be only $150 per year – which in nearly every instance is a huge savings over what the company would have been paying previously.
Here’s the math as worked out by our 90Minds Consulting Group in an email exchange from late yesterday:
From: 90Minds
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Subject: [sageresellers] New Pricing on Grandfathered accounts for EES?
To: sageresellers@yahoogroups.comJust got off the phone with our install base salesperson at Sage and she enlightened me on the special promotional maintenance pricing for accounts moving to EES that are in grandfathered status (purchased sometime before some date in 2003). It seems too good a deal to be true, but she said she had questioned her superiors on it 3 times and they confirmed it. So here are the details as I understand them:
Basically the new maintenance fee for all grandfathered accounts is $150 per user (MAS 90, not sure what MAS 200 will be). This means a company currently grandfathered and owning a 5 user MAS 90 license for core and distribution is probably paying about $2,000 or so for annual maintenance. With this promotion, they can move to EES ($2,500 one time migration fee) and their annual maintenance changes to $150 per user or $750! This means that for roughly an extra $1,200 this year ($3,250 vs the 2,000 they would have paid for maintenance on their current license) they get CRM, and they will get that $1,200 back in Year 2 in reduced maintenance. Starting in year 3 they are saving $1,200 every year and they get to keep CRM.
EES maintenance for a 5 user MAS 90 migration had previously been somewhere just over $2,100 annually, so at $750 it represents a decrease of over $1,300! If it were a 10 user grandfathered, the EES maintenance had been over $4,100, now it is only going to be $1,500, a savings every year of over $2,500 – forever!
This was such an outrageous difference and so un-Sage like that I specifically said that clearly this $150/user charge must only apply to users after the first 5, but I was told specifically no, it applies to all! The catch is that if they add licenses at anytime, the maintenance on those licenses are at normal maintenance pricing.
I have asked for this in writing before we start quoting, but was curious if anyone else has had this conversation with someone at Sage?
My first reaction was that this offer was too good to be true and that there must be a mistake somewhere.
But then two more consultants replied that they’d been offered the exact same promotion and it was explained in the same manner.
Sage’s followup explanation to the promotion seems to confirm that users who owned MAS 90 or MAS 200 prior to 10/1/2003 can probably save quite a bit of money by upgrading to Sage Extended Enterprise. This upgrade requires no data conversion and until you implement the SageCRM or SageFAS there’s no retraining.
Every MAS 90 or MAS 200 customer who qualifies should be looking into this promotion and talking to their Sage Business Partner about the promotion.
Here’s the final scoop from Sage (received via email on 4/8/09) which seems to confirm the earlier email exchanges:
Through the end of Q3 (June 30th, 2009), you can migrate existing MAS 90 or 200 “Grandfathered” customers to Sage MAS 90 or 200 Extended Enterprise Suite, and offer a flat, per-user annual EES maintenance fee of only $150 per existing user! In most cases, we have been finding that customers can migrate to EES and enjoy lower annual maintenance than they are currently paying! During tough economic times, this may be critical to customers who are struggling! Please make sure to highlight the following benefits when speaking with your clients:
1. Reduce your current annual maintenance and enjoy additional modules and features!
2. Manage your business more effectively with a complete 360 degree view of your business!
3. Streamline costs and enhance customer relationships with full CRM functionality!
This promotion would apply to Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers who purchased their system prior to October 1, 2003, and are currently on a “Grandfathered” status. Please note: the $150 per user fee applies to existing users only. Standard EES maintenance rates will apply to new add-on users. The promotion does not include maintenance on modules and extended solutions outside the EES product suite.
In addition, we have added more dates to our webcast schedule, so please encourage your customers to register for our live Extended Enterprise suite webcasts!
See Also : Frequently Asked Questions about Sage Extended Enteprise for MAS 90 and MAS 200
Seesmic releases Seesmic Desktop Twitter client
April 8, 2009
If you’ve caught the Twitter bug then you already know all about Twitter. It’s a short messaging service where users send up to 140 character messages telling their friends – and the world – what it is they’re doing.
The reason that Twitter has caught on so quickly is that it’s simple to use, free, and many celebrities and public figures have started to recognize the public relations value of sending out quick promo messages.
To use Twitter you can sign into their web site here. This works pretty well generally but you are limited in a lot of ways by the web interface. For example you cannot easily paste links, photos or search for keywords that people are Twittering about.
In order to do some of the more advanced things such as search and paste photos you need to use a standalone Twitter client. The two most popular ones are Tweetdeck and Twhirl.
Both of these programs automate the sending of receiving of Twitter messages (called tweets). They add features such as automatically shortening links you post within messages, supporting multiple Twitter accounts, saved searches, and real time updates.
Just last night Seesmic (who is the publisher of Twhirl) released a Seesmic Desktop client which expands upon their Twhirl program in several ways.
Seesmic Desktop (shown above) – Visit Seesmic for more information and download link
What’s interesting about Seesmic Desktop is the interface is much cleaner and easier to read than their similar Twhirl product. You also can create multiple windows that expand off the right side of the screen (very similar to how Tweetdeck works). You can just as easily remove those extra screens if you prefer working in a narrow view as the screen above shows.
What’s missing?
There’s presently no support for trending twitter topics and I’ve had trouble copying URLs into the message bar and having the program auto-shorten them for me. Integration to Facebook is a feature that is missing but promised for a future release. Seesmic’s Twhirl product includes integration to Friendfeed while this client does not — and it seems such integration may never be included
Seesmic Desktop runs on Adobe Air which means you can be either a MAC or PC and runs this program with the exact same feature set.
Link: Seesmic Desktop
RoboForm Password Manager $10.40 off through 4/15/09
April 8, 2009
RoboForm is one of the best password manager for Windows that I’ve ever used. It creates a template for each of your web site logins which securely stores your user login and password.When you return to the site instead of remembering a site specific login and password you access RoboForm on your web browser tool bar and the login and password are supplied for you.
All the data is encrypted and you need a master password to use a login for the first time each session (this prevents someone from sitting down at your computer and accessing your logings).
This is a great tool to combat phishing as well. Phishing is when a hacker sends an email or other misleading message and tries to trick you into supplying your login/password for a web site. If you rely on RoboForm then those login credentials are only supplied at a verified site.
RoboForm – $10.40 off through 4/15/09
Why software sales tiers are outdated, dangerous and should be abolished immediately
April 7, 2009
Sales tiers are the filthiest secret in the software industry.
In case you’re not familiar with how these tiers work, essentially a tier is a sales quota established by a software company. Pretty much all software companies have these. It’s the way they “incent” their channel partners (aka resellers) to sell more.
If a consulting firm sells $ x of software per measurement period – they earn a corresponding commission on each sale.
The more software a consulting firm sells per measurement period (typically a rolling quarterly computation) the higher the commission rate for subsequent periods.
The problem with a sales based tier structure? Resellers earn this reward whether the sale produces a happy customer or not. It becomes tempting to push deals that don’t fit just so that sales volume can increase to maintain a commission structure. Do you see why sales tiers potentially do nothing but hurt the customer, the vendor and ultimately the reseller?
In the struggle to make a certain dollar volume of sales during a measurement period, software resellers are pushed to take on deals that may not be good fits for customers. Sometimes these deals are sold without any services so that the customer flounders trying to install the software and either abandons the product or leaves to find a reseller better qualified to help.
The key problem is reward is linked to one action – selling – and NOT customer satisfaction
Tier is not linked to customer satisfaction. That’s why it’s an outdated tool in an era when everyone who needs accounting software has it.
Within the last six months I’ve noticed a disturbing trend of users who’ve “lost” their original reseller and are looking for someone else to assist with the installation of their software.
