There was a time back right after the invention of electricity but before the widespread use of motorized vehicles that vendors with crappy salespeople didn’t have to worry about customers talking to each other and sharing their poor service experiences.

Heads up – the world’s changed.

Provide a bad experience — and you may not catch the comments that are made between your target customer.

The image above is from a message I posted to my private 100+ person 90 Minds Consulting network. It’s a non-profit associaton we’ve established using the closed Socialcast system for consultant to consultant communication.

No vendors. No outsiders. Totally private.

I regularly advise customers to buy products and services  based solely on comments from my trusted contacts within this closed network

These deals can often approach 6 figures — and if one of my trusted colleagues in the group have given a recommendation then in my mind it’s the only solution that I recommend

Certainly you’re smart and you’ve setup Google Alerts so you (or your PR department) catch negative mentions your company’s name and you then instantly (reactively) try to solve the issue.

But what happens when the year is 2012 and your customers are smart enough to communicate like 90 Minds does — using social tools like Yammer, Socialcast or Podio —  that aren’t open to indexing by Google?

These conversations never generate a Google Alert of a problem so you can hustle off and try to solve the issue (reactively).

This morning I had a conversation with someone asking why some of the social sites such as LinkedIn seemed to go through periods where they  lack in mew conversation.

My feedback is that there’s plenty of conversation – some of it has just moved to private social enterprise tools.

Companies who have grown complacent and satisfied with putting out customer problems simply by listening to Google Alerts would be well advised to step up their game and become proactive at delivering exceptional service –  instead of reactive and only responding to signals provided by public complaints online – because in some cases the most important signals are growing weaker or disappearing altogether.

According to one of my 90 Minds members who spoke to their Hightower representative:

We had an open support case with them and got a call from our rep that they were shutting down 

I have a message into Hightower executives. Calls  today (3/20/12) to their phone line listed on the web site have gone unanswered. Update: As of 2:28 pm ET 3/20/12 the phone message is indicating that Hightower is experiencing a serious data interruption to voice and email.

Another independent source reports that according to multiple unnamed Hightower employees:

Hightower employees met at the office and were advised to take an unscheduled and possibly unpaid vacation and  that they’d hear back in a week to 10 days. Email was reportedly shut down over the weekend.

An independent consultant doing subcontracting work for the company reported being told on Monday to put all work on hold. Followup emails to the company representative from the consultant reportedly went unanswered.

It is unknown at this point when Hightower will re-open after  taking what some employees have described as an unpaid vacation.

UPDATE 3/24/2012:  Sage partner Hightower Inc is apparently closing and have transferred the support for all customers and enhancements to another Sage partner. This was revealed in a channel wide announcement sent 3/23/12. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed nor were any further reasons for the sudden transfer. Messages sent to Brian Dunn, CFO of Hightower , were not returned.  A message sent to the new VAR mentioned as assuming responsibility for Hightower was not returned.

According to their web site:

HighTower is a consultant, reseller, implementer, trainer, and software developer of ERP systems, including Sage MAS 90 / 200, NetSuite and SYSPRO. It is a leading reseller, enhancement developer, and Authorized Trainer for Sage MAS 90 ERP and Sage MAS 200 ERP. As an award-winning accounting, distribution, CRM, HR, and manufacturing software expert, HighTower offers experienced professional consulting and technical services that understand how a business works. HighTower is also authorized in the sales and support or Sage MAS 500 ERP, Sage Abra HRMS, SageCRM, and more.

Are you a partner or consultant for Sage products? Join the private conversation on our partner Facebook group  or LinkedIn Group.

Are you a customer looking for support on a Sage product? We have over 100 members nationwide. Find a local Sage Partner.

Only a few hands went up. And this was in a room of about 50 of arguably Sage’s most active partners.

For those who’ve not been, Firm of the Future is two days of instruction with Ron Baker of VeraSage and Ed Kless of Sage.  The course catalog describes the experience as:

This experience is dedicated to the possibility that a professional organization can be run more effectively when it becomes a knowledge firm rather than a service firm. Creating such an organization is hard work and not for everyone as it requires partners to think differently than they have in the past about what it is that they do.

The course is about shared knowledge you can use for building a business that bills for knowledge and results and not time. It’s about learning how to bill for value not hours. It’s about making more money. It works.

I attended the session back in May 2011. You can read my review.

Since the course I no longer bill hourly. The day I completed the course was the last time I have billed hourly.

If you are tired of the “race to the bottom line” that comes with billing hourly – you need this course. If you want to substantially increase your firm’s revenues – you need this course.

Link

A group of approximately 100 Sage partners (panelists pictured above left to right- Moira Goggin (Chismet Consulting – event co-organizer), Mary Abdian (Macabe Associates) , Doug Deane (DSD Business Systems) , John Hoyt (Hutchinson and Bloodgood), Bill Kizer (xKzero))  gathered today in Lake Forest California. The group was split about 50/50 with some consultants attending in person and others remotely (web ex) for an in-depth discussion of changes that have been rolled out to the Sage eco-system (margins, certifications, subscription pricing, partner compensation).

Top of mind in the conversation were discussions about Sage selling directly to existing customers and specific terms of changes that accompany the recently unveiled Sage subscription pricing model.

When asked about Sage’s new rules of engagement which seem to green light selling direct to existing customers, Sage’s VP of Channel Management, Tom Miller, remarked  ”we have a bunch of under-served customers” and that not all partners are equally as dedicated as those in the room and in some instances Sage have needed to step in and make the sales because an existing partner lacked the capabilities.

