Sage Inspire Tour Los Angeles
During this past week, Sage North America hosted a stop in Los Angeles and San Francisco on their annual Sage Inspire Tour. The Sage Inspire Tour is a one day educational conference, where Sage employees hold informative sessions on real-world business challenges and share ideas about workable solutions. I attended the Los Angeles event and had a great time learning more about the Sage product line and the needs of local businesses. Upon reflecting on my day of events and sessions, I found there to be three “inspirational” moments that I encountered during the day.
Untapped Sage Resources
Following registration and breakfast, the day began with a morning welcome session from Sage. During this session, Donna Armstrong, VP of Sales, went over the many available resources open to Sage users. It turned out that many attendees at the event weren’t aware of the multiple resources that Sage offers clients. In addition to their call center, Sage also has two websites full of resources, called Sage City and Sage University. If you have a question about your Sage system and need a quick answer, both of these are great resources to check out.
Sage City: http://sagecity.na.sage.com/
Sage University: http://www.sageu.com/
Best Session – Value in the Cloud
I would have to say the best session of the day at Sage Inspire Tour Los Angeles was an educational session, called “Would Your Business Grow Faster in the Cloud?” The presenter, Rob Lawson, Sr. Sales Engineer at Sage, provided a broad look at what the cloud is and how almost everyone is already using the cloud today. For example, if you’re using Dropbox, iCloud, or Google Docs, then you’re already a user of the cloud. He also provided valuable information to help organizations determine if the cloud is the right fit for them when it comes to ERP and CRM solutions. With so many questions surrounding the cloud, this session is sure to help curious minds get a clearer picture.
Eye Opening Moment – Learning about CRM
Another interesting session I attended discussed the benefits of Customer Relationship Management, also known as CRM systems. When the speaker asked the audience what people were currently using to manage contacts information at their businesses, about half of the audience said they currently use Microsoft Excel to manage client information. It was quite a shock to hear that the majority of businesses still use Microsoft Excel as a Customer Relationship Management tool. I think everyone in the session was able to benefit from hearing more about what Sage CRM has to offer. One of the exciting features of Sage CRM is that the tool provides mobile access to the system, if an employee is working remotely or in the field.
It definitely turned out to be a day filled with many “inspirational” moments. Thank you to the Sage North America staff for hosting the event. If you are interested in attending a Sage Inspire Tour stop in your area, please be sure to check out the upcoming Inspire Tour stops in your area.
Written by Leah Weston, Marketing Coordinator at DSD Business Systems