The story is usually the same. Customer buys software at quarter end for a fantastic big bargain discount. Consultant eagerly bundles together not only software but three or four add-ons they claim will integrate perfectly and do exactly what customer wants.
Fast forward six months and I start receiving the emails (below is an actual email). While this particular user describes an experience with an add-on product – it’s typical of ones that I’ve received (several times per month). As you read – ask yourself why a consultant would sell a complex software program they could not install?:
Dear Wayne,
I have been a subscriber of yours for quite a while and have found your newsletters informative and entertaining.
We are a large service center that provides service to retail equipment for numerous different product lines. For example, we would service the paint equipment at your local Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store, or register belts at the nearby Wal-Mart. We are located in approximately xx states and are closing in on xx technicians to provide this service. As you can imagine, our volume of service calls is quite substantial. We have been a MAS90 user since approximately xxxx. We began with 3.71 and have just upgraded to 4.2 this past summer. In late xxxx, we added the xxxxx module from [removed] to the MAS90 to help in managing our service calls. Currently, we are at a crossroads with our customer needs. Many of our larger customers would like equipment repair reports and online status of their placed service calls. At the current time, we are beginning to build our customer’s equipment file under the [xxxx] module.
Our current reseller is not necessarily equipped to provide specialized help in obtaining what we need. We would like to find someone that knows Automated Service inside and out, and would also take the time to understand our needs to give us direction, input and guidance in obtaining it. Do you know of any consultants in our local area that would be able to help us?
I would appreciate any suggestions or help that you may be able to provide.Thank you,
Here’s my proposed solution to the tier problem (which plagues all software companies)
Get rid of tier based on sales goals – and instead reward maintenance renewal rates which are the true measure of satisfaction
You can take all the surveys in the world. Run infinite focus groups. Get bunches of your top resellers together to have fancy dinners and play golf serve on advisory boards.
There’s only one statistic that matters, is easily measured and all parties have an equal control over (software vendor, reseller and customer).
That statistic that matters is whether the end user customer renews their maintenance for another year.
Period. Done. Stop Reading. End of Story
Maintenance renewal is a vote of confidence. It’s the customer saying “I approve”, “I’m happy”, “The software met my needs”.
This is a win win for customers – because they’re using a solution that’s working efficiently and was sold to them by a reseller who made damn sure the solution would work – or they wouldn’t sell it. Under my proposed model a reseller wouldn’t sell a solution that was less than a great fit. Because if the customer were unhappy (didn’t renew maintenance) – the reseller’s commission structure would be significantly impacted.
Doesn’t that sound like a little saner way to do business?
Reward a sales channel for creating satisfied customers!
Wait – wouldn’t software companies lose out because of all the sales resellers wouldn’t make?
Not necessarily. As I stated earlier – the lions share of of a software company’s revenue is made these days from RECURRING SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE.
Therefore – this method of rewarding resellers for satisfied customers is a long term win win for software companies who see a much more predictable maintenance revenue stream.
What about resellers? This is a win win for VARS/Consultants/Resellers who no longer must push bad deals through hustle to meet some arbitrary tier goal by some arbitrary quarter.
The dirty secret of reselling that most people don’t talk about is how small the profit can be on an initial sale. Back out the now enormous overhead of prospecting, lead generation and proposals – and you’ve be surprised how little a reseller makes selling a new system. Many systems are actually loss leaders against future consulting work.
So where’s the profit for the reseller? In the recurring revenue. In the happy customer who renews maintenance and engages the reseller for projects and upgrades year after year after year…
Am I starting to at least make a little sense here?
By measuring the percentage of clients who renew ongoing maintenance plans you get a rough idea of customer satisfaction. Require VARS (aka consultants, business partners, resellers) to maintain a 90% renewal rate or drop their commission rate drastically.
This will have several side effects (all positive for the customer).
- Resellers will spend more time up front making sure that the software is the right solution for a customer.
- Bad resellers who have a steady stream of dissatisfied clients will be driven out of business.