One unanswered question centered around a new Sage policy that discontinues margin on the recently announced subscription type plans (effective 4/1/2012) for a customer who changes partners. The margin no longer is paid to the originating partner (which is how it presently works) and is also not paid the to acquiring partner ( a change from Sage’s current policy which continues paying margin to the acquiring partner).

This seems to be a change designed to stop Sage partners from transferring or selling customers to other partners who because of their sales tier may generate a higher margin on those renewals. Sage’s Tom Miller did seem to indicate the policy wouldn’t preclude consultants from selling their customers upon retirement –  though the exact nature of the policy still seemed a bit hazy and difficult for Sage to substantiate. At one point while describing the change as due to “fair reimbursement for value delivered” Miller chided a panelist for laughing at his reasoning.

Amongst changes Sage’s Tom Miller hinted at was an upcoming new partner program to offer more to partners who sell more service than product.

Event hosts included Altec’s,Kevin Dudevoir, Kerry Gardner, April Blankenship, Allison Alonzo and of course Brandt Morrell. Paul Cannon & Nicole Laurier of Fisher Technology provided a Kindle Fire. Kim Hogan from Fujitsu offered a mobile scanner.

Bill persevered in creating this meeting despite the software publisher suggesting a game of channel hide and seek instead.

Don’t you love social media?

The event happens Thursday March 15, 2012 and features a panel discussion with some top VARs, prizes, sharing, vendor presentations, networking.

There’s still time to register -UPDATE: Event has occurred. Read our wrap up of this networking event – Sage Consultant LinkedIn Summit.

MAS90 LinkedIn

It’s a simple two line checklist. Pick either #1 or #2. It will trump all other criteria.

1. Sells acceptable number of new user deals
2. Does not sell acceptable number of new user deals

In my opinion no other measurement matters.

Soldier on.

We’re in the process of finding out who that one sale per quarter person is so we can vote them off the island congratulate them.

Accounting Today

I think this is called “playing nice”.

I’ve even had a partner in my state call a meeting of every other Sage partner within 30 miles to discuss the “rules of engagement” and how everyone should play nicely.

The problem, in my experience, is the favor is seldom returned.

VARS go through the motions of “playing nice”. It probably helps them sleep a little better. But  but that “faux call” usually comes days or week(s) after they’ve begun to interact and service the customer.

When I do receive a call from a competitor – the tone is usually “hey we just filed the paperwork – aka Reseller of Record” — just wanted to let you know about it now that we know it’s too late for you to do anything about it.

This voicemail I just received from  Kissinger Associates (informing me that they’ve already converted a past customer to one of their customers via an ROR or Reseller of Record Change) is a fair sample of how I’ve personally observed the majority of VARS treat you.

Oddly these VARS think nothing of converting a customer that you’d been working with  —- all the while expecting you to call them immediately if one of their customers contact you…

With the exception of VARS I know personally – I’ve adopted a no call policy due to years of experience like this actual call transcript from this afternoon ….

Hi Wayne, My name is Nicole, I’m calling from Kissinger Associates. I was just calling to let you know we received a phone call from xxx (customer name)  at yyy  (company name) last week. He was requesting information about EDI enhancement for his MAS 90 system and for information on upgrading his MAS 90 system. I did get in contact with our enhancement specialist here at Kissinger and a  consultant to discuss upgrade possibilities and his options. And he did mention and, that he was working with you prior two giving us a call. I did receive a Reseller of Record change form today (Note: She is ONLY contacting me once she has filed the change form) and. I just wanted to, give you a heads up and keep you in the loop. I’ve been speaking with xxx. If you need to speak with me, you have any questions, you can give me a call back the number here is zzzzz. Again, my name is Nicole and my direct extension. Here is qqq Thanks Wayne. Have a nice day bye.

I don’t claim there’s anything wrong with how this notification was handled – only that making a notification (when the customer has already changed partners) is not something I’ve ever done – or contemplate doing in the future.

According to Oasis:

SugarCRM eliminates some of the hurdles previously associated with implementing CRM software, says Annette Manias, President of Oasis Solutions Group. “Because it’s cloud-based, our customers will be up and running quickly — no new hardware, network configuration, or technology upgrades required. Not only does that eliminate the up-front capital costs of implementation, but the price point of SugarCRM itself is a perfect match for the customers we serve.”
Adoption of CRM software is all part of a growing trend, Manias observes. “The acceptance of and demand for CRM today is a lot like what we saw with ERP systems almost two decades ago. And like ERP, CRM software has become a more accessible and strategic tool for businesses that are proactive and looking to become more efficient and effective.”

The concern here is that Oasis Solutions is a prominent Sage partner (although they are not totally dedicated to Sage – also reselling Microsoft Dynamics and QuickBooks) following on with earlier defections to SugarCRM announced by other prominent Sage partners Faye Business Solutions and Blytheco.

Sage already offers three CRM solutions of their own. They’re also in the midst of integrating their flagship Sage CRM squarely into their Sage 100 ERP (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200). During this push Sage is giving away a free server and user license of Sage CRM. Yet even a free server and workstation license appears to not be enough to keep Sage partners loyal.

Think about this. Free Sage CRM server and user license included with all Sage 100 ERP. Existing Sage partners choosing to take on another CRM.

Do these initial partner defections to competing CRM signal the start of a trend? In my opinion they foreshadow the beginning of a rocky road for Sage’s efforts to hold onto a quality channel — which until now has been largely loyal and sold primarily Sage products.

So far these defections have largely been limited to CRM. It’s likely in 2012 we are going to see a few defections of top Sage partners to SaaS offerings – that’s when things might get really interesting.