Sage Channel Program Enhancements Help Partners Accelerate Business Growth, Stay Competitive and Transition to Evolving Business Models

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - Mar 7, 2013) - Sage North America announced today major enhancements to its channel partner program, designed to offer business partners more effective ways to adapt to the transforming business model of delivering cloud-based services. By arming partners with the right tools to compete, Sage aims to enable partners to grow their revenue and strengthen their relationships with their customers. These tools consist of a new product and company scoring initiative that helps identify the most promising cross-sell opportunities for partners, a new Sage Market Development Fund (MDF) Program, and a series of Customer Symposiums.

"We're very excited about these new enhancements to our channel program that will keep us more consistent with today's market needs and industry standards," commented Joe Langner, EVP of Midmarket Solutions for Sage North America. "Our partners work hard to bring value to our mutual customers every day, and it's important that we provide the right tools to support their efforts to deliver great customer experiences. As we move into offering more cloud and mobile applications, Sage intends to continue as a trusted partner and advisor. The new customer scoring tool will give our partners confidence that they are utilizing the best solutions and to the full benefit."

The Sage Product and Company Scoring Initiative identifies the most promising cross-sell opportunities within a partner's customer base, enabling them to find new revenue opportunities. It predicts which customers will have the highest potential to purchase other Sage solutions, showing the probability of a particular customer needing particular solutions. By aggregating attributes (such as industry, number of users, and complexity of their business) into a single company score, Sage has inputted the data into a vehicle that shares this information with Sage business partners.

Langner continued, "We're taking advantage of the business intelligence that we already have to empower our partners to be more prescriptive and effective through cross-sell efforts. With this, smaller businesses can leverage the power of big data without having to be a data company."

Launching on April 1, 2013, the new Sage MDF Program will better align partner marketing activities with Sage initiatives and objectives by focusing on activities that will most effectively drive new business and support cross-sell efforts. Sage revenue growth managers will work closely and selectively with Sage partners to identify, build and execute campaigns cofinanced by Sage. Transforming the existing co-op program will ensure a maximum return on marketing investments for both Sage business partners and Sage. The current Sage Partner Advantage Co-op Program will be retired on April 30, 2013.

"Over the past several years, there have been dramatic changes and a more progressive approach in how software vendors deploy co-op marketing," explained Langner. "Marketing development funds have proven to be a more effective way of administering and utilizing funds and investments for driving growth and producing a greater return on marketing investments versus traditional co-op."

The Sage Customer Symposium Series is designed to help Sage customers learn about important product news, the Sage technology roadmap, and relevant industry trends, such as how the cloud and mobility will impact their businesses. Sage customers also have the opportunity to interact with their peers and speak directly with Sage executives and product insiders. The Sage Customer Symposium Series kicked off in December in Houston and will continue throughout the year across the country. More information is available here.

About Sage
Sage is a leading global supplier of business management software and services for small and midsized businesses. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs more than 13,500 people and supports more than 6 million customers worldwide. For more information about Sage in North America, please visit the company website at NA.Sage.com. Follow Sage North America on Facebook, Facebook.com/SageNorthAmerica, and Twitter, Twitter.com/SageNAmerica.

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