- Resellers will no longer sell deals that don’t fit. They won’t want to have a customer come on board that ultimately leaves because that may negatively impact their future commission percent.
- Resellers will pay more attention to those add-on solutions they sell but “never get around to installing”. You’ll see less add-ons sold unless they’re truly needed and the reseller has experience enough with them to know they can be successfully implemented.
Sage takes the right first step and holds tier at current levels
Kudos to Sage who sent the following email to their partners announcing what I hope will be the start of a trend:
From: Sage Team
Date: Monday, Apr 6, 2009 12:39 pm
Subject: Good News! Product Tier Protection Announcement
To:Sage North America
Good News! Product Tier Protection Announcement
Dear Valued Partner,
In recognition of the current market conditions, we have changed the April 1 tier measurement period, to be a “move up” only calculation for your product tier. This means that your product tier will not move down and can only move up. Partners who reach a higher product tier hurdle will enjoy the benefits of a higher product margin. This will protect your product tier until the next move up and move down measurement period that will take place on October 1. Note that this does not apply to maintenance and support margins.
We understand the current market conditions are making it more difficult to close new business. However, it is critical that we continue to focus on adding new customers to the family. New customer acquisition is key to the long term success for both our partners and for Sage. As a result, we are protecting your product margin as a way to thank you for your ongoing partnership and to encourage and reward you for focusing on closing new customer sales.
Please feel free to call on the Sage sales team who stand ready to assist you with any of your prospects.
Again, we appreciate your commitment and support. I look forward to seeing you at the Insights conference next month. If you haven’t done so already, please visit the Insights Web site to register and get the latest updates.
Best regards,
Jodi Uecker-Rust, President
Business Management Division
Sage
Sage’s move to hold tier steady is a move in the right direction. Hopefully by late 2009 or 2010 will see the elimination of sales based tiers from all accounting software companies and an adoption of a more customer focused measurement of renewal percentages.
Removing sales oriented goals forces everyone to focus not on moving a box of software but on establishing long term relationships.
P.S.: Congrats to Jodi Uecker-Rust on dropping the “Interim” title and her promotion to President of Sage BMD!
Speed up Gmail on iPhone – [how to]
April 6, 2009
Ever since purchasing my first generation iPhone I’ve had a problem with the speed at which it retrieved Gmail. Sporadically (actually most of the time) my Gmail retrieval would hang for long periods of time – or not retrieve at all.
I tried emptying my inbox. Sometimes that worked. More often than not it did not.
Just today I stumbled across the solution that significantly sped up my iPhone 3G’s Gmail retrieval times. I believe this will also work on the first generation iPhone as well as iPod Touch models.
The trick is to turn on the Google Labs advanced iMap support.
Once you’ve enabled the option in Google Gmail Labs, you then can turn off the synchronization of folders via iMap. This seems to significantly speed the retrieval of email. My iPhone went from lengthy two or three minute retrieval lags to virtually no lag at all!
My iPhone has never been faster and the annoying lags are completely gone!
Schulz Consulting offers free service update assistance to their support clients through 4/30/09
April 2, 2009
A Message To Our Unlimited MAS 90 and MAS 200 Phone Support Clients:
4/2/09
As you know our support plans don’t include the labor (whether on-site or remote) to install upgrades, service updates, workstation setups or tax table updates.
However ..
In light of the number of payroll changes that have come out recently (new tax tables and 941 form updates) for 2009 — I want to be sure that our loyal Schulz Consulting support subscribers have their payroll updated to the latest rates and software changes.
I’ve decided that during the next few weeks (actually until the end of April) — Schulz Consulting will install the tables remotely at no cost for anyone on our phone support plans..
New MAS90 Payroll Changes We Will Update Remotely For Our Support Clients
1. New 941 forms for 2009 that were just release which slightly modify the 941 form with additional fields
2. New payroll tax tables that were release 3/27/09 – and while these tables seems to primarily impact non-resident aliens it seems like a good idea to update them in light of the rapid law changes.
