Sage ERP Product Enhancements Driven by Customers

1/10/2012 at 4:34 pm by Karen Hyman

Your feedback is very important to Sage because we greatly value our customersâ€™ input, especially when it involves product enhancement requests to improve your cash flow, and your business. We value your input so much that on every Sage ERP MAS 90 and Sage ERP MAS 200 userâ€™s desktop we provide a direct link to a website thatâ€™s devoted to capturing your requests. It also allows you to vote on othersâ€™ ideas that have been submitted! You can check it out here: http://www.sagemas.com/MAS_90_200_feedback

Our most recent Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.5 release is an excellent example. Itâ€™s packed with 50 customer-driven product enhancements, one free license of SageCRM and Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Intelligence Report Manager. Many of the 4.5 enhancements began with customers, like you, entering a request into our ideas site. As a result of your feedback, we have built a superior product that includes the features you need to help you run your business better. Some of the 4.5 enhancements include:

National Accountsâ€”You told us you wanted to streamline how you manage your customers who have a corporate or parent company, and subsidiaries or branches. And we listened. 4.5 now includes a new type of customer, a National Account. Using this designation; you can easily identify and bill the parent company for goods and services you sell to a branchâ€”while still keeping a unique customer account for each entity.

Payroll Processingâ€”Some of your top enhancement requests were to remove more payroll processing hassles. So we added new features in 4.5 so you can more easily run recalculations and do regular imports using standard formats. We also added five additional methods of calculations to use with a variety of specialized deductions. New 4.5 payroll features manage benefit accruals more efficiently when theyâ€™re based on hours workedâ€”for salaried, union, and part-time employees.

More Flexible Pricingâ€”You told us you needed to be able to compete with maximum pricing flexibility, so we added enhancements to empower you with an unlimited number of pricing and item combinations. In 4.5 you have the ability to reward your loyal customers with favorable pricing, encourage large purchases, and be more responsive to the marketplace changes you face. You now have maximum price flexibility to help you make more sales.

Streamline Purchase Ordersâ€”We added several features to meet your requests of improving cash flow by minimizing the time and complexity of placing your purchase orders. A button added in 4.5 can efficiently processes a purchase order using preestablished vendor information. Additional new features and functionality can automatically place a purchase order when customers make a sale for a noninventory item, something they offer for sale but donâ€™t normally stock.

Allocate Product by Lot and Serial Numberâ€”More of your requests were met in 4.5 by adding the ability to reserve limited-quantity lots or serial numbers for your special accounts, such as club customers, or to match the unique characteristics of product that was previously shipped to one of your customers. This is especially helpful to businesses in a very competitive market so you can reserve a scarce item for a loyal customer. Or if you sell materials of different types, colors, and grains, you can reserve a specific piece for a customerâ€™s phased project, such as a specific granite slab for a kitchen remodeling project.

You can learn more about the 4.5 release by visiting our 4.5 microsite at www.SageMAS.com/45release. View interactive screenshots, watch informative videos, and read the latest product documentation, including the 4.5 overview brochure.

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About the Author

Karen Hyman has over 20 years of experience in domestic and international technology markets for B2B, commercial, consumer and service products. With Sage for 6 years, she is currently Senior Product Marketing Manager for Sage ERP MAS 90, 200, and 200 SQL, and Sage ERP MAS 90 Online. Her expertise includes creating strategic go-to-market plans, product positioning and messaging, development of effective marketing assets, and customer engagement and loyalty. Prior to Sage, she held various product marketing, product management and brand management roles at a financial and e-payments software, hardware and supplies manufacturer; a specialty benefits software company; and a printer and supplies manufacturer. Karen holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque.