Here is Why the Sage Relationship Works: Introducing Sage CRM 7.2

So with another spring the snow melts and a new version of Sage CRM is usually right around the corner. And it seems like every year we are treated to more and more capabilities with literally no movement in price on Sage CRM in nearly a decade. At the end of last week we were notified of the latest rendition, Sage CRM 7.2, and the software publisher has come through again.

In fact we are hosting a webinar in May to showcase some of the new capabilities. The reason we are so excited about this particular release is because of the way in which the software is evolving due to your input and our input back to Sage. The outcome that we have started long before this or any of the recent versions were released and this process is why this relationship absolutely works.

First let’s get into what’s new in Sage CRM 7.2 and maybe a few things about Sage CRM 7.1 that you may not have known about. As we go through these various things, think about how you use technology in your day to day life and how you would use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system if that was part of your job function.

Mobile, Mobile and more Mobile – The latest edition of Sage CRM continues to improve with the embedded Android, iPhone and Tablet driven HTML 5 interfaces already included in the system rather than free plugins that need to be installed. But Sage decided to take things a little bit further and hit the market with two new apps via the Apple app store and the Microsoft Windows 8 Marketplace. With the Sales Lie application on your tablet device or mobile experience, users can have critical information anywhere, anytime. Stay tuned for release dates on those apps.

Social, Social, and more Social – Many users that use older versions of Sage CRM didn’t realize that there are actually free components that incorporate the use of LinkedIn and Twitter.  In the latest release Sage has bolstered their social presence with both Facebook capabilities for interaction and communication and collaboration functions with a Yammer integration. These capabilities won’t apply to everyone but it is nice to know they are there.

More Ways to Use HTML 5 – So Sage CRM could already do things like a Mail Merge from Chrome or Safari on a Mac that Salesforce and Microsoft cannot do but now they are even taking reporting to a new level. First, they have replaced everything that was flash for report, gadget and chart generation and now are using HTML 5 to generate dashboards and reports through any compliant device from any location. Even more importantly Sage has incorporated the ability to use free Fusion Report widgets for even more create dashboard generation.

BYOD – In the technology industry we call this “Bring Your Own Device” and Sage CRM started down this path with the native Exchange Integration for calendaring that works with internal or Office 365 systems that we saw with 7.1. In that same release they officially supported Chrome, Firefox and Safari on OSx. Now, they have included support for using the regular browser interface or the tablet interface through Safari and officially support that browser as well.

So what does all this mean for you and your team? As I said before when I reviewed the new capabilities, think about the way you use technology in your everyday life and the way that you interact with your colleagues from those different devices. For most of us it means a better user experience, happier users, more responsiveness to customers and more and more repeat business.

The last piece I want to chime in on is the method in which these items were brought to the last few releases. The product is a global product and Sage reaches out into each specific operating company and spends time with key business partners discussing where to take development and letting us have input on priorities for each release. They review what they have done before it’s released and sometimes change based on usability or logical business processes. Although Sage has a huge presence around the globe in many instances they can sometimes seem like a local software developer. When was the last time that you saw something in a product and said, “Hey, I was responsible for that!”

If you have yet to see Sage CRM or have not seen it in a long time register for the Sage CRM 7.2 web demo in May to see what you have been missing.