If you want to set a time to do this (remotely) – simply email Wayne Schulz and we will call you to arrange for a time.
If you would rather – you can use the link below to call Wayne directly.
P.S - This is not a new policy (in other words we still charge for consulting work that is outside the scope of our normal support plan), however from time to time we like to include an extra benefit to show our appreciation for the loyalty of our clients. This is one of those times. Thanks for being a Schulz Consulting support customer!
MAS90 & MAS200 Promotions for Spring 2009 Full Detail
April 2, 2009
Hot off the presses are the following pricing promotions in effect through 6/30/2009. These MAS 90 and MAS 200 specials apply only against product (no discounts are taken off maintenance) and may generally not be combined with other offers.
When looking at any accounting software don’t be fooled into thinking that initial purchase price should be your main consideration. You should be thinking about whether the software will meet your need, if the consultant has adequately assessed your need, and if all the add-ons they’re recommending have been thoroughly researched.
We see an increasing number of companies buying software because of some fancy quarter end sale/promotion or price cut.
That’s fine if you know exactly what your doing. But many times neither the customer or the consultant know (and shouldn’t at least the consultant have an idea?)…
Do your research and talk to users of the software you are considering purchasing. If you’re unable to find people to speak with — that’s your cue to reconsider what you are buying.
MAS90 Spring 2009 MAS200 Promotions
MAS 90 Tax Tables Updates for Q2 2009 Changes (3/27/09)
April 2, 2009
I’ve just noticed that the tax tables for MAS 90 and MAS 200 have been updated and given a new date of 3/27/09. These tax table downloads are cumulative — so if you’re unsure whether you have applied the tables previously then you can download this latest update and receive all prior changes.
By all appearances the only changes were to non-resident alien tax tables. The most recent prior update was dated 2/27/09 and that update contained the latest federal withholding tables as mandated by the IRS.
You can:
Read about the latest changes here
Download the 3/27/09 MAS90 and MAS200 payroll tax tables here
Anagram now works in BlackBerry and GMail to copy contact details from email
April 2, 2009
We just got word that Anagram is now available for both GMail and BlackBerry. This handy little utility is used to read in a signature line from your email and strip out the relevant contact information such as: company name, contact, phone, etc. Then that data is displayed for editing and finally placed into your contact file.
I’ve used this previously within Microsoft Outlook and absolutely loved it. Most email software packages allow for saving contact email addresses but they don’t scoop up the important stuff like the name, address and phone number. With Anagram you simply swipe over the contact information, select “Copy to Anagram” (or within iGoogle past the information to the widget).
After editing the info (if needed) you upload to your contacts. Brilliant. Recommended. And did I mention it’s free for Google and Blackberry (only $35 for Outlook)?
Has Intuit quietly doubled the price of QuickBooks Pro 2009 for payroll users?
April 2, 2009
Update 4-3-2009: Nope – it doesn’t look like Intuit doubled the price. The confusion stems from any number of issues – not the least of which Intuit’s web site is vague over what “payroll” processing means within older versions of QuickBooks Pro.
Turns out on at least QuickBooks Pro 2008 and 2007 there was a separate fee charged for 3 user and unlimited payroll processing. Sure, you could use Payroll within the older versions – so long as you didn’t mind manually entering many of your calculations. This information was nearly impossible for me to find on Intuit’s own site. Their 2008 “what’s new” guide seems to indicate that their QuickBooks Pro 2008 does indeed do payroll (with no mention of having to subscribe to a service that in many cases doubles the price of the software). Only once I made a trip to the Barnes and Noble was I able to pull out older reference guides stating that QuickBooks indeed offered an added fee payroll service at least for the 2007 and 2008 versions (and Inuit states that it has always been that way).
So how do people without a CPA degree and 20 years of accounting industry experience figure this stuff out? Beats me.
Caveat Emptor!
One of the emails that arrived in my inbox this morning was from Amazon advertising some software deals.
