Nashville, Tenn. - May 9, 2006 - At Insights 2006, Sage Software’s annual business partner conference, the company announced today new recruiting, marketing and sales support programs designed to help business partners maximize overall business growth and profitability. The new Fast Track for Consultants program; another year of the award-winning 100/100 program; Fast Track for Growth in 2007; and improved marketing resources and lead generation programs are all being highlighted this week to the nearly 3,000 Insights 2006 attendees.
Fast Track for Consultants, 100/100 2007 and Fast Track for Growth in 2007 top the list of new programs aimed at addressing the greatest obstacle facing software resellers today: finding, hiring, training and retaining quality field sales executives and consultants that can help sell and support more new-name customers.

“Sage has always provided a mix of educational, business growth and cost-savings programs to our business partners, because we understand how varied the needs are for growing each individual business,” said Taylor Macdonald, executive vice president of channel and sales operations at Sage Software. “However, one thing remains constant among all the partners we talk to, and that is the difficulty and cost of finding high-quality consultants that will make an immediate impact on sales and service revenues.”

Fast Track for Consultants
The new Fast Track for Consultants program combines training and education on recruiting and consulting to give business partners a comprehensive method to help new consultants become productive quickly and generate more revenues. Program benefits include classes within the Sage Consultant’s Academy; free core certification training; Business Acumen training courses; free candidate pipeline building and profiling services; Interview and Hiring Process Guides; the 90-day Guide to Making your Consultant Productive; participation in exclusive Fast Track for Consultants educational Webcasts; one-on-one mentoring from a Sage Peer Advisor; and access to Solution Consultants – all with the opportunity to earn-back the program investment.

100/100 2007 & Fast Track for Growth in 2007
Sage Software will again offer its popular 100/100 and Fast Track for Growth programs in the upcoming year. The 100/100 program, which won the Best Partnering Initiative award from the Software Industry Association in 2005, has been extended with another infusion of $1 million for 2006-2007. 100/100 2007 helps 100 select business partners find, hire and train 100 field executives in 100 days, including a $10,000 investment with each participating partner.

Fast Track for Growth in 2007 provides dedicated resources, educational tools and significant investments to partners who are committed to growing their businesses and acquiring new customers. The program is designed for business partners that are not large enough to be able to invest in dedicated sales staff but want to accelerate their sales cycles and concentrate on bringing on new customers. The program includes sales training, lead generation support, mentoring relationships, and support for developing a custom sales and marketing plan. Business partners receive $8,000 value in direct training and service benefits for the $5,000 program investment. In addition, business partners can fully recoup their $5,000 investment through credits earned by new customer acquisitions.

Improved Marketing Resources and Lead Generation Programs
The Sage Software Partner Marketing Resource Center has been refined and expanded, making it easier than ever to find, customize and utilize marketing resources. Re-designed after extensive input from business partners, the Partner Marketing Resource Center features simplified navigation and new features to support partner marketing campaigns.

To accelerate lead generation, Sage Software’s new Webcast Lead Builder enables business partners to leverage Sage hosted Webcasts for their own marketing campaigns. More than 60 lead-generating Webcasts are offered each month, giving business partners a flexible and powerful marketing tool to help qualify new business opportunities.

For partners that lack the time to plan and execute a marketing campaign, the new Marketing Assistant program offers relief in the form of 31 marketing packages designed to support end-to-end execution.

Business partners can also utilize vendors from Sage Software’s expanded Preferred Vendor list for a variety of marketing options to fit specific needs. Preferred Vendors are cost-effective marketing resources that are knowledgeable about Sage products and enable business partners to easily utilize accrued co-op funds.

Improved Resources for Small Business Certified Consultants
Sage Software’s Certified Consultants also will benefit from new and expanded marketing programs. Certified Consultants now have access to new co-op management resources in the online Partner Resource Marketing Center which greatly improves visibility of available co-op marketing funds. The “Marketing Assistant” provides marketing program suggestions that are aligned with Sage Preferred Vendors based on the amount of available coop funds. Through the Marketing Alliance program Certified Consultants can earn up to 100 percent reimbursement for eligible marketing activities simply by developing an approved six month marketing plan. New Specialization Training courses provide low-cost technical training, plus new product and newsletter templates are available, adding value to the overall Certified Consultant Program.