Amazon had a “special” on QuickBooks Pro 2009 plus QuickBooks Payroll “3 user” for $169.
Perhaps I’m a little out of touch with Intuit’s product line (I have an email in to them so they can straighten me out) — however last I knew you could run payroll from within QuickBooks Pro without limit on the number of employees.
Now if I read their marketing literature correctly, an end user wanting payroll and accounting within QuickBooks would be expected to pay:
QuickBooks Pro 2009 – $119
QuickBooks Payroll 3 Employee – $199/year
QuickBooks Payroll Unlimited – $279/year (this is, I believe, what used to be included in QB Pro)
By my quick math this is a 100% price hike.
Certainly there will be the explanation that it’s not a hike for people who don’t use payroll, (insert blah blah) — however comparing apples to apples you have a street price that was being offered previously of $99 to $149 for the QuickBooks Pro with Payroll versus the new pricing which appears to break out the accounting and the payroll (Note: Limited payroll functionality seems to be included in the QB Pro version but to get the SAME functionality it appears you now must buy a separate Payroll subscription).
The best way around this (for now) is to license the QuickBooks Pro 2009 plus Enhanced Payroll through Amazon’s $129.99 deal which is cheaper than renewing the annual payroll ($199).
Anyone have better information on this than me?
What can users expect next from Intuit?
- Limits on the number of customers?
- Limits on the number of vendors?
- Limits on the number of transactions?
As Sage Business Partners we are very obviously not independent with our thoughts as to the above. We also don’t offer Peachtree or Businessworks (two of Sage’s lower cost offerings) and have not taken a complete study of whether Peachtree has a similar policy (they may). This information is merely an observation that after having seen the QuickBooks Pro product drop in price via online merchants that suddenly I’m now seeing it “bundled” with another product for Payroll when so far as I’m aware the prior versions included the Payroll without limits.
Set me straight if I’m wrong or you know more- in the comments below.
MAS90 and MAS200 Training Class Descriptions
April 1, 2009
Curious about what is taught in each of the MAS90 training classes offered at the Sage Authorized training facilities?
While there are individual classes available for most modules – you’ll be happy to find more specific training is also offered for the manufacturing (MAS 90 MRP, Bill of Materials and Word Order).
Be sure you confirm the class schedule prior to finalizing any travel plans. Some classes have minimum enrollment levels in order to be held and may be re-scheduled if there are not enough attendees.
MAS 90 Class Descriptions
Below is a list of the class descriptions and associated costs courtesy of Kissinger Associates who are a Pennsylvania training facility.
MAS90 Classroom Training Schedule Online
April 1, 2009
One of the most frequent questions we receive is regarding training for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200. Often our clients hire new employees or would like a quick refresher course on the basics of MAS 90 and MAS 200.
As a general rule of thumb our recommendations on education are as follows:
If you are a brand NEW user to MAS 90 or MAS 200 with no experience – consider a class.
If you are tackling a new module that you have not used before (manufacturing, Visual Integrator) – consider training (we recommend attempting some self study first).
If you are an experienced user and you simply have a few questions – we think it’s best for you to compile a list of what you are having issues with and discuss those with your Sage Business Partner. This is because training classes are typically very broad and cover the topic in depth from start to finish – when you may already be familiar with a large portion of what is covered in class.
MAS 90 and MAS 200 Training Schedule
Here’s a training schedule for Kissinger Associates in Pennsylvania. They’ve been working with Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 since I’ve been using the program and are also long time operators of a high quality authorized Sage training facility.
Most classes are full day – unless noted otherwise.
A benefit of attending these Sage Authorized classes is you receive:
- Structured classroom training
- Sage authorized class
- Sage authorized trainer
- Sage materials (very high quality)
After you’ve reviewed the MAS 90 and MAS 200 training schedules below you can review the course content on this page which shows the costs, content outline as well as CPE credits offered.
The official Kissinger Associates MAS90 Training site can be accessed online for further information.
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